a Page 8 - The Michiaan Daily - Sunday, December 2, 1984 RIs WE By Steve Wise i Cagers' mental breathers.. . . 0 could strangle success v " T HAT WAS A funny game," Bill Frieder said, starting off his post-game press con- ference yesterday. Easy to say when your team finished off its second straight win of the season. But before the end of Michigan's 63-57 win over Georgia, five minutes and 56 seconds before to be exact, neither Michigan's head man nor anyone else in Crisler Arena was fighting off the giggles. Instead they were squirming in their seats, crumpling up their programs and trying to figure out why the Wolverines hadn't scored for the past six minutes of the game. "They were up by what, 18, 19 points, and they coasted," said Bulldog head coach Hugh Durham. "It got to the point where we were either going to play for pride or sag and let it get away. "But we reached down and grabbed a little in- tensity." Georgia also grabbed enough passes and rebounds of Wolverines shots to cut a 51-34 Michigan lead to 5145. Having previously stret- ched out their 14-point halftime lead with a strong running offense and a tight defense, the Wolverines lost both those elements. "We were coasting alright," Frieder said, "downhill. But I felt we were in control all the way."~ Maybe in control of the game, but Michigan was hardly in control of itself. When they got on a roll, the Wolverines shot selection deteriorated and their passes became about as accurate as the National Enquirer. It might seem strange, but many of Michigan's 22 turnovers probably oc- curred because the Wolverines had such a big lead. Nasty habits Yesterday's lapse might not be a big concern if it was an isolated case, but the same kind of low in- tensity kept the Detroit game close through the first half Monday. The same problem occurred last year. Against Iowa last January, the Wolverines let a 15-point halftime lead dip to four before pulling out a 53-49 win. Against Indiana, a ten point lead with six minutes left was stalled into a 53-50 margin, but Michigan held on to win 55-50. "We're kind of getting used to that," said Wolverine center Roy Tarpley, "having a big lead and letting other teams come back. But we've got to work on that." "That's one thing we've got to work on, our in- tensity," agreed Frieder, "playing intense when you're ahead or behind and not looking at the scoreboard." Pressing their luck At least partial credit for the Michigan's tem- porary collapse should go to Georgia's defense. The Bulldogs challenged every pass and shook up the Wolverines with a post intermission press. "We tried to pick up the emotional thing and start making things happen on the court," said Georgia forward Joe Ward. "We started to use the press and that turned it around." If the Bulldog press is going to give Michigan spins, what's going to happen come conference time? Both Durham and Frieder said Georgia ranks only in the middle of the Southeastern Con- ference, so the Wolverines can expect worse from pressing Big Ten teams like Iowa. Mind games Still, the lapse began within the Wolverines' minds and that's where the solution's got to come from. "I don't know what was going through everybody's heads," said Michigan guard Gary Grant. "I think we were just playing to keep them from scoring," said fellow backcourtman Garde Thom- pson. "We weren't playing aggressive like we should have been." Apparently all the Wolverines recognize the problems, but with a clean record so far, they don't seem overly concerned, at least not if An- toine Joubert speaks for the team. "The more we play together, the better we'll get," said the 6-5 sophomore. "We'll learn how to bury teams." But if they can't maintain their concentration for more than 34 minutes per game, the Wolverines may find themselves, not their op- ponents, in a hole. 6 6 0 Blue blows by Bulldogs, 63-57 (Continued from Page 1) Thompson, forward Robert Hender- son, and Tarpley brought the com- placent Crisler crowd to its feet with a driving bucket, a slick shot under the basket and a fierce slam dunk, respec- tively. "The turnovers really hurt us," said Ward. "Most of them were walking calls, and that's our fault." Things did not get a whole lot better for Georgia in the beginning of the second half. Michigan again took the of- fensive, this time with freshman Gary Grant and forwards Butch Wade and Richard Rellford swishing the net. Grant had another good game, collec- ting nine points and placing himself behind Tarpley and Joubert (11 points) in scoring for the day. But once the Wolverines secured a 51- 32 advantage, they too began commit- ting costly miscues, enabling Georgia v to pull within six points, 54-45 at 5:56. Michigan then fought off the Bulldog challenge for the final five minutes to preserve the victory. "The first half we were clicking because we were running," said Joubert. "But then we relaxed, figured we had it won. That's when they made a run of it. They were ripping the ball from the backboard, and getting the scrap plays." NEITHER Georgia's nor Michigan's Dawg day afternoon MICHIGAN GEORGIA MinFG/AFT/A McMililan ......... Corhen.......... Dunn............ Hartry .......... Williams ........ Ward .............. Kessler............ Crosby.......... Anderson .......... Howard ........... Team rebounds.... 14 35 18 25 15 28 19 25 6 15 2/3 6/S 1/3 1/6 1/4 8/16 2/4 1/5 1/4 1/1 0/0 2/2 2/2 1/2 0/0 2/4 0/0 0/0 2/4 R Y 6 2 2 3 9 3 3 1 3 2 A 2 1 0 2 1 0 1 4 0 1 PF 3 3 5 2 1 2 2 2 0 3 Pts 4 12 4 4 3 16 6 2 2 MinFG/A FT/A R Reilford............24 2/4 2/2 5 Wade.............. 30 3/7 0/1 6 Tarpley.......... 37 9/18 4/8 12 Grant...........32 3/8 3/4 3 Joubert............33 3/9 5/7 6 Rockymore.........12 0/0 1/2 2 Henderson ........ 11 1/2 0/0 2 Thompson..........18 3/4 0/1 1 Stoyko ............ 3 0/0 0/0 0 A 1 0 2 3 5 0 0 1 0 PF 3 3 5 4 1 0 1 1 0 Pts 6 6 22 9 11 1 2 6 0 shooting was particularly impressive. Michigan hit 46.1 percent from the field compared to 43.6 for Georgia, and both squads shot a measely 60 percent from the charity stripe. Michigan did improve its shooting percentage in the second half, but con- sidering the number of dunks and layups that went into the figure, it still was hardly a banner day. "I read in the papers about my shooters," commented Frieder, "but when I look at the stats I don't see a lot of them going in." Just the same, Michigan did come away with the victory, and that should whet its appetite for the long season ahead. a 4 Team Rebounds ... 2 0 TOTALS...........200 24/52 15/25 39 12 18 63 57 First half score: MICHIGAN 34, Georgia 24 Attendance: 11.424 TOTALS...........200 24/55 9/15 34 12 23 Daily Photo by DAN HABIB Illinois tips Sooners, 73- Wolverine center Roy Tarpley stuffs Georgia's Donald Hartry in Michigan's 7 63-57 victory. i V F CHAMPAIGN (AP)-Illinois forward Efrem Win- ters tipped away an Oklahoma inbounds pass with 31 seconds to go yesterday to help give seventh-ranked Illinois a 73-70 victory over No. 10 Oklahoma in a non- conference basketball game. Winters' tip went to Anthony Welch who laid the ball in to enable Illinois to take its second win from the Sooners in less than three weeks. Illinois defeated Oklahoma on November 18 at Springfield, Mass., 81- 64. Welch made his basket just seconds after putting Illinois up to stay, 69-68. Oklahoma center Wayman Tisdale led all scorers with 22 points, despite running into foul trouble in the second half. Wisconsin 61, Washington State 59 MADISON (AP)-Rick Olson scored 18 points, in- cluding the winning free throws with 28 seconds to play, and Scott Roth scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half as Wisconsin survived a first-half scoring drought to defeat Washington State 61-59 yesterday. Wisconsin, 2-0, trailed 30-20 at halftime and still trailed 38-30 with 14:38 to play, but Olson hit two baskets during a 10-0 spurt as the Badgers took a 40-38 lead with 10:38 remaining. Roth, who made all 12 of his free throws, then scored eight points as Wisconsin built a 48-42 lead with seven minutes left. Iowa 111, George Mason 82 IOWA CITY (AP)-Iowa center Greg Stokes scored a career-high 35 points and forward Michael Payne added 16 and 15 rebounds as the Hawkeyes defeated George Mason University 111-82 in non-conference action yesterday. It was the fourth straight easy victory for the Hawkeyes, who dominated play on both ends of the floor while handing George Mason its first defeat af- ter two victories. The Patriots got within 25-22 with a little more than 10 minutes left in the first half. But Stokes went on a rampage, and the Hawkeyes never looked back. Ohio State 85, Arkansas 84 COLUMBUS, Ohio - Dennis Hopson's only points of the game, two free throws with 57 seconds left last night, provided Ohio State with the winning points in an 85-84 verdict over 17th-ranked Arkansas in non- conference college basketball. The Razorbacks lost despite a 31-point effort by Olympian Joe Kleine. Hopson's two foul shots gave Ohio State, 2-0, an 85- 82 margin over Arkansas, 2-1. ONE SMALL VOICE By Jeff Bergida Bob(by) Knight gets no respect.. 1 .and deserves even less A COLUMNIST from one of the Detroit dailies made an announcement of tremendous importance earlier this week, but his statement has not been given enough publicity. This sportswriter has received word from the almighty Coach Knight of Indiana and we must all kneel down and worship. It seems that his highness no longer wants to be referred to as "Bobby," preferring the title "Bob." Apparently, the living legend gets upset when the media assign him the extra syllable. The Detroit writer can't understand why sportscasters and reporters can't manage to satisfy this simple request. After all, why would anybody want to get his royal majesty upset? After all, the man is so generous with his time' and is willing to talk to journalists about his team. Calling Mr. Wonderful It's truly a pleasure to deal with the Hoosiers' basketball office. A typical attempt to get an interview with The Great One goes something like this: "Hi, is Coach Knight available?" the reporter inquires innocently. "No, he's not in the office today," responds the secretary /stooge. "Well, could you tell me when he might be in the office? Is there any time during the week when I'd have a good chance of reaching him?" "It's really hard to say," answers this fountain of information. "I see. Well, maybe you could give me the number of the hotel room he'll be staying in when the team gets to Ann Arbor. I could arrange to interview him after practice." "No, he doesn't let anyone into practice." "What's the best way to get in touch with him?" "You could leave a message with me and I'll be sure to see that he gets it," says the secretary. Yeah, right. And the check is in the mail. Perhaps it's not reasonable to expect Knight to talk to reporters from a student newspaper. He's very busy running practice and recruiting centers out of the Heineken brewery in Hamburg, West Germany. But, then again, every other coach in the Big Ten manages to find time for interviews. Lou Henson of Illinois is extremely accessible and thanks you for calling him. Purdue head coach Gene Keady is always happy to talk for as long as you want. Bill Frieder goes out of his way to help out the local media. Of course, these guys aren't as busy as the Howling Hoosier. Henson and Keady only coached their clubs to co-Big Ten championships last year while having two of the top recruiting years in the nation. Frieder's team won 23 games and the NIT title. They obviously don't have to put in as many hours as The Great American Hero. A truly nice guy The media should be thrilled to address Knight by his choice of first names. When you finally do get to hear him speak, his charming personality makes everything worthwhile. Who'll ever forget last January 21 when, following a 60-55 Michigan victory over Indiana, Knight stormed into the press room and called Frieder every S U £+ S3, ?. k