I
4
Davis a charm
to Heels' hoop
hopes vs. Irish
By LEE PACE
Assistant Sports Editor
Although Walter Davis might look a little
funny taking the court Thursday night in the
Eastern Regional semifinals with a wad of
white adhesive tape around two of his
fingers, anyone laughing at him might get in
trouble. . . ... .7,
Particularly Notre Dame's Fighting Irish.
UNCs talented forward broke the index
finger on his right hand in Carolina's
Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal win
over N.C. State and saw limited action in the
finals against Virginia the next night. After
surgery the night of the" ACC finals, he sat
out the Tar Heels' opening NCAA
tournament win over Purdue last Saturday
But Davis will be back in the lineup when
the Heels face the Irish at 8 tonight in College
Park, Md. And if his performance in practice
this week is any indication, his presence will
be felt on the plus side for the Heels, on the
minus end for the Irish.
"It (the finger) feels a lot better," Davis
said Wednesday afternoon before boarding
the team bus for the airport and the flight to
College Park. Tve got a lot more motion in
it. It seems to have improved a lot each day."
Doctors will tape the index finger to his
middle finger before the game in an effort to
give the weak finger added support and
protection. And although the taping would
seem to hamper his natural shooting motion,
the senior from Pineville has had little
trouble this week getting his smooth jumper
to find the bottom of the nets.
"I'm sort of .surprised at my shooting," he
said, "because I've been snooting pretty
well."
So well, in fac that Tar Heel Coach Dean
Smith quipped the other day that he might
have discovered a revolutionary new
shooting aid. I might start having all my
players tape two fingers of their shooting
hand together," he said at a press luncheon.
The taping, however, does not eliminate
the awkwardness of trying to shoot with
taped fingers.
"It's sort of hard to shoot because you
need that index finger," Davis said. "It feels a
lot different. That's why I've been shooting
so much the last couple of days. I've been
trying to get used to it so that it doesn't feel
quite so awkward."
Davis injured the finger when he fell on it
after attempting a layup in the State game.
"I just thought it was a jammed finger at
first. A broken finger was the farthest thing
from my mind," Davis, who left a 15.3
scoring void in the UNC lineup with his
absence, said.
He made little actual contribution to the
squad in its 75-69 win over Virginia, but just
his physical presence in the lineup for several
Nine swimmers in At A Ws
The culminating event of the women's
swimming season begins today as the
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for
Women championships open at Brown
University in Providence, R.I.
Nine women will be representing UNC as
they compete against the nation's best in the
three-day event. The Heels qualified for the
national meet in all five medly and freestyle
relays, as well as 22 individual events.
Participants for Carolina are Ann
Marshall, Bonny Brown, Janice Hape,
Laurie Potter, Lauren Dupree, Barb
FCA dinner set
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes
spring banquet will be held March 22 at 6:30
p.m. in the Great Hall. Speaking will be two
time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin
and Oakland Raider lineman Dave Rowe.
Tickets are $5.00 each and can be obtained in
room 135 of Carmichael Auditorium.
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Staff photo by Bruce Clarke
Walter Davis
minutes in the second half helped the Tar
Heels in their effort to avoid Virginia's upset
bid. And with center Tommy LaGarde also
on the bench with an injured knee, that
amounted to quite a formidable task.
"It felt bad having to sit on the bench those
two games, particularly the Purdue game. In
the Virginia game I knew there was a chance
I could play, but against Purdue there was no
way I could play," Davis said.
Smith said that Davis might be a little
"gun shy" around the boards in trying to
keep the finger from being reinjured. Davis
agreed that the injured finger would be no
help in combating a Notre Dame team that
is one of the best rebounding squads in the
nation.
"1 might be a little hesitant in batting the
ball out and tapping it with my right hand,"
he said.
But regardless of how much contribution
he does make, Davis could be the charm to
offset the Irish on St. Patrick's Day.
Wallace, Gale Thompson, Anne Colvard
and Andi Young.
UNC Coach Jim Wood is confident the
women can improve on their No. 9 ranking
of last year. Top competition will be
provided by the University of Miami,
defending champs lor the past two years,
Arizona State, UCLA, USC, Alabama and
Florida.
TOD HUGHES
Tar Heel Classifieds
Cost Only $1.50
7
V? Old Well Music Box V?
for a Carolina graduate
PLAYS "HARK THE SOUND"
in antique finish wood . . .
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Downtown Franklin Street
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Over 100 dishes
Gourmet food from all
four corners of China
Peking, Szechuen,
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Private party rooms
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Dine amid the art of
China
Join us in the celebration of
the New Year 4675 The year
of the Serpent. Enjoy Special
Dishes for the New Year.
Luncheon Specials
Available Monday
through Friday from
11 to 2
are open during all
holidays .
UNG faces
Heels try to rile Digger's Irish
with a St. Pat's four-corner clover
By GRANT VOSBURGH
Staff Writer
There is no truth to the rumor that UNC
Head Basketball Coach Dean Smith has
been out roaming the turf in Kenan Stadium
in search of four-leaf clovers nor has he been
referring to Carolina's Olympic basketball
medals as a "crock of gold."
Such gossip has been due to UNCs
NCAA Eastern Regional battle with Notre
Dame tonight at 8. And wouldn't you know
it the luck of the Irish would have the game
played on St. Patrick's Day.
Smith, however, remains unperturbed. At
least that was the way he presented himself
Tuesday as he scanned the Irish statistics.
Looking down their roster, I don't know
if they have an Irish guy on their squad,"
Smith said with a smile. "John O'Donnell
(former UNC player and now a graduate
assistant coach), represents us on St. Pattie's
Day. Everybody thinks it's Mike O'Koren,
but he's not Irish."
That revelation came as a surprise to many
reporters present at Smith's press
conference. With a name like O'Koren, with
an alma mater like Hudson Catholic and
with a hometown like Jersey City, it seemed
only logical that the freshman recruit must
have kissed the Blarney Stone somewhere
along the way for his basketball skill.
O'Koren admitted, however, that the
closest he ever came to being Irish was when
he narrowed his college choices to .North
Carolina and, you guessed it, Notre Dame.
"Yeah, 1 almost went there (Notre Dame).
But, you know, I want us to win," he mildly
understated.
He was then asked if he didn't have a just a
drop of green blood in his Carolina blue
veins.
"Naw," he answered, "Yugoslavian."
So, shamrocks or not, O'Koren and his
Tar Heel teammates will face the Fighting
Irish in College Park, Md., and Smith is not
relishing the thought of it.
"A problem for us against Purdue and a
problem against Notre Dame will be getting
second shots," Smith said, referring to Notre
Three regional
games on tube
The UNC-Notre Dame NCAA
Eastern Regional basketball game will
be televised tonight beginning at 8 on
WRDU, Channel 28. Other regional
games also will be televised in this area
tonight. WRAL, Channel 5, will
televise the UNC-Charlotte-Syracuse
game beginning at 5:30. WRAL will
televise a heavyweight boxing match at
10 p.m. and will switch to the Wake
Forest-Southern Illinois basketball,
game when the Fight ends. The Wake
game starts at 10:37 p.m. E.S.T.
If jazz is
musical
Ml
Notre Dame in Eastern
Dame's nationally leading .. rebounding
statistics.
Leading the assault on the boards are
Bruce Flowers (6-foot-8), Toby Knight (6-foot-9)
and Dave Batton (6-foot-9). The
Irish's Head Coach Digger Phelps told
reporters via a telephone interview Tuesday
that his team works "very hard at that part of
the game. Flowers, Knight and Batton are
very aggressive and physical on both boards,
and (Bill) Patterno (Notre Dame's sixth
man) is 6-foot-6 and very strong. He's been
at his peak the last two weeks."
Those four alone have been pulling down
nearly 26 rebounds a game with Knight
leading the way with a 10.4 rebound per
game mark. As a team, Notre Dame
averages 42.8 rebounds each outing while
limiting opponents to just under 32.
In the scoring department, the Fighting
Irish's statistics look similar to UNCs. All
Five starters average in double figures with
Paterno just under that distinction with a 9.8
mark. Don "Duck" Williams, a smooth
guard who runs a spread offense much like
UNCs own Four Corners, tops the scorers
with an 18.2 average. Knight is close behind
with a 15.0 mark. Batton (12.4), Flowers
(11.3) and Rich Branning (9.5) follow in
suit.
"We have no super star," Phelps said, "But
we'll have five or six people in double
figures."
Notre Dame, now 22-6 and ranked 10th
nationally, was ranked as high as second in
the country as the Irish sped out to an early
7-0 mark. Then disaster hit South Bend. The
Irish took out on a road trip and came home
with five losses, dropping them from
national prominence for the time being.
But someone in the Notre Dame program
found a lucky charm, and the Fighting Irish
finished the season with a 14-2 streak,
including impressive wins over Holy Cross
and San Francisco and a five-point loss to
UCLA.
It was the win over the previously
Regional pairings
EAST REGIONAL
College Park, Md.
VMI vs. Kentucky; UNC vs. Notre Dame
MIDEAST REGIONAL
Lexington, Ky.
UNC-Charlotte vs. Syracuse; Michigan vs. Detroit
MIDWEST REGIONAL
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Marquette vs. Kansas State; Wake Forest vs. Southern Illinois
WEST REGIONAL
Provov IJtah
UCLA vs. Idaho StaterUfah"vsTNeada-Cas r Vegas""
lum
rjliiLLlila
1 1
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Non-Irishman Mike O'Koren will be doing
meets Notre Dame in the Eastern Regional
unbeaten Dons of USF that signaled to the
basketball world that the Irish were
rejuvenated. Phelps, however, had sensed it
before that time.
"We had some injuries in mid-season
which set us back a bit. But we got Flowers
back, and he makes things happen for us
inside. I think the keys for us have been our
scoring balance and on our rebounding."
UNC, though, has had its own share of
success after a mid-season spell of bad luck
when the Tar Heels lost three of four
Atlantic Coast Conference games. The Heels
are riding a 12-game winning streak and, at
25-4, are ranked fourth in the polls."
"Their (the Tar Heels') defense and hustle
BP
I
11
Record Bar. Review the history
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53 i
by checking out these great releases from
Masters of Modern Piano: Various Artists
Arbour Zena: Keith Jarrett
Dreams So Real: Gary Burton
Bright Size Life: Pat Metheny
Directions Untitled: Jack Dejohnette
Dansere: Garbarek
Mountainscapes; Barrie Phillips
Sargasso Sea: John Abercrombie
Rubisa Patrol: Art Lande
After the Rain.- Terje Rypdal
The Following Morning: Everhard Weber
Thursday, March 17, 1977 The Daily Tar Heel 7
semifinals
his best to defeat the Irish when Carolina
semis tonight at 8:1 5 in College Park, Md.
wins games," Phelps said. "They want to
keep ou confused defensively. Their
transition game is a key for them."
Smith agreed.
"No one will try harder than our team," he
said. "We may not do everything right, but
these players always think they can win."
"It's a toss up," he said of the game. "1
imagine one team will be in the four corners
in the last minute."
So there you have it. Dean Smith is not
awed by the task of playing the Fighting Irish
on St. Patrick's Day. To him, it's just an
everyday coincidence and nothing more.
Now, about the fact that there is a Notre
Dame Street in the heart of College Park. ,.
of a great
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