Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 8, 1984 the people blame Frieder... .. . has he missed a free throw. T'S FASI4ONABLE these days to criticize Bill Frieder. Everyone wants to blame the Michigan basketball coach for his team's three-game losing streak and 4-5 Big Ten record. "With all the talent Frieder has, he shouldn't lose a game," they say. "Why don't they fire Frieder?" Why don't they destroy three years of progress? Frieder, people forget, led the Wolverines to a 15-13 record last year after finishing 7-20 in 1981-82. Picking up eight extra wins in a season is quite an accomplishment. With 12 victories already accumulated this year, Michigan is sure to improve on last season's mark. Even another 4-5 run through the Big Ten will insure that. Unfortunately, the critics don't care about the upward trend in Michigan victories over the last few years. Instead they're obsessed with this year's seven Wolverine defeats. They want to find someone to blame for the losses and Frieder happens to be the obvious target. But Frieder didn't miss 'seven of 11 free throws in the first half of the Michigan State game. His players did. Nor did the coach blow successive fast breaks at Wisconsin. Rich Rellford and Roy Tarpley did. Michigan's players are as much to blame for the defeats as Frieder. With few exceptions, the individual Wolverines have not performed up to anyone's expectations. Tim McCormick immediately comes to mind. It's not that the 6-11 senior has performed poorly. He leads the team in scoring. The Wolverine defense toughens up when he plays, too. But after an outstanding pre-season practice and a few excellent non- conference performances, McCormick was supposed to dominate the mid- dle. He hasn't. Big Mac is a 20-point scorer with a 12-point average. His jump shot is off. He regularly loses two points per game on missed free throws. His career shooting percentage from the foul line is .804. This year only .636 of his free throws fall. Antoine Joubert and Leslie Rockymore have disappointed, too. Both are known for their shooting and scoring abilities. Both are hitting less than 44 percent on their field goal attempts. In Big Ten games they have combined for an average of 14 points per game. They should score near 25. Robert Henderson is experiencing the sophomore jinx to end all sophomore jinxes. The 6-9 forward averaged six points and six rebouids a game last year. He contributed greatly to Michigan's dominance of the back boards. Now Henderson cannot even keep his balance after jumping for a rebound. His performance in nearly every aspect of the game has declined. Only Tarpley performs head-and-shoulders better than last year. The Wolverines play their best basketball when he and McCormick line up together. They suffer when Tarpley runs into foul trouble and Frieder pulls him off the court. Dan Pelekoudas, too, has improved. But for all his effort, Pelekoudas is still Pelekoudas - smaller and slower than most guards in the conference. Finally, there's the critics' scapegoad - Frieder. Everyone points to his substitution practices as the reason for Michigan's slump. But many of his substitutions are forced by Tarpley, McCormick and Butch Wade ac- cumulating fouls. Many more substitutions come at the end of the game when the Wolverines trail. Frieder replaces offensive-oriented players like Joubert with defensive-oriented ones like Wade when the opponents have the ball. If people want to criticize Frieder, they should point to his team's inability to score against a zone defense. If every Big Ten team played 40 minutes of 2-3 zone against the Wolverines, Michigan would struggle to win another game. Frieder also refuses to use a zone defense. A zone might keep foul-prone players like Tarpley and McCormick in the game longer. Even Bobby Knight plays a zone now. The Michigan basketball season is far from over. Three wins should earn the Wolverines a berth in the NIT. Six will place them in the first division of the Big Ten and, most likely, in the NCAA tournament.- In order to accomplish this, Michigan needs continued strong play from Tarpley and the recently revived duo of Eric Turner and Rich Rellford. More importantly, the Wolverines could use some caffeine to awaken the slumbering McCormick, Joubert and Rockymore. If these three players perform as originally as expected, then maybe Frieder could take a break of his own. Grading the Wolverines " ROY TARPLEY-Scores almost effortlessly. Rebounding is much im- proved. Must stay out of foul trouble. Grade A. *ERIC TURNER-Returned to form with the start of the Big Ten season. Horrible before. Needs to take charge. Grade: B+. a RICH RELLFORD-Excellent since Wisconsin. Starting to take and make jump shots. Must rebound better. Grade: B. " TIM McCORMICK-Lost free-throw touch. Hasn't rebounded like a 6-11 man should. Hasn't hit the jumper. Still scores inside. Grade: B-. " BUTCH WADE-Too many fouls. Doesn't know his shooting range. Can't hit a free throw. Can rebound, though. Grade: B-. " DAN PELEKOUDAS-Michigan's best defensive guard. Playing his best basketball in four years. Neither says much. Grade: B-. e ANTOINE JOUBERT-Hasn't shot well. Poor defender and rebounder. Handles the ball well and has good court sense. Grade: B-. " LESLIE ROCKYMORE-In a horrible shooting slump. Not playing much defense, either. A major disappointment. Grade: C+. " GARDE THOMPSON--Shoots well and handles the ball ok. Not ready for the Big Ten yet. Grade C. " PAUL JOKISCH - Hasn't played much. Shows little when he plays. Grade: C. a GERARD RUDY-Never plays. Grade: C. " JON ANTONIDES-Ditto. grade: C. * ROB HENDERSON-Used to be a good rebounder. Isn't anymore. Seems to have lost his confidence. Michigan needs him to come back. Grade: C-. * BILL FRIEDER-His team doesn't play well against a zone defense. It might also benefit on occasion from playing a zone of its own. Plays three guards too often. Grade: B-. Long, Tripucka lead Pistons in rout over Cavaliers; Cavs ree injured By PHIL NUSSEL Special to the Daily PONTIAC - There was only one question at the Pontiac Silverdome last night - how in the world did the Cleveland Cavaliers ever beat the Detroit Pistons a week ago? Last night, the Pistons thrashed their rivals from across the lake, 130-99. After the game, Pistons' coach Chuck Daly offered a few explanations for the turnaround, "They're tougher at home, and without (World B.) Free, they're obviously not the same team." FREE, averaging 33 points a game, was injured under the basket three seconds before halftime. He didn't return. The win kept Detroit one game out of first behind Atlanta, which also won last night. After finishing the first quarter ahead 36-26, the Pistons maintained a 10-14 point lead throughout the second stanza and led 63-50 at the half. I - OFFENSIVELY,.. Detroit had a balanced attack with Isiah Thomas, Kelly Tripucka, Bill Laimbeer, John Long and Vinnie Johnson all in double figures. Long, who was criticized for taking a: questionable shot late in last week's: loss to the Cavs,was hot, hitting six of= nine shots from the floor. He ended up. with 24 points to lead the team. "John Long came out of his slump: tonight," Daly said. "Sometimes he' gets a little bit lazy with his shot - when he does that, he doesn't shoot the ball very well." THE PISTONS completely took command in the second half with a 67- point barrage. In the third period, Detroit scored almost everytime it had the ball hitting 18 of 25 shots with only one turnover. Pistons' guard Isiah Thomas said, "We pushed the ball up the court and we were able to get into a fast tempo. My job is to come in every night:and play the best basketball I can." Thomas finished with 14 assists and 15 points. Cliff Robinson led Cleveland with 22 points and seven rebounds. Tripucka added 20 for the Pistons, who play Golden State at home Friday night. AP Photo Isiah Thomas (11) dishes off one of his 14 assists to John Long, who scored 24 points to lead the Pistons to victory last night over the Cavaliers. Ski team glid11es tn g y By TED LERNER For some months now, American ski lovers have turned their attention to Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, site of the XIV OlympicdWinter games. In the next week and a half they will be on the edge of their seats as eleven American skiers try to gain recognition as the best in the world. Closer to home, however, and with lit- tle fanfare, the Michigan ski team has raced its way into the upper echelon of college skiing. Although ABC-TV has not rushed out to cover the story, the Wolverines skiers certainly deserve some praise and recognition. THE MICHIGAN ski team is not a varsity sport. That means it receives no scholarships from the athletic depar- sometimes contain up to 17 schools fromsthetMidwest. Some of the top teams that race are Northern Michigan, University of Minnesota St. Paul, Michigan Tech, Notre Dame and, of course, Michigan. The team does not ski the faster and more crowd-pleasing downhill. Rather they ski slalom and giant slalom. With a team the caliber of Michigan one might wonder why they are not elevated from club to varsity status. "I THINK if we went varsity," Neuman said, "they'd (the athletic department) also have to let lacrosse and rugby. I guess they have to draw the line." To raise money, the ski team holds an annual ski swap in the first week of December. This was the thirteenth an- nual year that the team held the event. WORK AT CAMP THIS SUMMER Camp Tamarack Camp Maas Camp Kennedy AgreelOutpost Teen Trips INTERVIEWING FEBRUARY 13th Sign-up: Career Planning and Placement Positions for: Cabin Counselors, Specialist Counselors, Trip Lead- ers, Unit and Specialist Supervisors, gecretgry, Nurse, Food Service, Maintenance, and Bus Drivers. FRESH AIR SOCIETY 6600 W. Maple Rd. W. Bloomfield, MI 48033 (313) 661-0600 A Jewish Welfare Federation Camping Agency Since 1906. The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports presents - SUMMER SOFTBALL KICH rGAN Classics Adult Slow-Pitch Leagues MASS MEETING FEBRUARY 20 - 6:00 P.M. Room 3275 Central Campus Recreation Building' 401 Washtenaw CHOICE playing fields CHOICE location/lights /parking CHOICE umpires CHOOSE CO-REC B, C-Men's, C, D. Single ordouble header leagues CHOOSE Reasonable Rates/No hidden costs CHOOSE No residency requirement /No university affiliation requirement YOU HA VE A RIGHT TO BE CHOOSY For Information Call Bill or Gale - 764-7415 i tment. Yet, last year, Ski Racing magazine ranked the men's team sixth in the nation among colleges and the ranked women's team ninth. In com- petition this year, the mean have gained an impressive two firsts, two seconds and three thirds, while the women have placed first in each of their seven meets. The team consists of five men and five women, chosen out of over 60 people who tried out in early January. Yet while it takes good competitive skiers to produce the victories, most of the team members are here for other reasons. "We have quite a few people on the team who are top United States Ski Association skiers," said Mike Neuman, captain of the ski team. "But basically they're going here for school." EVERY TUESDAY and Thursday the team travels to Brighton, the ski area closest to campus. There they prepare for weekly meets that "We sell equipment for ski shops and for individuals," Neuman said. "People come in with their equipment and we sell it for them. then they get a check for what they sell. We take out 18 per- cent. This year the ski team raised nearly $8,000. Combined with the money it receives from the recreational sports department, the ski team pays for all its expenses. So, with some business acumen and some great skiing, the Michigan ski team has become one of the best in the country. It may not be the Olympics but so far, the results have been golden. I GoldnRosepr and * fit;________ Get acquainted with the low rates and wide. choice of dependable GM cars available for almost every need at National Car Rental. We've got a new location in your neighborhood, and feature low unlimited mileage rates on daily, weekly and weekend rentals. You pay for gas and return the car to the renting location. Available at: Briarwood Amoco 3230 South State Street (I-94 at State) Ann Arbor 769-8437 WE GIVE YOU NATIONAL ATTENTION. AND THAT'S THE TRUTH. V U -