COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : A Season Full of Surprises, and Disappointments Too

The major conferences. The major surprises and disappointments.

PACIFIC 10

Playing Better Than Expected: Oregon, Washington State, Arizona State, Stanford. (Oregon isn’t especially talented, but the Ducks have seven seniors on the roster, play hard and will win their share of games at home; Washington State is no gimme anymore; Arizona State is injury free at last; coaches around the league aren’t shocked by Stanford’s record.)

Playing As Expected: UCLA, California, Washington, Oregon State.

Playing Worse Than Expected: Arizona, USC. (Wildcats already have three losses and seem to be struggling as newcomer Ben Davis is fit into the rotation. Also, if Damon Stoudamire has tough time, so does Arizona; USC misses George Raveling.)

ATLANTIC COAST

Better Than Expected: Clemson, North Carolina State (Tigers suffered serious roster losses, but under new Coach Rick Barnes were 10-0 at week’s start, including upset of Duke; Wolfpack victory over North Carolina proves NC State is no longer ACC pushover.)

As Expected: North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Florida State, Wake Forest.

Worse Than Expected: Duke, Georgia Tech. (Coach Mike Krzyzewski is out indefinitely because of a bad back, veteran guards Jeff Capel and Chris Collins have been inconsistent, team depending too much on Cherokee Parks and three freshmen; Yellow Jackets need a center.)

BIG TEN

Better Than Expected: Iowa, Illinois, Penn State, Michigan State. (Hawkeyes were preseason No. 8 in league polls, now No. 19 in nation; Illinois has outside chance to win conference title; Penn State has victory over Michigan; Spartan point guard Eric Snow making a difference.)

As Expected: Minnesota, Purdue, Northwestern, Ohio State.

Worse Than Expected: Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin. (As freshmen guards go, so do Hoosiers; Fab Five Jr. are doing OK, but Michigan isn’t getting as much as it wants out of veterans, especially Dugan Fife; Wisconsin is a two-player team--Rashard Griffith and Michael Finley--and Finley has struggled at times.)

BIG EAST

Better Than Expected: Connecticut, Seton Hall. (UConn has done great job spreading the scoring responsibility after Donyell Marshall’s departure. Ray Allen is a star, Crenshaw’s Kevin Ollie not too far behind; Seton Hall was picked to finish last by coaches, but already has reached 10-victory mark.)

As Expected: Boston College, Pittsburgh, Miami, Syracuse, St. John’s, Providence, Villanova, Georgetown. (With second-leading scorer and veteran shooting guard George Butler gone because of academic reasons, Hoyas could drop. More pressure on freshman Allen Iverson.)

Worse Than Expected: None.

BIG EIGHT

Better Than Expected: Kansas State, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri. (Coach of the year candidate Tom Asbury has K-State running a better offensive scheme than former coach Dana Altman, to say nothing of a more aggressive defense; Oklahoma began week with two-point loss to Arkansas, four-point loss to Georgia Tech, and shot a combined 31 for 61 from line in those two defeats; Colorado started 8-2. Losses are by a combined three points; Missouri lost eight players from last season’s Final Eight team.)

As Expected: Kansas, Iowa State, Nebraska.

Worse Than Expected: Oklahoma State. (A two-man team. When Cowboys lost to Providence, Bryant Reeves and Randy Rutherford scored 64 of Oklahoma State’s 78 points.)

SOUTHEASTERN

Better Than Expected: Auburn, Georgia. (Not even new Coach Cliff Ellis predicted this kind of fast start for Auburn; Georgia always has good players, now it has good record to go along with them.)

As Expected: Arkansas, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana State, Kentucky. (Don’t be fooled by Arkansas’ upset loss to Mississippi. Razorbacks were jet-lagged from Hawaii trip. Check score after rematch.)

Worse Than Expected: Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina. (Ole Miss beat Arkansas, but also lost to McNeese State; Gators ranked 10th nationally in preseason, but dropping because they still can’t solve guard problem; Gamecocks have less talent than anyone thought.)

OTHERS

Better Than Expected: Penn, Tulane, Marquette, Texas, Western Kentucky, Temple, Texas Christian, Notre Dame.

As Expected: Louisville, Brigham Young, St. Louis, Ohio, Utah, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati.

Worse Than Expected: Memphis State.

BOB KNIGHT--PART I

True story:

A couple of years ago, on a raw, finger-numbing January day in Bloomington, Ind., I’m sitting in the Indiana University library with a legal pad and a copy of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War.”

Naturally, I’m getting ready for my big interview with Coach Bob Knight.

I had read somewhere that Knight, who has degrees in government and history, was a Sun Tzu guy. In case you didn’t know--and I didn’t--Sun Tzu was an ancient Chinese warlord who said things like, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of 100 battles.” Whatever.

Anyway, over the centuries Sun Tzu’s military how-to book became required reading for Soviet war college students and, much later, for every kid majoring in business school in the United States. Of course, Knight liked it because war and basketball have a lot in common.

So I read the whole book that day in the library. At 5 p.m. I head over to Assembly Hall, where I’m supposed to meet Knight after practice. I’m nervous, but I’ve got enough questions to last a Ming dynasty or two.

Per instructions, I go to the Indiana sports information office, where I’m told that Knight, as if he were the great and powerful Oz, will see no visitors today.

“He has some other plans after practice,” I’m told. “Happens all the time.”

Other plans? The interview had been set up for two weeks.

“Sorry.”

Naturally, I throw a small fit. Nothing happens. Then, really as an afterthought, I mention reading the book. The assistant sports information director raises an eyebrow.

Off I go to the rental car to retrieve my workbag. When I come back, the assistant says he told Knight about the library visit and that Knight can see me now. “Fifteen minutes--tops,” the assistant says.

I walk in Knight’s office/dressing room. There he is, sitting on a couch, not making a move to get up or offer a handshake. I mumble something, but Knight ignores it. Out of desperation, I pull out the Sun Tzu book from under the legal pad. Knight grabs it and says he can turn to any page and find something that relates to basketball.

So he does. For the next 45 minutes (it seemed like five), Knight talks about the art of hoops, the NCAA bureaucracy and assorted other topics. This wasn’t the same guy I’d seen before, the one who, out of spite, sometimes wouldn’t show up for postgame news conferences; the one who--when he did meet the press--frequently cut reporters off at the knees; the one who didn’t understand (and still doesn’t) that John Feinstein’s “Season on the Brink,” not only was an honest portrayal of a Hoosier season, but also a complimentary one.

When we’re done, Knight tells me the next time I’m in town to give him a call. “We’ll go out for some dinner,” he says.

An hour earlier, I’m getting stiffed. Now I’m a dinner guest. Go figure.

The moral to the story? That Knight is never what he appears to be, which is probably just the way he likes it.

BOB KNIGHT--PART II

So now, in the February issue of Inside Sports, Knight finally explains himself. Sort of.

The interview, done with Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty, is a keeper.

Knight on his image: “See if you can understand this from my point of view. I sound like I’m a victim of circumstance. I don’t want to sound like that, but I’ll ask you this question: What have I ever done that really hurt somebody? What have I done, good or bad, that sets me apart? Have I ever punched a fan? Have I ever paid a player? I threw a chair.”

Knight on last season’s sideline foot-kicking incident involving his son Patrick, a Hoosier player: “I kicked the chair. You see my foot go right past his. Patrick never moves. If I were to kick you, is it not going to hurt a little bit? Patrick was never asked a question by anybody.”

Knight on Damon Bailey: “I got less out of Bailey than any kid I ever coached. Bailey wasn’t as good as he should have been, for whatever reason.

“Nobody could have worked harder or used more approaches than I did. I just didn’t get it done. I rarely have felt that about a kid.”

Knight on the infamous Connie Chung interview: “An IU grad calls me, wants me to do a thing with Connie Chung. He says it’s about the stress involved in your job. I said OK. She gets on officiating. I said when I was at West Point, I learned I couldn’t coach and officiate at the same time. It was too big a job. She keeps going and finally I say to her: ‘Look, Connie, you’ve got no control over officiating. It’s like if rape’s inevitable, relax and enjoy it.’ Without any hesitation, I turned to the director and I said: ‘Don’t use that quote. I’m not talking in any way about the sexual connotation.’ They use it. That’s the sound bite they use to advertise the show.”

Knight on leaving coaching: “I would have gone to CBS in 1981 if they hadn’t screwed it up. I said just give me the best offer you have. I don’t negotiate. They came back with a figure, and I said no. They came back and offered me 2 1/2 times the original figure. The more they offered, the more (upset) I got. They could have offered me a million dollars a year and I wouldn’t have taken it.”

Knight, 54, on a new career: “I wouldn’t mind taking over the Drug Enforcement Administration. We’d have to hide the Constitution for a while.”

THE REST

Ever wonder why Associated Press’ No. 1 UMass and No. 2 UConn, 40 miles apart, never play? Two reasons: UConn sees UMass as a recruiting threat and Husky Coach Jim Calhoun can’t stand Minuteman Coach John Calipari. By the way, UMass wants to join the Big East. . . . New Tennessee Coach Kevin O’Neill is down to seven scholarship players. Some are hurt, some he ran off. . . . Georgetown’s Iverson and St. John’s Felipe Lopez get a lot of attention, but Kansas freshman Raef LaFrentz is having a season to remember. LaFrentz ranks in the top 10 in Big Eight rebounding (7.8) and field-goal percentage (60.1) and in the top 20 in scoring (13.2). Jayhawk Coach Roy Williams says no freshman has adjusted more quickly to his system.

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Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. Connecticut 11-0 2. UMass 9-1 3. Kansas 11-1 4. Arkansas 13-2 5. Kentucky 9-2 6. N. Carolina 11-1 7. Maryland 12-3 8. Syracuse 11-1 9. UCLA 7-1 10. Arizona St. 11-2

Waiting list: Michigan State (9-2), Iowa (11-4), Arizona (10-3), Wake Forest (9-1), Iowa State (12-2)