Hogs know how to find 3-point line

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Among Arkansas' 11 scholarship players, the only ones who didn't hit a three-pointer in Friday night's Red-White intrasquad game were the ones who didn't shoot one.
Nine Razorbacks combined to hit 21 of 55 three-point attempts in a game the White team won 85-78 before 6,520 fans in Walton Arena.
"We've got three-point threats at every spot," said senior Chris Walker, who led the White team with a game-high 24 points and hit 3 of 6 three-pointers. "That's real good seeing as how we're smaller than everybody we're going to face. We're going to need to hit a lot of threes."
Other players on the White team who hit three-pointers included freshman guard Charles Tatum (4 of 9); sophomore forward Dionisio Gomez (2 of 4); sophomore guard Brandon Dean (2 of 7); and freshman guard Blake Eddins (1 of 5). Freshman forward Carl Baker didn't attempt a three-pointer.
Hitting three-pointers for the Red team were sophomore guards Jason Gilbert (4 of 10), T.J. Cleveland (2 of 5) and Teddy Gipson (1 of 4); and junior forward Brandon Davis (2 of 6). Freshman forward Alonzo Lane did not attempt a three-pointer.
Gomez, who is the Razorbacks' tallest player at 6-8, ended the game with a three-pointer that bounced high off the rim, then fell through.
"I knew it was going in," said Gomez, who had 19 points and 13 rebounds, with a laugh. "No, I'm just kidding, I know I'm not really a three-point shooter.
"But if I have a chance to hit a three, if I'm open, I hit it. It's just not deal where I'm going to shoot a three every time I'm going down court."
Razorbacks Coach Nolan Richardson said Gomez "isn't one of the guys who has the green light to shoot three every time, but can knock down some threes for us, so you can live with him shooting some threes."
Gomez suffered a sprained left ankle with 54 seconds left in the first half, but came back early in the second half and played 34 minutes.
"He's a tough kid," Richardson said. "I didn't think he'd play after the break, but I thought he played better on one leg in the second half than he did on two legs in the first half."
Gomez seemed able to run well in the second half, but he said after the game, as he was getting treatment on the ankle, that it was painful.
So, why play the second half in a Red-White game?
"I came back to play, because I have that feeling of competition and I wanted my team to win," Gomez said. "I wanted to play through (the pain), because during the season if I get my ankle hurt, I don't want to sit down. I want to try and keep helping the team."
While Walker led all scorers, Richardson was displeased that his only senior didn't have any assists in the first half.
"Don't get wrong, I thought Chris played good," Richardson said. "But as I told him at halftime, 'You've got to get some assists, because that's one thing you've always done real well.'
"Chris has got to be a complete player for us, not just a scorer, and he came along and got (three) assists in the second half."
Tatum added 19 points for the White team and Dean had 12, though he hit just 5 of 16 from the field.
Lane led the Red team with 21 points, but hit just 9 of 18 from the field. Davis scored 19, Gipson 16 and Gilbert 14.
Cleveland had eight points, but was one of the best players in the game, Richardson said, with five assists and three steals.
"T.J. was always where the ball was," Richardson said. "He got so many touches."

This article was published on Saturday, October 30, 1999

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