PAGE TOUR,
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
TUESDAY. AUGUST 38. 1969
PAGE SOUR THE MICHIGAN DAILY TTTF~nAV ATrE~T1gT ~A 1o~a
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Russell Era Ends; Cagers To Rebound with
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By RICK STERN
The question is, what will hap-
pen to the Wolverines without
Cazzie?
Not to mention Oliver Darden,
John Clawson, Jim Myers and
John Thompson.
In other words, faced with the
loss of his entire starting unit,
Michigan basketball coach Dave
Strack faces what must be termed
a rebuilding year this winter.
But almost any year would have
to be considered as "rebuilding"
after the success which the Wol-
verines have enjoyed for the past
three seasons. With Russell and
Bill Buntin leading the way,
Michigan has Won three consecu-
tive Big Ten basketball cham-
pionships with conference records
of 11-3, 13-1, and 11'3 again for
a total of 35 wins against just
seven losses in what many think
is the roughest league in the
country.
63 Wins in Three Years
The overall season record of the
Wolverines isn't bad either. 21-7,
24-4 and 18-8 for a grand total of
63 wins and 19 defeats. In Mar'ch
of 1964, Russell, Buntin and com-
pany went all the way to the
semi-finals of the NCAA tourna-
ment beforedbowing to Duke. In
1965 they reached the champion-
ship game as the number one
ranked team in the country only
to lose 91-80 to second rated
UCLA.
Six months ago in Iowa City
they edged Western Kentucky
80-79 to move into the regional
finals against once beaten Ken-
tucky. But the dreams for the
elusive NCAA crown went un-
fulfilled as the Wolverines fell
84-77.
All Over Now
But none of it will matter next
December 1st when Michigan
takes the floor against Tennessee.
Number 33 is gone forever; Cazzie
may as well take his jersey with
him toNew York. And Clawson,
Buntin, Darden and, all the rest
will be somewhere else too. All
that will be left is the placid gum
chewing Strack and' a bunch of
scraggly college kids.
But Strack, perennially a pes-
simist, is surprisingly optimistic
for 1966-67. "I expect us to be a
real tough basketball team. We
have graduated seven boys, in-
cluding the five starters, but we'll
be a young team ready to go.
Three returning players have
shown at times that they can do
the Job and the boys moving up
from the freshman squad show
tremendous promise."
center). Pitts, 6'3", saw some ac-
tion last .season and figures in
Strack's plans as a guard though
he played forward in high school.
No Line-up Set
Strack did not name a probable
starting line-up with the season
still two months away, but he did
adicate that Pitts would have a
berth until someone pushed him
out of it.
The only other players back from
;he 65-66 squad are Marc Delzer
and Marty Slebodnick. Delzer is a
i'3" guard who is expected to
spell Bankey while Slebodnick,
6'5" is a forward. Neither has seen
much action in the past two sea-
sons.
At least two, and possibly three
members of the starting unit will
come from last year's exciting
freshman squad.
Three sophomores in the start-
ing line-up is unusual, but Strack
hopes that hard work and talent
will make up for inexperience.
Sullivan May Start
Bob Sullivan, 64" sophomore
forward from Manitowoc, Wis-
consin, is probably given the best
shot at starting. Sullivan broke
his foot early last season and
missed a good number of fresh-
CRAIG DILL
DENNIS BANKEY
Two of the returnees, Co-Cap-
tains Dennis Bankey and Craig
Dill, have had considerable ex-
perience. Bankey, a guard at 6'1",
held the starting spot last season
while Thompson was injured. He
did what Strack called an ade-
quate job although his outside
shooting was sporadic at best.
"I expect Bankey to regain his
shooting eye, and to respond to
the challenge of the captaincy,"
said Strack.
Dill, at 6'10", is the tallest play-
er in Michigan history. The sen-
ior from Saginaw spelled Jim My-
ers last season after holding down
the center spot himself in the ear-
ly weeks of the season.
Will Dill Come Through?
Like Bankey, Dill has produced
the occasional outstanding effort
to indicate potential stardom.
Against Wisconsin last year he
scored 18 points in 20 minutes of
play.
"There's a real good chance that
Craig will blossom," says Strack.
"He doesn't have to worry about
fighting for the job anymore. It's
his."
The third returnee who figures
prominently is Jim Pitts (no rela-
tion to the former Northwestern
man games. But in the second half
of the season his quick passing
and deadly outside shot sparked
the team. "Bob has shown us that
he's tough," says Strack. "He's
got great moves with and without
the ball and he's a fine shooter."
5'9" speedster Ken Maxey will
give Pitts competition for the see-
ond guard spot. Maxey is from
Chicago's tiny Carver high school,
which produced Russell and Iowa's
Gerry Jones in recent seasons.
He is short even for a guard but
Strack hopes his height deficiency
can be balanced by speed and
agility. "Maxey could be a definite
factor in the back court. He works
like Russell and he plays above
his height," commented Strack.
High School All-American
A third promising rookie is Den-
nis Stewart, a 6'8" forward from
Steelton, Pa. Stewart was a high
school All-American but ran into
problems last season and was
somewhat a disappointment. At
times ,however, his shooting was
spectacular. "I don't really like
to think of freshman year as ever
being 'disappointing,'" said
track. "I think Dennis has the
speed and size to fit in well if he
:an gain consistency."
One fellow whose job is pretty
well set is Irish-tongued Clar-
ence Adams from Cincinnati.
Adams is a 6'6" center who will
serve as Dill's back-up man.
From Wyoming, Ohio, comes a
third big man, Scott Montross. At
6'8", Montross is the heaviest of
the group, weighing 230. Strack
expects to find Montross's chief
benefit this season as a practice
player. "He'll be a great guy for
the first string to work against."
McClellen to Back Dill
Dave McClellen, from Toledo, is
the closes thing to a local product
to move up to the varsity. Mc-
Clellen is 6'5" with a smooth shot
and should see sporadic action.
Often overshadowed by Maxey
was 5'11" guard Mike Maundrell,
also from Cincinnati. Strack called
Maundrell a "tough kid, who cer-
tainly has the potential," Maun-
drell's booming jump shots hit
for a fairly high percentage last
winter.
No matter which of the above
players comprise the eventual
starting unit, the Wolverines will
be a vastly different team this
season. The players are faster than
any previous group and Strack has
indicated that he does plan to
take advantage of the increased
team speed and rely more on fast
breaking and pressing.
Practice begins October 15th so
Strack will have about a month
and a half to integrate the team
into a smooth functioning unit.
And when the season does begin,
no picnic is likely. The Wolver-
ines early schedule includes such
power houses as Houston, David-
on and Duke, not to mention a
possible match against Lew Alcin-
dor and the UCLA Bruins should
the two teams meet in the Los
Angeles classic over Christmas.
Toughest Big Ten competition
should come from Michigan State,
Iowa and Northwestern, all of
which return topflight players
from successful squads.
'I
! F
l.
Wolverine
Season Statistics
FG FTA FT RB PF
Games FGA
Cazzie Russell
John Clawson
Jim Myers
Oliver Darden
Craig Dill
John Thompson
Dennis Bankey
Dan Brown
Jim Pitts
Van Tillotson
Marc Delzer
Martin Slebodnik
Mark Fritz
Team
26
26
26
25
26
24
25
16
13
9
6
4
1
595
325
331
294
141
161
80
31
22
11
14
3
1
308
165
148
141
65
63
40
9
8
5
z
1
1
223
105
60
103
37
49
33
20
18
2
4
0
0
184
79
45
64
27
37
18
13
7
1
2
0'
0
219
186
215
241
43
102
47
23
17
14
5
0
- 173
57
94
61
94
57
54
39
13
12
5
3
0
Pts. Ave.
800 30.8
409 15.8
341 13.1
346 13.8
157 6.0
163 6.8
98 3.9
31 1.9
23 1.7
11 1.2
6 1.0
2 0.5
2 2.0
MICHIGAN TOTALS 26
Opponents' Totals 26
1999 956 654 477 1287 489 2389 91.9
1874 856 627 452 1126 497 2164 83.2
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CAZZIE RUSSELL EXECUTES his classic dunk shot in a game
against Minnesota last year. Russell, while at Michigan, was
three times All-American; broke Michigan single game, single
season and career scoring records and was named the country's
most valuable college player.
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