University of Virginia Library

Naughty, Nasty USC

By Bill Brill

South Carolina may have
the second or third best
basketball talent in the nation.
UCLA is No. 1 (anybody who
saw the TV slaughter of
Dayton surely will agree) and,
talent-wise, South Carolina's
only other challenger is
Marquette.

But the Gamecocks won't
get out of the ACC again unless
they can rid themselves of their
persecution complex.

Anybody who tells you that this
is the same cool, calm team that
should have reached the national
finals last year has not seen the
Gamecocks in action.

The talent is better than ever.
Only Bobby Cremins, a hustling
non scorer, is gone. But up from the
frosh team are Kevin Joyce, the
next USC super star, 7-foot Danny
Traylor and guard Casey Manning.

It is a team with everything
available—height, depth, shooting,
speed, experience. There are three
supers—John Roche. Tom Riker
and Joyce, plus 6-11 Tom Owens,
two-time ACC rebounding king.

But the Gamecocks are so bitter,
so consumed with hatred, that they
are not playing up to their
potential.

South Carolina has so much
talent it will win almost all of its
games. But the Gamecocks already
have been bumped off at North
Carolina and they have not visited
any other ACC campus.

Virtually every foul on South
Carolina is protested by the players.
After any collision, no matter how
harmless, the Gamecocks bristle.
They are prepared to fight.

South Carolina has been
involved in several incidents already
and there is no chance there won't
be more. Roche Mr. Cool the last
two years, has taken a swing at
Auburn's John Mengelt, kicked
Duke's Dick DeVenzio and kneed
UNC's Steve Previs. Roche, a
legitimate All-American who has
been two-time ACC player of the
year, is off to his worst start. At the
moment, he is not going to win
player honors again. Those should
be reserved for Wake Forest's
Charlie Davis.

Roche is shooting just 42 per
cent from the floor. His outside
shot is strangely missing and you
have to wonder if the injury he
received in last year's ACC
semifinals isn't still a mental block
when he drives for the basket.

Coach Frank McGuire has only
made things worse, although the
Irishman thrives on controversy.

After the UNC loss, McGuire
had harsh words for the officials
and the crowd. The Officials, Jim
Hernjak and Olis Allmond, did a
good job. The three technicals
called on USC were all deserved.

Anybody who undercuts Roche
on a layup shot this year had better
prepare to be belted — if not by
Roche, then by somebody else.

The crowd was noisy but
reasonably orderly. There was
relatively little booing of South
Carolina and only on one
occasion when Roche gave a knee
to Previs—did objects come hurtling
on the floor.

McMure complained about
remarks made by people sitting
directly behind the bench. I'm
certain that he was justified in that,
but it is hard to believe that he
could have expected anything else.

Owens was quoted in this week's
issue of Sports Illustrated, in which
Roche was the cover boy as saying,
"If we win the national
championship, I just want to ride
around the state of North Carolina
with a megaphone, yelling, at
everybody, 'Drop dead.' Among
other things."

After a statement like that, what
did McGuire expect when his team
visited Chapel Hill?

It will be a shame if the
Gamecocks do not win the ACC
this year. If they do not, Roche and
Owens will graduate without a title
and this should be the greatest team
in the history of the nation's top
cage league.

But the Gamecocks who played
against UNC Monday night will not
win. In the three days in March at
Greensboro, somebody will get
them.

If USC cuts out all the cute stuff
and concentrates on basketball, it
will win the ACC. It also will win
the Eastern Regional at Raleigh.

South Carolina should, in fact,
meet Marquette in the NCAA
semifinals. But only if the
Gamecocks can rid themselves of
their present attitude. That is the
job for which McGuire is hired.

South Carolina does not need
any strategy in order to win. All the
Gamecocks need to do is forget
everything else and concentrate on
basketball. If they do, they will
win. If they don't, a great team will
be without any rewards.

It will not be easy. It will be
tough every time South Carolina
plays on the road. But it's always
tough on champions. If the
Gamecocks are going to be the
champs, it is up to them to start
acting like champs. Bush leaguers
win no titles.