Beginning of Another Hotshot Rivalry

Another opening, another show. Monday night at Capital Centre the two most ardently wooed members of this season’s freshman class, notwithstanding Louisiana State’s Chris Jackson -- Georgetown’s hammering 6-foot-11 Alonzo Mourning and Syracuse’s versatile 6-8 Billy Owens -- played the first in what promises to be an eye-popping string of games.

“I’m 0-1 against him,” Owens sheepishly admitted after scoring a season-low of five points and watching helplessly as Mourning blocked two of his shots. Owens suffered through the worst game of his young career, missing eight of nine shots, often looking out of place, like he’d wound up taking the wrong bus. “I rushed things too much,” Owens said, allowing how he, too, had been caught up in the hype about playing against his good friend Mourning. “I was worrying about how I performed instead of about winning the game.”

Mourning on the other hand was composed and outstanding. He had 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, adding to his astounding total of 116, best in the nation. “I grabbed him after the game to tell him how well he played,” Owens said. “He said we had one more left, at the Dome, and I told him I’d be there.”

Eight seasons ago another such distinguished rivalry began, as celebrated freshmen who went on to become the best players in the sweet, short history of the Big East -- Chris Mullin of St. John’s and Patrick Ewing of Georgetown -- locked up at Madison Square Garden in the first of 12 games against each other. It turned out to be the most lopsided, with Georgetown winning, 72-42. Ewing scored just nine points, and Mullin was shut out for the only time in his career, zero points in 32 minutes, an even more inauspicious start than Owens. “Nobody even remembers that game, or would dwell on it if they did,” Billy Packer said advisedly.

What people do remember is how the rise of the Big East paralleled the rise of Ewing and Mullin, and how, in their senior years, they floated above college basketball like angels. Together, their teams made four Final Four appearances, won one NCAA and four Big East championships and 80.8 percent of their games.

As juniors, Ewing’s team won the national title, but Mullin’s team beat the Hoyas along the way, and Mullin antagonized Georgetown for 88 points in three games, shooting an exquisite 72.8 from the field, and 96-flat from the foul line. As seniors, Mullin’s 20 points helped St. John’s upset 18-0 Georgetown at Capital Centre and claim the No. 1 ranking. A month later at the Garden, on Feb. 27, 1985, in the most widely anticipated regular season game of the decade, Ewing’s 20 helped Georgetown reclaim the ranking.

“The Ewing-Mullin era was very, very big for the league,” Jim Boeheim said appreciatively, recalling the pleasure he had in watching them play. “Billy and Alonzo are off to a good start. To duplicate Mullin and Ewing though, those are some big shoes to fill.”

Mourning and Owens have posted notably similar numbers. Going into Monday night’s game, Mourning’s averages of 13 points and 7.6 rebounds were slightly better than Owens’ 12 points and 6.6 rebounds. Both were shooting well from the floor: 58 percent for Mourning and 55 for Owens. Although pale compared to Chris Jackson’s, they are impressive numbers for freshmen, especially considering the multi-karat teams they joined. Mourning and Owens are babes, their best times still ahead. “He’ll be a big player for them, and I think I’ll be big for us,” Owens said. “Every time we play, that’ll be the match-up people look at.”

Mourning has had more impact, particularly with high-profile shot-blocking. But his impact is by design; he was brought in to solve a specific problem at Georgetown. “They had everything on the perimeter you would want, offensively and defensively, but were totally devoid of an inside attack,” Packer observed. “Alonzo doesn’t have to share the center’s position with anyone.” In contrast, Packer continued, “Owens enters a team that Sherman Douglas runs, and that has defined roles for Derrick Coleman, Stephen Thompson and Matt Roe. Billy kind of picks up what’s left. The guys who are down on him are ‘High School Hypers’ who want him to score 22 per game. But this team is so talented, where would he get his 22? They’d have to change their whole system to revolve around Billy, and that’s not in their best interest.”

Clearly, Owens has sweatered some of his game to better mesh with the boys from Syracuse -- with good reason, considering the experience and shooting percentages of Thompson (64.2), Coleman (60.0) and Douglas (56.6). Dick Vitale likens Owens’ self-sacrifice to what Danny Ferry did his freshman year at Duke, accomodating himself to veteran stars Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie and Tommy Amaker on a team that reached the Final Four. “Like Danny, Billy’s saying, I’ll be the fourth option, I’ll be the consummate role player. Billy didn’t come in here saying, ‘I’m coming in here, baby, and taking over, I’m the man!’ I definitely think he could take over. But he’s willing to sit back and say, ‘This is fine, we’re winning.’ Next year, though, you’ll see Billy emerge as a true, true star.”

Should it happen that Mourning and Owens realize their vast potential, and become the players and leaders Ewing and Mullin were, a footnote to their story would be the recruiting weekend they spent at Syracuse. “They visited together,” Boeheim said. “Alonzo enjoyed it. But there was never any doubt he’d go to Georgetown.” Still, Boeheim allowed himself the luxury to daydream about having Owens and Mourning on the same team -- his team. “Coaches always have that eternal ray of hope.” What Boeheim may not have known is that at a summer camp the year before Owens and Mourning had indeed talked about going to school together. “But Georgetown really didn’t go after me,” Owens said. Although he emphatically said that Syracuse was the right choice for him, when asked what he’d have done had Georgetown courted him, Owens grinned. “I might have gone,” he said. “I might have gone.”