TUESDAY, AUGUST29,1967 THE MICHIGAN DAILV 9% A AMV* A PAGiE THREE Roundballers Hope To Erase Recent Past By HOWARD KOHN Sometime toward the end of last season, coach Dave Strack sighed, "This is a five-man operation and we've been trying to run on three cylinders." And Michigan's basketball team, losing its last eight Big Ten games in a row, coughed and belched and wheezed its 'way to a 2-12 record and last place. Parnelli Jones and his six-buck gearbox should complain. Strack and his three-cylinder team never got off the starting line. key' expected back, Michigan's basketbal team will have its chance., Strack's "startling"' sophomores of last year will now be juniors and will have their chance to re- coup the exhilerating headlines they received during their fresh- men year. Junior Corps Forwards Dave McClellan, Den- nis Stewart and Bob Sullivan and guard Ken Maxey-who struggled through large part of the work- load last year-are the junior corps. In addition, senior Jim Pitts and .a talented trio of sophomores will be on hand. At least, Strack hopes Pitts will be. The 6' 3" rangy guard, who wears rubberbands on his wrists and became one of Michigan's top rebounders, has been reclassified 1-A and may spend the season in a warmer clime. Pitts, as the only senior on the team, would have been an obvious choice for captain; but his offi- cial appointment won't take place until his military situation is clarified. Pitts had his problems last sea- son, too, missing one game because of a suspension and another be- cause he was late for the bus. Sullivan also sat out a game due to a disciplinary suspension; and Stewart missed one because f an academic hang-up ... ... and it was that kind of sea- son, The Wolverines opened their Big Ten schedule with three consecu- tive losses, after a mediocre 6-4 pre-season record, before upsetting the other eventual co-champion and cross-state rival Michigan State The word was, after the im- pressive 68-59 shocker, that "the boys had gained poise' and the "team had jelled" and other col- loquialisms. Michigan split the next two, losing at Iowa but rebounding to nick Purdue, and then inexperi- ence caught up. Defense Minister Dayan would have had trouble pulling Michigan out of its tailspin. It was the first time in six years that the Wolver- ines had finished last. Last (in Theory) It was also (theoretically at least) the last time the Wolverines were to play in Yost Field House- home of Michigan basketball and State St. pigeons. Michigan's strike-stymied Uni- versity All-Events Building is scheduled to house the cagers this fall . . unless, of course, some- thing drastic like a falling beam delays progress. (Editor's note: In the fall of 1966, a supporting beam at the University All-Events Building col- lapsed, delaying progress.) Putting a foundation under Michigan's basketball dreams may be just as difficult.. "I'm always optimistic. These boys put in a'lot of hard work last year. But let's wait and see,' opines Strack. Strack will have a new assistant in former Massachusetts head coach John Orr. Orr replaces Jim Skala who re- signed before the beginning of last season. Former Wolverine basket- ball star George Pomey filled in as assistant coach and assistant base- ball coach Dick Honig subbed as freshmen basketball coach last year. Pomey will handle the freshmen this year. ' Featured in "Honigs Heroes" was 6' 7,' 195-pound Rudy Tom- janovich. A high school All-Amer- ican, Tomjanovich is a slick and aggressive board man and a deft outside shot. Among the sophs, he has the most promising chance at a start- ing position. Except for 6' 10", 200-pound Mike Lawson-built in the tradi- tion of Craig Dill-Tomjanovich is the tallest man on the team, For the most part, he played forward while Lawson played the pivot on the freshmen team; but Strack may use Tomjanovich as the high post man in a 1-3-1 alignment a la Adolph Rupp and Kentucky. Fighting for the other front court positions will be Stewart, Sullivan and McClellan-and pos- sibly Willie Edwards. The 6' 6" Stewart and 6'4" Sul- livan were Stracks original start- ers; but 6' 6" McClellan won a starting berth early in the Big Ten season and finished as one of the team's top scorers and re- boundezs. Experience Benefits Stewart, who clicked consist- ently with a fadeaway jumper but who passed and rebounded erra- tically, should "benefit greatly" from a year of experience says Strack. Sullivan has the ballhandling finese of a guard but had repeated problems at working in close shots or pitching in outside ones. McClellan was the most stable of the three, both on offense and defense, but didn't show the flashy potential of Stewart and Sullivan. Fighting for backcourt jobs, along with Pitts (?), will be Maxey and sophomores Rick Bloodworth and Steve Fishman. Maxey at 5' 9" is the smallest man on the team and probably the most colorful. § § § §. §r § § § 1 §lte fR cg beE clec § § § § 1 § § Clothes tailored for Van Boven are noted for the su- perlative fit and balance of their light unpadded con- struct'ion. They are 'made of choice British and domestic § 'materials. Their expert design and careful workman- § ship meet the sost exacting standards. § ' ecm t tt tet § § § yANN ARBOR DETROIT § .326 South State St. 41 East Adams SUBSCRIBE TO THlE MICHIGAN DAILY: JIM PITTS DAVE McCLELLAND The state of things' returned to what it had been before Strack and Cazzie Russel had driven the Wolverines to three consecutive :onference championships. There was little spark and no Ignition. Rebuilding Year It was a rebuilding year, of course, after the graduation of all five starters, and no one expected much. Unexpectedly, every one got ex- actly what they expected. There were good moments: e.g., when Michigan charged from be- hind to come within one point of eventual co-champion Indiana with 10 seconds left and faked the Hoosiers into giving away the ball. There were bad moments: when Craig Dill lost -the inbounds pass, Indiana's Butch Joyner recovered it and Michigan lost by three points. There were other, less memora- ble moments. But when the sea- son ended, in an ignomious loss to Iowa, Strack slumped in the locker room and said, "I Just wish that I could wipe some things that I don't like right off the record books." This year, with every one except co-captains Dill and Dennis Ban- i 1 t t His defensive forte is a stop- and-start foot pattern and a flair for the unexepected. His strategy usually resufts in a high number of stolen passes and a high num- ber of fouls. Although he's naturally aggres- rive on offense, too, his shooting percentage was one of the lowest on the team. Maxey alternated with Bankey last season. Fishman is 5' 10" and plays the same brand of crackerjack ball. Fishman took the -starting fresh- man jo. baway from Mark Henry last year. Bloodworth, 6' 3" and the other fresman starting guard, is a strong outside shot and an awake ball- handler. Strack, who couldn't stop the meteoric fall from first to last, is the man who must try to put the Michigan basketball star back in the sky. He is an experienced handler of: players and problems. He has had a summer to think about mechanical problems like sparkplug misfirings. He's had a summer to think about putting the team back in running condition. But it takes more than a me- chanic or a driver to run a team. [t takes a six-buck gearbox called desire. Bob Sullivan (20) threads his way through Illini players. [[. i II I THE WOMEN 'S ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION WWELCOMES YOU AND ACTS TO OFFER INTERHOUSE AND CLUB ACTIVITIES Lifeguard Corps Wednes Gymnastic Club Tuesday, Concert Dance Organization day, August 30, 7:15 P.M. September 5, 7 P.M. Tuesday, September 6, Field Hockey Crop and Saddle Wednesday, September 6, 4:30 P.M. 4:30 P.M. 7:30 P.M. Wednesday, September 6,7 P.M. Michifisch (old members) Wednesday, September 6, Practice period for new members to be announced Speed Swim Tuesday, September 19, 7:30 P.M. I Tennis September - day to be Folk Dance Starting immediately announced -5:10 P.M. Fridays 8-11 P.M. Monday 8-11 P M. Rifle T Fencing, Basketball hursday, October 5th, 7:00 P.M Thursday, November 2, 7:00 P.M. January 7, 1968, 5:10 P.M. Dates to be announced Golf Judo Fall term --Interhouse Ontramural) volleyball tournament Winter term- interhouse (intramural) basketball tournament ND SUGGESTS YOU OBTAIN A BOOKMARK WITH THE ABOVE MATERIALS AND THE PLACE OF MEETING INDICATED. THESE WILL BE AVAILABLE DURING ORIENTATION WEEK.