"k G jcte By GREG DeGULIS The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, April 1, 1981-Page 11 Premier guard key to national title... .@. ..Isiah Thomas follows tradition What are the ingredients which make up a national championship basketball team? For many coaches, the answer to that question would make them the gourmets of the coaching profession. The creation of a championship team requires many hours spent in a hot kit- chen. The coaches' duties include recruiting, disciplining and shaping a group of talented players into a mold - hopefully a champion- ship mold which won't crack or crumble during -the lenghthy season. Some cooks recommend creating a dish built around talented and dominating big men. Chef Terry Holland utilized a spice named Ralph Sampson, while Eldon Miller threw in an Herb, namely Williams, but the kitchen creations fell apart on their way to the serving table. Other cooks such as Ray Meyer, Bill Cofield and Lou Henson chose to use a recipe which in- cluded the seasoning of power forwards Mark Aguirre, Claude Gregory and Eddie Johnson, but the cooks neglected a few ingredients and the result was an unpleasant aftertaste. Still other cooks follow the directions specifying the importance of the little ingredients in the creation of a prize-winning recipe. Mix up some big men and a forward or two and then add a dash of the premier guard in the country. Then cook it all up for about 32 games - there are no guaranteed results, but this latter recipe wins more prizes than any other.. Blue-Ribbon guards Since the 1974 North Carolina State Wolfpack team ended the UCLA stronghold on the national title (7 in a row), the team with the premier guard in the country has been the recipient of the national title. If the coaches hung a slogan on the kitchen wall, it would read: "The chef with the spice of the best guard will walk away with the blue ribbon cake. " A listing of the guards and teams follow: 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 North Carolina State UCLA Indiana Marquette Kentucky Michigan State Louisville Indiana David Thompson Andre McCarter Quinn Buckner Butch Lee Kyle Macy Earvin Johnson Darrell Griffith Isiah Thomas (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Marques Johnson, Richard Washington, David Meyers, Jamaal Wilkes, David Greenwood and Kiki Vandeweghe), not guards. Isicah-The Differene Ever since the end of Bruin domination in college basketball, however, the top playmaking guards have remained the only common ingredient in championship teams. Why is the dash of the guard so important? The guard handles the ball, passes, controls the tempo and has more to do with the offen- sive execution than any other player on the hardwood. No matter what gimmick defense the opposing coach cooks up, the guard will always have the ball in his hands. DePaul had difficulty getting the ball to Mark Aguirre against St. Joe's, Virginia had Sampson problems against the Tar Heels, Al Wood rarely saw the bail against Indiana - the result: NCAA losses depriving these teams ranked higher than Indiana a coveted national championship. But then again, those teams did not have a guard the caliber of Isiah Thomas. In college basketball, unlike professional, guards can dominate play and Thomas did just that. When Indiana began to falter, there was Thomas making steals, setting up Landon Tur- ner for easy buckets, and killing time with his ballhandling ability. The question arises - who may be the premier guard in the country next year? Ac- cording to Dick Vitale, former Detroit Piston and University of Detroit coach, and now an ESPN commentator, Wolverine recruit Eric Turner is the best playmaking guard coming out of high school. Turner may just be the spice in a winning recipe for Michigan basketball - a quick, penetrating guard. Remember Ricky Green? Arguably, the guards mentioned above (ex- cept McCarter) were the top playmakers in the land in their championship season. Only the UCLA teams seem to buck the trend, but the Bruins are the exception to every rule when it comes to basketball. Traditionally, UCLA has been the spawning ground for quality centers and forwards a _ _. Triumphant Hoosiers 161I ChURCH ST. 9%6-27 '17 return to I BLOOMINGTON (AP) - Indiana's NCAA basketball champions were welcomed home yesterday by thousan- ds of cheering students and fans already looking forward to the Hoosiers' title defense next year. The Hoosiers, 63-50 winners over Nor- th Carolina at Philadelphia Monday night, were greeted by Gov. Robert Orr and a noontime crowd of more than 2,000 at Indianapolis International Air- port. The team then boarded a bus for the 60-mile trip to Bloomington, leading a motorcade of some 200 cars. ANOTHER 10,000 or so greeted the Hoosiers inside the arena. The crowd started chanting "Two more years . . . two more years," as Ray Tolbert, the only senior starter, and sophomore Isiah Thomas - both wearing the nets from the champion- ship game around their necks - came forward to speak. "Thank you for being the best fans in appy fans the nation," the 6-foot-9 Tolbert said. "This sure beats going to classes." WITH HIS ARM draped over the shoulder of the 6-1 Thomas, Tolbeit said: "I'd just like to say this about Isiah - truly he is an All-American." Thomas, the baby-faced team cap- tain who sparked Indiana's drive to the Big Ten championship and then to the NCAA crown after a disappointing 7-5 season start, was named the game's MVP. Coach Bobby Knight, whose Hoosiers also won the NCAA title in 1976, praised the 1980-81 squad as "The best basket- ball team in the country. We brought it (the NCAA trophy) back to the best behaved and most supportive school in the country." ATEMoUTH INDIANA'S ISIAH THOMAS, still wearing the basketball net from his. team's NCAA championship win over North Carolina in Philadelphia Mon- day night, gets set for the bus ride to the airport yesterday and return to Bloomington. Thomas, the game's MVP, scored 23 points with 19 of them in the second half to ignite the Hoosiers in their 63-50 victory. On arrival in Bloomington, the Hoosiers were welcomed by thousands of cheering studen- ts and fans. 2 Days of Sales Madness! OVER 40 STORES Aprtl4& 5 U of M Track and Tennis Building FREE ADMISSION GARNEIR VOTED '81 CAPTAIN: MeGee named Wolverine MVP By MARK FISCHER Unlike many of the outcomes of the team's games this season, the awards given out at Michigan's Annual Basket- ball Bust at Crisler Arena last night were generally predictable. The Bill Buntin Most Valuable Player Award was presented to none other than Mike McGee, who led the cagers in scoring once again this year with a 24 point average. It was the second year in a row that McGee was named the team's MVP. THE 6-5 SENIOR forward was also honored with a Special Achievement Recognition by the U of M Club (the banquet's sponsors) for setting two Big Ten and Michigan career marks for scoring, as well as setting the record for most games started by a Wolverine hoopster. Johnny Johnson won the Rudy Tom- janovich Most Improved Player Award with good reason. The 6-4 senior guard from Buffalo went from being a marginal player in his first three seasons under former head coach Johnny Orr to becoming the Y Wolverines' second leading scorer. For Bill Frieder, Johnson compiled a 14,5 average, which was 1.5 points less than his first three years combined. The Steve Grote Hustler Award was also easy to allocate. As assistant coach Don Sicko noted, "if the award wasn't already named after Grote, it would be named after him," before he presented the trophy to Thad Garner. Many Michigan fans remember Garner for his diving over benches and doing somersaults on the floor in pursuit of loose balls. IN ANOTHER expected move, Gar- ner, who will be the only senior on the team next year and who was co-captain this year, was named solo captain for next season's campaign. The one award which nobody really had a lock on was the Wayman Britt Best Defensive Player Award, in part because Michigan's defense wasn't exactly the stingiest in the NCAA this year. But the trophy was nevertheless awarded to Paul Heuerman, the ' .:; ,;, :. ; :- ." . :. .. r: ;fir: <.5 r ,r, ..'f,,: t' ' .r. .. './e.W. Wolverines' 6-8 pivotman who was for- ced to go up against many taller op- ponents throughout the season. Heuerman, Mark and Marty Bodnar were also given special recognition for their Academic All-American status, which they were awarded last week. The five seniors (McGee, Johnson, Heuerman and the Bodnars) were all given rings and pictures by the spon- sors, to which they gave short thank you speeches. One of the more unexpected and most refreshing moments of the evening came during one of these thank you speeches when McGee, instead of men- tioning each individual who helped him at Michigan, like his counterparts, said: "I'd like everyone out there to stand up and give themselves a hand." ARE YOU AN AVERAGE. STUDENT? UKYa ONLY YOUR G.P.A. CAN TELL Find Out How You Rate On Friday, April 3rd A. Frieder ... praises seniors "Full line of backpacking & camping equipment" ARMY SURPLUS .u_-_.Ri _ . - r__ a m . /1_ " " .51 iJ~i ARMY SURPLUSI f ..2 an _ U..... Att...I ..