Friday, July 7, 1972
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Eleven
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Friday, July 7, ~972 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Eleven
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i
Sports of The Daily
I
Tribe tops Texas
Olympic basketball .. .
. itching from Iba
1WO ISSUES HAVE arisen from the tryouts for the U.S. Olym-
pic basketball team held at the Air Force Academy last
weekend. And not surprisingly, both controversies center around
crusty Head Coach Hank Iba.
Iba has earned the ire of some fans and players over his
player selection and his somewhat reactionrydiscipline tactics.
One issue seems a bit suspicious, but the latter problem is real
and threatening to the performance of the squad at Munich in
the fall.
Well known names like Tom McMillen and Luke Witte were
absent from the final twelve man squad and virtual unknowns
such as Doug Collins and Dwight Jones were chosen instead.
To some the exclusion of McMillen was criminal. Actually
the selection against McMillen of Maryland was a just and
honest decision. Although the former Pennsylvania schoolboy
sensation towers over his opponents with a jaunty 7-2 frame,
he is what is commonly deferred to as a white center.
This uncemplimentary term, which refers to style of play,
not race, is applied to a big player who, instead of using his
bulk to muscle the opposition and control the critical central
area around the bucket prefers to take picturesque sweeping
hooks which look great in the paper the next day but do not
have the all-around value of a rebound or blocked shot. The
performance of the team is helped, not by gunners, but by nit-
ty-gritty team play.
McMillen is an excellent shot from both far and near.
In fact he lead the Terrapins (which, sport fans, is a
ocean shelf turtle) in percentage converted from the charity
stripe. But Lenny Elmore, a 6-8 block buster from New
York, is what made Maryland streak. His shot-blocking and
ruggedness on the boards was what led the Terps to the
NIT title.
Big Time Olympic basketball, in which the United States
has a spectacular 75 game winning streak, places emphasis on
rugged play on the boards and the ability to drive. TP- lanes
are widened and penalties are whistled less often. Hence a
center who has a natural inclination to drift towards the corn-
ers like McMillen is an extravagance, not matter how accurate
and graceful his jump shot is.
This year's teand will have to make an almost super-human
effort to match and extend the American history of success.
This year's squad is marked by the lack of a "black" center,
the take-charge aggressive player who wants the ball and is not
particularly choosy about who is going to be flettened. No
Spencer Haywoods are lurking about unless Minnesota's Jim
Brewer mistakes the Czechoslovakians for Ohio State Buckeyes.
But anybody who saw Ole Ernie Johnson put the wraps on
Brewer in the crucial Big Ten game here in February has to be
a bit wary about the U.S. of A's chances in Munich.
Iba's generation gap with his players could be more of a
determinant of American success than American personnel.
Iba is a precise taskmaster and tolerates no deviation as good
defensive players have found out in camp. Although Iba has
earned his fame for his tough defense,: he lacks touch with to-
day's defensive trends. Despising switching off, Iba's dictum
to stay with your man sounds suspiciously like parental rigidity
to old and decaying values. Many a player who used the tactic
got the axe from the old man.
But this rigidity does not end on the basketball court,
but extends its ugly presence throughout the entire camp.
Insistence on a game plan can be understood by those who
think that a basketball team is not a participatory demo-
cracy, but even members of a constitutional monarchy or
third rate totalitarian state would be shocked by the condi-
tions that exist at the Olympic basketball camp. Players
were under no circumstances to leave the Academy or en-
tertain friends. Lights were promptly out at 11:30 and
deviation from this rule sent a couple of prospective cagers
packing whether or not they personally had violated the code.
Iba clatms that these and other machinations such as regula-
tion haircuts, spies to insure a good attitude in the locker
room, prompt attendance at a seven o'clock breakfast even
when games do not start until two, and prohibition on congrega-
tions of more than three in the dorm rooms are responses to the
attitudes of the players involved in the ill-fated American Pan-
American games entry. But the labeling of black players as
"boy" or "colored" serves no motivational function. It is
frankly degrading as are most of the rules that Iba has institut-
ed.
Without getting into the player as grown-man critique of
sports writing, let it suffice to say that Iba's no-nonsense phil-
osophy is translateable as harrassment. Rather than dropping
players who may give a black power salute at the Olympics,
a gesture that at worst shows what most of the world knows that
American has a ractial problem, maybe someone should cut
the coach.
IBA'S WINNING AT ALL COSTS philosophy is a bit crude
for the Olympics. This, of course, is not to advocate apathy for
participants in sporting events. But adherence to the Lombardi
ethic of winning as everything is misplaced outside of the pros,
since a pro's job does depend upon w ing. But Iba has taken
the Lombardi dictum and gone one 'step further, wrapping pa-
triotism and discipline around basketballs.
Hank Iba has apparently forgotten that only the ABA has
funny colored balls. This strictness has already caused some
player dissatisfaction and failure of the U.S. team in Munich
may be the eventual result.
Dan Borus
By ELLTIO LEGOW
Special To The Daily
CLEVELAND - Greg Nettles
cracked a 12th inning run scor-
tng double to give the Cleveland
Indians a 6-5 victory against the
Texas Rangers in the second
game of their double-header last
night, after the Indians had
beaten the Rangers 4-3 in the
first.
In that contest Gaylord Perry
recorded his 13th victory of the
season whiel weathering a two-
run Ranger outburst in the top
of the frame. The Indians scored
two in the bottom of the eighth
to earn the victory.
In the second game the Ran-
gers had a 5-2 lead entering the
bottom of the eighth when Gerry
Moses lofted a mammoth home
run to left field after sending
two long fouls in that same di-
rection. The Indians tied the
score in the ninth when Chris
Chamblis doubled to score John
Lowenstein who had walked.
The victories were the' second
and third in a row for the In-
dians who have not lost in the
last four days.
At last
KANSAS CITY (/P)-Joe Cole-
man ended Detroit's four-game
losing streak by pitching a six-
hitter for a 7-0 American League
baseball victory over the Kansas
City Royals last night.
Coleman, picking up his 10th
victory in 17 decisions, let only
two runners reach third base.
He struck out six and walked
only one.
-AssociatedPress
JAN KODES, Czechoslavakian tennis star, stretches to return a
volley off the racket of Stan Smith. Though Kodes battled valiant-
ly, the overpowering service of the American was enough to give
him a berth in the finals at Wimbledon.
GOOLAGONG VERSUS KING:
Smith smacks to finals
WIMBLEDON, England (AP)- the eighth game of the second
Cpl. Stan Sm1ith of the U. S. set to regain some of his con-
Army and Lt. Ilie Nastase of fidence.
the Romanian Army won their Both agreed later that the
men's singles semifinal matches match was over midway
at Wimbledon Thursday and through the second set.
meet for the tennis champion- "Up to then he had a bit of
ship Saturday. an edge, but then I started to
Smith, the No. 1 seed from roll," said Smith, who conceded
Pasadena, Calif., overcame Jan that he wasn't moving too
Kodes of Czechoslovakia 3-6, 6- well and was a little bit off bal-
4, 6-1, 7-5 in a lackluster match ance-not nervous but a little
that lasted 2 hours, 10 minutes. tight."
Nastase, the first Romanian "I have a chance, then Stan
ever to reach a singles final had a lucky shot which made
here, beat ManuelsOrantes of him more confident-butmone
Spain 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in a thrust- ball doesn't win a match," said
and-parry battle that lasted Kodes.
just over an hour and with ev- The women's top seed, Billie
ery minute full of thrills. Jean King of Long Beach, Ca-
It will be Smith's second lif., will attempt to avenge her
straight Wimbledon final. He loss to Evonne Goolagong in
lost to John Newcombe of Aus- the 1971 seminfinals when the
tralia last year. two meet for the crown Friday.
Smith started off badly in the Miss Goolagong, a 20-year-old
semifinal, with Kodes serving Australian, won the title last
well and reeling off the first year, in her first attempt. Mrs.
three games. He never recov- King, 28, has won three straight
ered from that setback in the times-the first in 1966.
first set, and it took him until In the semifinal between Nas-
oe::S d
Professional League Standings ia
tase the Romanian won the
first three games, Orantes
quickly levelled at 3-3, then
Nastase reeled off another trio
to take the first set at 6-3.
Then they cut at each other
with rapier-like ground strokes,
and the match was really won
because. Nastase had just that
much more experience.
Fischer cools
Victor's ire
By The Associated Press
Bobby Fischer offered a writ-
ten apology to Boris Spassky
on Thursday for "disrespect-
ful behavior" that threatened
to cancel their $300,000 match
for the world chess champion-
ship.
Officials of the Internation-
al Chess F'deration - FIDE-
said they "hope" the match
could begin on Sunday. Harry
Golombek, a member of FIDE's
central committee, said Tues-
day should be the latest time
for a start.
In his letter to Spassky, who
demand-d a written apology for
Fischer's conduct before he
would sit down at the chess
board, the American champion
called his attempt to grab a
share of the gate as "my petty
dispute over money."
"I have offended you and
your country the Soviet Union,
a-here chess has a prestigious
position," Fischer wrote. Nev-
ertheless. he took issue with a
demand by the Soviet Chess
Federation that he be penalized
with the loss of the first game
for his tardy arrival.
Described Wednesday as be-
ing "very upset" by the tangled
prelude to th- match, Spassky
appeared calm and fit Thursday
as he played his daily round of
tennis with Russian companion
Jivo Nei.
He joked with photographers,
signed autographs for kids and
demonstrated that the post-
ponement had allowed him to
improve his tennis game.
Fischer remained out of view,
apparently sleeping, at one of
the hideaways provided him by
the organizers.
American League
East
Baltimore
Detroit
Boaston
Nes York
Cleveland
Milwaukee
Oakland
Chicago
Minnesota
Kansas City
California
Texas
W L Pct.
40 30 .571
38 32 .543
33 34 .493
33 35 .405
30 39 .435
27 41 .397
-West
46 26 .639
41 31 .569
36 34 .514
35 36 .4931
33 40 .452
29 43 .4031
Y esterday's Results
New York 6, Oakland I
Cleveland 4, Texas 3, 1st
Clieveand 6, Texas 5, 2nd, 12 innings
Detroit 7, Kansas City 0
naltiomoe 2, Chicago 1
Milwaukee at California
Othee slobs nat scheduled
Today's Games
Milwauee (Parsons 6-7) at Oakland
(Blue 2-4)
noston (curtis 6-3) at California
May 2-6)
Detroit (Slayback 1-2) at Chicago
(Lemonds 1-1)
New York (Peterson 7-9) at Minneso
(woodson 5-0)
Kansas City (Drago 6-7) at Clevelaw
(Wilcox 6-9)
Texas (Broberg 5-7) at Baltimore
(Palmer 11-4)
National League
east
GB W L Pet. GB
- Pittsburgh 44 26 .629 -
2 New York 43 29 .597 2
S Ict.Louis 38 34 .528 1
a Chicago 31 35 .5211,!)
9j2 Montreal 31 41 43114
12 Philadelphia 25 47 .347 20
Cincinnati 44 28 1611 -
5 Houston 44 30 .595 1
9 Los Angeles 38 35 .521 6>
101/ Atlanta 35 39 .473 10
13 San Francisco 32 47 .405 15j.
17 Sna Diego 10 41 .3506O18
Yesterday's Results
Los Angeles 11, Montreal 3
Atlanta 4, Chicago 3
Pittsburgh at Bouston
San Francisco 0, Philadelphia 4, 10
innings
san Diego 1, New York 0, 14 innings
Other clubs not scheduled
Today's Games
Houston (Koberts 7-3) at St. Louis
(Gibson 7-5)
Los Angeles (Sutton 9-4) at New York
(Matlack 1-4)
San Francisco (McDowell 8-5) at
Montreal (Stoneman 7-5)
San Diego (Corkins 0-4 and Norman
Ia 5-6) at Philadelphia (Carlton 10-6
and Nash 1-4 , 2,)
d Chicago (Hooton 6-7) at Cincinnati
(Simpson 4-2)
Pittsburgh (Kison and Walker 2-4) at
Atlanta (Hardin 1-0 and Keley 5-5),