Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Dec. 2, 1971, edition 1 / Page 5
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The Dairy Tar Heel Unselfish All-American f Miller9 shadow Thursday. December 2. 1971 Wmycik: o f By Al Thomas Spr,rts Writer Dennis Wuycik has changed a h during the past year. 'I he once self-conscious s.-ru-Carolina forward now beams w;? confidence, the product of a year lull r accolades and national attention. He holds his head a little higher no-, speaking freely and at ease. Wuycik seems to have finally su-pp-. it of the shadow of former Tar H -ppeat I.arry Miller, with whom he onstantly being compared, and ! --eginning to shape his own very cHh hjdow. 'I he Ambridge, Pa., native still u-es almost unstoppable finesse under the basket, as did the Pennsylvania-born Miller, and still wears old number 44. the same as Miller. The difference now is that Wuycik has begun to establish his ov, n unique legend at Carolina, utilizing and enjoying his own particular style of basketball. He appears to have crossed the ime separating the good college basketball players from the great ones. For his efforts, Wuycik is a pre-scap.n pick to be an All-American as weil as the Ch amberlam: ostler By How ie Carr A ssistant Sports Editor When Coach Dean Smith's Tar Heel basketball team opens its 171-72 season at home tonight against Rice, senior forward Bill Chamberlain won't even be in Carmichael Auditorium. "I'll be taking a make-up exam Thursday night," he says. Chamberlain was suspended from the team last Friday for apparent disciplinary reasons, and although he returned to practice yesterday. Smith had already decided not to use him against the isiti;-;' Owls. The Rice game, though, will probably be the only tine this season v. hen Chamberlain, a 6-6, 1X5 pound native of New York City, does not figure prominently in the Tar Heels' plans. He was picked to the pre-season All-conference team by the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters Association, and television broadcaster Chris Schenke! selected him as a first team All-American. Chamberlain enters his final varsity season coming off a brilliant performance last spring in the National Invitational Tournament, where he was named Most Valuable Player after scoring 34 points in the T ar Heels' K4-66 rout of Cieorgia Tech in the tournament finals. Although he finished iast season as the Tar Heel's second leading scorer (14.4) per game average and rebounder (6.oi. the NIT marked the first time that Chamberlain had really come into hi-; own for Carolina. Hampered by various ailments during most of his first two seasons, he had been somewhat overshadowed, initially by Charlie Scott and then by Dennis Wuycik. "It's a different feeling this year to he in good shape at the start of the season," Chamberlain says, although he missed the first ten days of practice when he underwent a tonsillectomy "just before October 15." "I got back into shape and caught up with the team pretty quick, though." he Tar one of the toughest Carolina's outside schedule this year may be one of the toughest in the country, aggravated by a grueling holidav mtinerary. Rice has a good shot at the Southwest Conference title, or so Don Knodel. the coach, says. Then, Saturday and Monday, the Heels go to Pittsburgh and Princeton. The Panthers hope to go to a post-season tournament, and guard Kent Scott and forward Mickey Martin will be the main reasons if they succeed. Princeton depends on Pan-American team captain Brian Taylor (24.2). a fellow guard Ted Manakas and 6-10 Andv Rimol. Virginia Tech arrives Dec. 1 1 under new coach Don DeVoe. Tech has high-scoring forward Allen Bristow. whose brother Butch swam at Carolina last year, and 6-6 captain Charlie Lipscomb. Harvard, the Heels' opponent Dec. 27 in Charlotte, may have a good chance to upset the Heels. Carolina will be coming back the day before from a three-game international tournament in Spain, representing the United States. Harvard has potential All-Americans James Brown and I lovd Lewis, plus former Duke treshman Jim Litzsimmons. Then the Sugar Bowl tournament Marts Dec. 2l in New Orleans, with tough St. Joe's the first round opponent. St. iff. . t ; i V. do-.;-- ; a "e a r ' -a d..-a ' . H. " r - Ir ipUp. ; : tenro- o ' J: . r- I - . , ,- t e J P ! . J d ! ' i ' : . !:,;!: . add.-.!. - J f: -i . 1 f .. r- V ' 4 I ? r s -y j: : A i i 1 - t i i. liill Ch;!mberl.;in says ot says my ' C!ij Builine S, :,h ,-eii .1 i Ins w-:rr del en, mbet i ton i .1 Sp-ilh's .'rnits basket!'. d' , , p that he "didod ; summer." So h-. id; -W.V. i Smiih'-: r; ' (d. .:. i d . - . -. t'tl.lil -!.('!.- I: mm1,, .;: .! Kobe it M. -d ... p-I-UM-d O ' CO K he-d : ;:, . : .Mid ( ' :::.',-r! . 1 d Ides d-.-d. the k : . ' . gonij: ( di eeid--'d 'M :'e !oi:;:h i! vc: . : !-.-,.Mt .1 .s beep I lie p:e v,'v!), '.,;.d: i . ,d! S o p; e predich-d ;d: p n!- 1 e pi t ' I .:i ! iccK' psaior .. - -a - d d He ii Joseph'- ... - i ' -' d'-i 6-7 !o: v. aid M k . dp' Mcld.da-p' 1 ".i' d .: are a Uo ,n ; ! w p ; p : On Jap. v p - : brings ht ; d pep ! Carmichael. R . : p of Rchert M . Jo o p he w is take.". ! Wd p r also have o- ld- H-p Collier and D 'p ' frehme... CiCOl e U v : . PO . P I cb 12 pi ( i. :! -t-e Chapel lid!, p. ... p t ; . ear. lien 'd. e: i Cai ohna ir. the ' i n a ' . -i : R:.h ppda- : i- . Murphv and ! J umoi cppee. : , .it vi . v : i 1 -. ! ) i e I u ; i s apj Pa' I'p-dp. di-. pp. leap! to de eq -o JC. and s berme i -e li. ' 1 d e's o :e'.u:n !iir.r is r. eep'er. a pe. ! pus marked to take Notre Dame v..;. in ba-ketbad !.-t . p tool ball, gomg 2'-' " . 'r Midwest Ri ipoPaN p A Austin Can .ipi !. !: howevei. and ! .p 1 i I oidn.pp . 1 1 is l v. . (H i i . ' .. -the burden on gu.;d t d C,ar Novak and I .: i Bob ..Up;- N : D p New N oik I eh. 1" 'Pe i p-e! ' , e ' p 1 s e I CI A . a ' e '. c ! t . . ,:t 1 e.p;. d!.. Pi U i . .rds nd LPi.tr d I .p Or..e pjers realize how great it is : , it's r.o s.rd'i.e to work as a V. ir.mr.g is exactly what the Tar Heels j-;! Wu cik have been doing with regularity. Carolina was picked to finish -."v.-.-.th in the ACC last year but . ombir.eJ a pressing defense with ; e a m w o r k to win the league Thw T.-.r Heels lost in the final game of the ACC tourney by one point, however, ;pj vu'-t to the National Invitational I --.:rra- :e-.t instead of the NCAA I he iirst game of the NTT, against Mja-.husetts. was almost a disaster for V. uci-... ' I guess it's natural to think 'if only I iiidn't been at that particular spot,'" V uyeik said referring to a collision : the first half which not only kept him from playing in the remainder of the t-.jrnament but endangered his entire : ui are in basketball. Wuycik was forced to have surgery on his knee. ..and then began the long, slow and sometimes doubtful process of i ecovcry . "All I could do during the summer was it weights." he said, "and then finally in defense "-eniritis." i.e., Chamberlain and teammate Dennis Wuycik looking ahead t" next ear and the lucrative p.' tlessionai contracts that await them. "I hat's not going to be a problem," Chamberlain answers. "Looking at it from that perspective, we realize that it won't be as nice if we aren't winning. '.ij hae to win to be noticed, and if die doing well, then next year will take -a:e ot iielt." h amberlain came to Chapel Hill in P'o.X atter a phenomenal high school K!sk:thall career at Long Island Lutheran :.p brook vi He. N.Y. Most of the major . dieses in the nation - including every school ranked in the wire services' pre season top twenty this year tried to recruit him. I oduy. married and only a few courses .vaj from completing his major in reeieation administration, Chamberlain says he'd tell a potential recruit "the pros and cons of this place as I see them. But I wouldn't try to influence him one way or the other. It would be his own decision, . :ul he'd have to be the one to make it." Mark rjp jl ournament is Tomght Carolina's talented basketball ,.iin )t" a 30-szame schedule. High spots on the schedule include three games in Spain during Christmas, the Sugar Bowl tournament in New Orleans, a trip to Pittsburgh and Princeton this weekend, and a 1 2-game Atlantic Coast Conference schedule. And it all means very little. The Tar Heels could go undefeated, and if they lose in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in March they have no chance for the NCAA championship. The NIT is still there, the prestigious tournament of second placers that the Heels won hist year, but, in comparison to the big prize it means about as much as the Kuimer-L'p Bowl the NFL had a few years ago. Okay if you win, terrible if you lose. liven for the winner of the three-day game of Russian roulette in Greensboro, NCAA chances are seriously damaged. The tournament exhausts the winner, physically and emotionally. It is like the fictional Greek wrestler, Arrachio, who died as he vanquished his opponent. South Carolina endured last year, barely beating the Tar Heels in the finals. Depleted of incentives, they lost disgracefully to Penn in the first round of the regionuls. There you have the situation of a lesser team winning the ACC tournament, as State did two year ago. The Pack had no chance against St. Bonaventure in the tegionals. A few more flops like that and the conference will lose its automatic bye, having to p!a one extra game in the regionals to make the national finals. And it's all because of the tournament, and the significance behind it. Carolina proved to most people that it had the best team in the ACC last year. It dominated the regular season and after a close loss in the tournament finals, the Tar Heels victimized the NIT. thrashing Georgia Tech in the final game. Wh shouldn't Carolina have the chance to play the best teams in the NCAA tournament? And why didn't South Carolina have the chance two years ago, when the Gamecocks accomplished the staggering feat of winning all regular season conference names? There are remedies to the situation. The tournament survives, like a lovable dinosaur, because it makes money. Greensboro Coliseum seats over 15,000 pe$ple for basketball, and that's a lot of money for seven games in three days. Especialk' when the w hole world, or at least four states, is watching. For one thing. ou can schedule the tournament in the third weekend of December. Ti en the schools can take off to New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia for their lio'pdav classics, and don't tell me that the Colliseum wouldn't be filled even if they p'aved the tournament on the Fourth of July. The w inner of the tournament would still have an advantage. If the team that wins is not the regular season winner, then there would be a one-game playoff (on the reguLr season winner's home court) to decide the NCAA representative. NIT bids nvgiu also go to as many as three different ACC schools after that. Or. vou could invite a really classy outsider, like St. John's, Marquette, Houston or ICLA to Greensboro. Match the other seven schools in there for an eight-team tournament. If the two survivors in the finals are ACC schools, then use the winner of the regular season as a guage, much like the scheme mentioned above. The last plan would faintly resemble the Dixie Classic, one of the finest Christmas to'.Muments m the land, that was sabotaged by a gambling scandal 1 1 years ago. I ' e CC das great teams, great fans, great arenas to play in. It has all the potential ; -. . : . league m college basketball. But UCLA's John Wooden said this im::ier that the ACC didn't have the finest teams in the nation - at least, not represented as such in the national tournament. BLme the ACC tournament. It alone keeps the conference from being great - in :at. sometimes it makes the ACC look downright bush. August I could run some. I was only able to play basketball four tines before practice began in the middle of October. "Like anything, whether it's roller skating or basketball, when you're away from it a long time you lose your timing, your sharpness," Wuycik continued. "I'm trying to smooth a few things out now but I don't have any physical problems." Wuycik said each player on the team is given a battery of physical tests during pre-season, including running and . jumping, and that he equalled last year's pre-season statidards. "My results were exactl the same as last year this time," he noted, "although they weren't as good as at the end of last year. Overall, though, my pre-season has gone about as well as in the past." Whenever the discussion began contering on Wuycik himself, he would switch the emphasis to "the team," and w hat "the team" needs or plans to do. "It has to be a nice honor to be picked so high in the pools," Wuycik said concerning several pre-season polls picking Carolina among the five strongest teams in the country. "The team will have to band together to make it come true, however. We have the confidence to be a winning team." Everything is always "we" when talking with Wuycik, seldom "I." "We have to prove we can live up to those expectations," he continued. "Most of the players realize the polls depend a lot on where the writers are from. We'll just have to play as hard as we can and wait for the final poll." The Carolina forward also explained why the Tar Heels commit a high number of turnovers, something which has become almost a trademark of the team. The reason, as with everything else, is "teamwork." "Turnovers come from passing," Wuycik said, "and we like to pass off to our teammates. We don't have just one guy bringing the ball down the court and shooting. We like to give assists to our teammates. "We'll have to cut down on some of thsoe turnovers, especially all the ones during the Blue-White scrimmage," he added, looking eager for the season to get underway. "You can never be satisfied with a performance. You have to be hungry to excel." Wuycik, one of the most team-oriented superstars in Carolina athletic history, appears mentally and physically ready for his last campaign as a Tar Heel. He undoubtedly had a lucrative future awaiting him in basketball, but now all he seems concerned with is winning. Whicker team opens another regular season, the first bush i George Karl drives around a Providence Tar Heel scoring with 21 points in the semi field goal attempts. Carl: 'Coach Smith is a father By Mark Whicker Sports Editor George Karl, in some ways, was the embodiment of everything good about Carolina basketball last year. As a sophomore, the 6-2 guard scored 12 points a game, hit 52.4 per cent of his shots and played adequately in all other departments. But when you think of George Karl, you think of a ball bouncing out of bounds and Karl skidding recklessly across a floor, bad back, knee and all, to recover it. Ot you think of George Karl driving down the lane against two 6-10 men for a layup. In short, total effort. This fall, Karl came to Chapel Hill with two goals: "to be a smarter player all around and to improve defensively. "I feel like I'm passing a lot better this year, and I'm calling defense better," Karl says, "The whole team has been reminding me of last year in its unselfishness and defense, at least during the last two weeks." "Maturity" is a key word when Karl describes what he expects in the season ahead. And, like the other Tar Heels, he praises Coach Dean Smith in talking about maturity. "He reads me and all the rest of the players. He knows us and our psychological and emotional approaches to the game. For instance, he knows I'm confident of my ability, and when something happens to shake that confidence, I play bad. "But I credit him with my becoming a man. Understanding and love - those are the words to describe the program under him. We feel like on big family, and he's the father." Kalr's combative streak shows through when rankings are mentioned; he admits he enjoys "reading my name in the papers and our high pre-season rankings. Like I really got mad at one magazine that picked us 16th, because I think we're better than that. "Then we were picked second, which is good to read, but really I hope we don't play just to protect the rankings. 1 hope we feel as we did last year, that every team we play can beat us. because we have respect for any college basketball player that plays on a team against UNC." Maturity also comes in on a team basis. "We're more mature in that we're looking for the best shots," Karl says. "We will not need my scoring, although I will not pass up an easy shot. We've got so much scoring talent this year.' That includes Dennis Wuycik, Bill Chamberlain, Steve Previs. Kim Huband, Smith produces pros There are six Carolina graduates who played college ball under Dean Smith in the professional ranks. Probably the most famous two are Charlie Scott and Bill Cunningham, who have achieved stardom in their respective leagues. Scott, of the ABA's Virgiru Squires, leads his league in scoring and last year pushed Virginia to the Lastern Division title as a rookie. He was on the All-ABA team and, of course, was named rookie of the y ear. Cunningham has been a fine player for many years with Philadelphia in the NBA. 'The Kid' started on the NBA team in the NBA-AB all-tar game last vumner m Houston. Other former Tar Heels in the pro, have made impressions as well. Larry Miller, an All-American in 1V6X, is slowly becoming an All-Star guard tor the f defender in the NIT last March. Karl led - final victory over Duke, hitting six of 12 to team' Donn Johnston. Billy Chambers, sophomore John O'Donnell. and the big newcomers, b-l soph Bobby Jones and 6-9 transfer Robert McAdoo. who rooms with Karl. According to Karl, the new talent should be even more impressive on defense. "McAdoo and Jones are both super, fabulous shot-blockers and defensive plavers. Previs is. of course, the best defensive player around, and everyone else has improved in that department. "Mac has really come around well. 1 couldn't have picked up the intricacies of our system as well as he has." Kail, Wuyiik and Previs will go home Saturday to play Pittsburgh - "a team entirely capable of knocking us off" snd then Princeton, with AIl-American Jrian Taylor. "This is a big test for us," Karl estimates. "If we get by these two we'll be ready for the Big Four ournament and the Spain trip during Christmas." And then, the conference season, with its punishing basketball and its exasperating off-court controversies. "Coach Smith, again, has instilled poise within us. He has never really criticized anybody, and he came out of all this Tom Mc.Millen criticism beautifully. "I'm not glad South Carolina's out of the conference because I think we could have beaten them this year. As far as last year's two losses go - well, I think we had a better team." The NIT victory (and the ring that all the players got Tuesday, signifying the tournament championship) has not completely made up for the ACC tournament loss to South Carolina. "Our goal is the NCAA," Karl says. "We wanted to show the nation that North Carolina is one of the best, and I think we proved it in the NIT. Still, I think we could have represented the conference better in the NCAA, even though the NIT win was a big thrill." Karl's plans when he graduates in '73 are still taking shape. "I'd like to achieve a financial soundness with a pro contract," he says. "But then there are so many things to do to help people, which to me is very important. I'm also thinking about seminary, the Peace Corps, and law school." Karl and friends are also active in Cenesis House, which helps people with crug problems. Right now. Karl faces another rough r--ason, this time with everyone shooting a., the Tar Heels. "We have great talent. . d we could have gotten a little cocky," he savs. "But we're too mature for that right now . I think." There's that word again. Carolina Cougars. Miller is second m scoring on the team and has turned in outstanding defensive performances this y ear. Larry Brown, who graduated in 63 and for a brief moment held the head coaching job at Davidson College, is also one of the best guards in the ABA He now plays for the Denver Rockets. B:!l Bunting is Scott's teammate on the Squires after playing for the Cougars and New York Nets. Dick Grubar served with Indiana before retiring with a bad knee; he now coaches at Chapel Hill High. Bob Lewis has played with the San Francisco Warriors anJ Cleveland ( j alters. Dave Chadick is presently playing in Belgium and scoring high, and center Lee Dedmon was cut by the Utah Stars, is recovering from pneumonia and may try again next year.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 2, 1971, edition 1
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