PAGE EIGHT
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1965
Hoop Fans: Here's Line on'M
By RICK STERN
(The information to be present-
ed in the following article is of
vital importance to any University
of Michigan student. Without suf-
ficient knowledge of the material
it concerns, you will be left out
of any dormitory bull session, you
will feel useless when your father
asks you about it at Thanksgiving,
and you will not understand the
allusions which your professor
makes to it in lectures.)
Aha, you say. At last the truth
about REACH and GROUP! No.
What Mrs. Hatcher really puts
in her tea, then? Unh uh.
Stanley Nadel's selective service
number? Nope, you're still a mile
off.
Here's a hint: Bill Buntin,
George Pomey, Larry Tregoning.
OK-now subtract these three and
add: Craig Dill, JohnClawson and
John Thompson. You know now
that we're talking about Michi-
gan's basketball team, the most
talked about basketball team in
the country. But you don't know
the answer to the arithmetic prob-
lem. Don't feel bad because Dave
Strack doesn't either and he's the
coach. Says Dave:
Three Big Ones Gone
"We lost three players who are,
in effect, irreplaceable. You just
don't get players like Buntin,
Pomey and Tregoning. But we
think we have the boys who can
play basketball on a level with
the players we lost. Of course we
won't know for sure until we get
into actual ompetition."
(If you're a girl or a Viet Nam
protestor, you can stop reading
now because you have the essen-
tials of the matter, and can at
least' listen intelligently in any
discussion of the. 1965 team. If,
however, your Dad is rabid, or
your roomate writes sports for
the Daily, you better keep reading.)
Replacements
Obviously since you intend to go
more deeply into the matter you
have to know a few facts about
the three "new" starters.
We'll start with Dill. At 6'10"
and 210, he is the replacement
for Buntin (6'7", 230.) Personally
I think he'll do one helluva job
against any Big Ten center he's
put up against. But you don't
particularly care what I think, so
lets listen to Strack again. "He's
got good speed and he's a good
shooter. He's strong but not as
strong as Buntin."
Strack points to the 20 pounds
which Buntin had on Dill as im-
portant, but can point to three
equally important inches which
Dill has on Buntin. Dill is ajunior
and saw action last year as Bun-
tin's back-up man, impressing
often enough with deadly hook
shots and jumpers from outside
the key.
Looking Forward
On everybody's mind is the for-
ward who's going to play along
side Captain Oliver Darden-as of
this moment a young fellow from
Naperville, Illinois by the name of
John Clawson. Many had looked
to Jim Myers as Tregoning's prob-
able replacement.
Strack explained why Clawson
is the current front runner. "My-
ers sprained his ankle just before
we began practicing, and it is just
rounding into shape. Jim has done
some good work for us the past
two years but Clawson has been
impressive in the early weeks of
practice."
Myers is 6'8" and Clawson barely
hits the 6'5" spot. So Strack is
sacrificing three inches of height
under the rugged boards of today's
style of ball. But he expects Dar-
den to "carry a little more of the
rebounding burden than he pre-
viously had to."
Bench Help
Strack- mentioned architectur-
ally-minded Dan Brown as another
forward who figures to see action
this season.
Clawson, interestingly enough,
was in line for a starting position
at this time a year ago, at a
guard spot. But he was beaten out
by hustling John Thompson, who
in turn, was replaced by George
Pomey when the Big Ten season
began.
Of the three newcomers to the
lineup, Thompson is the only one
who has proven his ability under
actual game conditions. His clutch
shooting in the late moments of
the Indiana game played the
largest role in the overtime vic-
tory, and his contributions during
the winter tournament in New
York were equally significant.
Strack refers to Thompson as a
"proven performer," and is not
concerned by the fact that the
senior from Pontiac, Illinois
stands just 6'1", small by college
standards, even for a guard.
Pitts, Bankey Back Up
Closely following Thompson and
providing Strack with excellent
depth at the guard slot are Jim
Pitts and Dennis Bankey, both
about 6'3", and both from Detroit.
"Bankey's quick, and speed is very
important in our plans. Pitts,
though just a sophomore is an
exceptionally strong rebounder.
(OK, time for the average Joe
to tune out. The rest is a discus-
sion of more complicated factors
such as strategy and "pressure,"
designed largely with the "arm-
chair expert" in mind.)
Strategy then, offensive first.
Strack says that "our niain ideal
is to utilize our strengths. We have
a mostly new group working as
a unit for the first time and it's
naturally a problem getting them
to work together. We've made
changes from last year though not
radical. For example we'll run
plays for Darden or Dill that we
might not have done with Buntin.
Defense? "We're hopeful of im-
provement in this area too. We're
working like the devil to get in our
positions upcourt faster. Losing
Pomey, who was an outstanding
defensive man, is a handicap we'll
have to overcome."
Pressure Problem?
Pressure might be considered a
problem on a team which has won
two consecutive Big Ten cham-
pionships, and was the runner up
to UCLA in NCAA finals last sea-
son. Strack digresses. "People have
come to expect good performance
from Michigan. Sure, this creates
pressure, but it's no problem. Our
players have come to expect it,
and consequently it doesn't bother
them as much."
(If you're a betting man, you'll
want to be sure and get in on the
next few lines. The information
'concerns Michigan opponents and
their relative merits and demerits.)
Strack needs to look no further
than the first game for what he
considers a "rugged test", of the
new Blue team. Tennessee is the
opposition and the Vols were 20-
5 last year, with a good portion of
that squad returning.
Also on the early schedule are
Wichita, San Francisco and Duke,
all potential national powers.
Strack points out that "these are
teams which will give us an ade-
quate picture of the kind of com-
petition we'll face in the Big Ten.
Who does Strack look for to
provide tough challenges in the
Big Ten? "Iowa and Minnesota of
course, both of which have four
out of five starters back. But
don't count out Michigan State
either. They could surprise along
with any of the squads which are
high on potential but low on ex-
perience."
(Well, you're prepared now, and
can stay on a par with anyone
but Walley Weber, when the sub-
ject of Michigan basketball is
brought up. Incidentally there's
another player on the team whom
you may want to remember-
fellow by the name of Cazzie
Russell.)
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CRAIG DILL
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