COLLEGE BASKETBALL : Tip for Bailey: Practice Makes Perfect

Hailed as the next legendary Indiana guard when he signed with the Hoosiers in 1990, Damon Bailey has felt the weight of great expectations since he arrived on the Bloomington campus. Any more weight and his back would be bowed.

Bailey was Mr. Basketball of Indiana, an honor not lightly regarded in a state proud of its Hoosier hysteria. He was the all-time leading scorer in Indiana high school history. He was named prep player of the decade by several national publications.

Quite simply, he was bigger than life, which, when you are 18, as Bailey was when he enrolled at Indiana, is a little difficult to live up to.

Now, a season after being selected Big Ten Conference freshman of the year, the expectations have been replaced by questions, some of them noteworthy, some of them comical. The most popular inquiries:

--Why did Coach Bob Knight bench him earlier this season?

--Is he transferring?

--Why hasn’t he scored more?

--Why can’t he be like former All-America guard Steve Alford, who owns the Hoosier career scoring record?

The first two are easy to answer. 1) Knight benches everybody during their Indiana careers. You haven’t experienced the full flavor of Knight’s methods until you have been. 2) Despite rumors to the contrary, Bailey isn’t going anywhere. True, Knight wasn’t pleased when he saw Bailey, who was supposed to have an injured foot, playing softball during the off-season. And true, Bailey probably isn’t crazy about the occasional sit-down sessions. But transfer? No way.

As for questions No. 3 and 4, let an authority answer.

Alford has heard the comparisons and said they are unfair to Bailey, to say nothing of untrue. In fact, Alford was hard-pressed to find many similarities at all.

“We’re both from Indiana and we both love our home state,” said Alford, who recently became coach of NAIA member Manchester (Ind.) College.

After that, the comparisons come to a quick halt. Bailey came to Indiana weighing 190 pounds, Alford 155. Bailey jumps better than Alford did. He can take the ball to the basket better than Alford did. He can post up low, Alford couldn’t.

While all that is well and good, said Alford, the real trick is taking advantage of Knight’s offense, which often features the guards. Alford did it to near perfection. Bailey, as best as Alford can tell from afar, has yet to assert himself.

“I think we’re in two different realms when it comes to shooting the basketball and moving without the basketball,” Alford said. “I think those are two things I did and have done much better at (than Bailey).”

Alford complimented Bailey on his handling of the public pressure, but added that Bailey “really needs to work on his game. He has the ability to become a great one, but publicity doesn’t make you a great one. Publicity is a great start, and every great player has had to have publicity to get him going. But Damon needs to run with it now and really work on his game.

“Damon’s an individual who should have spent the whole summer shooting about a thousand jump shots a day, and I don’t think he did that,” Alford said.

In Bailey’s defense, he was busy with the Pan American Games trials and then there was the foot injury. But that doesn’t entirely explain why he is averaging 10.4 points, down slightly from a season ago, or why his assists-to-turnover ratio is a disappointing 26-20, compared to a much better ratio in 1990-91.

“He’s in that perfect situation and even more so than me because he’s bigger, stronger and jumps better,” Alford said. “It’s an ideal system for Damon and he’s got to learn to work at it to where he’s just relentless. He hasn’t had the big-time scoring nights yet and I told people when he came there, and they thought I was crazy, that his biggest attribute right now wasn’t scoring.

“I thought I was a better scorer than Damon. I had more of a scorer’s mentality. Damon kind of has to get more selfish, I think, in the way he approaches his offense. He has to score more. He has to work. But it’s not always scoring. I worked hard to get open off screens and a lot of times that set up other people because of the switching that happened. But right now, teams are just passing people on Damon because once he catches it, he looks to pass it.”

Comparisons? Not yet, said Alford. Ask again when Bailey fully understands what is available in the Indiana offense.

“It’s a perfect system for him,” Alford said, “but I just don’t think he’s doing the things he can do to take advantage of it.”

Figures . . . more expectations.

News item: CBS’ Billy Packer says the Big East Conference should end its experimental six-foul rule in league play.

Reason: Packer says the NCAA won’t adopt a similar measure.

Reaction: Wasn’t Packer the same guy who was against punching a hole in Naismith’s peach basket?

Actually, Packer is probably right on this one; the NCAA isn’t breaking any land-speed records to add a sixth foul to the rule books. But give it time. . . . it will.

After all, didn’t the NCAA once scoff at the idea of a three-point shot and the 45-second shot clock? Now look at them--they are the toast of the town.

Actually, the Big East isn’t the only supporter of the six-foul rule. Notre Dame’s John MacLeod, who spent the last 18 years as an NBA coach and another six seasons at Oklahoma, says the time has come for the NCAA to add another allowable foul. So does Michigan’s Steve Fisher.

“The game has changed,” MacLeod said. “The college side has changed considerably.”

Which is why MacLeod and Fisher say the Big East has the right idea when it installed the six-foul rule. Tradition be damned, they said. Hey, Naismith would understand.

With an evolving game you need evolving rules. Anyway, who wants to watch a game where a star player has to sit because he picks up two early fouls? And what happens if the NCAA keeps whittling away at the number of scholarship players on a roster? It’s at 15 right now. This September the number drops to 14 and the year after that, to 13.

MacLeod and Fisher know the end result: More emphasis on the starters and less flexibility if foul trouble arrives.

“I would be all in favor of (the six fouls) for those reasons and others,” Fisher said. “That’s something that maybe we need to investigate and somehow get it on the docket.”

How pleased Big East coaches must be to see Miami begin league play this year. At last, the closest thing to a sure conference victory.

“I think they have the welcome mat out for us,” Miami Coach Leonard Hamilton said. “They probably have (a basket) of apples and oranges waiting for us in our rooms.”

The Hurricanes have already traveled to Connecticut . . . and lost. Stopped next at St. John’s . . . and lost. Visited Seton Hall . . . and lost. Still left is a trip to Syracuse . . . and another loss.

It doesn’t get any better when Miami returns home. The Hurricanes must face St. John’s again, followed by Syracuse.

There is a certain symmetry here: first in football, last in basketball. Of course, don’t tell that to Hamilton, who is hoping for the best. And expecting it, too.

“At least we’ll find out exactly what the Big East is all about,” he said. “I do feel positive that we have a tremendous opportunity to build something at the University of Miami and we have to be prepared to face the uphill climb.”

Climbing is one thing, scaling the Matterhorn is another.

Notes

Shortly after getting ejected in a Dec. 21 game against Georgia Tech, Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino vowed to quit swearing. In fact, Pitino even included the promise on his list of New Year’s resolutions. Yes, well, so much for promises. Pitino, peeved about supposed Notre Dame illegal screens, recently singed the officials’ ears with a vintage four-letter word fury. The date: Jan. 2. . . . Arkansas went 10-2 while star forward Todd Day sat out the first semester because of disciplinary reasons. But don’t be fooled: The Razorbacks missed Day, and Day missed them back. How much? Examine the performances since his return: against Quincy (Ill.) College--26 points (including five three-point baskets), six assists, three steals, three blocked shots and five rebounds; against Auburn--a career-high 35 points (including seven of nine three-point shots, a school record), six rebounds, three assists and two steals; against Alabama, 21 points, three three-pointers. Day’s return also helps take the pressure off point guard Lee Mayberry, who can now think more about guiding the team rather than carrying it. But the biggest benefactor, of course, is Day, who, barring injury, should soon become Arkansas’ career leading scorer. Day is 125 points from surpassing Sidney Moncrief’s total of 2,016.

Steve Fisher’s Big Ten Conference predictions: Indiana or Ohio State, followed by Iowa and Michigan State, followed by Michigan, with Purdue and Illinois as the biggest unknowns. Sorry, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northwestern. . . . Nicknamed the “Monster Mash” for his dominating inside play, 6-8, 240-pound Jamal Mashburn of Kentucky is drawing rave reviews from the most demanding critics--opposing players. Mashburn is averaging 22.1 points, shooting 55.7% from the field and 49.1% from the three-point line. “The strongest ballplayer I’ve ever played against,” said Notre Dame’s LaPhonso Ellis of Mashburn. Ellis, who checks in at an equally impressive 6-8, 240 pounds, would know.

The enigmatic Lawrence Funderburke, considered one of the best high school recruits when he signed with Indiana in 1989, returns to the Hoosier home court Tuesday night. Of course, he will do so in an Ohio State uniform. Funderburke left Indiana after the first six games of his freshman season. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and, if the reports are to be believed, 0.0 friends. Now, after sitting out a year, Funderburke returns, an inch taller at 6-9 and about 30 pounds heavier at 225. No doubt he will be warmly welcomed by the Hoosier faithful. Whatever the reception, they will wish he had stayed. Head case or not, Funderburke has the potential--there’s that P-word again--to become a marquee player in the ultra-competitive Big Ten.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. Duke 9-0 2. UCLA 8-0 3. Oklahoma State 13-0 4. Connecticut 11-0 5. Kansas 11-0 6. Arizona 9-1 7. Kentucky 11-2 8. Indiana 9-2 9. Ohio State 9-1 10. North Carolina 9-1

Waiting list: Arkansas (12-3), Missouri (11-1), Michigan State (10-1), Michigan (8-1), Georgia Tech (12-2).