NCAA MEN’S FINAL FOUR IN DALLAS : Coach K Has His Dukes Up for Jayhawks

When the college basketball season began, the consensus was that there wasn’t a dominating team, such as Georgetown through most of 1984-85 or Indiana in 1975-76 or any of John Wooden’s UCLA teams.

That feeling still prevails, although Duke’s credentials would seem to indicate otherwise.

The Blue Devils, the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, breezed through regional tournament play and have won 20 straight games.

Kansas, the nation’s second-ranked team, which will play Duke today in an NCAA semifinal game at Reunion Arena, has won 16 straight, but it had to dodge some bullets along the way, such as the clock-controversy game with Michigan State in the Midwest Regional.

If Duke (36-2) and Kansas (35-3) aren’t considered dominating, though, the teams are the closest thing to it, with only five losses between them. Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski is aware that there isn’t an intimidating aura about his team, despite its imposing record.

“When I think of a great team, I think of invincible,” he said. “People look at us and say, ‘We could beat them this way or that way.’

“The best team I’ve ever seen is that Indiana team (of the mid-’70s). When they warmed up, you were afraid of them, and when you played them you were afraid of them--and when the game was over, you knew you had a right to be afraid of them.”

Duke forward David Henderson concurs with his coach to a point.

“We don’t have a dominating center, and I’ve heard it said that a team can’t win a national championship without one,” he said. “But we have a bunch of winners on our ballclub.”

Although Duke might not terrify opponents, all of the parts fit. Coach K has a smart, playmaking guard in Tommy Amaker and an All-American shooting guard in Johnny Dawkins.

Then there’s the experienced front line of the 6-5 Henderson, 6-8 Mark Alarie and 6-8 Jay Bilas, the last from Rolling Hills High School.

It’s a senior-dominated team, but Henderson hasn’t forgotten the early disappointment of an 11-17 record as a freshman in 1983.

“We were once the team that was laughed at, and now we’re highly regarded,” he said. “Now, we’re the team that’s hunted.”

Coach K, as he is called, said his team has some weaknesses, but not many teams have been able to exploit them, whatever they are.

“I give our players a lot of freedom on offense, but I’m a stickler for the defense,” Krzyzewski said. “On defense they are supposed to be in certain places at certain times, or they know they will hear about it.”

Duke is deceiving. It is probably a much better team than its opponents realize.

“We have some great players, but we don’t look like a great team warming up, or walking through airports,” Krzyzewski said. “When you see a skinny 6-2 guy (like Dawkins) in the airport, he doesn’t look like he could do a reverse jam over two guys.”

Duke’s overplaying, man-to-man defense is a key in the team’s success. The Blue Devils have restricted 38 opponents to an average of 67.1 points a game, compared to their own offensive average of 80.4.

Kansas has more size than Duke with 6-11 Danny Manning and 7-1 Greg Dreiling up front, along with 6-5 Ron Kellogg. Cedric Hunter is the underrated point guard, and 6-6 off-guard Calvin Thompson can carry a team, as he did with 26 points in the 96-86 overtime victory over Michigan State.

But the Jayhawks have been shaky with Dreiling in foul trouble. He has to play to maintain Kansas’ size advantage over Duke.

“We can’t expect to win if he plays only 16 minutes,” Coach Larry Brown said.

This is Brown’s second appearance in the Final Four, and it has been a much more predictable journey than he had with UCLA in 1980. The Bruins, with four freshmen playing regularly, finished fourth in the Pacific 10 that year but got all the way to the championship game before losing to Louisville, 59-54.

Brown said that he has the best player in the country in the fluid Manning, a sophomore who went on a three-minute, 10-point scoring spree that put North Carolina State out of the tournament in the Midwest Regional final.

As for suggestions that Manning hadn’t been assertive enough earlier, Brown said: “We wouldn’t be here if Danny wasn’t assertive. He was MVP in his conference (Big Eight), MVP in the conference tournament and MVP in the regional. He has been assertive as far as I’m concerned.”

Duke beat Kansas last December in the final of the preseason Big Apple National Invitation Tournament in New York, 92-86.

“It was like they wanted to win more than we did,” Manning recalled. “The thing I remember about that game is all the loose balls and rebounds that they got and we didn’t get. We weren’t very aggressive that night. But we’re a better team now--and so are they.”

Kellogg also has a painful recollection of that game.

“I was guarding David Henderson, and he scored 30 points against us,” Kellogg said. “That’s the most points anybody ever scored on me. He penetrated hard to the basket and went right past me. That’s one of the things we’re going to have to correct.”

Duke will have its problems with the improving Manning, who is a factor both outside and inside because of his height and quickness.

Alarie will start off on Manning, Krzyzewski said.

Kansas will be concerned, of course, with Dawkins, who is averaging 26.3 points and shooting 60.8% from the field in four tournament games.

Hunter, who stands only 5-11 but has unusually long arms for his height, will track Dawkins.

“Whenever we play against a great scoring guard, no matter what his size, Cedric has to play against him,” Brown said. “He’s not going to stop Dawkins, but we just want to keep his percentages down. Cedric is also going to have to run our ballclub against a team playing great pressure defense. But he has an excellent assists-to-turnovers ratio.”

Apparently, these are evenly matched teams, and they’re within sight of history-making achievements. Duke has already tied Kentucky’s tournament record for wins, 36, set in 1948. Kansas, with 35 victories, can break the record by winning the championship.

Tournament Notes Today’s game will begin at 3 p.m. (PST) and will be televised by Channel 2. The winner will play the Louisville-LSU winner for the NCAA title Monday night. . . . It is being said that Larry Brown, who is as well-known for changing jobs as he is for his coaching ability, will soon be coaching the New York Knicks of the NBA. His wife, Barbara, plans to graduate from Kansas in May with a journalism degree and then go to work for a New York advertising firm. She has worked in New York the last two summers. That feeds the rumors, but Brown, now finishing his third season at Kansas, says he has no intention of leaving. “One of the main reasons I came here is because I like college ball,” Brown said. “I felt badly about leaving UCLA (after only two seasons, to go to the New York Nets). I really don’t think I should have done that.”

Brown once served as an assistant to Dean Smith at North Carolina and admits that he has been influenced by the famous coach. Mike Krzyzewski has been called a disciple of Indiana’s Bob Knight. He played for Knight at Army and was later an assistant coach at West Point. “I don’t know what a disciple means,” said Krzyzewski, not caring for the term. “But I have certainly been heavily influenced by him. At the same time, I have my own personality and I don’t do everything like him.” Even so, Knight has already talked to the Duke team at Coach K’s request. Asked what Knight said to him, Krzyzewski said, “He said, ‘Don’t screw ‘em up,’ ” meaning let the players do the same things they’ve always done.

Duke’s Jay Bilas didn’t play against Kansas in the first meeting because he was injured. Kansas center Greg Dreiling said Bilas is a physical, banging-type center. “I don’t mind that a bit,” Dreiling said.

COACHING RECORDS

LARRY BROWN, Kansas

Season School W L Pct. 1979-80 UCLA 22 10 .688 1980-81 UCLA 20 7 .741 1983-84 Kansas 22 10 .688 1984-85 Kansas 26 8 .765 1985-86 Kansas 35 3 .921 Totals 125 38 .767

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI, Duke

Season School W L Pct. 1975-76 Army 11 14 .440 1976-77 Army 20 8 .714 1977-78 Army 19 9 .678 1978-79 Army 14 11 .560 1979-80 Army 9 17 .346 1980-81 Duke 17 13 .567 1981-82 Duke 10 17 .370 1982-83 Duke 11 17 .393 1983-84 Duke 24 10 .706 1984-85 Duke 23 8 .742 1985-86 Duke 36 2 .947 Totals 158 124 .560

ROSTERS

DUKE

No Player Pos Yr Ht Wt 4 Tommy Amaker G Jr 6-0 155 12 David Henderson G Sr 6-5 195 14 Quin Snyder G Fr 6-2 160 21 Jay Bilas C Sr 6-8 225 24 Johnny Dawkins G Sr 6-2 170 31 Kevin Strickland G So 6-5 190 32 Mark Alarie F Sr 6-8 220 33 John Smith F Fr 6-7 210 35 Danny Ferry F Fr 6-10 230 40 Weldon Williams F Sr 6-6 190 51 Martin Nessley C Jr 7-2 260 55 Billy King F So 6-6 195

KANSAS

No Player Pos Yr Ht Wt 10 Richard Barry G Fr 6-2 165 11 Mark Turgeon G Jr 5-10 150 15 Altonio Campbell G So 5-11 165 20 Rodney Hull F So 6-7 205 22 Cedric Hunter G Jr 6-0 180 23 Archie Marshall F Jr 6-6 185 24 Chris Piper F So 6-8 190 25 Danny Manning F So 6-11 215 30 Greg Dreiling C Sr 7-1 250 35 Calvin Thompson G Sr 6-6 205 42 Jeff Johnson G So 6-4 175 43 Jerry Johnson F Fr 6-7 190 44 Ron Kellogg G Sr 6-5 190

1985-86 RESULTS

DUKE (36-2)

W 66 *Lamar 62 W 66 *Alabama Birmingham 54 W 81 at William & Mary 61 W 71 *St. John’s 70 W 92 *Kansas 86 W 98 East Carolina 64 W 84 at Vanderbilt 74 W 72 Virginia 64 W 69 at Davidson 52 W 88 Appalachian State 46 W 78 Northwestern 55 W 81 at Maryland 75 W 84 St. Louis 58 W 74 North Carolina State 64 W 87 at St. Joseph’s 66 W 92 Wake Forest 63 L 92 at North Carolina 95 L 80 at Georgia Tech 87 W 80 Maryland 68 W 89 Harvard 52 W 89 Clemson 78 W 68 at Wake Forest 58 W 77 at Virginia 65 W 75 Georgia Tech 59 W 85 at Stetson 66 W 72 at North Carolina State 70 W 75 Notre Dame 74 W 104 Miami, Fla. 82 W 93 Oklahoma 84 W 77 at Clemson 69 W 82 North Carolina 74

ACC Tournament

W 68 Wake Forest 60 W 75 Virginia 70 W 68 Georgia Tech 67

NCAA Tournament

W 85 Miss. Valley State 78 W 89 Old Dominion 61 W 74 DePaul 67 W 71 Navy 50

* Big Apple NIT

KANSAS (35-3)

W 67 *Pepperdine 61 W 69 *Washington 64 W 83 *Louisville 78 L 86 *Duke 92 W 86 So. Ill. Edwardsville 71 W 101 Western Carolina 79 W 71 at North Carolina St. 56 W 72 South Alabama 48 W 83 Kentucky 66 W 89 Arkansas 78 W 94 George Washington 71 W 81 **Louisiana Tech 59 W 81 **Wichita State 56 L 80 at Memphis State (OT) 83 W 60 at Detroit 51 W 72 Southern Methodist 56 W 81 at Nebraska 70 W 95 Oklahoma State 72 W 98 Oklahoma 92 W 81 at Missouri 77 W 71 Louisville 69 L 74 at Iowa State 77 W 64 at Kansas State 50 W 100 Colorado 64 W 85 at Oklahoma State 69 W 100 Missouri 66 W 79 Nebraska 61 W 79 at Colorado 74 W 84 Kansas State 69 W 87 at Oklahoma 80 W 90 Iowa State 70

Big Eight Tournament

W 74 Kansas State 51 W 72 Oklahoma 70 W 73 Iowa State 71

NCAA Tournament

W 71 North Carolina A&T; 46 W 65 Temple 43 W 96 Michigan State (OT) 86 W 75 North Carolina State 67

* Big Apple NIT

**BMA Classic at Kansas City

STATISTICS

DUKE

Player FG% FT% Reb Asts Pts Dawkins .547 .815 3.6 3.4 20.0 Alarie .545 .824 6.2 0.7 17.4 Henderson .533 .730 4.8 2.3 14.2 Bilas .593 .583 4.9 0.2 6.9 Amaker .457 .750 2.0 6.0 6.2 Ferry .450 .627 5.6 1.6 5.9 King .529 .493 2.9 1.1 4.2 Snyder .468 .727 1.1 1.3 2.3 Strickland .377 .692 1.2 0.6 2.2 Smith .458 .706 1.4 0.1 1.9 Williams .467 .632 1.3 0.3 1.8 Nessley .389 .667 1.9 0.2 1.7 Duke .517 .712 36.0 17.0 80.4 Opponents .475 .688 29.6 13.9 67.1

KANSAS

Player FG% FT% Reb Asts Pts Manning .607 .748 6.3 2.4 17.1 Kellogg .546 .843 3.4 2.8 15.8 Thompson .571 .613 4.5 3.0 13.4 Dreiling .611 .702 6.7 1.4 11.7 Hunter .566 .549 3.5 7.2 9.2 Marshall .511 .775 3.9 1.0 6.8 Turgeon .448 .682 0.7 1.7 2.4 Piper .417 .610 2.3 0.3 2.0 Jerry Johnson .438 .594 1.3 0.5 1.7 Hull .375 .643 1.1 0.1 1.4 Barry .333 .750 0.4 0.2 1.4 Campbell .385 .500 0.8 0.5 1.1 Jeff Johnson .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 Mathis .000 .500 0.0 0.0 0.4 Kansas .558 .716 35.3 21.2 80.8 Opponents .447 .694 31.4 14.5 67.4