SECTION THREE Y Sir igan i43Iaii4 SECTION TH REE Seventy-Three Years of Editorial Freedom VOL. LXXIV, No. 85 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1964 Strack Eyes Big Ten Cage Title Win STRICTER POLICY, TOO. Plan TV Coverage Of Games at Yost As M' Cagers ConOtinue To. Even Coach Jumps On Blue Bandwagon Scouts, Coac1es Quick To Praise Wolverines By DAVE GOOD Sports Editor It's taken nearly half a season to do it, but Dave Strack, coach of Michigan's once-beaten bask- etball team, has finally jumped on his own bandwagon. Strack, whose team has bolted off to an 11-1 record and sits in a three-way tie with Ohio State and Illinois at 2-0 for the Big Ten lead, has always taken a wait- and-see attitude in his four years as head coach here. When the Wolverines took a 4- 0 record into exam week last month, the most Strack would say about the Big Ten title was, "I don't say we're not going to win it." This week, however, as his team heads into the thick of conference competition, starting with a home game this Saturday against Ohio State, Strack has taken a more! optimistic viewpoint. 'Real Contender' "We'll be a real contender for it," he conceded this week. "We're not going to breeze into it, but we'll try like the devil to win the Big Ten this year." This is not really earthshaking news, as Strack points out, since nearly every other Big Ten coach has gone on record as picking Michigan as the favorite already. But Strack says, "If I were coaching some place else instead of here, I'd probably have to pick Michigan, too. We've got the best record, and we really do have a good team." He echoed the words of Adolph Rupp when his Kentucky team first was voted the number-one team in the countryl last month: "Off our record and the teams we've played so far, I'd have to agree that we're the best." Only Strack means in the Big Ten, not in the country. Stronger All Over As far as the other Big Ten teams this year go, Strack holds that nearly every team in the con- ference has strengthened itself over last year and that "none of them should really be discount- ed.", Ohio State, Minnesota and Illi- nois-in no special order-are the three teams that Strack figures to be in the race with Michigan, although he lists Michigan State as much improved and possibly a factor in the race if the team hits a hot streak. He also says that Northwestern is a good team and that Purdue and Iowa are improved over last year. Wisconsin and Indiana, he adds, are about the only teams that have not improved them- selves. "I'd have to agree with what (Illinois coach) Harry Coombes said out on the Coast last month," Strack said.. "The team that wins this year will have to be better than either Illinois or Ohio State were last year." The two teams tied for first with 11-3 records last year, About the play of the Wolver- ines so far this year, Strack, need- less to say, is well pleased. WHATh NEW IN THE JANUARY ATLANTIC? Sean O'Faolaln: "Viva Mol!": Ireland's finest writer tells of his early years and the influences which awakened his Imagination. An Atlantic Extra. ALSO "The Power of James R. Hoffa": A. H. Raskin reports on the Teamsters Union and the secret of Hoffa's power "The Art of Being Free": Are today's colleges educating men in the art of being free? Author-critic Gerald W. Johnson discusses the question. s "Born a Square: The Westerners Dilemma": Wallace Stegner believes that most writers who have spent their youth in the western part of the United States don't feel at home in "We're not a superhuman team, but we are hardworking," he com- mented. "And I've been very much impressed with our play in a lot of games this year." , Where is the team's major strength? To Strack, it's just that: strength. "I'd say that our physical power combined with our quickness is our strong point. We're powerful on the backboards and the speed of our big boys is a big asset," he pointed out. Only one of Michigan's starters -Captain Bob Cantrell-stands under 6'5". Bill Buntin and Ollie Darden are each 6'7", Cazzie Rus- sell is 6'5%", and Larry Tregoning is 6'5". Of the three top reserves, Jim Myers is 6'8", George Pomey 6'4", and Doug Herner 5'10"-the same as Cantrell. Depth, Strack says, is the other reason why the team is doing so well. "We have eight, or maybe even 10 boys who can go in there and not hurt us a bit," he said. As for the rest of the season, Strack isn't making any predic- tions. He is, as the saying goes, playing them one at a time. "But I haveh agreat deal of confidence in this team. The kids really want to win, and they're not overconfident." By JIM BERGER Associate Sports Editor "Just great." "Best I've ever seen." ° "Tops in the country." No, these aren't theatre reviews but just words of praise for Mich- igan's basketball team. Michigan's cagers are just great, and if you don't believe it, ask the opposition.' Scouts and coaches who have observed and fallen victim to Caz- zie Russell, Bill Buntin and com- pany can't give the Wolverines enough praise. Michigan, with an 11-1 mark and third place ranking on both major polls, is tied for the Big! Ten lead with a 2-0 mark. Darden, Bob Cantrell and Jim Myers. 'Best Personnel' At Los Angeles, Michigan knocked NYU right out of it in ' the first game with an 83-72 win. UCLA Coach John Wooden, whose undefeated Bruins were to play Michigan the next night' said, "Man for man Michigan has the best personnel I've ever seen ' a college club, and I'm includ- ing Ohio State when it had Jerry Lucaad John Havlicek." ThisStrack says, must have been a misquote. Wooden also said Cantrell play- ed better than NYU's All-Ameri- can forward, Barry Kramer. But Wooden's Bruins made By CHARLIE TOWLE The pressure for student and faculty tickets to Michigan basket- ball games has resulted in tighter controls for obtaining tickets, an- nounced ticket manager Don Weir Monday. With this tightening at the ticket window and the gate, plus the addition of three more home television games to the schedule, Weir hopes to avert seeing the angry ticket mobs of early season games. The action stems from the mad panic to get tickets for the Duke game, Dec. 20. All tickets for that game and the following two home games with Detroit and North- western were snapped up by eager students within two hours. Problems Three problems became obvious after this incident. First, not all students who wanted tickets were getting them. Second, not all stu- dents who were getting tickets were using them, since neither the Detroit nor the Northwestern games played to a full house. Finally many students picking up tickets were not sticking to the ticket department's rule of only two per person. To solve the first of ,his prob- lems, Weir first looked into the possibility of closed circuit TV. According to his tentative plan there would have been a closed circuit circuit hookup to the In- turmural Bldg. Using a 9'x12'# screen, 1500 to 2000 students couldI have been accommodated at a cost of $2000 per game. Last Saturday night it was de- cided that this plan would not prove satisfactory and the call went out to local television sta- tions for volunteers to carry com- mercial broadcasts of the games. WWJ-TV, channel 4, agreed to broadcast the highly publicized Wolverine team. Because of prior commitments for programs, how- handle Tuesday night's game with Minnesota on Jan. 21 or the Mon- day night game with Purdue on March 9. It also could not carry the Michigan-Illinois game on Feb..29, which was already spoken for by WJBK-TV, channel 2. In addition WJBK has planned coverage of the away game with Michigan State Jan. 25. z Policy Change The last two major problems re- sulted in the tighter ticket policy. There will be only one line to dis- pense tickets when the Ohio State tickets become available tomorrow. Look Again For a story on the Los An- geles Basketball Classic, as well as other sports news you should have read before you got this far, turn to section one. Only Skeptic themselves look that much better The only skeptic is Michigan when they handed Michigan its Coach Dave Strack, who is shrug- first and only loss this season. ging off the praise as a method Took Third Place fn the nn itin to attha fa -Daffy-Kamalakar Rao TAKE YOUR TURN-Ollie Darden, Michigan's 6'7" sophomore. forward, snaps down a rebound against Northwestern while Bill Buntin looks on. They and sophomore Cazzie Russell all have over 100 rebounds this year. BATTLE FOR FIRST: Bradds, Ricketts To Lead Buckeyes In Showdown Against Wolverines Michigan enters its most critical contest of the young Big Ten sea- son Saturday afternoon facing Ohio State at Yost Field House in a regionally televised game. The game will match the old champs of the Big Ten, Ohio State, who have at least tied for first in the conference for the last four years, against the team many experts expect to replace the Buckeyes as the perennial champs. Toughest Game Although OSU has only a 7-5 record so far the game figures to be the toughest for the Wolver- ines thus far in the Big Ten. Ohio easily defeated their only two conference foes so far this year, Wisconsin 101-85 and Min- nesota 85-73. Their poor showing in the non-conference games was due to coach Fred Taylor's ex- perimenting with various com- binations of payer; trying to fin.i a winning combination. He ap- pears to have found it. Best Defensive Team "Their the best defensive team' in the conferee vme," says assistant basketball coach Tom JorgensenI wbo scouted the Buckeyes in the'r last confene e outing against Minnesota. As an example of OSU's prowess on defense Jorgen- sen cited Ohio State's holding Minnesota to 10 points through the first 15 minutes of that game. One reason for the current posi- tion of OSU in a tie for the con- ference lead with Michigan and Illinois is the emergance of Bob Dove as a front line player. In the Morgantown Classic, in which the Buckeyes met Duke and St. Johns of New York, Dove wasn't even in the top ten men on the team. Moved Rapidly Since then Dove has moved rapidly up and the 6'6" 225-pound sophomore is now starting for OSU. Needless to say with his great bulk Dove is mainly an in- side muscle man valued mainly for his ability to rebound. The big man for Ohio State is still Gary Bradds. Bradds got off to a slow start this year, but according to Jorgensen he has, rapidly improved. So far this year. Bradds has scored 320 points and has picked up 158 rebounds. Michigan's leading scorer is Cazzie Russell with 267 points and its leading rebounder is Bill Buntin with 141. In the backcourt the Buckeyes boast Dick Ricketts and Tom Bowman, who have both started all year. Ricketts with 166 points is the second leading scorer on the team. Bowman, who has only 77 points so far is characterized by Jorgensen as a quick defensive player. Bowman shares his corner spot with Jim Brown. Other Starter The other starter for Ohio is forward Don Devoe. Devoe was the sixth man on last year's team. The first substitute at for- ward is Al Peters. Ohio State plays a game based on getting the one good shot. They are able to fast break if the situation arises. In each of their first two conference games the Buckeyes shot 56 per cent. Sum- ming up Jorgensen says, "Their as tough as any team we'll face in the conference this year." -CHARLIE TOWLE Ior te oppositon to ge te iav- ored team overconfident. Starting with Michigan's lopsid- ed win over highly regarded West- ern Michigan, the praise has kept rolling in. Western's Don Boven, whose Broncos bowed, 104-81, said: "Cazzie Russell could emerge as the player of the year." Moreover, Boven said the Wol- verines were the best team that Western had played. The Broncos just two nights before had lost by three points to Loyola of Chicago, currently the nation's number two team, and at that time the na- tion's top team. Western had beat- en Marquette and lost by one point to Michigan State before playing Michigan. 'No Trouble' One of Boven's assistants was a bit stronger with his praise when he said, "Michigan wouldn't have any trouble with Loyola." Nationally ranked Duke was Michigan's next victim, and Blue Devil Coach Vic Bubas was un- sparing in his praise. "Michigan is great," Bubas told Detroit sportswriters. "I'd have to say Michigan is much better than Ohio State." Earlier in the year Duke beat the Buckeyes by one point. "Ohio State would have to have near perfect play execution to beat Michigan because it isn't nearly as strong," Bubas declared. NYU Scout Impressed At the Duke game was New York University scout and assist- ant coach Don Fortenberry, who witnessed the 83-67 drubbing. "Michigan has the best person- nel in the country," Fortenberry said. "I've seen 15 or so good teams on a level, but Michigan is above them all. I couldn't even name a number-two team. "Everybody's heard about Bun- tin and Russell but look at the other kids," Fortenberry said, re- ferring to Larry Tregoning, Oliver Michigan took third place in the L.A. Classic by defeating Pittsburgh, 95-80 in the consola- tion final. On New Year's Eve,*Michigan settled a long standing dispute with Detroit by snowing the Ti- tans under, 117-89. Titan Coach Bob Calihan join- ed the I love Michigan band- wagon by calling Michigan a good bet for the NCAA title. "I have to say I'll be surprised if Michigan isn't at Kansas City for the NCAA finals," Calihan told Detroit scribes. "I feel that they'll win the Big Ten title." 'Tremendously Strong' Loyola had to go into overtime to defeat the Titans. "Michigan is a tremendously strong team," Calihan went on. "I'd have to rate their front line as physically the strongest I've ever seen on a col- lege team." After dropping his Big Ten opener to the Wolverines, 85-73, Northwestern Coach Larry Glass. said, "I would rate Michigan right along with the other top teams we have faced this year and we've met Kentucky and NYU." Strack refuses to succumb to these praises, however. 'Put Us on Spot' "Scouts love to say wonderful things like this," Strack said. "Comments like these put us on the spot and gets everybody Juiced up when they play us." The Wolverines have passed all their non-conference tests except for UCLA and currently hold a tie for the top spot in the Big Ten. Saturday's Ohio State battle will help prove if these comments are accurate observations or just a lot of hot air. The Buckeyes claim two of the Big Ten's leading scorers in All- American center Garry Bradds and guard Dick Ricketts. Ohio State is aiming for its fifth straight Big Ten title. SAW S -STORE BIGGEST LEVI STOCK IN TOWN! Also black-loden-cactus $449 light blue-brown .. I Slim Fit Corduroys....98 Previously there had been three lines, which some students would switch back and forth from, end- ing up with more than the al- lotted two tickets. In addition to the single line there will be a close watch for people trying to repeat or for people taking "cuts" into the line. When the ticket seeker gets to the window he will need both an ID card and an athletic coupon in order to pick up his ticket or two sets for two tickets. The same identification will be required at the door along with the ticket in order to gain admittance to the game. Weir hopes to enable more stu- dents to have a chance to see the Wolverines in person with this new policy. In addition it should stop ticket "scalping" and giving tickets to non-students. In addi- tion the check at the door should discourage any repeat of the coun- terfeit ticket incident which oc- curred at the Western Michigan game. ever, the station was unable toI of LADIES' SLIM FITS snu$ I I lI 1