Wednesday, Mooch 23, 1977 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Seven Wednesday, Mcrch 23, 1977 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Seven ( uckt Dekers attitude..: ... reason for success By JOHN NIEMEYER YEP, TOMORROW night I'm going to Detroit to see the NCAA Ice Hockey championships. I've been looking forward to this weekend since September. "What a great year to cover hockey,"' I thought, knowing I'd have the chance to cover the event in nearby Olympia. But I got a bonus that I hadn't really expected. , The bonus is that Michigan will be competing in the chain- pionshins. Sure, I had dreams of such a conclusion, and early press releases were predicting Michigan to better its finish from last year. But after all, hadn't I been duped the previous year by such preseason prophecies of greatness? Nearly everyone had picked the 75-76 dekers as odds on favorites to win it all in the WCHA and unite nossibly the nation. With the likes of All American Robbie Moore, Angie Morettox and the Lindskog brothers leading the talent-laden Wolverines, how could they nossibly go wrong? But they did. Not that their 22 wns and fourth place finish in the WCHA was not respectable, but the season had fallen-way short of the team's expectations: and notential. The 76-7 squad had been decimated by the graduation of six seniors and were on paper nowhere near as talented as the year before. With such reasoning. I dismissed the possibility that MichiganG wold make it to o'vmnia and simnlv awaited the treat of wit-W nessin a ereat hockey series in Detroit., As the season progressed. I began to get my hopes up as Di v Photo by CHR Michigan won repeatedly. Then my hopes were dashed by a "WATCH OUT, or I'll step on you," North seven-game losing streak, plummeting the dekers Into sixth star center Cerdic 'Cornbread' Maxwell c place in the conference and certainly out of any chance of ing to Michigan forward Tom Staton. reaching Detroit.-! 49'ers, the Cinderella team of the NCAA Maybe, just maybe. they would climb back to fourth and 25 points and 13 rebounds. get a home olavoff berth.- But from the greatest deths, this hockey team has turned around and proved themselves to be one of the best squads in PREP CAGER G( FS:i Michigan hockev history. That nt them in some pretty imores- sive comnanv when von consider that they are pursuing Michi-0 gan's eighth NCAA hockey title this week, more than any other school in the contry. Fdry ci What then has made this team so good, where last year's team was so mediocre? LAKELAND, Fla. - Detroit rays thatI Some of the credit has to go to a couple of freshmen who Tigers pitcher Mark "The two or tht stenned in to fill some big holes. Most notable among them Bird" Fidrych will miss his ing re-exa is Dean Turner. Turner's hustling defense and hard check- scheduled start Thursday night termination ing has been invaluable, especially with the loss of Greg against the Houston Astros due be made th Natale. to a sprained knee suffered Another freshman, Dan Lerg has contributed a great deal on in -practice. Isks P offense. esecially in the last four weeks of the regular season. The 1976 Rookie of the Year, Gene Ba In addition, all of the returnees from last year's team who a 19-game winner, sprained highly sou were to be counted on heavily, have come through. Dave Debol his left knee while shagging ball player had a banner year. Kip Maurer improved immensely to help fly balls during the American not attend anchor the offense. League team's training ses-I he had on New and imnroved talent is not the only answer, though. Sin at Marchant Stadium Apparent I think the biggest difference between this year's team and Doctors said after viewing X omal i the oreceding one's is in its attitude. i o de gfra i Every game the whole team is out there hustling, trying toRakneer win. After losing those seven in a row. the Wolverines fought B he last 1 back when many teams would have folded. DJ 3 U freshmant I can't help but recall many series last season when Mor- take his S etto and company would come out on Friday night and man- 22nd. handle a team, only to turn around on Saturday night and IVBanks, lose. Even with all that talent, it seemed as if the only time 300 colleg they would play hockey is when they felt like it. A weekend now is loi sweep was nearly unheard of last year. . 03sightingI While admittedly gifted, players like Moretto and Doug Lind-UCLA. skog were moody and inconsistent. This year's stars like Debo ib and Manery put out all the time. According to more than one player I have talked to, Far- By ERIC OLSON . w rell's rapport with all the players has improved immensely. When With just 1:40 remaining in . TO relations are right between the coach and the team, winning overtime, Gary Forhan scored comes much easier. the winning goal for the Beaver 14 Wisconsin is proof of that point. The Badgers have turned Patrol, who defeated the White around from the worst team is the conference last year to Nights, 3-2 last night in the number one in the country today, largely because of the All-Campus class "A" 'hockey° finals at Yost Arena. return of head coach Bob Johnson. Last year strife was com- Mk Jackovick opened the A mon between the team and their interim coach, making win- scMring for th e te ghs verydfficutiddscoring for the White Nights ring very difficult indeed. d So in retrospect,.it is not so surprising that the 7-77 dekers perio The Beaer Patrol tied99 have advanced so far. Perhaps they are not as talented man the game with a power play for man as they were the previous season, but attitude-wise, by John Banks in the second 'ersai By DON MacLACHLAN To some people it will never sink in. Some basketball followers will never believe it. But North Carolina at Charlotte's basketball team is a very good one. The 49'ers are 28-3 and riding a thirteen-game winning streak heading into Saturday's NCAA semi-final game against Marquette. "WE'RE QUITE PROUD OF OUR TEAM," said Mean Green coach Lee Rose. "We feel we can play pretty good basketball on a given night." And this season the Mean Green has played some pretty good basketball. Included in the squad's 28 conquests are vic- tories over Creighton, Syracuse and of course, Michigan. On the other side of the ledger only. three teams have managed to upend North Carolina-Charlotte. Tennessee and Wake Forest nipped the Mean Green with last second shots by a total of four points. St. Francis of Pennsylvania is re- sponsible for the only other blemish on the 49'er season slate. Rose is not a coach who talks his team into national prominence, a la Detroit coach Dick Vitale. Over the past, three years the Mean Green have quietly accumulated a record of 69-13. Finally last year the 49'ers received a tourna- ment bid to the NIT and finished runner-up to Kentucky. "IT'S A GRATIFYING EXPERIENCE to be in the final four this year," Rose said. "But we've had to have some luck and talent to get there." The Mean Green would be sidelined in Charlotte today, if it weren't for a little luck against Central Michigan in the NCAA first round in Bloomington. CMU center Ben Poquette's last second tip, which would have won the game, rolled around the rim but fell harmlessly out. The 49ers went on to beat the Chippewas in overtime, 91-86. AFTER THE SCARE AGAINST CMU, the Mean Green proceeded to down Syracuse and Michigan on its way to At- lanta. Now the 49'ers have momentum and are dreaming of a national title. "We've been in pressure situations since we started in the NCAA," King added. "And I think we've handled it very well." North Carolina-Charlotte plays together well and is very unselfish - which results in a lot of easy baskets in close. n for "EVERYBODY IS WILLING TO GIVE IT UP," King said. "We look for Lew Massey and Maxwell a lot and that is why they are our high scorers." Maxwell confronts the problem of shutting down Mar- quette's Bo Ellis on Saturday, but he isn't looking at it as a one-man job. "EVERYBODY SAID AGAINST MICHIGAN it would be me against Hubbard," Maxwell said. "Now its supposed to be me against Bo Ellis as the key matchup. No one lools at Kevin King or Lew Massey to see how important they are." "They kept Hubbard off the boards and will help do the same against Ellis. They deserve recognition too, "continued HOWEVER, FOR THE TIME BEING, the Mean Green are concerned only with the Warriors of Marquette, as the Cinderella team of the 1977 NCAA's strives for a national title. Will Marquette have the advantage because they are try- ing hard to win the championship for retiring coach Al Mc- Guire? "Heck no, we wanna win it for Coach Rose," Massey said. That is the type of team UNCC has! JOIN THE SPIRIT OF TODAY WITH MONTEGO BAY BAY RUM Light and Dark ~. Enjoy a Rum Collins, Rum Martini or Rum RTonic and other mixed z drinks ofyour choice. CODE 3990 MONTEGO BAY GOLD 4.335th 3992 MONTEGO BAY WHITE 4.33 5th -, a 80 Proof, Imported & bottled by - Montego Bay Products, Ltd. w San Francisco California and Seattle,Washington. title ISTINA SCHNEIDER h Carolina-Charlotte ould be heard say- Maxwell paced the k tournament, with Fidrych should rest ree days before be- mined. A further de-1 of his condition will en. - APt errs nks, one of the most ht after prep basket- s in the nation, may Duke University, as ginally intended. ly, the West Philadel- school cager, never lled out an appfica- nission to Duke. Also, r took his SAT's and 1. ible day that a' entering Duke can AT's is on January recruited by over ges in the country, yking to joining theI rish of Notre Dame ly going west with fersi7)Injury There still exists the possi- repair loose cartilage in his left bility that Banks could enter knee, and the team's doctor said1 Duke if it "bends." Michigan the operation "went very well." was one of the six campuses LaGarde, who injured his Banks visited.; knee in February and has ' Banks was the source of an- missed the Tar Heels' tourna- other major controversy this ment play, was operated on season. He was benched for his by Dr. Frank Wilson at North league's championship game Carolina Memorial Hospital. against Overbrook High School, Dr. Joseph DeWalt, the team Wilt Chamberlain's alma mater, physician, said the 6-foot-10 sen- when he missed practice the day ior from Detroit would prob- before the game. ably be discharged from the Over 9,000 fans turned out to hospital in four or five days, see Banks play and were be- aid may be able to travel with fuddled when he showed up to the Tar Heels to Atlanta for the game in street clothes. His their 4:15 p.m. game Saturday coach was criticized but he with Nevada-Las Vegas. stuck to the team rule. Banks "He should have a complete watched his teammates ove recovery," DeWalt said. -AP come 'a seven-point halftime ______ ___eal sad.-A deficit to win. -DAILY SPORTS La arde r epairirunr rinm i wCHAPEL HILL, N Carolina center Ton underwent surgery .C. - North rm LaGarde Tuesday to they have the winning edge. The intangibles, attitude, desire, or whatever you want to call them are talked about ad nauseum, but they make a dif- ference., This .year the Wolverine icers have the'intangibles. Whether they return victorious from Olympia or not, they have already proved that! A final plus for this year's team is in the coaching depart- ment. If success, as some have criticized, has spoiled John Orr, it has had an opposite effect on Dan Farrell, Michigan's head period. Both teams added a goal in the third period, Gary Ruben- stein for the White Nights, and less than two minutes later, Da- vid Stoble for the Beaver Pa- frol, knotting the score at 2-2. In the consolation game play- ed earlier, three-time defend- ing champion Fish, who lost to the Beaver Patrol last week, whipped Baits, 11-0. coach. This season.FArrell has been lations with both press and players. SC-O- RE a lot more at ease in re- WEDNESDAY SPECIAL 5-10 P.M. ALL YOU CAN EAT' HOMEMADE BAKED LASAGNA $3.95/Adult $1.75/Child NBA N.Y. Knicks 125, Milwaukee 115 Atlanta 96, Buffalo 84 Cleveland 108, Seattle 104 Chicago 102, Los Angeles 86 Kansas City 126, Golden state 113 Boston 108, San Antonio 104 New Orleans 106, Portland 95 Houston 106, Indiana 95 NHL Buffalo 6, Atlanta 3 N.Y. Islanders 9, Colorado 2 St. Louis 4, Los Angeles 2 Pittsburgh 4, Minnesota 2 EXHIBITION BASEBALL Detroit 6, Boston 2 Atlanta 7, N.Y. Yanks 5 Milwaukee 15, Cleveland 4 Texas 8, Kansas City 5 Philadelphia 6. Pittsburgh 0 Montreal 12, Minnesota 8 Baltimore 12, Chicago White Sex 4 St. Louis 10, Cincinnati 2 Oakland 3, Sap Diego .2 - I, PRETZEL BELL Restaurant 120 E. 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