TUESDAY, AUGUST 29,196' THE MICHIGAN DAIL'Y' PAGE'] TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1967 THE MICHIGAN DAILY 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 season. Former Wolverine basket- the other eventual co-champion ball star George Pomey filled in as and cross-state rival Michigan assistant coach and assistant base- \tate ball coach Dick Honig subbed as The word was, after the im- Freshmen basketball coach last pressive 68-59 shocker, that "the: year. boys had gained poise' and the Pomey will handle the freshmen "team had jelled" and other col- this year. loquialisms. Featured in "Honigs Heroes" Michigan split the next two, was 6' 7,' 195-pound Rudy Tom- losing at Iowa but rebounding to janovich. A high school All-Amer- nick Purdue, and then inexperi- ican, Tomjanovich is a slick and ence caught up. aggressive board man and a deft Defense Minister Dayan would outside shot. have had trouble pulling Michigan Among the sophs, he has the out of its tailspin. It was the first most promising chance at a start- time in six years that the Wolver- ing position. ines had finished last. Except for 6' 10" - 200-pound Last (in Theory) Mike Lawson-built in the tradi- It was also (theoretically at tion of Craig Dill-Tomjanovich is least) the last time the Wolverines the tallest man on the team. were to play in Yost Field House- For the most part, he played home of Michigan basketball and forward while Lawson played the State St. pigeons. pivot on the freshmen team; but Michigan's strike-stymied Uni- Strack may use Tomjanovich as versity All-Events Building is the high post man in a 1-3-1 scheduled to house the cagers this alignment a la Adolph Rupp and fall . . . unless, of course, some- Kentucky. thing drastic like a falling beam Fighting for the other front delays progress. court positions will be Stewart, (Editor's note: In the fall of Sullivan and McClellan-and pos- 1966, a supporting beam at the sibly Willie Edwards. University All-Events Building col- The 6' 6" Stewart and 6'4" Sul- lapsed, delaying progress.) livan were Stracks original start- Putting a foundation under ers; but 6' 6" McClellan won a Michigan's basketball dreams may starting berth early in the Big be just as difficult. Ten season and finished as one "I'm always optimistic. These of the team's top scorers and re- boys put in a lot of hard work bounders. last year. But let's wait and see," Experience Benefits opines Strack. Stewart, who clicked consist- Strack will have a new assistant ently with a fadeaway jumper but in former Massachusetts head who passed and rebounded erra- coach John rrr. tically, should "benefit greatly" Orr replaces Jim Skala who re- from a year of experience says signed before the beginning of last 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. § § Clothes of Recognizable Excellence, § Clothes otailoredf ore og nib e x ellenedortesu- § § ~perlative fit and balance of their light unpadded con- § ~struction. They are made off choicegBritish andd omestic § ignaterials. Their expert design and careful "workman- § ship mneet the mnost exacting standards. §r §n § ANN ARBOR DETROIT § ~326 South State St, 41 Est Adams § 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 lonference 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 Py 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- His defensive forte is a stop- and-start foot pattern and a flair for the unexepected. His strategy usually results 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 crackei'jack 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. It takes a six-buck gearbox called desire. SUBSCRIBE TO THE MICH1GAN DAILY Bob Sullivan (20) threads his way through Illini players. . ....... THE WOMEN' S ATHL S YOU AND AMCTS TO OFFER INTERHOUSE AND CLi ETIC ASSOCIATION iB ACTIVITIES August 30, 7:15 P.M. tember 5, 7 P.M. Tuesday, September6 4:30 P.M tember 6, 4:30 P.M. September 6,7 P.M. Inesday, September 6, 7:30 P.M. bers to be announced Lifeguard Corps Wednes Gymnastic Club Tuesday, Concert Dance Organization day, Sep Field Hockey Crop and Saddle Wednesday, Sep Wednesday, Michifisch (old members) Wed Prac.tice period for new memi Speed Swim Tuesday, September 19, 7:30 P.M. Tennis September - day to be announced -5:10P.M. Folk Dance Starting immediately Fridays 8-11 P.M. Monday 8-11 P M. Rifle The Fencing Basketball Dates to be u rsday, October 5th, 7:00 P.M Thursday, November 2, 7:00 P.M. January 7, 1968, 5:10 P.M. announced Golf Judo Fall term - Interhouse (intramural) volleyball tournament Winter term - interhouse (intramural) basketball tournament ND SUGGESTS YOU OBTAIN A BOOKMARK WITH THE ABOVE MATERIALS AND THE l II1 PLACE OF MEETING INDICATED. THESE WILL BE AVAILABLE DURING ORIENTATION WEEK.