Once Burned, Twice Silent? Not for Him

Jerome Lane is at it again. When the Pittsburgh forward was asked about Marist, Friday night’s foe in the NCAA West Regional, he said he’d rather play Oklahoma, the team Pitt most likely would face in the second round.

“Let’s do it now,” he said.

Back in December, after Pitt had polished off Xavier of Ohio and Robert Morris the previous week, Lane said, “I don’t care about those rinky-dink teams. I want to play somebody with talent.”

Pitt’s next game was against Brigham Young. BYU won, 93-73.

From Sandy Keenan of Newsday: “Poor Georgia Southern. Not only must they play Syracuse in the first round at the Carrier Dome, but they must do it in front of more people than they’ve seen all season in Gatesboro--where the yearly attendance is a tad more than 17,000.”

Add Syracuse: Said Pitt freshman Rod Brookin when asked to compare Syracuse point guard Sherman Douglas with last year’s star for the Orangeman, Dwayne (Pearl) Washington: “The only thing Pearl Washington has over Sherman Douglas is a bigger rear end.”

Trivia Time: What do Gary Hogeboom, Dan Roundfield and Dick Enberg have in common? (Answer below.)

Quote of the Day: Said Doc Broadus, trainer of George Foreman: “He’ll knock Mike Tyson dead. Tyson will not be able to handle the punishment. Big George will hit him once and forget about it.”

Add Foreman: Wrote Wallace Matthews of Newsday after the fight: “Foreman’s belly jiggled and his punches flowed as slowly and thickly as molasses in a fourth-round technical knockout over a breathing heavy bag named Steve Zouski. He and Zouski, no body beautiful himself at 212 jiggly pounds, moved so slowly it appeared the fight was being held underwater.”

One paper headlined it: “A Paunchout.”

For What It’s Worth: When Nevada Las Vegas played Idaho State 10 years ago in the West Regional, it was for the championship. Idaho State, coached by Jim (Killer) Killingsworth, now at TCU, was coming off a win over UCLA. Idaho State took a 52-50 lead at halftime, but Nevada Las Vegas, the nation’s highest-scoring team, pulled it out, 107-90. That put the Rebels in the Final Four, the only time Jerry Tarkanian has made it.

The Rebels featured the Smith boys--Robert, Sam and Tony--along with Eddie Owens, Larry Moffett, Glen Gondrezick and super-sub Reggie Theus. In the NCAA semifinals, they lost to North Carolina after taking a 12-point halftime lead. In the final, the Tar Heels bowed to Al McGuire’s last Marquette team, 67-59.

They say Bob Knight has great relationships with his former players, but Bob Sakamoto of the Chicago Tribune writes, “Isiah Thomas and Knight were never the best of friends, and Thomas has confided to close friends that he sensed a major confrontation had he remained for his junior year.

“The two have grown steadily apart, and although Thomas refuses to talk about their differences, he also refuses to recruit for Knight.”

Trivia Answer: All three went to Central Michigan.

Quotebook

Andy Russo, University of Washington basketball coach, on UCLA’s opponent tonight in the West Regional: “I don’t know too much about Central Michigan. I think it’s in the center of the state.”