European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 8, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 26 a the stars and stripes Friday March 8,1991 basketball univ won t win it by Neil Best a a a a a a. New Day. A a univ will not win the Mcaa tournaments remember where you read this first. Tear out this Page. Circle the byline. Ignore the other predictions you will read College notes and hear next week. The team of the Century will be history before Midnight april 1, the night of the Mcaa championship game. Just thought you should know. There arc several reasons for this 1. There will be 63 other teams in the Field Many of them pretty darn Good. The Laws of statistics and probability Are aligned against the Runnin rebels 2. Every team univ plays will have nothing to lose. Not Arkansas. Not Ohio state. Not Syracuse. So the rebels opponents will be Loose Carefree and therefore dangerous. 3. Univ will be under tremendous pressure in every game. Anything Short of six wins and a National title will be regarded As an utter failure by its players and fans. Done to let Tiht Larry Johnson Smirk fool you. These Guys Are human. 4. The rebels Are the Best team in the nation but the magnitude of their dominance has been overstated. The myth was born in last seasons Mcaa final when univ routed Duke but three of its first five 1990 tournament games were decided by 11 Points or fewer. This season the rebels pump telex the usual big West patsies and won a measly two no conference games against teams currently in the a top 25 Arkansas and Princeton. They played a total of Only four games against currently ranked teams. Would the rebels have gone undefeated in the big cast nope. Are they As dominant As the Best of. Of. A Arkansas with Oliver Miller facing univ s Stacey Augmon last month is one team trying to steal the title from the running rebels. Urcla s champions noway. Will Billy Packer stick a microphone in Johnson a smiling face on april fools night huh. A Bubble update a the number of. Teams on the Mcaa tournament a a Bubble should be dwindling. Instead it is growing. Look for More teams than Ever to cry foul when they re left out of the 64-team Field sunday evening. Here a a partial list of major Confer knee teams badly in need of at least one Victory this. Weekend Georgetown 1611providence 16-11georgia tech 16-11georgia x16-11houston 18-9by 17-12us 17-9arizona state 17-9 and Oklahoma 16-13. Well actually the sooner May need two wins. Then there Are the 20-game winners that already have lost in conference tournaments and can Only Hope for a Miracle Siena 23-9. Arkansas state 21-9 and Furman 20-8 among others. Considering Alj this tournament com Mittee chairman Jim Delany seemed in Good spirits while being grilled by reporters tuesday in a nationwide conference Call. A my sense is there a going to be a lot of similar looking teams a Delany said anticipating the inevitable. It wont be Long now. A around the nation . International of san Diego bade Farewell to College basketball monday with a 128-119 loss to Missouri Kansas City. The school is bankrupt and the team was 2-26. At least the gulls had the nations leading scorer Kevin Bradshaw who averaged 37,6 Points. North car Olina Charlotte Forward Jarvis Lang leads division 1 freshmen in scoring 19.6 and rebounding 10.7. The Only other freshmen to Lead both categories were Jeff Ruland of Iona in 1977-78 and Wayman Tisdale of Oklahoma in 1982-83. Barring an nit bid for either team or a late flourish by univ Loyola Mary mount can beat Southern for the division i scoring title by totalling 75 of More Points sunday at Princeton. Loyola averages 105.4 and Southern 104.4,. Princeton allows an average of 48,9. A a rim shots there Are Only three big East teams m this weeks a top 25, and Only two each from the acc and big ten. The Sec has four entries. Lookalikes St. Johns guard David cd Ain and notre Dame football player Raghib Ismail North Carolina Center Pete Chilcutt and subway gunman Bernhard Goetz. St. Johns 20-7 has a 72-Page Media guide a ratio of 3.6 pages per win. Noire Dame 12-19 has a 256-Pagc guide or 21.3 pages per win. Happy 19th birthday Shaquille of Neal get Well . Games on an v. ,. Television Atlantic coast conference quarterfinal Duke is. Wake Forest 3 . Saturday. Radio big eight quarterfinal Colorado at Kansas 1 . Saturday. By Jan Hubbard a new Day a. A a those who Are intrigued by and constantly on. The Lookout for trends should note that since Chuck paly was named the 1992 olympic coach the pistons Are 3-7. It. A a Quot a a a a a in be noticed a lot of Guys Are coming in Here and playing Well Quot Daly said from Detroit tuesday. Call it the curse of Success. Daly became the first Aba coach to be selected to head the olympic team a Reward for the masterful Way he has directed the pistons and for his distinguished career. The result is opposing players who also Are prospective olympians show off for Daly by kicking a battered a pistons team when it is Down. But Daly is becoming accustomed a As strange As it May sound a to the negatives of winning a championship. Former lakers coach Pat Riley talked about it often. Most teams have a month of training Camp a six month regular season and if they re Lucky and Good a playoff round or two. Champions however have a month of training Camp a six month regular season two months of playoffs and Little time off. There is a lot of Wear and tear and its showing on the pistons. First there Are the injuries which can be attributed at least in part to the grind of the Long schedule. In the four years preceding this season the pistons played an average of 109 exhibitions regular season and playoff games. They played for about 8vi months each  played in three Aba finals and they once were eliminated in the conference finals along with the grueling physical schedule there also was intense pressure. And stress particularly during the playoffs. A a there san emotional and physical baggage you have to carry around a Daly said. A whether we can overcome it in a not so sure. The season is so Long and there Are so Many . The physical toll was in part responsible for the deterioration of the condition of Isiah Thomas wrist. Thomas had wrist surgery and has missed 21 games. John Salley has missed eight of the last nine games because of a Quot lower Back Strain although he returned wednesday night when the kicks Defeated the pistons in Auburn Hills. And Joe Dumars has been playing despite a painful toe condition that is similar to a turf toe and a hamstring problem. The injuries led directly to a recent five game. Pistons losing Streak their longest in five years. They ended it sunday but it took a visit from the terminally  clippers for the pistons to become winners again. The Outlook is not particularly Bright. Even before Thomas surgery the pistons were having significant shooting problems they Are making Only 46.3 percent of their Field goal attempts which not Only is their worst performance from the Field in the last four years but also is the sixth worst in the league this season. The Only teams with. Worse shooting percentages Are. Denver Minnesota new Jersey Orlando and Sacramento. The pistons can ill afford More losing streaks they have the third Best record in the Eastern conference but they Are Only 3 games better than Atlanta the sixth place team. It is difficult to believe but the pistons could lose the playoff a Home ourt advantage. The pistons still Are hoping for Thomas return in the playoffs but even if he does return they wont be the smooth functioning unit they have been the last four years they still will have a great defense a Thomas departure Hasni to Hurt them in Chuck Daly that respect. The pistons permit opponents to score 95.9 Points a game a the fewest in tile league. But they have big problems scoring averaging 99.6 Points. Only Minnesota and Sacramento score less