page 6-Wednesday, January 12, 1983-The Michigan Daily
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By JIM DWORMAN
Tim McCormick has come a long
way.
Not as far as many expected upon his
arrival at Michigan two-and-a-half
years ago, but as far as can be expected
under the circumstance.
THE CIRCUMSTANCE, one must
understand, is the 6-11 center's double
knee surgery two summers ago. And
while McCormick by no means has
been a dominating force on the basket-
ball court, he has performed well
enough to satisfy both himself and
coach Bill Frieder.
"I'm satisfied," says McCormick.
"It would be hard to expect any more
than I've produced this year.
Statistically, it could be higher but the
coach has been experimenting a lot this
year. He's been playing a lot of people
and I haven't been getting as much
game time as I would like."
In Michigan's non-conference season,
McCormick played about half of each
game and averaged eight points and
seven rebounds per contest. Translated
into 40 minutes of playing time, those
statistics become quite impressive. Of
course, the competition against which
they were accumulated is hardly of Big
Ten caliber.
The fact is, while McCormick's
scoring and rebounding statistics show
a measure of success he has had quite a
bit of trouble defensing the smaller,
quicker players he has faced.
Oklahoma State's Leroy Combs gave
McCormick all that he could handle.
The 6-9 Combs beat Michigan's center
up and down the court for 20 points and
caused McCormick to foul out after on-
ly 22 minutes of playing time.
"The centers that we're playing
against now, the 6-7 guys, it's difficult
HRIER to play against them because they're
quicker and when you're playing again-
st someone so much smalled it's dif-
ficult to really look good," says Mc-
Cormick. "They are going to make
bigger guys look slow."
The 240-pounder believes that this
will not be as much of a problem in the
cQnference season.
"WHEN WE GET into the Big Ten we
are going to be playing against guys
that are very talented," he says.
"They're strong and I think playing
against guys my own size will be advan-
tageous to me. I can get in there and get
more aggressive. If I'm getting
aggressive against a player a lot
smaller than me its shows up a lot
more. If you're pushing out against a
little guy, he's going to move and the
referee's going to call a foul.
"But if you push against a Russell
Cross, he's just going to push back. It's
just easier to play against good com-
petition."
Frieder, on the other hand, does not
think it will get any easier. "Against a
Randy Breuer, who's not that quick,
maybe. But Russell Cross is quicker
and stronger than (Oklahoma State's)
Combs will ever be. He (McCormick)
just doesn't have the type of quickness
he had as a freshman to defense
somebody." .
McCormick's mobility problem
stems from his long layoff. Sixteen
months away from the basketball court
took away a lot of leg strength.
"I'M NOT USED to playing," says
McCormick. "My legs, they break
down too easily and I could be jumping
better. I could be quicker. it's just
going to take time and I can't get
frustrated by it."
Frieder believes this handicap can be
overcome through other channels.
"What he lacks in quickness he's got
to gain in intensity and aggressiveness,
and he's lacking in those things, too."
Those, too, will return in time, says
Frieder. "You've got to treat Tim just
like a freshman because he hasn't
played for 16 months and it's going to
take time. He's had some inconsistent
play, but he had a big game against
Kansas and he shows signs of snapping
out of it and becoming a very good
player. He'll rip down a rebound once in
a while and he's got to do that all the
time."
Again, it appears to be a matter of
time and work.
"I'll just keep going out, playing hard
and make the best of it," says McCor-
mick. "I think you'll start seeing the
results. Maybe bext year. Maybe later
on this year."
Whenever, Michigan sorely needs a
strong center. "If they're weak
anywhere, it's in the middle," noted
Florida A&M coach Josh Giles.
McCORMICK COULD provide that
strength. He did in high school. As a
junior at Clarkston, he averaged 31
points and 17 rebounds. As a senior, 25
points and 18 rebounds were good
enough to earn him a spot on Mc-
Donald's All-American team, the most
prestigious of all prep basketball
honors.
With those credentials, he had his
choice of universities to attend and
basketball programs to "save." North
Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame, then-
defending national champion Michigan
State and approximately 300 others
inquiried about his services, but Mc-
Cormick selected Michigan.
Why?
"I've always been a Michigan fan,"
he says. "And I think playing in your
home state is really a factor. I'm really
glad that I have a chance to have my
parents attend the games. And my
friends."
AS A FRESHMAN, his family and
friends saw him contribute 5.2 points
and 3.5 rebounds to the Wolverines'
cause. He played in every game as
Michigan finished the year with a 19-11
record, its best finish'since finishing
with a 26-4 record in 1976-77.
Although his contribution was
significant, it could have been greater.
"I was tentative because college
basketball was new to me," he recalls.
"I was playing against much better
competition and in high school I was
quicker than a lot of the guys I was
playing against. But then everybody
was quicker than me. It was a tough ad-
justment.
"My knees were also causing a lot of
trouble but there's no use making alibis
for it. When I say hurt, there's a dif-
ference between what everybody else
feels 'hurt' and what I feel 'hurt.' I felt
like I couldn't jump up to my
capability. I was a lot slower, and at the
time basketball just wasn't fun because
I felt that I was being limited to the
point where I couldn't produce at a high
level."
SO THEN CAME the knee operations
and a year of weight lifting, isometric
exercises, running and "just about
everything possible."
Unfortunately for McCormick,
basketball was not a possibility. He
could merely sit on the end of the bench
and watch as his teammates dropped
game after game on their way to a 7-20
record last year.
"It was the first time that I'd ever sat
down in my life and it was a time I felt
sort of like I was letting my teammates
down. I wasn't because it wasn't my
fault. But I knew that I could've been
out there helping on the boards and
scoring and turning the thing around
last year. I just missed playing basket-
ball. I missed being out there with the
guys."
Badgers, 'Cats
The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, Jc
ght to avoid
t1 -- '
"You don't replace Clark with one
player," said Ohio State head coach
Eldon Miller. "Three or four players
simply have to improve to make up for
what he gave us."
AND WHAT the departed Kellogg,
who forsook his final year of eligibility
for the NBA, gave them was a team
leading 16.1 points and 10.5 rebounds.
per outing. But with 80-percent of last
season's 21-10 line-up returning
Buckeye fans shouldn't give up hope.
The backcourt trio of Larry Huggins
(7.7 points), Troy Taylor (7.7 points, 3.3
assists) and Ron Stokes (6.5 points, 3.0
assists) all return, giving Miller a solid
foundation.
"Our greatest strength is that we
have experience in the backcourt. Our
four top guards are back from 1982;"
Miller said.
Add Tony Campbell (6-7) and Gran-
ville Waiters (6-11), who started every
game last season, and you have the
necessary ingredients for a first
division ball club. Joining Campbell
and Waiters in the front court should be
6-8 Joe Concheck, whose play last
season was cut short unexpectedly by
an eligibility problem.
Despite the absence of Kellogg, there
should be enough firepower in the
Buckeye line-up to be a contender for a
repeat visit to the NCAAs.
-LARRY FREED
7. Purdue
as a perimeter-shooting team than it
was a year ago.
-JOHN KERR
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Henson
... could be rebuilding
All-American Efrem Winters from
King High School in Chicago, and
returning point guard Derek Harper
will insure that the Illini will still be a
tough team to beat.
"WE'LL NEED to get good leader-
ship from Derek both on and off the
court," said Henson. "He'll'have the
responsibility of running the ball club
and it'll be tough with all the young
players."
In all, eight of Henson's top ten
players are freshmen and sophomores.
But Henson can't be too upset because
he has one of the best group of freshmen
in the country. Along with Winters, who
averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds as a
senior, the Illini got Bruce Douglas,
who will join Harper in the backcourt.
The 6-3 consensus All-American from
Quincy, Illinois, was voted Illinois' Mr.
Basketball last year as he led his team
to a third-place finish in the state tour-
nament while averaging 22 points and
eight assists a game.
Despite the relative inexperience of
the team, Illinois, which led the con-
ference in scoring for two of the last
three years, will be tough. And the
Illini's arena, Assembly Hall, remains
one of the toughest in the Big Ten for
visiting teams.
-LARRY MISHKIN
6. -Ohio State
Daily Photo by JEFF SCH
Center Tim McCormick lays one in for an easy two.
Hath cote
... has three key players
Michigan State coach Jud Heath-
cote knows there is only one way his
Spartans can have a successful Big
Ten campaign. "We need key years
out of three players," he said,
"(Sam) Vincent, (Ben) Tower, and
(Kevin) Willis."
Vincent is really the only Spartan
- who has proven he can play in the
Big Ten, but Willis and Tower should
do that this season. 7-0 junior center
Willis has the potential to be one of
the top big men in the conference,
and Tower, a starter last year, looks
to improve on his 5.4 points and 4.6
rebounds a game of last season.
VINCENT WAS honorable men-
tion All-Big Ten last year, averaging
11.7 points per game. Heathcote ex-
pects him to be one of the best two or
three Big Ten guards this year.
After his three top players, Heath-
cote will look to 6-6 forward Derek
Perry. Perry played in all 28 games
last year, scoring 8.7 points a con-
test. He will probably start at the
other forward position, opposite
Tower.
Other Spartans who will see some
action include 6-9 junior center
Richard Mudd, 6-7 senior guard and
co-captain Bill Cawood, and 6-4
junior guard Tim Gore.
Two freshmen, 6-5 guard/forward
Patrick Ford, and 6-1 guard Scott
Skiles should also contribute. Both
were rated among the top 100 high
school players last season and are
potential starters.
--JOHN KERR
9. Northwestern
100J
Kead v
... team has great attitude
For the past four years, the Purdue
basketball team has made it to the
Final Four of a post-season tournament
and if the Boilermakers can keep that
streak alive, coach Gene Keady will
definitely be happy.
Purdue made it to semis of the NCAA
tournament in 1980 and to the Final
Four of the NIT tourney in 1979, 1981,
and 1982. But with the loss of last year's
top scorer, Keith Edmondson, the
Boilermakers could be hard pressed to
continue that success.
PURDUE'S top player is 6-10 cen-
ter/forward Russell Cross. Cross, one
of the top players in the Big Ten,
averaged 14.8 points a game last year
as a sophomore. The Boilermakers
return two other starters, forward Greg
Eifert and guard Ricky Hall. Neither
Eifert nor Hall scored much last year
but Keady says that both players have
improved their shooting skills and
should put the ball in the hoop this year.
A possible starter at one of the for-
ward spots is 6-7 Don Palombizio, who
played in 30 games last year, averaging
2.6 points a contest. The other guard.
spot will likely be filled by either
sophomore transfer Steve Reid or
freshman Mark Gaddis.
The Boilermakers will not be a quick
team but will be a touch defensive
squad with good rebounding. Keady
also expects Purdue to be much better
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... experience in backcourt
With four of five starters returning
you would think there would be more
optimism coming out of Columbus. But
when that fifth player is last season's
Big Ten Player of the Year Clark
Kellogg, there is only room for guarded
optimism.
Falk
.. . says Wildcats are ready
i