Sunday, February 27, 2000
COLLEGE BASKETBALL INSIDER
Relieved Cremins ready to take break
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Bobby Cremins figures he needs a year off: a year without defeat, without recruiting battles, without criticism.
He's had too much of all that in the past half-decade, and now that he has resigned as coach at Georgia Tech, he can take his $1.5 million settlement and relax a while.
First, the Yellow Jackets will finish the regular season with games against Wake Forest (today), North Carolina (Wednesday) and Clemson (Saturday). Then comes the ACC Tournament.
“There is a relief,” Cremins said. “Things were not working. It was pretty obvious we were not getting back to where I wanted. I owed Georgia Tech a lot, and I know the business, and there's some great coaches out there, and I hope Georgia Tech gets the first crack.”
Although some commentators have tried to make excuses for Cremins' recent inability to make the NCAA Tournament — Tech's been there once in the past six seasons — he is not trying to make excuses.
Cremins did think it hurt the Jackets to lose guard Dion Glover to a knee injury on the first day of practice for the 1998-99 season; he went to the NBA even though he never played another college game.
Guard Stephon Marbury went pro after his freshman season in 1996, but Cremins blames himself for not seeing that coming and not recruiting a capable replacement.
“Last year, I thought the criticism was really unfair. I suffered one of the toughest injuries I ever suffered, but we still won 15 games and hung around,” Cremins said. “This year, it's just not there. I decided it's time.
TIRED FORMULA: Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was critical of the Ratings Percentage Index formula that has Virginia — third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an 8-5 record and 18-8 overall — at No. 59 in the nation. “I don't think it's a good indicator of a team and what a team has done,” he said.
But ask Virginia coach Pete Gillen whether the Cavaliers deserve an NCAA bid, and after talking about the value of a non-conference win over Arizona State, he's reduced to mentioning a win at Richmond as evidence of his team's non-league accomplishments.
Virginia is 0-4 against RPI top 25 teams, 6-6 against the top 100 — which is only a shade better than Fordham, which is 13-13 overall, but 5-6 against the top 100.
The RPI measures a team's effectiveness and the strength of its schedule with a formula that combines the team's winning percentage, the winning percentage of its opponents, and the winning percentage of its opponents' opponents.
HOW ABOUT ME?: The race for Southeastern Conference player of the year is kind of muddled, with most of the the obvious contenders — Kentucky's Jamaal Magloire, Tennessee's Tony Harris, Auburn's Chris Porter — enduring at least one difficult stretch.
Harris has averaged 16.8 points and shot .410 from 3-point range, but his turnovers (28) are a little heavy compared to his assists (39). Magloire has averaged 14.2 points and 9.6 rebounds in league games, but scored only 8.7 points in the Cats' three recent defeats. Porter righted himself after a dreadful start, but may be less valuable to the Tigers than point guard Doc Robinson.
So Vanderbilt's Dan Langhi, averaging 21.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in SEC games, figures he deserves votes even with the Commodores are only fourth in the SEC East.
“If there's been a player that's played better than me,” Langhi said, “then I'd like to see it.”
AROUND THE NATION: Arizona will be without center Loren Woods, the Wildcats' leading scorer, for at least a month, which means it will be difficult for him to make a significant impact on their pursuit of the NCAA Final Four. Woods has a back injury that is more severe than originally diagnosed.
• It turns out Florida point guard Teddy Dupay has been playing with a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He's struggled to be consistent because there are days when the pain is more severe, but has had games of 21 points (vs. Mississippi State), 14 (Kentucky) and 20 (South Carolina) this month. Doctors told him the injury could not become worse if he continued to play.
• Apparently convinced Nebraska is a good basketball job, Huskers boosters are pushing hard enough for the removal of coach Danny Nee that it probably will happen. Nebraska has been to the NCAA Tournament five times under Nee — the school made it only once before he arrived — and has been in the postseason the past nine years.
• The mother of Michigan freshman Jamal Crawford initially said he would turn professional as a result of the two NCAA suspensions he's served which total 14 games. But Crawford told reporters he plans to remain at Michigan. The NCAA's suspension of Crawford was specious, given that the letter he wrote to the NBA declaring himself eligible for the draft did not arrive in time for him to be included. To the NBA, the letter did not exist, so there is no reason for the NCAA to consider it a violation of Crawford's amateurism.
Sports Stories
Bichette walks softly, carries a big stick
Five Questions With: Deion Sanders
Santiago wants to compete
Old Left-hander should have day
Burress intrigues Bengals
Alexander: No place like home
Prentice: Miami background shouldn't matter
Redskins pick twice ahead of Bengals
Johnson back to face Louisville
Louisville on guard vs. UC shooters
Caring coach made difference with Johnson
Harper: We hardly knew 'ya
Riled-up Muskies seek revenge
