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Page 10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 29, 1985
Kansas massacre
By JEFF BERGIDA
Bill Frieder would be the last to ad-
mit it but, deep inside, Michigan's
basketball coach must be feeling the
way Kent "Flounder" Dorfman did
when he uttered the immortal line, "Oh
boy! This is great!"
Sunday's 96-77 Wolverine victory
over 15th-ranked Kansas established,
once and for all, that this is a team to be
reckoned with. Frieder's club put on a
nearly-flawless performance and blew
the more-celebrated opposition off the
court.
A NATIONAL television audience got
to see a great show, starring who else
but Gary Grant, the man who can no
longer be considered a freshman on the
court. The 6-3 guard sank eight con-
secutive field goals in the first half as
the Wolverines jumped out to a 50-35
lead at intermission. He finished with a
career-high 20 points.
But Grant was only the spark that got;
the fire burning. A fire that ultimately
left only the smoldering embers of a
Jayhawk club that entered the game as
a national contender.
Antoine Joubert may have had the
best all-around game of his college
career. The Judge finished with 18 poin-
ts, eight assists and two steals. In ad-
dition, the sophomore held Kansas for-
ward Ron Kellogg, an 18-point scorer
who had a career-high 31 the night
before, to a measly four points.
"I STARTED denying him the ball
and then he just didn't get back in the
game," said Joubert.
Roy Tarpley finished with 17 points
and nine rebounds. The junior center
outplayed Jayhawk freshman Danny
Manning when both were in the game.
Rich Rellford and Leslie Rockymore
combined to produce 26 points (16 and
10, respectively) from the small for-
ward spot. Rockymore swished a shot
from mid-court as the buzzer sounded
to end the first half. That heave set the
tone for a second half in which
Michigan would lead by as many as 31
before Kansas closed the gap during
garbage time.
"Anybody who's watched our prac-
tices knows we work on (half-court
shots)," said Frieder. "You never know
when you're going to get that kind of
shot to win a game."
KANSAS COACH Larry Brown, less-
than-thrilled with his own team's effort,
gave a four-star review to the
Wolverine starting line-up.
"I don't see any weaknesses," said
the coach of the 1980 UCLA club which
advanced to the NCAA finals. "The two
brightens
big kids who play forward (Rellford
I and Butch Wade) are real unselfish,
the two guards (Grant and Joubert)
t both handle it and shoot it, and Tar-
I pley's great."
There weren't many positives on the
Jayhawks' side. Only 7-1 center Greg
Dreiling, who led all scorers with 21
points, was especially impressive.
Neither Dreiling nor Brown would at-
tribute the rout to the fact that Kansas
had to play in Boulder, Colo. only 24
hours earlier.
"IT HAD NOTHING to do with being
tired," Brown said. "It was the way
Michigan played and the way we
played."
"I can't speak for the guys, but I felt
pretty good," said Dreiling, who drop-
ped in most of his shots from two feet or
less. "I was tired from last night but I
don't think it affected my play."
The Wolverines' 58.7 percent shooting
was due in part to an invisible Jayhawk
defense. Brown used both a zone and
man-to-man but Michigan, which is
used to the more physical Big Ten
game, easily solved both.
"THEIR DEFENSE was strong at
first but it started breaking up when
Antoine started penetrating," said
Grant.
"I was kind of surprised because a
couple of those guys weren't even
playing defense," Rellford said. "They
were just roaming around out there.
Antoine was wide open a lot of times."
The post-game party featured a wide
variety of individuals extolling
Michigan with words normally reserved
for Georgetown. Even the ultra-cautious
Frieder dished out his share of praise.
"WHAT REALLY makes me happy
is that we are progressing," he said.
"The maturity is there now and it's
good to see them play together."
"This gives us overwhelming con-
fidence," Tarpley noted. "We're on a
roll right now and we feel like we can't
be beat."
"(The victory) proves we should be in THE SHOT:'
the Top Ten," Grant said. "Michigan is (30) looking
a great basketball team and we just hits the mark
'lM hones
14
4
4
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Daily Photo by DAN HABI
With Jayhawk players Danny Manning (25) and Greg Dreiling
on, senior Leslie Rockymore releases a half-court bomb that
with time running out in the first half.
'Ln Lg e a oivy puDI iLL.
Someone must have been watching
Sunday because the team shot up to the
10th and 11th spots in the AP and UPI
polls, respectively, ahead of such
perennial favorites as North Carolina
and De Paul.
Watch out, national powers. Here
come the Wolverines.
Wish Grant-ed
KANSAS
MinFG/A F
Manning......... 35 9/22
Kellogg...........
Dreiling ...........
Thompson .........
Hunter..........
Turgeon.........
Pellock..........
Newton..........
Campbell..........
Piper ..............
Hull ...............
Team Rebounds ...
25
31
24
20
11
5
18
14
9
8
1/4
9/12
3/5
1/3
1/3
0/1
4/5
3/6
0/1
2/3
FT/A R
0/0 6
2/2 2
3/4 6
2/4 1
0/2 3
2/2 0
0/0 0
2/4 6
0/0 1
0/0 1
0/0 1
1
A
3
3
1
2
2
2
0
0
2
0
1
PF Pts
2 18
1 4
3 21
4 8
2 2
1 4
30
2 10
4 6
1 0
0 4
TOTALS...........200 33/65 11/18 28 16 23 77
MICHIGAN
MinFG/AFT/A]
Rellford...........27
Wade.............. 21
Tarpley ........... 26
Grant ............. 31
Joubert..........30
Henderson ........ 26
Rockymore........19
Thompson ......... 11.
Stoyko ............ 7
Gibas ............. 1
DeGlopper ........ 1
Team Rebounds ...
6/10
1/3
6/8
9/12
7/14
3/6
4/6
1/1
0/1
0/1
0/1
4/6
2/2
5/5
2/2
3/6
1/2
2/4
2/2
1/2
0/0
0/0
R
6
2
9
4
4
7
5
1
1
0
0
2
A
0
1
2
8
8
0
2
2
0
0
0
PF
2
3
4
1
1
2
3
0
2
0
1
Pts
16
4
17
20
17
7
10
4
1
0
0
Daily Photo by DAN HABIB
Michigan center Roy Tarpley pinsI
afternoon...
Calvin Thompson's shot against the glass in the Wolverines' 96-77 win over Kansas Sunday
bM climbs poll; Grant honored
TOTALS...........200 37/63 22/31 41 23 19 96
Halftime score: MICHIGAN 50, Kansas 35
Attendance: 12,212
UPI Top Twenty
By Steve Wise
Gary looking like a star .. .
... let's do some comparing
G ARY! Gary! Gary!"
The fans knew it.
"There is only ONE freshman sensation."
Their banners proclaimed it.
Even my friend Jack, a basketball fan extraordinaire and Kansas student,
was ready to admit it: "I've seen Gary Grant and I've seen Danny Manning.
Obviously, Gary Grant was the better freshman."
According to these people, and according to the first half of Sunday's bas-
ketball game, Grant is indeed one of the best freshman in the nation, maybe
even the best.
But these people are admittedly not the
most credible evaluators. The fans are
biased, and Jack is about as believable
to most of you as was Fritz Mondale
talking about how to win a presidential
election. Never mind that Jack watches
about eight or 10 basketball games per
week and reads every printed word he can
find about college hoops.
But if you don't believe Jack (it's o.k., I
won't tell his mom), who do you believe?
Conceding that Grant is a good player,
Kansas coach Larry Brown hesitates to Isiah
give the Wolverine point guard rookie-of-
the-year honors.
"I've got the best freshman in the coun-
try," said Brown, of 6-11 Danny Manning,
whom Grant out-scored 20-18. "I'm not
looking to trade."
According to Michigan's other guard
(other?), Antoine Joubert, Brown can
keep his marbles, bubblegum cards and
his young forward.
"I'm going to have to say Gary (is best)," Mage
said the man whose excellent play went almost overlooked Sunday. "He's my
teammate and he's a winner."
Sorry guys, you sound a bit biased too. That means somebody else has to
decide how good Gary Grant really is.
Enter the statistical comparisons.
It's much too premature to make comparisons, since most great players
take some time to establish themselves. At the same time, though, recent
history affords us some great players to whom comparisons can reasonably
De made.
Isiah Thomas, for instance, found success so quickly that he left Indiana
after two years. After 17 college games, the Pistons' all-star point guard was
averaging 14.1 points, 6.1 assists and 2.8 steals in 33 minutes per game.
In 17 games for Michigan, Grant's numbers read 13.9, 5.0, and 1.8 in an
average of 32 minutes per game.
Now if you'll pardon me, Jack and the former vice president for saying so,
those statistics are awfully close.
The similarities go further, however. While 17 game stats aren't available
for Magic Johnson, his freshman year averages were 15.7 points and 7.4
assists per contest. That's a bit better than Grant, but the 6-2 Ohio native
could catch up with a couple more 20-point, eight-assist performances like
Sunday's.
But let's get back to exactitude, shall ,we? Michael Jordan, soon to be
N.B.A. rookie of the year, didn't do quite as well as Grant. Through 17
games. the tongue-wagging Tar Heel was slightly better in scoring (14.0).
11
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From staff and wire reports
Michigan broke into the top ten in the
Associated Press college basketball
poll this week for the first time since
January of 1981 when the team was 11-1.
With wins over Michigan State and
Kansas, the Wolverines jumped from
18th to 10th.
In the UPI poll, Michigan hit the
charts at number 11. The Wolverines
had been out of the UPI poll for three
weeks.
Michigan got more good news when
freshman guard Gary Grant was
named UPI Big Ten Player of the
Week. In his last two games, Grant has
scored 34 points and has dished out 15
assists. This is the second straight week
that a Wolverine has received this
honor. Center Roy Tarpley garnered
the distinction for the week of January
13-20.
Grant currently leads the Big Ten in
assists with 44 and his 17 steals are second
in the conference. He has hit 18 of 21
free throws to place him fifth. With 237
total points, Grant is second on the
team in scoring behind Tarpley.
1. St. John's (31)......
2. Georgetown (8) .....
3. Memphis St. (1) .....
4.SMU................
5. Duke ...............
6. Oklahoma ..........
7. Illinois (1).........
8. Syracuse.........
9. Georgia Tech......
10. Tulsa............
11. MICHIGAN.......
12. Oregon St.........
13. Nev. Las Vegas .....
14. N. Carolina .........
15. DePaul .............
16. Louisiana Tech ....
17. Maryland ..........
18. Villanova.........
19. Ala. Birmingham ...
20. Kansas ............
W
15
18
15
16
14
15
17
12
15
16
14
14
15
14
13
16
16
13
18
15
Pts
592
569
518
453
351
336
307
221
180
175
157
139
120
111
110
69
65
57
55
39
4
Grant
... looking good
MON
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Need some? FIND IT AT MSA.
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AP Top Twenty
Applications now Being Accepted for
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1. St. John's (52) .....
2. Georgetown (10) ...
3. Memphis St. (1) .....
4.SMU ................
5. Illinois ..............
6. Duke ...............
7. Oklahoma.........
. enowia Teh .
W
15
18
15
16
17
14
15
i15
Pts
1249
1202
1130
1016
988
867
850
71R1
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* Enthusiasm
YOU'LL GET:
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