THE MICHIGAN DAILY Saturday, March 15, 1969 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Saturday, March 15, 1969 Inconsistent play mars cage season 0 By CHRIS TERAS Where have you gone, Joe Di- maggio? Or, where have you gone, Cazzie Russell? Michigan basket- ball hasn't been the same since you left. Yes, they have finished another season in Ann Arbor amidst peace and quiet. There's no excitement, no fan- fare, no crushing pressure now that the regular season has end- ed. All Coach John Orr could say about the season was "We played better than I expected be- fore the season." But things were not as bad as all that. Going into the season, Orr was facing his first head coaching ef- fort in big-time basketball. He said, "In preseason practice, we worked on our running game and offense because we expected to be weak on defense."* The oft-lamented defense gave up an average of 91.1 points while the nearly unstoppable offense hit 89.7 per contest. But defense was not the only problem. "We would have had a great shot at the title," Orr stated, "if we had had a big man who could've played t h e pivot. As it was, we went with an open-court attack all year. Without thatbig center, t h e Wolverines began the campaign unspectacularly. The team defeat- ed Northern Illinois and Western Michigan, but lost in E a s t Lansing to Toledo, a disappo t- ing squad this year. Then came an unbelievable victory over Duke in Durham, N.C. 90-80, and Michi- gan fortunes pointed skyward. .This promise was upheld to some extent during the Christmas break, except for the Ann Arbor drubbing by Davidson. The start of the Big Ten season soon fol- lowed. Orr commented, "We knew we had to win our first four games to be in" serious contention. We had to face a tough schedule with our last two games being played at Purdue and then Ohio State. But we lost to Minnesota up there, and this has to be one of the biggest disappointments since we expect- ed to beat them." The Wolverines did, however, manage to beat Iowa and Indiana in overtime. Against the Hoos- iers, Ruiy Tomjanovich's success- ful bid for All-American status was boosted by a single game re- cord of 48 points. Only Russell's hallowed name has been opposite such a figure on- the stat sheets. Spirit among the ranks of Mich- igan fans seems to have declined since the Cazzie era, and O r r claims "fans make a difference." He has been heard to complain about spectator enthusiasm, but the staid Maize and Blue rooters badly wanted Buckeye blood when Ohio State visited the Events Building. The Bucks gave the home team a lesson in good bas- ketball that day, when they out played Michigan, 98-85. Following a loss to Northwest- ern, Orr threw a zone at Michigan State. The result was one of the season's biggest victories, espec- ially considering the foreign game site. Following this success, t h e Wolverines returned home to play the Illinois giants. The narrowu86-85 beating of Iowa turned out to be the sea- son's crest. There was a hint of hope in the air. The cagers re- sponded by "playing the best game of the year," according to Orr at Illinois. The rude fans were too much, though, and the final was an unfortunate 100-92. Even when greeted by friendly, but possibly disinterested fans at the Events Building, the Wolver- ines had their troubles. Their win against Wisconsin was marred by the almost total collapse of the defense and loss of a 12 point lead at the end of the first half. Two dull wins over Minnesota and then Wisconsin were followed by road losses to Purdue and Ohio State. Suddenly it was all over. Orr stated, "We weren't out of any of our league games, until the end except against Minnesota and Purdue." He noted, "From top to bottom this season, the Big Ten had its finest year. The com- petition was terrific." ' This competition shows up in the statistics.as Michigan shot a commendable 46.4 per cent for the season, but the opposition man- aged 47.5. Amazingly, the t e a m hit 68.0 per cent of their free throws. Foul shooting hurt the Wolverines at times, as at home against Ohio State and Michigan State. Opponents averaged 68.2 Duke, and against Minnesota that from the charity stripe. led to victory. Intensifying the competition, Michigan faced countless stars ranging from Western's Gene Ford to the Buckeye's Dave Sorenson. As for the team, Orr was most displeased by their inconsistency. Dennis Stewart was the sorest point on this count as Orr said, "Stewart would be a first-round pro draft pick if it wasn't for his inconsistency." Tomjanovich's final average was 25.7, good enough for Big Ten runner-up scorer behind Rick Mount. Rudy, however, was also the conference's leading rebound- er. He probably would have been a more "complete" player if it had not been for his recurring back condition. Though Orr was also disappointed in Bird Carter, there were bright spots. He was especially high on Dan Fife. About Maxey, Orr said, "He Jid a great job considering h i s knees." Mark Henry did not see very much action, but he m a d e some key defensive plays against Henry is returning next season, but Maxey, Stewart, Sullivan, Willy Edwards, and Dave McClel- lan are not. In a conference where, according to Orr, "the toughest part is the talent you face," things do not look good for next season. Orr, though, promised that "next year's team should be more aggressive. We're going to have to play better defense because we will be even smaller than this. year. The freshman team won't help us much here, though we do have Lamont King and Wayne Grabiec coming up." . He said "We'll have a hard time matching this year's record," but he did predict "better defense and more desire to play defense." Those who were crying for de- fense this year may get their wish next season. But at the s a m e time, the Wolverines' offensive potency may decline. When will the Wolverines put it 3ll together? SOPHOMORE RODNEY FORD (43) leaps for a rebound in a Michigan-Michigan State contest. Through the maize of arms and legs, Michigan center Willie Edwards (52) can be seen poised for the ball. In their two season meetings, each club took one victory. STRONG NOTE: Froem ing ri ngs 711' bell JIM CLEMMONS of Ohio'State shrinks back as if in terror as Dan Fife drives up for a reverse play because the game ended 98-83 in another loss to a Buckeye sports team. / THE- ALTERNATIVE Bring your own lunch MEETING 12 Noon, Tuesday, March 18 Meet in Vending Machine Area Ground Floor-UNION By ANDY BARBAS Executive Sports Editor Second fiddle usually has a lousy tune to play. Wolverine gymnast Chuck Froe- ming hates playing second fiddle to Iowa's Don Hatch. "I'm always shooting to b e a t Hatch," comments Froeming. "I beat him my freshman y e a r in high school. Ever since then, that has been Hatch's incentive." Hatch must hold the loss high on his list of priorities as he puts on his best performances against Michigan, and has managed to edge ringman Froeming every time. THE DIFFERENCE between the two, however, is almost negligible. In Michigan's meet with Iowa this year Froeming scored a 9.40 and still lost to Hatch by .05 points. Froeming thinks the difference between the two is in technique. "My biggest asset is my strength, and I try to use it best to over- come the problem I have wit h swinging. Hatch has more finesse, and I have to show my power off to match him." IT WAS this brute strength that first put Froeming on the rings. He started in high school original- ly as a high bar performer. A mis- take on the bar, though, brought him over to the rings. "One day I slipped during prac- tice and fell off the high bar," ex- plained Froeming. "I was so mad . ~ I ZA& SUMMER FLIGHTS TO E I i Ii NHL Standings ) 11 Only flight still open Montreal Boston New York Detroit Toronto Chicago St. Louis Oakland Los Angeles Philadelphia Minnesota Pittsburgh East Division W L T Pts. GF GA 41 17 11 93 234 180 38 15 14 90 261 186 36 24 8 80 201 174 33 25 10 76 218 187 30 22 14 74 204 181 30 30 7 67 243 215 West Division WOLVERINE GYMNAST Charlie Froeming executes an L-turn on the rings during the meet with Iowa. Froeming has been one of the team's more consistent performers this year and is one of the reasons the team expects to place well in the Big Ten meet next week in Ann Arbor. I jumped on the rings nearby and did an iron cross (an extremelyI hard position to hold)." One glance at the move, and his coach had him on the rings permanent- ly May 8-Aug. 17 S 0 !Sebena *i 34 22 25 33 21 37 16 33 17 37 15 41 13 10 9 19 13 10 81 186 60 186 51 161 49 148 47 173 40 158 141 228 228 204 234 224 "After a considered while on the 'rings, I becoming an a 11- NEW YORK-LONDON BRUSSELS-NEW YORK I I Taking waiting list for arounder," Froeming added. "I quit that idea when I found my arms were so short, my, bottom dragged on the sidehorse." As he progressed on the rings, Froeming advanced in the state (Illinois) high school gym champ- ionships from twelfth his sopho- more season to third as a senior. As is the case with most seniors, he decided he didn't want to go to college; he wanted to take a year off and "see the world and see what it's like." Unlike most graduates, howev- er, Froeming nearly went through with t h e scheme. He waited so long before giving up his idea that he ended up at the Chicago Cir- cle branch of the University of Illinois. It was his high school teammate, Rich Kenney (now Michigan's captain), who eventually g o t Froeming to transfer. "I didn't en- joy the 30-miles of commuting to school every day and g o i n g to school in downtown Chicago, any- way," noted Froeming. As a senior; Froeming is again at a crossroads. "Gymnastics has been the center of my-life f or eight years now, and suddenly I have to find something entirely different to do," he noted. "I'll probably go into teaching at first, but I know that there is little fu- ture there and so I want to work for a masters degree in business administration at the same time." "The only problem with going into business," he insists, "is that it is very easy to become a cog in some wheel. I don't w a n t this either." Froeming comes b a ck to the present when he starts thinking about the chances. of this year's gymnastics team. "We have more pctential than nearly any other team in the count'ry," he feels. "If we hit a peak, almost no one can touch us." 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