News Scrapbook 1984

Sports

E-1

Wednesday, March 14, 1984

Television/Radio

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USD's question: What do we do now? By TR Remman Tl'lbuM 'pcrt3wrlt r P HU D · LPHI - In the la t scene of ''The Cand1- dat " aft r no-name underdog Robert Redford has n 1 ted to the U S. nat • he its on a hotel bed and a ks hJS campaign manager, "What do we do now?" Tb U D ha ketball team might have been asking Itself that m qu lion last week. After all, it never had had a

winning record in Div1 ion I, let alone an NCAA tournament bid. But with a thrilling and convincrng win against St Mary's at U D I t Thu day, the Toreros got that bid and asked th mselv that qu tion I t mght in the Palestra, unsatisfactorily, it was answer- ed. The Toreros didn't play th 1r game, while the Pnnceton T1g rs played th irs and won 65-56 U D forward Mik Whitmarsh called ii a "very fru tratrng

game," against what senior guard John Prunty called "a beatable team." But there was no malice in th ir words. They were beaten by what, last night at least, was a bet- ter team. And they knew it. "We didn't play as well as we are capahl of playing," said USD coach ell1 ''but Princeton had a lot to do with that." Indeed, with its 3-2 zone stymying USD's very move, shutting off its

tion of moving on to take over the head coaching job at hts alma mater. The Uruversity of San Francisco, which won't send out team until 1985-8 , ha been wooing him for months. Last night Brovelli said, "Tonight doesn't finish it for me with this team." He said he plans to spend more time with the players before he begins to seriou ly think about his next move. But different players already were thinking about it for him. "I think tt (Brovelli's option) is affecting some of the Please see VSD, E-8

I

id g m almost completely and forcmg the Toreros lo hoot from tti oulslde, from way out.-;1de, Princeton took control arly and didn't let up. "The w y the game went tonight, we shouldn't have won," aid Prunty, who closed out a four-year career at USD. ''W kn w we couldn't ca b m from outside all night, but when w did get ,t ms1de they closed down their zone so tight w had trouble even getting th ball back out. That really cut down our rhythm " Th y h d Princeton right where the Tigers wanted to be, up by mn t h lllime. But the ason that wound down with the Tor r wmmng their 1 t Ix regular-season games with grit- ty, come-from-behind efforts, ended with them asking them- . Iv a different set of questions. Like, "Where was our bench rength?" - u ually d pendable reserves added just 12 points - nnd, "What happened to our offensive rebounding?" - unlike r nt gam , USD didn't get the key boards. But the Toreros' biggest and most important question re- main , ''What do we do now?" posed the day after the end of their most 'Uccessful son, a tribute to fine coachmg and role-playing by ded1cat d players The day after the San Francisco Chroni- cle h dim a story - 'ls USF Brovelli's next rebuilding job?" Brovellt, who through 10 long and yet quick years has brou ht USO from som where in Div1Sion II to the NCAA toum m nt in th storied Palestra, is wrestling with the on- This 1vi on I

The season's over, but ...

Last night in Philadelphia, the basketball season didn't end exactly as the USO Toreros had hoped it would. They lost 65-56 to Princeton in the preliminary round of the NCAA tournament. f,\bove left, the Toreros' Chris Carr is guarded by John Smyth; above, it's Princeton's Joe Scott (center) reaching for a loose ball along with USO's John Prunty (left) and Al Moscatel. But now the Toreros must turn their attention to coach Jim Brovelli (below left), who must decide whether to stay at USO or move on to the University of San Francisco.

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Tribune photo Jerry .'llcClard

Continued From Page E-1 younger guys," said Prunty.

lets us know as soon as possible." "I think he'll leave," Bostic said of his coach. "That would hurt us. A new coach might come in with his trans- fers or freshmen and maybe build with them." This is all looking past John Cosentino, a Brovelli as- sistant for six years and possible replacement. It also is looking past Brovelli's final decision. And what the heck, it takes away from a fine season. There were ups and downs for USD, to be sure: beating a fine UC-Irvine team and then losing to UC-Santa Barba- ra; having its best-ever, pre-conference record (9-6) only to lose to cross-town rival San Diego State by 14 on USD's worst night of the season; finishing conference play with a 9-3 record after suffering a buzzer-beating loss to Gonza- ga at home; getting the NCAA bid only to be taken out of its game and losing on national cable TV. But the Toreros made it to Philly, which puts them ahead of a whole lot of other teams.

Next year, with or without the guy who brought them this far - Brovelli - USD will be the team to beat in the WCAC. The defending champions, NCAA participants, the 1983-84 Cinderella team that won so many games when the carriage was parked outside waiting to turn into a pumpkin. "This has been a lot of fun and they've been a great bunch of guys," said Brovelli. "The most talented group I've ever had, my best team ever." What do they do now? Recruit well for next year. Play even better in 1984-85, when everybody in the WCAC will be gunning for them. And wait for an answer that may be the toughest Jim Brovelli ever bas had to deliver. The sad part is - contrary to the poster philosophy found on a lot of locker room walls - now that the going gets tough, Jim Brovelli may have to get going.

"From what I understand, I don't think he'll go," said juruor forward Anthony Reuss, who this year improved from a bit player to a West Coast Athletic Conference all- league player. "If he does, we'll just have to make the best of it. We'll have the nucleus of this team coming back." Indeed, while USD graduates five players, it loses only one starter, Whitmarsh, and only one other player who saw key lime, Prunty. The Toreros return four starters - junior transfer guards Mark Bostic and Chris Carr, WCAC freshman of the year Scott Thompson af center and Reuss. But for Bostic and Carr, at least, the settling of Brovelli's situa- tion can't come soon enough. "It's a lot of ifs, buts and maybes," Carr said. "I hope he

J.I} 11~:5 uled. /fJw, I'{ 11w

USD sted y Princeton in CAA Opener By DA VE DI TEL, T11ne1 Staff Wnte-r "'lii--n...--

Toreros fall

T VIN'-(.< - Ci. J vo-c..,_Q" 3-/i.f-8'/

Conlin I'd zom Pase 1 "the moon was hot tomght."

-- Princeton knocks USO out of NCAAs point of

Mullin was an unpleasant surprise to USD, which was not able to obtain any tapes of Pnnceton in action. In preparation, Brovelli had to rely on the observations of other coaches. o one mentioned Mullin's quickness so Brovelh tried to defend against him with Reuss, a power forward, when he needed the quickness of a small forward or big guard. By the time he made the adJustment, Princeton was ahead. "That," Brovelh said, "was what we couldn't let happen. It's tough to come back against a team that takes care of the ball as well as Princeton does." USD led only once, 3-2, on a three-pomt play by Whitmarsh less than two minutes mto the game. Pnnceton ran off a stnng or seven straight pomts, five by John Smyth a~d two by Mullin. and the Toreros were to spend the remainder of the evening m frmtless pursuit. Missed free throws, rarely a USD problem, were costly m the first half. It was six-o{-11 from the free throw !me in the first half, and made the only two 1t shot In the second half. However, when Prunty hit from the top of the key to cut the Princeton lead to 26-22, the Toreros seemed to be within stnkmg distance. Mullin took over and hit a driving lay-up, converted a free throw, hit another dnving lay-up and fmally two more free throws. "We went through one of those spells," Cami said, "and then Moon Mulhn-Superman-came to our rescue and he was temf1c." For- the Toreros, traihng at the half was not a new expenence They were behind in the second half of each of the 81lC straight games they won to win the West Coast Athletic Conference championship. "It's tough to come back when you're down nine," Brovell1 said "but we'd done 1t before." Not th1s lime No econd half miracle. But the Toreros did sllra bit. They made a mml-run to

the game came just before the end of the half.

Auodalodl'raa Athletic Director Father Patrick Cahill consoles Chris Carr during final minutes of USD's loss. get within five. 47-42, but Princeton made 12 of 14 free throws in the last 3:50 to protect the lead. Pnnceton simply did what 1t had to do, and it kept USD from doing what it wanted to do. "We had to live or die with the outside shot," Whitmarsh said. "And we died with it." Prunty, the Toreros' best outside shooter, was 5 of 12 for 10 pomt.s. Al Moscatel, another normally steady outside shooter. was 3 of I 1. "We've got to hit a few from outside to open up the inSJde," Prunty said, "but we were never able to get into a rhythm tonight We never scored many limes ma row. We never got on a roll." And so tt Is back to San Diego for the Toreros. They had hoped to make a stop in Salt Lake City for a Thursday night date with Nevada-Las Vegas, but Princeton will be there instead.

West Coast Athletic Conference champion San Diego was led by Mike Whitemarsh with 17 points and Prunty with 10. The Toreros fell to 18·10.