Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Dec. 2, 1977, edition 1 / Page 9
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Friday, December 2. 1977 Weekender 3 Three freshmen adjust well to UNC and its basketball V i ( ) fi By WILL WILSON Staff Writer The life of a Carolina freshman basketball player is not easy. Every weeknight, he must attend an academic study hall for two hours. Afternoons, he either has to attend organized practice or is expected to play in pick-up games for two or three hours. He is also trying to learn Dean Smith's system, known as one of the most complicated in the game. All this is on top of the normal problems a college freshman experiences in his first major excursion from home. Tar Heel freshmen this season are all rather far from home. Al Wood is from the small, central Georgia town of Gray, Pete Budko hails from Lutherville, Md., a Baltimore suburb and Mike Pepper comes from Vienna, Va., just outside Washington, DC. But they all agree after the first week of the season that basketball has helped rather than hindered the adjustment to the 20,000 student university. "I would've had problems being by myself," Pepper says. "The team helped out a lot. These teams have always been close-knit. That's the whole idea here." Budko concurred, saying, "1 love it here. It's the best. I left a lot of good and close friends back home, but my friends here are just the greatest. They always have a kind word. When I was injured at the start of practice (a toenail was separated from his toe), they never let me down." Wood says his transition has been especially smooth. "I'm not the type to get homesick," he says. "1 was here in the summer, too. That made me a little more relaxed than the other freshmen." Even though they all seem to have adjusted well, there have been times when second thoughts might have entered their minds like during the rugged conditioning practices in October. "Coach Smith said we'd work as hard as we could, and we did," Budko says. "They're not horror stories, though. We know we'll be in as good shape as anybody." "It was more than I expected," Pepper added. Freshmen are expected to play a big part in the seasons of many ACC teams this year. Carolina's three big recruits are (left to right) Al Wood, Mike Pepper and Pete Budko. Staff photo by Joseph Thomas. As for learning the system, Budko says his high school coach at Loyola H igh gave him a head start. "He was an excellent defensive coach," the 6-foot-8 forward says. "That helped a lot. Here, there's a lot more plays, both offensively and defensively, to learn and memorize. It's getting a lot easier now that we've been working with it six weeks." Pepper, a 6-foot-2 guard says, "1 would've liked to have learned it a little faster. The longer you're with Dean Smith, the more basketball you learn. The seniors are still learning things every day." The three agree that the UNC reputation for class and honesty was a big factor in their choice of schools. Wood added that he thought he'd be able to play a lot here, too. He's being billed by some as the next Walter Davis, but Wood says he pays no attention to that. "1 think the only resemblance between him and I is that we're both about 6-6 and we're built alike." Budko says there was no one thing that got him here. "It's like the commercial says, 'When it's right, you know it.' " Zaliagiris, Bradley could make or break Heels By PETE MITCHELL Staff Writer Lost in the excitement of the Eastern Regional net-cutting ceremony and subsequent trip to Atlanta for the NCAA basketball finals is an important night in the life of last year's North Carolina team which seemed to pull out one miracle win after another. It was against Purdue in the very first round of the NCAA's that Coach Dean Smith was given his first post-season nervous chill in 1977. With Tommy LaGarde still leaning on two huge crutches, Walter Davis out with a finger injury and Phil Ford in serious foul trouble. Carolina was severely outmanned by the Boilermakers. Enter Tom Zaliagiris and Dudley Bradley. Bradley hit four of six shots, snagged eight rebounds and made two important steals. Zaliagiris drilled a 20-footer with 1: 17 to play to regain the lead and totalled eight points for the game. Their performances were vital to UNC's69 66 win. Their contributions were noteworthy then, but Smilh is going to need that kind of play from these two all year lung, having inserted both into his starting lineup. Bradley has been a frustrating player to watch as he heads into his third Big Four Tournament. It's safe to say he's been lucky to have a guy like Bruce Buckley on the team for the Carolina fans to kick around. Having watched Bradley practice for two years now, it's easy to see the tdgewood, Md. junior is an excellent athlete. At 6-foot-6, 195 pounds. Bradley's long legs and arms make him the ideal build for the small forward position. Unfortunately for Tar Heel rooters, his skills have seldom strayed outside the daily practice sessions. Smith has proclaimed this as Bradley's year. But he's got to prove himself, and in a hurry. John Virgil, the explosive sophomore, and freshman Al Wood are narrowing the margin Bradley created with pood pre-season performances. "I'm ready." Bradley said after starting and playing 23 minutes in the first Oregon State game. "I've got more confidence this year, but I was tight out there tonight, especially defensively." H is game stats were unimpressive, but he seems to be getting used to the Smith system. He works well with Ford and M ike O'Koren on offense even though visions of Davis are bound to distort a fair evaluation. Zaliagiris, the other new Carolina starter, is a different case altogether. Every year, it seems like one Tar Heel player is metamorphosed into something much better than he was the year before. It happened with guard Brad Hoffman, with Buckley his junior year and with John Kuester last year. Tom Zaliagiris is the likely candidate for "pleasant surprise" honors this season, although he contributed a lot his junior year. The Detroit senior led the team in field goal Beautiful Sweaters From South America R("IDRO(TlDp Just received another shipment of handmade sweaters in luscious raw wool and alpaca in its natural colors. NX V 1 M 4 The lanolin left in the fibers helps to make these sweaters water-repellant and long lasting. Get a sweater or one of our other imported and unique items for Christmas gifts at ANDROMEDA Open till 9 Wed.-Fri. until Christmas 129 E. Franklin percentages (60.5) and went on a five game tear in which he hit on 15 of 16 shots from the floor. When it was clear that Ford would need a running mate to replace Kuester in the backcourt, Zal spoke up. "I've been waiting to start for a long time," he said after scoring 12 points in 17 minutes against Oregon State last Saturday. "It was obvious that a place would be open and whoever played best in practice would start." Zaliagiris said he also learned a lot about starting: "You definitely have to feel things out and get into the flow of the game. I'm not trying to do anything spectacular out there, but nothing wrong cither." It's tempting to make Kuester-Zaliagiris comparisons. What Zal lacks in ball-handling ability he makes up with his ability to drive to the hoop. As for defenseand rebounding, it won't hurt the Tar Heels' chances to have another 6-foot-5 man in the lineup. "If people expect me to be John Kuester with a different number on my back, they're wrong," Zaliagiris said. As always. Smith has to play the role of the psychiatrist. He's got to get the 325-pound Cieff Crompton motivated for a whole season, caution Carolina fans to be patient with a smaller, quicker lineup and somehow convince the team it can accomplish as much without the likes of Dav is and company. The voids left in the UNC starting lineup are known to everybody, especially the pollsters who still picked the Tar Heels No. I in the nation. They must believe Smith can accomplish these psychological wonders. Or maybe they just caught part of the Purdue game last year. Urn aw omauxAj to Huu , i i BONO' 'plastic, ceramic va . m mi in nu&feti 2 y mm andwtTi LACKj 3C LAPOX WW' 9 GREAT LEftlWER BAGf! ID cf count Power hitter mmd Si 14KG0LD JEWELRY 6 BtD-BENCf COtAB ON W. mMV II. HSTI 1
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Dec. 2, 1977, edition 1
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