University of Virginia Library

Cavs Need Win

It's Almost Life-Or-Death In Dur

By DOUG DOUGHTY

CD/Saxon Holt

All-American Barry Parkhill Will Lead The Charge Against Duke

Prior to the beginning of
this basketball season, Duke
coach Bucky Waters said of
guard Gary Melchionni, "It is
my sincere hope that for the
first time in his career at Duke
this young man may enjoy a
season free of physical
calamity."

Free of physical calamity,
yes. But this season has held
little enjoyment for
Melchionnl, who has felt the
onus of leadership of a
sophomore and
freshman–oriented team and
the switch from chief
playmaker to premier offensive
gun detrimental to his game.

Little enjoyment that is,
until two weeks ago, when
Melchionni had the "game of
the year" for an ACC player.
Leading the heavy underdog
Blue Devils to an upset 85-81
win over Maryland, Melchionni
scored 28 points in the second
half, 39 for the game, and sunk
17 of 25 shots from the field
against the Terrapins.

Melchionni personally
destroyed first Maryland's zone
with his outside riflery and
then tore up Maryland's
Howard White and Bob Bodall
when the Terrapins foolishly
decided to stop him with
man-to-man coverage. Waters
was mesmerized by the
performance, saying, "I just
kept watching him go
one-on-one against White. I just
couldn't keep my eyes off of
him."

It's not certain whether the
Blue Devils are a "one–shot
team." Duke hosted Wake
Forest last Wednesday and
upended the Deacons, 84–71.
That's saying a little, because
Wake had been the winner of
an earlier meeting between the
two, but, held in the light of
the Cavaliers' 104–73
dismemberment of the Deacs,
Saturday, it is no exceptional
accomplishment.

Currently the Blue Devils
have a winning record (10–9),
something that has evaded
them ever since an early-season
loss to the University of
Nevada at Las Vegas. What
brightens up this record is the
fact that eight of these losses
have been by seven points or
less, and none of the setbacks
has come on the friendly
Cameron Indoor Stadium
Court.

Much of Duke's progress
has come with a lineup of

Melchionni, center Alan Shaw,
forwards Bob Fleischer and
Pete Kramer, and guard Kevin
Billerman. Kramer, an outside
shot, has alternated with Bill
Suk, who covered Barry
Parkhill when the two clubs
met in Charlottesville.
Billerman, a compulsive fouler,
is replaced often by Dave
O'Connell and Jeff Burdette.

Duke could conceivably
build its current streak into a
respectable season but
unquestionably the Iron Dukes
would be much more awesome
if they had six players, the
amazing Mr. Abu Bakr (nee
Don Blackman), Dave Elmer,
Jeff Dawson, Jim Fitzsimmons,
Ritchie O'Connor and Ron
Righter, ready to suit up.

Each of these players
originally enrolled at Duke and
all of them played at least
freshman ball. Blackman
currently stars for Rhode
Island, Dawson at Illinois,
Fitzsimmons is a Harvard
junior and the other three are
missing from action on Bucky's
Blue Devil five.

The first game between
Duke and Virginia was won by
the Cavaliers in overtime in
University Hall. The Devils
strode to a 40–29 halftime
lead over the cold-shooting
Wahoos, but the abandonment
of their man-to-man defense
opened the way for Parkhill,
Wally Walker, and Jim
Hobgood to rip apart the
Devil's zone.

Coach Waters used a
combination 1-3-1 and 2-3
zone defense to halt Maryland.
It's anybody's guess whether
he'll go for the zone or the
man-to-man, which proved so
effective in the first half of the
first meeting between the
clubs.

The Virginia players were
reluctant to guess what defense
Coach Gibson might use on
Duke after the Wake game. The
use of combinations has been
effective of late, with most of
the Cavaliers feeling a zone
would be the "Hooter's"
choice. Jim Hobgood said,
"We'll need to put a man on
Melchionni," but the 6-4
co-captain denied the
possibility of box-on-one.

CD/Saxon Holt

Bob McKeag Twists Around Chris Redding In Earlier Game