Page Two Wolverihe Sports THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday September 2 1970,4I 'Page Two-Wolverine Sports THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, September 2, 1970 ~ Revival stirs in so' M' bas] By AL SHACKELFORD It's time for a revival. No, not the Creedence Clear- water Revival, you idiot, the Michigan Basketball Revival! The Wolverines have suffered a recent post-Cazzie slump, but grea things are planned for the 1970-71 cagers. Despite their youth and the loss of last year's All-American mainstay Rudy Tomjanovich, Michigan will be an improved team and a Big Ten title threat this year. Leading the way for the Blue are returning seniors Rodney Ford, Dan Fife, and Harry Hay- ward, and a flock of big, quick sophomores like Henry Wil- more, Ken Brady, Ernie John- son, John Lockard and Leon Roberts. Throw in junior for- ward Wayne Grabiec and you have the makings of an NCAA contender, this season or in the future. Wilmore, a flashy 6-5 forward from New York City, may be the big gun for the Wolverines if he can adjust to playing up front after manning a guard post dur- ing most of his freshman season. He led last year's 9-2 frosh squad with a 23.1 scoring mark and often startled fans with quicksilver moves that left ap- ponents spinning helplessly in his wake. An honors graduate of the behind-the-back-and-be- tween-the-legs school of ball- handling, Wilmore is an exciting performer who should do yeo- man duty at a forward post far Michigan and establish himself as one of the nation's top sophs The other forward spot will be ably manned by holdover Rod Ford, a center last year and, next to Rudy, the Wolverines most valuable player. The 6-4 Ford, playing against men much taller than himself, c a m e through with a scoring average of 14.5 and a rebounding mark of 7.3 BACKING UP Wilmore and -Ford at the forward posts are Lockard, Grabiec, and Hayward; all are capable of breaking into the starting five and will at least log a lot of playing time. Lockard, 6-6 and another graduate of Will Robinson's bas- ketball machine at Detroit Pershing, is a great leaper who must work on his shooting; Gra- biec is at times spectacular on offense and averaged 4.6 last i year; and Hayward, a junior college transfer last year from North Dakota, is a rugged board man and good scorer who hit for 2.6 points a game. This year's natural choice for the pivot position is 6-11 Ken Brady, familiar to in-state fans for his outstanding schoolboy career at Flint Central. Brady sat out the 1969-70 season on academic probation, but pulled an A in a basketball course and will be ready to go this year. Brady and Michigan's high- jumping forwards will give the Blue a big boost on the boards; if big Ken falters, 6'8" Ernie Johnson, another former state prep great from Grand Rapids, can fill the post position in fine style. Michigan's backcourt can't ketball soul FS ,',,,"" ?'v:s ".y:.'rvs i"'":":":S'iF.:"?:-::"}:":":":":":ti":::%v:titi'" XY. v f:;"::r :.;."~". ".". /s'. . :v'yyr}>:M:::h° 'rX : {.}::'%T::C"::"i4":{:E:C"5:,;: ;:.v{.-;:° [,i : q{};"::,::,:'r,: ' {qn:;t"C"{ ROM THE DRIVER'S SEAT , :......;. By Phil Hertz mumm -Daily-Thomas R. Copi Rodney Ford (43) goes up against Purdue -Daily-Thomas R. Dan Fife (24) peers around Purdue's Rick Mount match its frontcourt in either talent or depth, but Dan Fife and Leon Roberts, along with mini-guards Dave Hart and Greg Buss, give the Wolverines tour respectable guards. A oossible solution to any backcourt weak- ness could be either to move Grabiec to guard. Fife will captain the Wolver- ines this year, aftertmarning a starting guard post for two years and compiling averages of 13.2 last year and 12.8 the year before. HE HAS THE experience and talent to solidify the backcourt, and should bow out this year with his most potent offensive season in a Michigan uniform. Roberts, 6-4, averaged in double figures for the Baby Blue last year and impressed fans with his tenacious defense. A former All-Stater from Portage Northern, Roberts is also a mem- ber, with backcourt partnersFife, of the Wolverines varsity base- ball team. Dave Hart, 5-9, and Greg Buss, 5-11: will back up the starting guards, but neither is likely to break into the starting lineup. Hart has the better chance, being a hustling and occasionally very flashy guard, capable of playing brilliantly at both ends of the floor. Buss was the playmaker of the frosh team and has a nice touch from out- side; he is also very quick. A capsule comparison of this year's Wolverines and those of 1969-70 is as follows: Wilmore and Ford are not quite a match C J Ff1 - § / Town Collar § Multi-colored stripings on a deep-toned ground, Distinc- tively Gant. With a long, straight collar that's fuller in i front and higher in back..Like all Gant shirts, Town is tailored with infinite care from collar to cuffs. In a lush cotton broadcloth or a fine no-iron polyester-cotton blend. § § for Rudy and Bird Carter, as neither can replace Rudy's 30.1 scoring and 15.7 rebounding. But this year's Blue will have more depth up front, with Lockard, Hayward, and Grabiec. Brady and Johnson give Michigan two potentially great centers, a defi- nite improvement over last year. Guards Fife and Robertsgare a match for last year's guards: Fife, Mark Henry, and Rick Bloodworth. Overall, the Blue have great depth and talent, especially up front, but .need another solid guard. Also, due to their youth, they may be a year away from greatness;rthe potential, how-, ever, is there. AS FAR AS coaching goes, few teams can match the Wol- verine dynamic duo of head coach John Orr and his assist- ant Fred Snowden; they get help from f r e s h m a n coach George Pomey and recruiting coordinator Dick Honig. Both Orr and Snowden possess a fine combination of amicability and coaching talent. The main competition for the Wolverines in Big Ten play will come from Minnesota, with fine guard duo Ollie Shannon and Eric Hill and 6-8 frosh stars Jim Brewer and Marvin Tayloi. (from Detroit Mumford); Illi- nois, r e t u rn i n g center Greg Jackson and guards Rick Howat grid Bob Windmiller .along with supersoph N i c k Weatherspoon; Purdue, with G e o r g e Faerber and ace guard Larry Weather- ford back; and maybe Ohio State, with letterman Jim Clea- mons and soph Allen Hornyak and that upstate agricultural school, coming at us with soph Bill Kilgore. 1970-71 'M' BASKETBALL SCHEDULE (Home Games in caps) Dec. 1 NOTRE DAME Dec. 5 at Kentucky Dec. 7 at Duke Dec. 10 EASTERN MICHIGAN Dec. 12 U. OF DETROIT Dec. 21-22 MICHIGAN INVITA- TIONAL (Wyoming, Harvard, California) Dec. 26-30 Rainbow Classic in Hawaii (Illinois, Villanova, BYU, NYU, St. Louis, Hawaii, Sub. Pac.) Jan. 9 at Wisconsin ,Jan. 16 INDIANA Jan. 23 at Northwestern Jan. 30 at Minnesota Feb. 2 PURDUE Feb. 6 NORTHWESTERN Feb. 13 at Purdue Feb. 20 MINNESOTA Feb. 23 at Indiana Feb. 27 OHIO STATE Mar. 2 at Illinois Mar. 6 MICHIGAN STATE Mar, 9 at Iowa Mar. 13 WISCONSIN A red-hot team.. . .for a cold arena WHEN I ARRIVED on the Michigan campus in August of 1967, I, like many of my classmates looked forward to the opening of the University All-Events Bldg. (now the Crisler Arena). The Building was going to be Ann Arbor's answer to Madison Square Garden-a fitting monument to Michigan's departing athletic director, Fritz Crisler, and the kind of place in which the likes of Cazzie Russell would feel proud to play. However, in the rush to complete the arena before Crisler's de- parture, several blatant miscues were committed. One of the mistakes involves the fact that he arena's play- ing area is no quite large enough to accommodate Michigan's hockey team. Of course, the fact that hockey can not be played in an arena would not be a sin if hockey was simply a minor sport, but as anyone acquainted with the sport will tell you, the Michigan hockey team is traditionally one of he best In the nation and is usually at least a darkhorse threat to capture the national championship. The sextet, with the unavailability of Crisler Arena, is relegated to the outmoded Colesium, and Its rabid fans must suffer through cold and poor seats to cheer their favorites on. THE LACK OF proper press facilities is another problem inherent with "The House that CazzieBuilt." The current layout of the arena barely allows for the seating of those reporters who cover for local Michigan papers, and any time there is a larger than normal attraction, the Michigan athletic depart- ment is strapped to handle the accompanying requests. Thus Michigan's basketball's fans have been deprived of the oppor- tunity of seeing NCAA tournament games. Crisler Arena does have one redeeming feature-everyone of the approximately fourteen thousand seats in it provides the fan with an excellent viewof the ongoing event. There is, how- ever, one problem even with this. During the three years it has been open, Crisler Arena has usually been rather, barren of fans. Except for contests involving Michigan State or individual stars like Rick Mount, the average basketball contest only at- tracts between eight thousand and ten housand. This year, however, the turning point may be in sight for Crisler Arena at least as far as drawing fans into it is con- cerned. Coach John Orr and his assistant Fred 4Snowden have recruited a team which could very well become one of the leading contender for the Big Ten basketball championship. The 1970-71 Wolverine Basketball squad will continue to feature the speed, which has continually tormented so many of its opponents, (One opposing coach last season commented, "They don't call timeouts, they take pit stops"), but will also be one of the tallest in the country. THE LEADING NAME on the quintet is likely to be.New York's Henry Wilmore, a 6-5 swingman, who will probably man one of the forward positions, since he appeared much more com- fortable up front while competing with the Wolverine freshmen last year. Wilmore has the potential of becoming the next Michi- gan superstar. He has great moves, which aid him in finding openings allowing him to repeatedly penetrate with strong drives to the basket. He also possesses an uncanny jumping ability, which is likely to make him an excellent rebounder. As already implied, Wilmore is not the only bright light, which will be cavorting for the Wolverines when the basketball seasons opens in December. Three giant sophomores, 6-10 Ken Brady, who was forced to sit out his freshman season, and 6-8 Ernie Johnon and 6-7 John Lockard, both of whom had fine freshman years, should insure Johnny Orr's crew of having an excellent front court trio. Backcourts hopefuls will include 6-5 Leon Roberts, who demonstrated a strong outside shot while operating as a starting freshman guard, and 6-2 Dan Fife, the captain of the team, who is one of the better backcourt men In the conference when he overcomes his tendency to making an abundant number of mis- takes. Rod Ford, who averaged fifteen points while operating out of the pivot position with last year's Wolverines, may be asked to make the shift to the backcourt. In a like position is 6-5 thinman, Wayne Grablec, who may possess the best out- side shot on the team. OBVIOUSLY, WITH such an abundance of names being thrown around, the Wolverines will have some extra talent on hand this winter, a situation that hasn't occurred in the Ann Arbor area for several seasons. But, unfortunately, just like all silver linings, there are still a few clouds present. The first difficulty confronts the players themselves and involves the brutal battles that will result In practice when athletes are competing for positions. Michigan will have a lot of depth up front this year and it is the kind of depth that has muscle. As Rodney Ford says, "Those guards better not be crazy enough to come underneath," The sophs may have great potential but they still have to prove they will continue to develop and be able to handle Big Ten competition. They face a murderous schedule and will need time to adjust, not only to opponents but to the veteran players on the varsity. And then it must be considered that other con- ference schools also boast supersophs such as George McGinnes of Indiana, Nick Weatherspoon of Illinois and Jim Brewer of Minnesota, among others. Sophs usually create surprises, though, and when they have great potential, as Michigan's do, basketball can contain many pleasant surprises. q1 #i makes the, sports-scene! 40 D TISSOT PR E Mt pv VJISO 31 .; i r . I self-winding automatic date-changer pr-516 Big, bold, indisputably masculine! Takes more rough wear, absorbs more strain! You never have to coddle it! It's not only self-winding, but the date changes automatically every midnight. With extra-thick armored crystal, Grand Tourismo racing bracelet.in yellowtop, steel back, $82.50. All stainless steel, water-resistant, $77.50. Also available with Grand Tourismo strap, from $69.95. 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