Familiarity breeds contempt, according to the old adage. But when familiarity applies to rival 6-foot-9-inch senior centers in Thursday`s Loyola-De Paul basketball shootout, it also means mutual respect and fierce man-to-man competition.
Take, for example, the relationship between the Ramblers` Andre Moore and Dallas Comegys of the unbeaten Blue Demons.
Moore, a South Sider from Chicago`s Carver High, and Comegys, from Philadelphia, have played against one another several times in summer leagues and in previous De Paul-Loyola showdowns. They served together last summer at Isiah Thomas` basketball camp.
”Dallas and I are pretty good friends,” said Moore Tuesday. ”But playing against somebody like that makes me play harder. My adrenalin really gets flowing.
”I know he`s good. I don`t want to be shown up. He`s going to come at me, and I`m going to come at him.”
Moore, in his career, has held his own against some of college basketball`s best centers, including Georgetown`s Patrick Ewing in the 1985 NCAA tournament.
Last month, Moore rejected some shots fired by his close pal, Illinois`
6-8 All-America Ken Norman, from Chicago`s Crane High.
”Kenny and I have played a lot right here in Loyola`s gym in the summer,” said Moore. ”We hang around together. We call each other up.”
Moore, averaging 21 points per game and one of the nation`s top rebounders, celebrated his pal Norman`s homecoming by rejecting Norman`s shots as Loyola hung a stunning upset on Illinois on the same Pavilion floor where Loyola will host the Blue Demons.
”Kenny and I are very, very close,” said Moore. ”But when he puts on that uniform and comes on the floor, I don`t know him anymore. It will be that way against Dallas Comegys and De Paul.”
The Moore-Comegys match-up alone won`t decide Thursday`s game. Loyola
(7-6) hopes to get plus points out of the off-guard match between 25-point scorer Bernard Jackson and De Paul`s surprise star, Kevin Edwards. And Loyola`s Keith Carter knew before he went into Tuesday`s skull session with coach Gene Sullivan that he had the unenviable task of covering De Paul`s classy point guard Ron Strickland.
”Against Illinois,” said Carter, ”we reached a higher level of play. Then we hit the skids for three or four games. What we have to do–especially me–is reach our Illinois level against De Paul.”
Moore believes Loyola can do this because it possesses an incentive that De Paul does not.
”We`re all from the Chicago area,” said Moore. ”None of us came out of high school on the national top 100 list. De Paul`s players are mostly from outside Chicago–from coast to coast–and they were all on the top 100 or top 50 lists. So, we`re playing for Chicago basketball . . . to show we`re as good or better as Philadelphia or California or New York guys on those `top`
lists.”
Loyola coach Sullivan is a restless sort of gym rat. He really isn`t happy in his ”off” season unless he`s out at Illinois Tech watching a summer-league game between Moore and his J.S. Looper team against Comegys, Rambler forward Gerald Hayward and others on the Oak Park Trust team.
”This is the top summer league, with all the pros,” Sullivan said.
”Terry Cummings may be there. Or Mark Aguirre or Maurice Cheeks or Isiah
(Thomas).
”It`s a different game. It`s showtime. Dunks and blocked shots. Very little team concept, but very exciting.”
Sullivan, obviously, is trying to blend the dunks and blocks of his playground athletes with enough team play to upset De Paul.
It happened two years ago when Moore was a rookie on the team and Alfredrick Hughes & Co. knocked off both De Paul and Illinois and progressed to the final 16 in the NCAA tournament.
Can it happen again?
”De Paul`s on a roll,” said Sullivan, ”but our players certainly aren`t in awe of De Paul. How can we be when people like `Mo` (Moore) played against Comegys and held his own against him in summer ball?”
Loyola vs. De Paul, Sullivan said, ”is a healthy rivalry. Players from the summer leagues are going against one another for the same media recognition. It`s friends vs. friends. It makes a more exciting game.”
