Wednesday, January 16, 1974 full court 1o s THE MICHIGAN DAILY WOWPIAS .m -r- MILE-RELAY STANDS OUT FI ; Thinclads' Dee-fense,' they cry. " 9 defense they get By GEORGE HASTINGS Two of the NBA's top clubs are engaged in a fierce mid- season battle. The home team's center drills one in from the outside, and as the Boston Celtics bring the ball -upcourt the sellout crowd begins to chant "dee-fense, dee-fense." A quick forward pokes the ball from John Havlicek's hands to start a fast-break, and the home club goes on to win a brilliant defensive battle, 106-101. From the above description, the scene would have to be Madison Square Garden, and the home team the New York Knicks, right? Wrong. The scene was January 4 at Cobo Arena, and the team in question none other than the Detroit Pistons. And that victory over the Celtics was just one of many this year that have established the Pistons as one of the top clubs in the NBA. Today, with the season more than half gone, Detroit stands at 28-18, the fourth best record in the league. Furthermore, the Pistons have just emerged from an eleven-game stint in which they played only teams that made the playoffs last year, and Detroit won seven of those contests. What is happening down at Cobo Arena? What are the Pistons, the perennial doormat of the league, with only one winning season in their history, doing among the upper echelon of the NBA? The answer lies in the chants of "dee-fense" resounding around Cobo, and in the person of one Ray Scott, the con- servatively dressed giant who usually sits quietly at the end of the Detroit bench and directs this new hardcourt jugger- naut. If the Pistons have turned it around this year, the chief reason has been their defensive play. For years observers have said the Detroit talent wasn't that bad, and the team always seemed to have people who could put the ball in the basket. Yet no matter how many points the Pistons tossed in, their sieve-like defense always seemed to let in a few more. But under Scott, a longtime NBA forward who endured several losing years as a player in Detroit, that has all changed. Scott took over as coach midway .through last season, and in his brief tenure he has taught a brand of clawing, pressing, switching defense which has made the Pistons a winner. The emphasis has been on team defense. Unlike in former seasons, the Pistons help each other out on defense. When op- ponents pick or screen, the Detroit players have learned to make the switch smoothly, afd wide open shots are a rarity for visitors to Cobo these days. But the most amazing thing has been the fact that Scott has turned the defense and the team's fortunes around without substantially changing the personnel. All five Detroit starters, as well as ten of the twelve players on the roster, were with the team last year. What Scott has accomplished is that he has them paying as a team. The biggest individual factor in the Piston resurgence has been the play of Bob Lanier. The mammoth 6-11 pivotman had always scored the points expected of him, but something was missing. Lanier was not the type of defensive center an NBA team needed to be a winner. This year, though, the big man has finally developed into the kind of middle-clogger and shot-blocker Detroit had en- visioned when they drafted him. He is among the league leaders in stuffs, has shown the quickness to cover a forward on the switch, and generally has anchored the Piston team defense. And he has done it all without sacrificing his scoring at the other end of the court, where he ranks as one of the smoothest-shooting big men ever to play the game. But the rest of the Piston cast is also having a great year. Dave Bing no longer has to do it all on offense, and though his scoring average has dipped to just under twenty-a-game, he ranks fourth in the league in assists and has proven himself a wizard at directing the offense. To complement Bing at guard, Scott has rotated tough de- fender Chris Ford, fiery blond John Mengelt, and slick-shooting Stu Lantz, who is currently out with a fractured wrist. With all three healthy, Scott has a variety most coaches would envy, as well as. a chance to always keep, fresh guards in the game. Since Dave Debusschere departed the Detroit scene what seems like ages ago, the Piston weak point has always been forward. But this year Scott has melded a group of unheralded players into a more than adequate unit. Bearded, balding, paunchy 6-7 Don Adams looks anything but a defensive master, but that's what he has been, constantly holding high-scoring forwards well under their average as well as contributing strong board support to Lanier. Curtis Rowe has not been scoring well from the other forward spot, but his consistent rebounding and quickness on defense have fit him well into the new Piston team basketball concept. And when Scott has needed some extra scoring punch from his front line, he has called on Detroit's main off-season acquisition, George Trapp. Standing 6-9, Trapp has many times come into a tight game and opened it up with his superb outside shooting. Together, this group of players has done what would have seemed impossible a year ago to Detroit sports fans. If things hold up as they are now, the Pistons will make the playoffs easily, for the first time in five years. And as of late, they have shown that they can win against the kinds of teams they'll be taking on in post-season play. Over the holidays, Detroit recorded triumphs over the Celtics, the Bucks, the Bulls, the Bullets, the Lakers, and the Warriors, and took the Knicks down to the wire before losing. All this new found success somehow seems hard to believe for veteran Piston watchers. There must be some mistake; the Pistons, those inept Detroit Pistons, certainly can't be as good as the top NBA powers. A second-half collapse is fore- cast by the skeptical. But the Pistons do not look like a team ready to collapse. They are playing too well as a team, beating too many good teams. They have already played over key injuries, and over a streak of bad luck in close games at the beginning of the year that could have frustrated them. And suddenly, miraculously, the Pistons are emerging as the most successful sports team in Detroit. As the Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings flounder, the Pistons loom as the only Detroit pro team to make its sport's playoff in the last year. Yes, it's hard to believe, but the best sports show in Detroit is now at Cobo Arena. The AP Top 20 fortune By JEFF CROWN If anyone on this campus can run the 120 high hurdles in about 13.8, Michigan track coach Dixon Farmer would like to hear from you. Except for the hurdles events, Michigan's track team appears reasonably strong in all events as the '74 campaign nears the opening date Friday at the Eastern Michigan Open. Whether they have the talent to purge the bridesmaid role they played to Indiana in the Big Ten champion- ships in cross - country, indoor and outdoor track last year re- mains to be seen. But most certainly the Maize and Blue will be a factor to be reckoned with, as graduation fromt last year has not hurt them seri- ously. One key individual lost was Godfrey Murray, the Big Ten's premier hurdler last year. It was hoped that Mel Reeves would fill the hurdling hole, but he is cur- rently off the team due to personal problems. 'Champ' chucked Jeff Guyton, last year's 134-lb. Big Ten Wrestling Champ, is off the Michigan squad according * to Coach Bay. Guyton has miss- ed the last eight practices and{ is apparently in academic trou- ble. depend on dept. fleet senior has run in the Olym-IBill Bolster, Keith Brown, Greg However, Michigan's field event pics, where he whipped off the fast- Meyer, Jon Cross, and Jim Simp- men are at a disadvantage now be- est leg on the Jamaican 1600-meter son. Bolster is late in returning cause the indoor track facilities relay team. f from Ireland, but has run some have not been completed. Fortu- As far as future greats go, Coach fine races there. Cross is still re- nately, Eastern Michigan volun- Farmer's recruiting program land-1 covering from a bout with mono teered their facilities but, the shut- ed a couple of top freshmen pros- I and Brown has a hamstring prob- tling back and forth to Ypsilanti pects. Hoping to continue in the lem. Should they patch themselves has not been the most ideal situ- Jamaican tradition of excellence.together the potential is there for ation. It'll probably take the thin- lately exemplified by Murray and some good performances. clads a little longer to round into Rowe, is islander Jeff McCleod, I In the field events, Pete Hill and shape this season. Farmer com- whose best 440 dash is 46.8. Abe Butler are back in the hori- ments, "We're going to be a late Another welcome addition to the zontal jumps and should be top I season team this year?' mile-relay team is Ken Delor from point getters. Mike Lantry can do Michigan has a solid nucleus in Grosse Pointe North, who won the more than kick field goals. He Adams, Rowe, and the mile-relay state 440-dash championship in 48 threw the shot 55 feet last year team to start with. Should the rest flat. Farmer said, however, he and is back again. In the pole vault of the team respond with strong hopes Delor, along with junior Jim Ed Kukla and Terry Hart are what seasons, Michigan should be a Howe will plug the hole in the Farmer calls "a hard working prime contender for Big Ten hon- sprints which Michigan had last duo." ors. year. Another state championship -. man is Andy Johnson from Ohioj who finished his high school careerT- with a 1:52.9 half-mile run. Another addition will be trans- fer student Dave Williams whose best 440 is a 49.3 Add McCleod, CK Delor and Williams to veterans Rowe and Bob Mills and you see We need you for why Coach Farmer has visions of when he smiles and says "I'm co Ior-vision experiments looking forward to the mile relay WE PA this year." In the distance events Michigan CALL VISION LAB.-764-0574 has its varsity cross-country men___ m Daily Photo by KAREN KASMAUSKI Michigan's "gentle giant," Steve Adams, is favored to take the Big Ten indoor shot put title once again. Last year, Adams clenched first place with a 58-6/4 put over defending champion Colin Ander- son of Minnesota. Adam's season best in '73 was 60-7. Friday, co-capt. Adams and the remaining Michigan thinclads will hustle over to Ypsilanti for the Eastern Michigan Open. LANIER PACES W West SEATTLE (P)-A grimly deter- mined and muscular West team, bolstered by burly Bob Lanier's 24 points, hometown hero Spencer Haywood's 23 and a devastatingly quick start, withstood a , furious East comeback and held on for a 134-123 victory last night in the NBA's All-Star Game. The West surged to a 15-point lead in the first five minutes and 10 seconds, increased it to 25 late in the first half and still led by 16 going into the final period. Then, the East, spurred by Pete Maravich of Atlanta and Dave De- Busschere of New York, whittled ithe West's advantage to 120-117 stymies "all d~iIv sportsr NIGHT EDITOR: MARCIA MERKERa the 7-foot-2 starting center from the Milwaukee Bucks, scored on a hook shot 17 seconds later and Gail Goodrich of Los Angeles sank ~a driving lay-up with 2:30 to go. On the positive side of the ledger, Michigan has two individ- uals who should be right there among the top contenders for NCAA individual championships. Kim Rowe, the sleek Jamaican 440 man, and Steve Adams, the "gentle giant" shot putter, were named co-captains Monday, and both should have their sights on being college's best. Adams last year won the Big Ten championship in the indoor shot put and the outdoor cham- pionship in the discus. This year his old nemesis, Colin Anderson, is graduated from Minnesota so Ad- ams should be the man to beat in the Big Ten. Rowe is another class perform- er. Holder of six Big Ten cham- pionships, including relays, the 8i E ast first half and to only four points in the third period, the ,Atlanta Hawks' guard fired in 11 points in the final quarter. DeBusschere, who had eight points in the last quarter, wound up as the East's high scorer with 16.' The West, fired up after its humiliating 104-84 upset loss in' last year's game at Chicago, burst to a 20-5 lead with less than six minutes gone with the help of three personal fouls against East center Dave Cowens, the most valuable player in the 1973 contest. The East then rallied with four consecutive field goals, including two by Boston's John Havlicek, but the seven-point difference at that stage was the closest the East came in the first half. The West, playing stingy defense and forcing the sloppy East into numerous turnovers, led 39-29 af- ter one period, then ballooned its advantage to a shocking 64-39 with 3:05 remaining in the half. The East again retaliated with four consecutive baskets, two by New York's Walt Frazier, but a reverse lay-up by Portland's Sid- ney Wicks with 18 seconds left provided the West with a 66-47 halftime bulge. No. 308 (3) "Mathematical Ideas in Science & Humanities.". W. Kaplan, Collegiate Prof. Info: 359 W. Engine (48586) MWF 10 a.m. 3082 Nat. No. 350/Psych 350 (3) "Human Growth & Development." R. Moyers & staff Info: 322 Victor Vann (44485) No. 402/American St/Engineering Hums "American Folklore." Reusse Info: 1077 E. Engine (41420) T 1I a.m.(+sect MLB Aud. Ni MWF 1 p 3035 E. En MINI-COURSES are available for WINTER '74. Call "POINT 30" for most current information. new courses become available throughout the term, they will be added to this 24-hr. tape forf accurate information referral. Tie College of Literature, Science & the Arts Announces the following UNIVERSITY COURSES still open for WINTER '74 elections (Division No. 495-all other registration info available at the numbers indicated) No. 236/Engineering Hums 236 (4) "History of Cinema." H. Cohen. Info: 1077 E. Engine (41420) TTL 3-Ad MLB Aud. IN 4:3( lo. Sc ion do. I.m gin A fas You Are Invited To Attend 30 4 i. 4 3. ne As sr, a FREE Clinic Thursday, January 17: Noon to 8 p.m. Come on over with your turntable for a f r e e analysis by the Shure professionals; down-to-earth audio rap and b e s t price available, too! CLINIC SPECIAL-M91E Cartridge Regular $50.00 NOW $17.95 c#at 336 SOUTH STATE 769-4980 with 3 minutes remaining. Maravich, the league's No. 2' That was as close as the East scorer, was the major architect came. of the East's comeback in the fi- Towering Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, nal period. Held scoreless in the Club sports provide outlet for enthusiasts By BRIAN DEMING the club sports in intramural com- Oft neglected on the priorities of petition. The rugby, soccer, and the A t h I e t i c Department and ski teams and other clubs actively buried intthe depths of the sports compete w i t h other organized page. is the vast and persistently; clubs. The LaCrosse Club, one of popular arena of Michigan club the more popular clubs includes a sports. Lost in a sports world spring vacation trip to Florida in where football is tyrant and bas- its schedule. ketball, hockey, baseball and the Those interested in getting in other major sports sap the bulk volved in club sports should con- of the sports revenue and atten- tion, club sports are sustained al- tact the Intramural Building. most exclusively by the partici- pant's energy and finances. AMERICAN ARTS GUILD Still, the clubs not only per- AICANJA R Y GL E sist but thrive. There are, at INDIAN JEWELRY SALE present, 20 clubs offering full- 15% OFF fillment in all sports you care CAMPUS INN-HURON ROOM to know and some you may not. Jan. 19 Daily Jan. 20 From archery to white water SAT. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. SUN. canoing, from cricket to tae kwon do, from fencing to table tennis the clubs have beenaor- ganized to' satisfy the demands of people with broader sports interests than available intra- University 0 murals provide. Open until 9 p.m. li I Shop at FOLLETTS for TEX TBOOKS and SUPPLIES f Michigan Boxing, for example, an almost TN forgotten collegiate sport, has a' place among the club sports. Or-/ ganized br Let Philbin, the club ; meetr ...rice weekly at the Intra-A, feet boxing skills. While the club does not compete G d f ~ etn intercollegiately it does put on sev-/ eral demonstrations and exhibi- tions-one at the Whitmore Laken.I - 2 p . Boys Training School and one at Veterans Memorial Hospital. The in basement of season, which started in October, 1. UCLA (46) 2. Notre Dame 3. N.C. State 4. Maryland S. North Carolina 6. Maranette 12-0 8-0 9-1 8-2 10-1 12-1 920 816 700 598 566 451 T 2. 2! 17. Pittsburgh 12-1 53 18. Missouri 10-3 45 19. Wisconsin 9-2 38. 20. tie Cincinnati 10-3 29 Daily Libels 7-0 29 Others repiving 1nac lict,.A