European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 10, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday february 10, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 23 College basketball mourning grows in Ewing s Shadow by Ken Denlinger the Washington Post Washington Georgetown second Center of attention is grateful to the first. Patrick Ewing made Alonzo mourning s Entrance into College Basket Ball easier than it might otherwise have been. Somewhere Down the line mourning May not consider Ewing a Blessing. Every gifted athlete at every school with tradition plays against ghosts. And Pat Rick s presence his teams winning 84 percent of 144 games winning one National championship and finishing Sec Ond twice might become too heavy and unfair a Burden to shoulder. Just now More than Halfway through his first regular season mourning is Pur ring along on a path with bumps that have been smoothed either by Ewing or Georgetown s experience with Ewing. Also it has helped that mourning came to Georgetown with a smile on his face Ewing even left with a scowl. Just working with him and him being my idol gives me so much inspiration mourning said. Right now i try to go out and do some of the things he taught me. Playing Tough. Playing Strong every  Ewing arrived in 1981, when College basketball and the National Media were starting to become uncomfortable with Georgetown and its coach John Thomp son. The hoyas were commanding Atten Tion those who offered it were frustrated by Thompson s demands. Everywhere it seemed the hoyas played no Quarter de sense. All of us now Are accustomed to All the things that surround the successful recruitment of a dazzlingly Brilliant Cen Ter. Thompson said. It s not the Star anymore. There s a theatrical aspect around a Center like that excitement strangers stopping him tourists coming by the school that kind of thing. But we re used to that and Alonzo s handling it  two seasons before Ewing George town missed the final four by a Point one season before Ewing Georgetown lost in the first round of the Mcaa tournament to almost totally unknown James Madison. Patrick was the one missing link Thompson said. We had All the other pieces there seniors at most other positions and an All America guard i sleepy Floyd. This team is not As Good As  maybe not. It surely is much younger with extremely inexperienced players at most positions except Point guard where olympian Charles Smith still might be the most under appreciated player in col lege basketball. Ewing s first team was 14-4 after 18 games mourning s first is 16-2. Also no body else this season seems As imposing As the North Carolina team that beat the hoyas by a Point for the 1982 inca title. James worthy had 28 Points for the tar heels. Michael Jordan had 17, including the winning Basket Sam Perkins had seven rebounds and 10 Points after getting several Early shots batted away by Ewing. And has there been a final four to match that one As a coming out party in addition to Ewing and Jordan hous ton s Akeem Olajuwon also was a fresh Man. Thompson has asked More of mourn ing than Ewing As a freshman because he knows that s both necessary and Possi ble. Mourning is much farther along offensively than Ewing had been As a scorer and especially As a passer. Memories of Ewing in a pre George town tournament the . Olympic festival at Syracuse include his being just hoyas provide Alonzo mourning an outlet for his considerable basketball talents. One of three immensely promising High school centers. His defense his intensity even his potential seemed Superior but Stuart Gray and Greg Dreiling were More developed at the time. No such comparisons were made with mourning. Rather than dip slightly Dur ing the summer after High school graduation mourning s Stock actually surged. Few would have argued had Thompson chosen him for the olympic team. When i saw him in the trials it was scary to see How Well he played to see How hard he played to see How he treated the upper class players All those veterans with no respect whatsoever said Seton Hall coach . Carlesimo. I love his Demeanour. I love his attitude. If you Back me in a Corner and make me compare them it s almost a Coin flip. I d give Alonzo the Edge because he s a Little farther along at this Point. To be fair to Alonzo As great As he is let s sit Back and let him finish a big East year and an Mcaa  mourning gets even More specific saying i Haven t played at Pitt i Haven t played at Syracuse. As the year goes on i expect my game to fall into  he admits i have to keep my head in the game More concentrate every moment on the court. That never seemed a problem for Ewing. Always he was eyes on the prize focused. If mourning has Many More blocked shots than Ewing he also has surrendered More Back door layups. Having held his own against such As a couple of famous Dannys ferry and Manning and others As Large and More experienced than himself during the olympic experience mourning was More than neutralized earlier this season by an obscure Robinson Connecticut spliff. Even so huskies coach Jim Calhoun said of mourning to Mike Stanton of Eastern basketball he s like the Black Hole in there. Everything that goes inside against him disappears. Even players Dis appear against  for almost his entire Georgetown Ca reer Ewing was seen mostly As a specialist a shot blocking intimidating defender who rarely strayed far from the Basket or from what he did Well. Mourning is a basketball player hardly Complete but certainly capable of pass ing and shooting Well enough to be a highly effective inside outside Force with Smith and Jaren Jackson. The ultimate fun for Georgetown ought to come when Thompson trusts mourning on the High Post and diem by Mutombo Down Low. Standing tall together mourning and Mutombo either create an optical illusion or cry for an indictment against How Georgetown measures its players. Is mourning closer to 6-foot-8 than his listed 6-10 or is Mutombo closer to 7-3 than6-11? Thompson asks another obvious ques Tion about mourning and Mutombo can Georgetown get away with pairing those two for extended time during postseason tournaments he says i like the Way it looks. We be got to have the guts to Deal with it Long enough for the combination to be effective sometime in the future. As Carlesimo suggested and nearly every other basketball insider also realized a while Back mourning has the overdose of arrogance necessary for ath Letic immortality. He s comfortable catching the Ball in addition to swatting it and wearing Ewing s no. 33. Mourning also May signal a slight change in Georgetown s attitude from Button Down Blue business to loud col ors and suspenders showy. Mourning punctuates his baskets with a raised fist. Shows his pleasure after something Spe Cial to a heckler in Florida he Bleu kiss. His Back to the Basket. Mourning wheeled on a Seton Hall defender once in the second half last week dribbled and banked in a runner off the Glass. In other ways he also is venturing away from a Center s natural Home on offence. Defensively his average of six plus blocks a game is ahead of David Robinson s Mcaa single season record of 5.9. That mourning is so far advanced As a Complete and completely relentless player has caused him to be compared out of High school with a ghost larger than Ewing. I said he was the Best High school player i d seen since Moses  said Aba super scout Marty Blake. "1 Don t see any reason to regret  added Miami hurricanes coach Bill Foster there s no question that since Moses he s the Best big kid to come out of High  still. Moses never wanted to lose said a longtime College coach. Never. 1 saw mourning let Down a bit during a sum Mer Camp. I watched Moses absolutely humiliate Dave Bing when Bing still was the Best penetrating guard in the pros and Moses was Between his Junior and senior years in High school. Did t eve throw the Guy a Crumb. I Don t think Alonzo would do thai to Isiah Thomas or magic Johnson even if he was capable of doing  the coach continued i can t Sec any one beating Georgetown at the half court level. But i can see someone doing it with full court pressure trapping Smith. And maybe by sitting in some sort of 2-3 zone and gambling the hoyas will no Bury shots from the outside. So Thompson frets. He s still a freshman the coach emphasizes of mourning. Shot selection. Impatience. But he makes sins of com Mission rather than omission. I think that s Good. And his work habits Are As Good As Patrick  he gets better every single Day every single practice said Smith. He s devel oped that Hook. He s getting the passes Back to us  what Patrick accomplished at Georgetown was absolutely phenomenal said Carlesimo who watched a Good Deal of it from the Seton Hall Bench. People take for granted what he did. But if i had to bet on someone else being capable of doing that i d bet on33." he paused. This