Page 14-Friday, December 4, 1981-The Michigan Daily
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By JOHN KERR
Last spring when Bill Frieder an-
nouncedthe names of the high school
seniors he had successfully recruited to
play basketball at Michigan this
Cason, guard Eric Turner seemed to
e the only recruit that Wolverine fans
daed about. And when the Wolverines
ned their regular season last Satur-
at Arkansas, Michigan fans were
wer to see the debut of the freshman
sensation Turner.,
'but although Turner played well in
thht opening game at Fayetteville, it
'*s another freshman guard, Leslie
$Qckymore, that impressed both the
'The Rock'
hooting is old hat to hoopster Rockymore
Michigan fans and a national television
audience.
ROCKYMORE, a less-heralded
recruit from Detroit Southwestern High
School came off the bench, and
seemingly thinking he was still playing
in the Detroit Public School League,
made his first six shots. Rockymore
went on to score 18 points against the
Razorbacks, sinking eight of 11 shots
from the floor.
Last Monday Rockymore showed
that his performance in the opening
game was not just beginner's luck.
While Michigan, according to Frieder,
was "setting basketball back a long
way" in its 67-65 loss to Eastern
Michigan, "the Rock" made six of 10
shots from the field (the only Michigan
player to shoot over 50 percent) and
scored 13 points. His outside shooting
in the second half enabled the
Wolverines to make the score close.
But has all this success surprised the
6-4, 185 pound freshman?
"NOT REALLY," said Rockymore,
"because I know what he (Frieder) ex-
pects out of me - consistency."
And talk about consistency. As a high
school senior, Rockymore averaged
28.5 points a game and shot 67 percent
from the floor. While his 15.5 points per
game so far this season is a little short
of his high school mark, guess what
Rockymore's field goal percentage is.
If you guessed 67, treat yourself to a
cracker.
This fact is even more remarkable
when one realizes that in high school
Rockymore was a forward. As a for-
ward, he was able to take his shots from
closer to the basket than he can as a
guard.
ROCKYMORE feels that the key to
his shooting lies in the shots he takes.
"I think I can (keep up the high
shooting percentage) as long as I work
on it each day," he said. "The main
thing is shot selection and that's what I
work on."
The switch from forward to guard
was not an easy one to make, but one
wouldn't know that from looking at his
statistics.
" I HAD trouble adjusting to it (the
change of positions) but with the help of
Eric (Turner) and the coaches, it's
easy."
Easy? It's easy to change from for-
ward to guard in your first year in
college? Nothing seems to faze
Rockymore. Michigan's opening game
against Arkansas was on national
television, and most freshmen would
have been so nervous that they would
have had a hard time getting their shor-
ts on before the game. But not
Rockymore.
"When we (Turner and Rockymore)
got out there we just forgot we were on
TV," he said. "After my first shot, I
started to feet real good."
SO DID Frieder, who has been
pleasantly surprised by the freshman
guard's play. However, he emphasized
the fact that Rockymore still needs to
improve if he wants to become a com-
plete ballplayer.
"He's a great shooter, but his defense
has to get a lot better," the coach said.
"A lot of teams, when we get into the
Big Ten, are going to try to press him
and he could have problems."
Indeed, the only trouble that
Rockymore has had so far this season
was when Arkansas put on a full-court
press against the Wolverines. Turner
and Rockymore experienced some dif-
ficulty in breaking the Razorback's
pressure.
But as for his defensive play,
Rockymore feels that he is improving,
and can make a contribution to the
team defensively.
"IT'S (HIS defense) is coming along
each day," he said. "My role is to come
in and play defense as well as score."
But although Rockymore's play this
season has so far been outstanding, the
Wolverines as a team have not been
very successful. And with such a young
roster, Michigan could be in for a long
Big Ten season. Rockymore, however,
remains optimistic.
"I don't really know what it takes (to
win) in the Big Ten, but with the help of
(captain) Thad (Garner) everything
should turn out pretty good," he said.
"We're small and young but I feel we
have a real good coaching staff that will
help us out in the long run."
+
Mu ustinians
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For seven centuries a community of Catholic
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FAGREAT W
ALITTLE LI
When the guys at Miller asked me to
write an ad on writing, I said, "Forget it.
Not even if you held a gun to my head: So
they held a bottle of Lite Beer to my mouth.
They're a pretty persuasive group.
THUGS TO MUGS
If you're going to write anything, know
;what you're talking about. And that means
(three things: Research, research, and
tmore research. The more you know, the
M$more you can tell your reader.
Take my characters. A lot of them I
<:base on actual people. There's this buddy
:-of mine who pops up in every book I write.
Iln one story he's a cop. In another, a pri-
vate eye. Once, I made him a millionaire.
r Using him not only helped make character
development a heck of a lot easier, he was
Aso carried away by the rich image, he
rbought me a lot of free dinners (and a lot of
; Lite Beer from Miller). So use the people
you know as models.
,
4
"4 s
STARTSWITH
A LITTLEBEER,
LIOTO
Even locations should be based on
real things. If you're writing about a bar,
know that bar. Hang out there. Watch the
bartender. The customers. Whatever
they drink, you drink. When they drink
Lite Beer, you drink Lite Beer. Re-
member-research is most fun when
you soak up as much subject matter as
you can. It can only help you paint a
better picture.
HI, DOLL
No caper is complete without dames
(or ladies in proper English). Experience
has shown me that in mystery writing, the
sexier the dames, the better. Experience
has also shown me that sexy scenes make
great punctuation marks. This is where
research has the greatest potential. Use
your own discretion in this matter. But
when you write about it, don't be too
explicit. That way, your reader gets to paint
a more vivid picture.
CAPER TO PAPER
O.K., you've got your characters, loca-
tions, and dames lined up. Now comes the
good part: Putting your caper to paper.
There's no mystery to it. As long as you
write the ending first, the rest will follow.
Write short, terse, to-the-point sentences.
Be as clear as possible. And make sure
you've got the right stuff around for when
you get thristy. After all, writing is pretty
thirsty work.
I suggest a couple of mugs ofLite
Beer- who ever heard of a caper'that
didn't involve a couple of mugs?
Why Lite Beer? It's a lot like me and my
books-great taste, less filling (some
people can't get their fill of my books), and
always good to spend time with.
At any rate, follow my advice and, who
knows-you might turn out a heck of a
story. Or you might turn out to be a heck of
a Lite Beer drinker.
Daily Photo by BRIAN MASCK
FRESHMAN HOOPSTER Leslie Rockymore, shown here snaring a rebound
in last week's exhibition game against Windsor, has surprised many
Wolverine followers with-his -outstanding shooting ability. The former Ai.-
Stater from Detroit Southwestern currently leads Michigan with a 66.7 field
goal percentage.
SCORES ..
NHL
Detroit 4, Montreal 3
Boston 6,Buffalo 3
Philadelphia 6,.Calgary i
NBA
Washington 114,New York 88
College Basketball
North Carolina 78, Tulsa 70
Holy Cross 78,Navy 66
Arkansas 85, San Diego State 68
Texas 76, Colorado 64
Virginia Tech 93, George Washington 72
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How about a membership in the U-M Alumni
Association for the Mom or Dad who has
everything else?
Scoff not.
A membership will bring your folks the Nichigan Alumnus
magazine 10 times a year and keep them aware of what's up on
your campus. They ought to be interesled in that, whether
they're U-M alumni or not.
It will also make them eligible for Alaimnil Travel, low-cost
insurance programs and much more.
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