West Regional at Long Beach Arena : St. John’s Berry to Test Sore Ankle

It’s only a mini Final Four, the second round of the NCAA West Regional, but the teams are worthy from a media standpoint to be playing for the championship.

First, you have three of the best players in the country in St. John’s Walter Berry, Maryland’s Len Bias and Auburn’s Chuck Person, who’ll be showcased today at the Long Beach Arena.

There’s also a bit of intrigue concerning Berry’s sore left ankle. Will it restrict him? What’s the best treatment?

Then, there’s the persistent question of whether St. John’s can survive the rigors of the tournament while using only eight players.

Also, is it true that muscular Auburn is a football team masquerading in basketball uniforms?

The coaches are all colorful types in their own manner--St. John’s Lou Carnesecca, Auburn’s Sonny Smith, Nevada Las Vegas’ Jerry Tarkanian and Maryland’s Lefty Driesell.

They’ll answer questions and fill reporters’ note pads until the lights are turned out.

It’s a shame, in a way, that two teams will be eliminated. But the NCAA show must go on, and it continues today with St. John’s (31-4) meeting Auburn (20-10) at 1:37 p.m., and Nevada Las Vegas (32-4) playing Maryland (19-13) at 4:07 p.m.

Carnesecca seemed right at home at a press conference on the Queen Mary Saturday. After all, he was a Coast Guardsman stationed in Long Beach during the war years (no one is sure what war it was) and he feels right at home.

“I tried to hide most of the time because I couldn’t swim,” Louie said.

As for Berry’s ankle, Carnesecca said: “He has a whole summer to get better.”

Will Berry, a junior, join the NBA at the end of the tournament?

Carnesecca is tired of the question, saying wearily: “He intends to stay in school at the present. Let’s put it (subject) to sleep. We have work to do.”

He doesn’t seem to be overly concerned about using only eight players now that freshman Marco Baldi has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA.

“We played all over Europe with eight guys, and we’ve got to do it tomorrow?”

What has apparently been forgotten is that DePaul had virtually a five- man team in 1979 and made it to the Final Four.

Reporters seemed to be fascinated by matchups. So whom does Carnesecca put on Person, and how does Smith plan to guard Berry. And what plans does Tarkanian have for Bias?

Carnesecca was asked if Willie Glass would guard Person.

“I would hope so,” he replied.

Glass, a defensive specialist, did a number on UCLA’s Reggie Miller when the teams played last December.

Smith says that he’ll have to track Berry with more than one player, and Person won’t have that responsibility because he has too many other things to do.

Tarkanian said that Armon Gilliam did a good job on Bias when the Rebels beat the Terrapins last December, but he’s now toying with the notion of assigning 6-8 Richard Robinson to Bias.

But there’s a problem. Robinson has an injured foot and hasn’t played much in the last three weeks.

Now for the accolades for Berry, Bias and Person, all 6-8 forwards with varying skills.

Smith on Berry: “He dribbles more in the post than anyone I’ve ever seen, and rarely does anyone take the ball away from him. He must have great hands.”

Carnesecca on Person: “He’s a power player, an excellent outside shooter, who can post up and rebound. He’s a first rounder (in the pro draft).”

Tarkanian on Bias: “If I had to describe what I would want a 6-8 player to be, it would be Bias. He has a perfect body.”

Smith, a droll sort, says his team isn’t nearly as physical as everyone claims but concedes that the Southeastern Conference is not a league of finesse teams.

“It all got started because Dale Brown (LSU’s coach) told everyone about our NFL line. Why, he could start World War V,” Smith said. “We’ve got a wide league, but we’re not in the top five physically.”

Smith says that Kentucky led the way in the weight program.

“Their players looked like mud-wrestlers when I first saw them,” he said.

Auburn got the hulk image because of Charles Barkley, who is basketball’s equivalent to the Chicago Bears’ William (The Refrigerator) Perry.

“Now Barkley didn’t eat like everyone thought he did,” Smith said, “and he didn’t want to use weights. I didn’t push him.”

As for strategy, it has been learned that Carnesecca once asked Arizona’s Lute Olson for film clips on his 1-1-3 defense.

Auburn took care of that defense along with Arizona in a 73-63 win Friday night.

St. John’s is expected to stay in a man-to-man defense, and Smith says that would be a change from the junk defenses his team has seen.

Now let’s get to Tark and Lefty. They’re old friends and presumably would rather put some other team out of the tournament than do it to each other.

Tarkanian says his Rebels don’t run as well as they have in the past and aren’t a particularly good rebounding team.

“I’ve voted for them in the top 10 every week,” Driesell said. “They’re as good as anyone in the country, but I think we can beat anyone in the country.”

Maryland has won 8 of its last 11 games, and 9 of its 13 losses were inflicted by strong ACC opponents.

Now that the Pacific 10 representatives, Arizona and Washington, have bowed out of the tournament in the first round for the second straight year and Pepperdine, the WCAC champion, has made another quick exit, the supposed honor of the West is being carried by Nevada Las Vegas.

“We’ve been the best team in the West the last four years,” Tarkanian said. He also made the point that Arizona and Pepperdine extended Auburn and Maryland before losing. “Certainly the power has shifted (to the East and other points), but there isn’t that much difference among the teams.”

Notes

Today’s winners move on to the round of 16 at Houston next Thursday and Saturday. . . . Pac-10 teams have won only 5 of 20 NCAA tournament games in the past six seasons. . . . Update on the USC coaching hunt: Gene Bartow, former UCLA coach now at Alabama Birmingham, and SMU’s Dave Bliss are rumored as candidates for the job. Bartow complained about kooks in Los Angeles when he was coaching here and reportedly has a lucrative contract at UAB. But Bartow’s brother lives here and the UAB coach may want to retire in this area. . . . Bliss was hired by Dr. James H. Zumberge when the USC president was the president at SMU. . . . USC Athletic Director Mike McGee was out of town on the weekend, presumably contacting candidates. . . . Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian, on USC’s Stan Morrison leaving coaching to become an associate athletic director at the school: “I’m disappointed. Stan is good for college basketball.” . . . USC’s last three basketball coaches, Morrison, Bob Boyd and the late Forrest Twogood, all became assistant or associate athletic directors at the school at the end of their coaching terms.

Tarkanian, who has had his problems with the NCAA in the past, says that the organization should be restructured. “It’s not a fair organization,” he said. “Certain programs are never touched, like Texas football. Other schools are buried. I would come down hard on the buying of athletes. The rules have to be the same for everybody. There are certain schools that buy players and get to the Final Four every year.” He didn’t identify the schools.