rge Eight
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Saturday, March 27,'1976
THE MICHIGAN DAILY Saturday, March 27, 1976
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By BILL STIEG
Special To The Daily
PHILADELPHIA-Don't fiddle
with your TV. When the picture
gets fuzzy this afternoon,, those
blurs will be the Michigan Wol
verines and the Rutgers Scarlet'
Knights.
For these teams, the name of
the game is "run for your tour-
nament life." So far, the fast-
stepping squads have used their
quickness to race past three:
Cagers face unbeaten Rutgers
for NCA Achampionship berth
This "should be
a great slam dunk and bent the rim out'
tournament opponents. T o d a y game," said Michigan coach of shape, way down.-
they collide at top speed in the Johnny Orr yesterday. "These
national semifinals. are fast, exciting teams." "WE DO THAT dunk drill at
Speaking of excitement, theIthe end of every pre-game prac-
BOTH TEAMS like to run. Wolverines were almost too tice," explained Orr. "We just'
When that doesn't work, they f keyed up about their first ap- got a little excited. The players
try running faster. Such rapid- pearance in the glamourous fi- were a little nervous. They
fire play could produce a total nal four.
of 200 points - appropriate in Practicing in front of 1500
t h i s bicentennial-crazed city. basketball fanatics in the Spec- Television coverage of to-
The Wolverines (24-6) have trum yesterday, Michigan got day's Michigan-Rutgers clash
never played a team that has carried away in its enthusiasm. starts at 2:00 p.m., followed
been able to keep up with their The Wolverines' flashy, crowd- by the Indiana-UCLA game at
breakneck pace. Neither have conscious show ended when Joel 4:00. The games will be car-
the (31-0) Knights. Thompson did a backwards ried on Channels 4, 10, and
13 Thev will be carried on
:finals. But that's in Las Ve-
gas. Out here in the East, Rut-
gers is considered the team to
bet on.
"WE'RE VERY similar to
Michigan," said Knight coach
Tom Young. "We're concerned
about their fast break, their
running. We're both high-scor-
ing teams. It should be a high-
scoring game-a great game to
watch."
The personnel are as similar
as the playing styles.
There are big strong guards:
au._______________________". "
r ad io stations WUOM-FM- Michigan's Steve Grote and Rut-
"(91.7) and WAAM-AM (1600) gers' Mike Dabney. Little quick
aso andguards: Rickey Green and Ed
Jordan. Quick, freshmen cen-
- ---ters: Phil Hubbard and James
Insde Straight didn't like the crowd watching Bailey.
them practice-they were afraid Strong rebounding forwards:
of making mistakes." John Robinson and Hollis Cope-
Today the audience will be land. And smaller, quicker for-
ndy Glazer_ much bigger-15,000-plus in the wards: Wayman Britt and Phil
arena and nine TV cameras Sellers.
flashing the action to 25 million
viewers. Several thousand of THIS LAST match up between
Fr ea. those on hand will be eastern- the two bearded seniors could be
ers, who are proud of their the most interesting. Sellers is
...four at m os heres third-ranked Rutgers team. I an All-American who can score
Though often criticized for a (19.4 a game) and rebound
PHILADELPHIA weak schedule, Rutgers can't
"PRESSURE?" questioned Rutgers coach Tom Young. "I don't be faulted for its results. The THE LI
think there should be a lot of pressure on the players during the average, and have run down
the finals. This a rare opportunity for them, and I think they teams like Purdue, Princeton, MICHIGAN
should enjoy it, dammit." St. Johns and Connecticut. Wayman Britt (6-2) F
But despite Young's disclaimer, NCAA tournament basketball Despite this and worried warn- John Robinson (6-6) F
is pressure basketball. On the day before today's Michigan- ings by M i c h i g a n assistant Phil Hubbard (6-7) C
Rutgers and Indiana-UCLA semifinal battles, that pressure af- coaches who scouted Rutgers, Steve Grote (6-2) G
fected each of the four teams and their coaches quite differently. Michiganis rated a slightfavo-
Michigan was the first of the four to take the Spectrum's rtoeconaihts RckyGen _62 _
(10.2), and Britt is a less-her-
alded player who has been
known to humiliate such big
names.
But neither team-significant-
ly, none of the final four-is a
one-man gang.
"Rutgers is similar to us,"
said Orr. "Any of our guys can
score, and so can theirs. It
isn't one individual versus a
team, it's two teams."
ORR TAKES a "wait and see"
attitude about his strategy, as
does Young. Each team will try
to adjust the tempo to their
best advantage.
"We'll go into the game ready
to adjust," said Young. "If the
press (a favorite weapon)
doesn't work, we'll drop out of
it."
"I see a game that's fairly
physical," said Orr. "A lot may
depend on who the refs are.
The key will be our ability to
hold our own on the defensive
boards to get the break rolling.
It should be an exciting basket-
ball game between two exciting
teams."
That seems to be putting it
mildly.
NEUPS
RUTGERS
Phil Sellers (6-5)
Hollis Copeland (6-6)
James Bailey (6-8)
Mike Dabney (6-4)
Ed Jordan (6-1)
AP Photo
Michigan center Phil Hubbard gives teammate Rickey Green a lift as they repair a bent rim
in yesterday's practice session. It seems the Wolverines were having a little dunking practice
in Philadelphia when reserve forward Joel Thompson's attempt at a flying reverse dunk
caused the damage.
floor for a scheduled one-hour practice. The Wolverines were
surprised to find over 1500 rabid fans in the arena, and it
affected their practice.
"We were a little nervous," said Michigan coach Johnny
Orr. "I wouldn't say that this was one of our better practices.
Our guys said they didn't like the crowd watching them practice.
They were too worried about making a mistake."
The tightness was evident in the number of errors the
normally precise Wolverines committed yesterday. But as prac-
tice went along they seemed to loosen up a bit, and when Joel
WOLVERINES FALTER WITHOUT DANNER
Minnesota
Thompson climaxed the Wolverines' "one-line" dunk drill by By MIKE WILSON way completed and it will take
bending the rim completely out of shape on a flying reverse dunk, Special To The Daily a minor miracle for the Wol-
thendigtnesswasonpe. Te last few Michigan practice shots EAST LANSING - With a su- verines to pull out a victory.
the tightness was gone. The sperlative display of strength and
touched nothing but net. consistency coupled with a Mich- t "We still have three events
.gntam mns t opal to go," a glum looking Newt
Scarlet coach red hot aan team minus s top an- Loken 'said after last night's
around performer, the Minne- ses bu« tlok rty
Rutgers was the next team to appear on the court. The sota Gophers charged into a session, "but it looks pretty
Scarlet Knights, playing virtually in their own backyard, went commanding lead after the first bleak."
calmly, unemotionally and uninspiringly through their fast break: day of the 68th Annual Big Ten Michigan fell behind early
drills. The only Scarlet Knight to show some emotion this day Gymnastics Championships here into the compulsory competi-
was Young. : yesterday. tion as Minnesota jumped m-
"4AI you guys (sportswriters) keep talking about are Minnesota tallied 314.35 points to a quick lead and managed
'AH ou uys(spotswites) kep alkng aoutare to Michigan's 312.35. The meet to hold on throughout the day.
their (Michigan) and our schedules," said Young. "Well, we tis insw.hemer f toTho hrughedtthe day-
beat everyone we played, and at this pint in the season I'm is now three quarters of the The Gophers finished the com-
Indiana took the court next, and the Hoosiers played it cool
as cucumbers, leaving after utilizing only 38 of their alloted60th
minutes. There was none of the dunking and loosenesta
signalled the end of Michigan's practice..
Last and longest on the court were the UCLA Bruins, whose %
role as defending champion has been more or less ignored during
the tournament thanks to Indiana's season-long top ranking and
the crushing (84-64) defeat the Hoosiers handed the Bruins at the
beginning of the season.}
But the Bruins, despite playing in a once-unthinkable
underdog role, looked emotionally ready to battle Indiana.
Marques Johnson flying enthusiastically through the air was
enough to make one stop and think, "Can UCLA do it one
more time?",-4
Among all the optimistic claims and perfunctory respectful
oratory concerning rivals, perhaps the most meaningful state-
ment was non-verbal. Phil Sellers of Rutgers was stopped by a -"
young boy for an autograph. The boy wanted Sellers to sign this
we'coyof SP:;<:o TAED which featured a picture:.
of Sellers.
"That's a nice picture," said Sellers, who had obviously not ',. ,
seen the magazine before. He signed, and then shyly, almost
cautiously, turned the pages to see who was on the cover. He, STEVE YASUKAWA PERFORMS his routine on the pommell
lifted it up slowly and saw Indiana's Kent Benson. Just as slowly championships. He scored an 8.5 in this compulsory routine, an
he put the magazine down, nodded his head twice, and silently place finish with one-fourth of the meet yet to go. Michigant
ead
pulsory portion with 210 team
points to Michigan's 208.10.
The Wolverines' p r o b 1 e m
,seems to be the absence of
reigning all-around Big Ten
Champion, Harley D a n n e r.
Michigan lost the compulsory
floor exercise by one-half point,
35.15 to 34.65, but the Achilles
heel of yesterday's competition
was the pommel horse event.
In the compulsory, three of
Michigan's all around perform-
ers missed on a portion of their
1
Blue
routines, enabling Minnesota to (185.50), Indiana (179.45), Michi- 1 score on perhaps the most
pick up 1.8 crucial points. gan State (177.40), Iowa 172.25) ficult of all events.
Then, in the optionals, more and Ohio State (169.50). Other top performers incl
of the same occurred. Senior Last night, Minnesota all but Scott Bonto and Joe Neuens
-Richard Bigras and specialist captured the conference title der on the rings and Lecler
Chuck Ventura slipped on their with solid per' rmances in the compulsory parallel bars
routines, costing the Wolverines first half of t optionals. The vaulting.
valuable points. Gophers scored 35.65 on rings, But the real strong sho
Although all-arounders Nigel 34.90 on pommel horse and came from Minnesota's Tim
Rothwell and co-captain Pierre 33.90 on floor exercise. Michi- Fleur as he jumped into
Leclerc swung through their gan snared 34.55 in floor exer- appears to be an insurmoun
routines without any noticable cise, 33.35 on pommel horse lead' in the race for Big
problems, critical judges only and 36.35 on rings, all around honors. After
awarded 7.9 and 7.4 points to Tomorrow's portion of the pulsories, LeFleur leads
the two respectively, dropping meet will consist of vaulting, Spurney of Illinois 51.85 to
Michigan further behind the parallel bars and high bar. The Michigan's Leclerc is third
Gophers. final three events happen to be 50.40.
Meanwhile, Minnesota per- among Minnesota's strongest. "There isn't a stronger
formed with relentless consist- How ever, Michigan also boasts arolmnder than Tim," M
ency. In the compulsory rou- superb strength in these three sota's Roethlisberger said.
tines yesterday afternoon, the events. The Wolverines will be him to be beaten, another
Gophers scored 35.15 in the floor sending three conference chan grounder would have to h
exercise, 32.90 on the pommel pions into tomorrow's portion every routine according -
horse, 35.95 on the rings, 35.90 of the optionals. Bigras leads Minesota mentor.
in vaulting, 35.20 on parallel the Wolverine contingent in The meet concludes today
bars and 34.90 on the high bar. vaulting, while Leclerc heads the three final optional e
"Ifwe ee gongat hi paethe narallel bar squad and Bob it 10:00 a.m. and the indiv
Ifthink wewekp should begig hi aetoD-rien commands the high bar omnetition at 3 p.m. at
maitrfcourlad, Mrnestason Field House.
maiainFrd olainersoa individilally, Michigan fared
S Fe Roethi er sai pretty solidly. In the floor exer-
"With the last three events, I cise, Chuck Stillerman andnc C y Rd E S i
do hianyone can mov Randy Sakamoto stand 1-2 in IXL')
ahead or behind. The rest of the the race for top honors. Both
optionals will be even." turned in brilliant optional per- NBA
Michigan totaled 34.65 in floor formances last night, prancing Detroit 85, Chicago 77
exercise, 31.10 on pommel horse, through their routines with the Boston 95, Cleveland 93
36.36 in vaulting, 36.00 on the strength of a ring specialist and Milwaukee 123, Buffalo 92
rings, 34.95 on parallel bars and tegaeofable.NHL
35.05 on high barcin the com- Co-captain Jerome Poynton Buffalo 4,MwES BASKETB
pulsories. turned in a stunning optional TOURNAMENT
Rounding out the rest of the performance on the pommel semifinals
scoring, Illinois was third (202.- horse as he spun and swng mmltacutata 74,WilanmPenn,l
60), followed by Wisconsin through his routine for a 9.45 Iowa 52
Favored USC extends
NCAA swimming lead
dif-
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wan-
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and
owing
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table
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Bob
51.3.
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walked away.
points.
Indiana
By TOM CAMERON
Special To The Daily
PHILADELPHIA - Indiana has been
the number one basketball team in the
nation in just about everyone's eyes
this year, including the pollsters. Going
into today's NCAA semi-final game
against UCLA, the Hoosiers will have
the comfort of an 84-64 shellacking they
handed the Bruins earlier this year, a
30-0 season and a 5-6 point edge they
have been given by the odds makers.
However, when the Big Ten champs
and the defending NCAA titleholders
square off at 4:15 in the Spectrum to-
morrow, both coaches agree all those
battles Bruins
UCLA coach Gene Bartow is also in-
clined to disregard the blow his team
suffered earlier.
"That first game was difficult, but
we went about our business after-
wards," Bartow said. "We've looked
forward to taking them on. We lost
earlier, so we deserve to be underdogs.
But I think when you throw the ball up
for the opening tip, it will be a great
game."
A great game it could be, but UCLA
must face two All-Americans in for-
ward Scott May and center Kent Ben-
son. May and Benson were named All-
American and All-Big Ten by both wire
wood completes the Bruins front line
and may face the task of guarding Ben-
son.
Neither Knight nor Bartow would an-
nounce the match-ups before the game.
At the guards, Indiana will start
Bobby Wilkerson, All-Big Ten second
team, and co-captain Quinn Buckner,
who started the season very slowly but
has been strong in the last few games.
THE BRUINS WILL ANSWER with
Andre McCarter and Raymond Town-
send, both of whom have averaged no
more than eight points per game.
Although Indiana is favored, and
AP Photo
horse in yesterday's Big Ten
nd helped his team to a third
trials Minnesota by a solid two
Miller
named as
OSU cach
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Eldon
Miller, the young, quiet man
who turned Western Michigan's
basketball program around, was
assigned the same task today
by Big Ten cage cellar-dweller
Ohio State.
The 36-year-old Gnadenhut-
ten, Ohio native succeeds Fred
Taylor, who resigned in Feb-
ruary in the midst of the
Buckeyes' worst season ever
(6-20).
By The Associated Press
The University of Southern California
strengthened its bid for its third straight NCAA
swimming and diving championships yesterday,
while 'Michigan was unable to place anyone in
the first six finishers of any event.
TEAM POINTS in each swimming and div-
ing event are based on the six places in the
finals and six in the consolation round. Points
are valued at 16, 13, 12, 11, 10 and nine for the
championship and seven, five, four, three, two
and one for the consolation.
The Trojans had 281 points while Tennessee
had 151. Indiana was third with 136, followed
by UCLA with 131 and Alabama with 77.
In the 400-yard individual medley, five of last
championship in his fabulous career. Naber was
in second place for 90 of the 100 yards, but just
caught Peter Rocca of the University of Cali-
fornia in 49.94 seconds, nine one-hundredths of a
second off his American record. Rocca was
timed in 49.95.
Naber was also favored to win the 200-yard
backstroke last night for the third straight time
and should go into next year's NCAA champion-
ships at Cleveland State needing one more title
to tie the career record shared by Jack Metica
of Washington and Roy Saari of Southern Cali-
fornia.
Stanford senior John Hencken won his third
consecutive 100-yard breaststroke title in 56.03
- more than one-half second off his American
record of 55.50.