European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 11, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Indiana hoops this season like Knight and Day b Anthony Cotton the Washington Post bloom1ngton, ind. Barely iwo hours after a heartbreaking 70-67 loss to big ten rival Illinois last Sun Day the Indiana hoosiers Ore huddled in their locker room a Assembly Hall reviewing what went wrong. The word won spreads the team is going to hold a full practice session Complete Wilh scrimmage. ". This recalls a tale Tram two years ago when after a iwo Point loss at Illinois that ended with Indiana guard Steve Alford missing badly on a last second shot Hie Hoosic a resumed Here and practice More than two hours almost exclusively on that very1 situation. The Drill it is said was repealed far a full wet of practice and a month Laler the hoosiers won inc National championship when Keith smart Sank a shot in the waning stages of the title game against Syracuse. Thai the practice Story is apocryphal it did t Hap pen said coach Bobby Knight. We practice on it at the workout the not Day thai was it  does t Dialler. Legends Are made of such things and should Indiana go  win this season s Mcaa championship there s no telling How much sunday episode will grow in inc retelling.,for the hoosiers faithful,.this season already disclose to being the stuff of fantasies. Picked in preseason id finish fourth or fifth in the big ten Indiana did t look even that Good after Starling 3-1 and giving up More than 100 Points to Syracuse notch Carolina and Louisville. Since then Knight s learn has won 22of 24 games. Both losses have come to Illinois. Then thursday night Indiana clinched the Confer ence title with a 75-64 Triumph Over Wisconsin. The hoosiers 25-6 probably will be seeded no. I in one of the four Mcaa regions. ,. Nol bad for a learn whose coach in to sure it is nationally competitive. By that i mean Hal you could go out and play a scrips of games against people that Are nationally competitive. Knight said. "1 Don know that we could do thai 1 think thai we apparently have shown Over the last several games that we can play in Given circumstances with a lol of pretty Good i teams but tin nol sure if we could play four or five Good teams in a  v . After the near disastrous Start Knight changed his starting lineup benching larger players and moving Toa three guard unit of senior Joe Hillman Jay Edwards and Lyndon Jones both sophomores.  who almost passed up this season to concen trate on a pro baseball career is 6-feet-2, which Means he s oils izod by most of the natural forwards he defends. The same could be said of the other two starters Todd Jadlow and freshman Eric Anderson both in. Nevertheless Indiana has thrived. Turnovers the biggest Early season problem have been sharply reduced with the guard oriented quintet. And inc tenets of Knight basketball helping Man to Man defense and a patient cutting offence have come to the fore. I think coach really likes his team teaching them and watching them grow. He s been into it and they be really responded to it said assistant coach Joby Wright. It s a very neat team to be around the understand what they have to do to be successful and they re willing to listen and  saturday March 11, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 23 Bobby Kniehl has gone from conch �fa3-4 team curly in the season to coach of a 2s-6 Hir ten Champion. La has been widely suggested that Indiana s Success this season and Knight s marriage last Spring to Karen Edgar a former High school girls basketball coach from Oklahoma have combined to make the coach moronic allow. Maybe he thinks if he Lightens up with them hell get More out of them but he s been like a Teddy Berthis year said Illinois Forward Nick Anderson. Last year i never saw a coach like him. Maybe he s getting too old now maybe he can  it  s said that further evidence can be found in the fact that Edwards who was briefly suspended from the team his freshman year and then failed a school drag lest last summer was allowed to continue playing by Knight a longtime hardliner on inc subject of drugs. Then came the news thai Lawrence Funderburks a talented Ohio High school player who was suspended five games into his senior season was still being granted an athletic scholarship to play Here next season. Perhaps the biggest Shock  weekend when it. Was revealed thatty night Noi Only attended a High school game with Zillini coach Lou Henson but also was t Upsel that his son Pat was being recruited by Illinois. That reportedly was the focal Point of Knight s earlier complaint so the conference offices regarding irregularities. Henson and i have been Good friends since he Gol. In the big ten Knight said. But scale Stoner for Mer Illinois athletic director i had absolutely no use for whatsoever. He Sori and i never had a problem but i had orca problems Wilh How his athletic director  about handling intercollegiate athletics."-. Knight explains away the other supposed evidence. Of his softening. With Edwards i think you make a real mistake if you think that no one can make a mis Lake,1 he said. I think the kid makes a real mistake if he thinks he can make the mistake again i Don t have a problem Lell ing him play but if there were another lest and a failure it would be a real problem. Hen have no  Funderburks s problems Aren t All his doing. I like the kid. Where he s coming from what he s about. He comes from a terrible background but if a kid can come from that and do what he s done academically then there s something there Thal s really Worth working Wilh it has been said that time heals All wounds. And with the passage of time some athletes like los an Geles lakers Center Kareem Abdul Jabbar come to an accommodation Wilh if not acceptance of inc Media. Perhaps such a time will come for Knight but nol  closest Knight will Ronie to a reconciliation Wilh the fourth estate is saying that ill one Lime reporters Tirril Ald him. But now he s merely amused by them. Brought even More attention to him when published two years ago. He never specifically mentioned it in an interview this week. ". You want me to list All the things that i be raid about me that Are Absolu Rilely untrue he asks. Well no i Don t have Lime to do that. I read this slut Hal i Vernal Lowed this year. Hey nobody knows Heller than i do and i say. What did t 1 do before what did l do before thai makes me different than now i Don t fuel any different. I Don t think i m any  portrays hims Las perhaps the most misunderstood mar in the world or at least in the Mcaa. He Sasall the incidents thai have placed him in the spotlight tossing a chair across the court against Purdue taking his learn off the floor in an exhibition game against a team from the soviet Union the trouble in puerto Rico during the pan am games a comment about rape during a television inner View with abcs Connie Chung either were taken out of context or Are things that any other coach might have done. It s nol just any coach who has won 500-Nlus  Mcaa lilies and an olympic Gold medal. But Knight says he fails to Sec Why More attention is paid to him than the average coach.   what difference docs it make who it is How Many coaches have kicked chairs thrown chairs throw jackets he said. Why is Irma if i threw 500 chairs in 900 games that would be one thing. But i be throw none and now i m the chair thrower. It seems to me that pounding on a table pales in significance to 97 percent of our players  Many stories arc written not about academics where somewhere there s a line that says by the Way coach Jones has graduated Only 20 percent of his Plaj ers in inc Lasi 10 years ? you la never see it bul to me Hal should be the same As sticking ind line Hal says 1 threw a  Packer picks Georgetown As team to beat in Caas by Rick Warnera spurts writer in the age of parity the Only thing harder than winning the Mcaa Basket Ball tournament is picking the Champion in the office Pool this car Iwu do in teams seem Ca Pable of winning it All. Bul lbs commentator Billy Packer says one islands above the rest i think Georgetown is the team to beat he said. With la in defense you Don t gel any easy shots. They Don t blow Many people out bul they usually Leda  Packer admits he has been wrong be fore. Last year i did t think Kansas had a Chance tic said. But there were so Many upsets in their bracket they had a pretty easy path to he final four that s what makes in so hard to  Packer will have More to say about the tournament sunday when the Mcaa announces the 64-Tcam Field. He will join Brent Musburger and Jim Nanti in new York loan Alyc the Sce dings and pair Ings on lbs s selection show Tim Brant will report live from Kansas City mo., where the Field will be announced in addition to Georgetown Packer has a few Oiher favourites for the final Fout i like Arizona and either North Caro Una or Duke from the acc he said. And i think one of inc big ten representatives has a Good Chance to make it Packer s list of potential giant killers includes South Alabama and Evans Vilic. They have experienced Bac couns which is very important in the Lourna men because there s much pressure he said. _ Abc which is looking for sports 1988 Winter olympics will premiere this programming to replace baseball and inc month on the Disney Channel. Olympics is about to snatch the pan part one of Calgary 88 16 Days Ofa. N in  a rtt glory will be shown March 22. Part iwo will air in May. Among the athletes featured in the film Are finnish ski Juniper Molli Nyka non Canadian speeds air. Gacutan Boucher and figure skating rivals Brian american games front lbs Abc has reportedly agreed to pay s7 million for inc to rights to inc 1991 Panama James in Cuba a big increase from the sj.5 million lbs paid for the 1987 games in  would talk about inc. Negotiations. But lbs sports president meal Pilson said losing the pan am Iames would not be 3 major blow be cause the network recently added major league baseball and the 1992 Imler olympics to its lineup. We have a pretty full plate right  Pilson said add is expected to share pan Arn coverage with Turner broadcasting which is a cuing a $2 million Deal for the Cable rights. R Bud Greenspan s official film of the Soilano and Brian  an sports television Olk go Ink Coball Illinois Al Michi Gan 10 . Saturday Noire Dame at Sci aul 2 . Sunday Dola to. I Radi College basketball Noire Hume at Depaul 8 30 . Saturday Pacific 0confitcnce semifinal 11 06 . Sunday Western athletic conference final 4 06 . Sunday