Published: July 10, 1998
Section: SPORTS
Page#: 05C
Haskins' U.S. team to get first test
By Tim Klobuchar; Staff Writer   

After playing against only each other for three days of trials and four days of practice, finalists for the U.S. Goodwill Games men's basketball team are looking forward to seeing someone different this weekend.

If only they knew who they were playing.

"It's going to be a new experience," U.S. finalist and Duke forward Elton Brand said of playing against a team of Gophers alumni. "They have a lot of good players. I saw them warming up yesterday. They've got a lot of former Minnesota players in the pros like Bobby Jackson and John . . . Thompson?"

If Brand confused a 1997 first-round draft pick (John Thomas) with the longtime Georgetown coach, odds are names like Kevin Lynch, Walter Bond and Melvin Newbern don't exactly jump out at him, either.

They mean plenty to Gophers fans, however, who watched those players help lead Minnesota to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament in 1990. They'll team up with Jackson, Thomas and a host of other former Gophers to scrimmage the U.S. finalists at 7 p.m. tonight and Saturday at Williams Arena.

Minneapolis Community College coach Jay Pivec, a former Gophers assistant and friend of Gophers and U.S. coach Clem Haskins, is in charge of the alumni team. It consists of many players with pro and international experience and - in the case of former Gopher Mario Green and ex-St. Cloud State star Reggie Perkins - Harlem Globetrotters experience.

"When they announced training camp [Haskins] called and said, `Put a team together,' " Pivec said. "I said, `Coach, I've got a week.' He said, `What, are you deaf? Put a team together.' "

Haskins doesn't have to assemble his team quite as hastily, but he does have to decide by Sunday which four players will be cut to get his roster down to the necessary 12 for the Goodwill Games, which start July 19 in New York. These scrimmages will be the first chance he has to see what his players can do against an unfamiliar opponent.

"The most important thing is practice, so we can get familiar with what we want to do," Haskins said. "But we also need a game to give us a different perspective and look at some people against some outside competition other than ourselves, so it's going to be good."

Thus far two players, one outside and one inside, have stood out: Brand and Andre Miller, the Utah point guard who helped guide the Utes to the Final Four this season.

"The best player here is, no doubt about it, Andre Miller" Haskins said. "And Elton Brand has been outstanding. They've been the two most outstanding players here. I can't say enough about Andre Miller. I can see why they were a Final Four ballclub."

One finalist Haskins has known about for quite some time is forward Quincy Lewis, whom he's coached on the Gophers for three years.

"Coach coaches like he played," he said. "Everything is done with the same intensity. He's not going to change just because we're All-Stars."

- Admission to the scrimmages is free to the public, but fans are asked to bring non-perishable food items, which will be donated to the Second Harvest food banks of the Twin Cities.

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