The Michigan Daily-Friday, January 22. 1982--Paae 9
POINT GUARD REMAINS OPTIMISTIC
Starting spot pleases Pelekoudas
By L ARRY FREED
With 2:47 left on the clock and his
team trailing, 53-42, it appeared that
Dan Pelekoudas' Downers Grove
South squad would finally see its Cin-
derella story come to an end in the
Illinois High School State tournament.
-After a succession of steals and tur-
novers however, Pelekoudas led his
team to 12 untanswered points - in-
cluding eight of his own - to put
Downers Grove ahead by one with less
than a minute to play against much-
heralded Russell Cross now at Purdue
and his top ranked-Manley Wildcats.
Unfortunately for Pelekoudas and
Downers Grove, though, Cross scored
an inside basket on what Pelekoudas
labels a questionable call, and Manley
went on to capture the game and the
state championship.
"IT STILL hurts when I think about
that game," the playmaking guard
said.
For Pelekoudas, though, some of that
pain was soon erased by the flood of of-
fers he received from colleges who wit-
nessed his sensational performance in
the tourney.' Among the many schools
that contacted him were DePaul, Duke,
Northwestern, Ohio State and
"i choshe Michigan because of the
great conference, the excellent
academics, the winning tradition and
especially since is was close to home,"
-THOUaGH Michigan pertainly fits
most of these crit,eria, some would
debate whether the Michigan winning
tradition is stilintact.
"A lot of people are asking; with our
record, how could you stick together?"
Pelekoudas explained. "But the main
thing is the attitude of the guys is great,
and the coaches are with us. We're
trying and we'll never quit."
Despite the team's misfortunes, the
beter poition than lastusea s - of th
bench.
"WHEN YOU are sitting, like I was
most of last year, you get to thinking
that maybe you shiould have gone to a
school where you could have played
more," the 6-1 sophomore said. "But
my goal when I came here was to start
as a sophomore, and with the prestige
and connections that you gain by
playing on a Michigan team it's worth
sitting occassionally."
The Illinois native's perseverance
paid off as he was put into the starting
line-up on December 19 against Detroit,
a spot he has retained since.
sparkling statistics (4.nots rand 34
assists per game) that many other Big
Ten guards have, Pelekoudas gives
coach Bill Frieder and the Wolverines
the typ of point gurd the need.rd
to quarterback the team and suc-
cessfully execute the offense," the
blonde-haired cager explained.
Although Pelekoudas has done a solid
job controlling the tempo of the game,
he still has not corrected the one
problem that has plagued him since
high school - to shoot the ball more.
"All through my career here and at
South I've been told to shoot more," he
said, "Which is the main thing I've got
to concentrate on." The main thing you
need to shoot successfully is confiden-
ce, and I have enough confidence in
myself to be a successful shooter."
.PART OF THA T self-confidence
stems from Pelekoudas' success at the
free-throw line, where he has shot 82.4
percent this season, compared to the
team's 68-percent success rate.
"You have to relax at the line, and a
lot also depends how you do in your first
couple of games," Pelekoudas said. "I
know how some of, the other players
feel, because last season I got off to a
bad start and ended up horrible at the
line (40 percent) for a guard."
Whereas Pelekoudas is improving
steadily on the courtthe woulds hae an
joyed in the classroom at Downers
Grove, where he was the valedictorian
with a 4.0 average. And Pelekoudas,
busies onr lwcareer ,rhas not found
the switch to college too difficult.
"IT. (THE workload) gets pretty
tough sometimes, especially during
finals week," Pelekoudas explained.
"But the funny thing is that I'm so used
to playing ball and going to school at the
same time that if I was only studying I
don't think I could do much Imore than
I do now. Also, the physical activity is a
good outlet for all the mental pressures
Peleoudas' discipline on both the
court and the classroom can be traced
to his father, Bill, who coached him
during his high school careers
'Both coach Frieder and my dad are a
lot alike," said Pelekoudas. "They're
disciplinarians and they both stick witb
theirplayers" "
PELEKOUDAS feels that tbeZj
similarities do not end there. L "We
plaed a running game at South
becuse of our big men, and coach
Frieder also likes to run, but you nded
the pronnel," he said.
Although Frieder may want to incpr-
porate more of a .running game, the
deliberate style" of play suits
Pelekoudas, whose goal now is to start.
in his final two years as a Wolverine. -
"I'm looking forward to the next'
couple of seasons, because I'll be
playing on a Big Ten team that will be
extremely competitive," an optimistic
Pelekoudas said.
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MICHIGAN GUARD DAN Pelekoudas dribbles his way through the
Michigan State defense in last nights 462 loss. The 6- sophomore is rapidly.
Non-league opponent
-
a
gives ieer's a r-est
By MAR THA CRALL
A Central Collegiate Hockey
Association (CCHA) coach's best friend
Sis a non-league game.
In an 11-team league, the non-
conference foe is a rare. commodity
whose visits are few and far between.
AND IF Michigan head coach John
Giordano and his Wolverines (11-7-5, 9-
6-4 CCHA) ever wanted that type of
respite, it is right now.
"We really need this series," Gior-
dano said. "We're not uptight about the
games and hopefully it'll give us ,a
chance to bounce back."
Ts weekend's opponent, Illinois-
Chicago Circle, will face a battle-worn
and torni Michigan club that has played
three games in the last week, one more
than usizal.
FOLLOWING A loss and . tie with
Notre Dame last wedkend, the
Wolverine icers played a rare Mondaly
night game, losing to second-place.
Michigan State, 5-2.
/ Chicago CiIrcle has not proven a for.-
midable opponent in only its first year
of NCAA Division II competition,
posting a 4-15 overall record anid losing
12 of 14 games to CCHA teams. Miami
and Notre Dame were its only CCHA
victimg.
Junior, right winger Bob Taylor leads
Chicago Circle in scoring with 10 goals
and seven assists for 17 points. Oscar
Pozzolo (6-10-16) and Joe Jackman (9-
7-16). also help legitimdize the offensive
threat.
JUNIOR RICH Blakey is Chicago
Circle's regular netminder. The
TUESDAY
Basketball
Independent
Stuffers 43, Tar Heels 38
Golden Turkeys 24, Dlques 23
G.C.'s 34, Couzens 32
Cokewbores 26, The smegs 24
~Lakers 43, Leaping Lords 33
Tisof Tune 39, Coral Reefers 25
Fraternity
Class A'
Kappa Alpha Psi 46. Beta Theta P140
Evans scholars 37, Nu sigma Nu 20
Theta xl 18, Acacia 13C ss',
sigma Alpha Epsilon 50, Delta Tau Delta 14
fleta Theta P128, CliPsi14
Women's
Superstars 51, Van Tyne 23
SCouzens 26, Hesses 10
Graduate
PbI Alpha Kappa 54, DsDC 31
Wildcats 42, ABC's 40
Residence Halls
Eliott "A" 78, 1st Rotvig Rockets 19
Rntvig Rockets 39, The six Pack 35
Halifax, Nova Scotia native has played
15 games, registering a 2-13 slate. After
a 14-1 loss to Ferris State, the goalie's
goals-against average currently hovers
near the seven mark. Blakey's
highlights include. 94 saves ih two
games against Michigan State.
Ted Speers (16-6--22), Steve Rich-
mond (4-17-21) and Brad Tippett (9-
11-20) lead the Michigan offensive
corps, but nearly everyone will get a
chance to play while a coniple of flu-
stricken icers will get a rest. Giordano
is giving regular goalie Jon Elliott a
break and starting Peter Mason (6-3-1,
2.59 gaa) tonight and freshman Mark
Chiamp (0-0-0, 4.83 gaa) in the finale
tomorrow night.
Giordano isn't overly worried about
two games which will not affect
Michigan's conference record. "I'm
more concerned about our team (than
Chicago Circle)," he said. "We've got
to get back in the groove.~
Both games will begin at 7:30 p.m. at
Yost Arena.
Pelekoudas
..sleady guard
College Bask, hali
MichIgan state64, MICHIGAN 6z
Purdue P. Ohio state60 (OT)
Indiana 54, IllnoIs 53
Iowa 43, Northwestern 48
Minnesota 75, Wisconsin 57
Women',
MICHIGAN 70, Purdue 63
NBA
New York 104, Atlanta 101
NH L
Calgary?7, DetroIt 4
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