ANALYSIS : UNLV and LSU Make Powerful Moves

There should always be a place for Cinderella at a ball -- except perhaps during the upcoming college basketball season. Instead of a fairy-tale affair that could elevate a rosy cheeked assistant coach like Michigan’s Steve Fisher to a national title, this year’s party resembles a brawl, with only the team with the most muscle likely to be left standing.

A year ago, Vernel Singleton started at center for LSU. This season he may play in the backcourt, as the Tigers brandish two highly touted 7-footers: Shaquille O’Neal and Stanley Roberts.

LSU isn’t the only team resorting to the power game. The Georgetown Hoyas, ever the bullies, seem even more intimidating with 7-2 Dikembe Mutombo joining defensive force Alonzo Mourning in the starting lineup. Others suggest the ploy by Coach John Thompson is only being made to counter a Syracuse team that could feature the best front wall in the country -- Derrick Coleman, Billy Owens and LeRon Ellis, a transfer from Kentucky.

UNLV supposedly had the best junior-college transfers in the country last season, David Butler and Moses Scurry. So what do the Running Rebels do this time around? Add do-everything forward Larry Johnson from Odessa (Texas) junior college, a move that has sprung the team to the top of the pre-season polls.

LSU is right behind -- at least pending the outcome of its likely meeting with UNLV this week in the Big Apple NIT finals. That is just one of a number of high-profile early-season matchups; others include Georgetown against North Carolina and Duke versus Syracuse in Big East-Atlantic Coast Conference challenges, after which Duke keeps busy with Michigan in Ann Arbor and the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii.

Duke has been in the Final Four three of the last four seasons -- which coincides with the career of forward Danny Ferry. Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s squad doesn’t figure to be as good without him and could stumble early with the tough schedule.

According to Thompson, a team “can get up for games just so many times,” one reason why he’s against the early-season showdowns. Such games, and the fact that many teams -- like Georgetown -- use November and December to prepare for March and April, are why the rankings likely will undergo weekly revisions.

“I don’t give a lot of credence to the pre-season polls,” Thompson said. “I guess they’re good for fans and alumni and the student body, but there’s no way that you know what kind of team anyone has right now. The only way you can tell is to go through thq fire. ... I tend to get nervous when you come out of the blocks fast because sustaining it will be difficult. I’d rather take my time.”

Of course, television -- and the revenues produced by such matchups -- are at the root of the glamour contests, which rankles Thompson.

“We preach education and vote money,” Thompson said. “We need to accept the reality of that ... why don’t we just (admit) that and go for it -- just go for the money.”

Michigan, Seton Hall, Duke and Illinois all made more than $1 million from advancing to the Final Four last season. With such rewards, there’s pressure aplenty on programs, which is one reason why the Southeastern Conference dominated the news in the offseason.

There are three new coaches in the SEC this year. Rick Pitino left the New York Knicks of the NBA to join a Kentucky program that’s beginning the start of a three-year NCAA probation.

At Tennessee, Don DeVoe was cashiered despite a respected career with the Vols, including a berth in last year’s NCAA tournament. The coach did manage to land on his feet -- in a fashion. He takes over on an interim basis at Florida, where Norm Sloan resigned on Oct. 31 amid the threat of sanctions.

The man who replaced DeVoe at Tennessee, Wade Houston, discovered immediately that life won’t be easy in the SEC. Shortly after joining the Vols, Houston -- the first black coach in the conference -- was turned away from an exclusive country club to which membership for the school’s coaches had prev)n sly been a formality.

On the court, all three men will have to figure out a way to stop Dale Brown and LSU, which happens to have the most outstanding guard in the nation, Chris Jackson. Jackson averaged 30.2 points a game as a freshman last season; some claim Kenny Anderson, a freshman from New York City, will do the same for Georgia Tech this year.

Yellow Jackets swingman Dennis Scott says he feels sorry for Anderson because of all the attention, then proceeds to comment that the freshman’s ability to run the floor is “unbelievable. When he has the ball, if you keep running he’ll find you.”

Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Cremins said he knew such hyperbole “would be a problem.”

“People are expecting a lot,” he said. “I remember I saw him in the McDonald’s all-star game in Landover (at Capital Centre in suburban Maryland) last spring. I thought he threw some good passes, had a good game but the people there were disappointed. That’s the sort of thing he’s going to have to deal with himself.”

The same advice could apply to Arizona center Brian Williams. The transfer from Maryland is expected to keep the Wildcats among the nation’s elite despite the loss of first-round draft picks Sean Elliott and Anthony Cook.

Then there are the coaches beginning new jobs before audiences that have been anxiously awaiting their arrival. Into that category falls Gary Williams, returning to his alma mater, Maryland and Bill Frieder, who left Michigan for Arizona State.

His replacement was Fisher, who won six games, the last an 80-79 overtime decision in the Seattle Kingdome against Seton Hall for the championship, then had the interim tag removed by Athletic Director Bo Schembechler.

Now, Fisher focuses on retaining the crown. There hasn’t been a repeat NCAA champion since the UCLA teams of 1971-72 and ‘72-73. Although the Wolverines still have the irrepressible Rumeal Robinson, they will be hurt by the loss of Glen Rice to the pros.

In fact, Michigan will be hard pressed to hold off Illinois, which it beat by two points in Seattle last March. If there is indeed a trend toward the power game, teams like the Illini, a whippet-like group of athletes in the 6-4 to 6-8 range, will provide the counterpoint.