0 Page 4 - The Michigan Uaily - -hursaoy, ;>ep : Blue faster, set to exceed speed limit 4 By BARB McQUADE ;The road to the Final Four crashed abruptly for the Michigan basketball team in 1985-86 with a squad of finely ttZned Mack trucks. This season the Wolverines will attempt to cruise with speedy compacts. done are four players who were in- sttumental in making Michigan's basketball program one of the top in tfie country. Big men Roy Tarpley, Richard Rellford, Butch Wade, and Robert Henderson led the Wolverines to two Big Ten titles, an NIT Cham- pionship, and 91-33 record over the last four years; 53-10 over the last two. Not bad for a program that went 7-20 in the 1981-82, the year before they arrived. "WE'RE going to miss them," said Michigan head coach Bill Frieder. "They're great players. They did so much for the program." The Wolverines' reputation as big and experienced will be supplanted by youth and quickness. Expected to join veteran starters Antoine Joubert and Gary Grant is a talented trio of freshmen, including two of the nation's top prospects, Terry Mills and Rumeal Robinson. Mills, a 6-10 forward, averagd 27 points, 13 rebounds, and seven blocked shots a game while leading Romulus High School to the Class A State Championship his senior year. "HE'S A good all-around player," Frieder said. "He's a good shooter, but he needs to be a better rebounder. Like all freshmen, he'll have a lot to learn." His lessons will most likely be on- the-job training. Some question whether the 207-pound small forward can pound with the best of the Big Ten or even the worst. The jump from high school to college basketball is a big one, but Mills' talent can be his pogo stick. "He reminds me of (Kansas for- ward) Danny Manning," Robinson said. "He's 6-10 and he can step all around the wing and he can also play down low." ROBINSON, generously listed as 6-2 is a quick, aggressive guard who is a demon at driving and dishing off. The Cambridge, Mass. native averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists a .game for Rindge-Latin High School last season. "He's a good athlete," said Frieder, who is in his seventh year as head coach at Michigan. "I like the fact that he's a good defensive player." Frieder has good reason to worry about the defense of his team. Despite suiting up one of the league's best pickpockets in Grant, defense could be a sore sport. Without the size up front, Michigan will have to rely on quickness. "I'M CONCERNED about the defense and the young front line," Frieder admitted. "We definitely want to press and run a lot." The biggest question mark is at cen- ter, where second-team All-American Tarpley was a dominant force in the Big Ten. Backup center Hender- son was Michigan's Mr. Basketball in 1982 and could have started for most other teams. In fact, he did start for the Wolverines at forward his fresh- -man year. Their graduation leaves a big gap for. Frieder to fill: "I can't tell you (who will play cen- ter)," Frieder said. "I really don't know. We may use (the sophomores) or we may use three guards. It really depends on how the kids come along." THE SOPHOMORE most likely to step in is Mark Hughes. The 6-8, 225 Muskegon native got limited playing time last season. Hughes shot 50 per- cent, averaging 2.2 points and six minutes in the 13 games he played. Junior Steve Stoyko is also waiting in the wings, along with sophomores Mike Griffin, J.P. Osterbaan, and Loy Vaught. The three were red-shirted as freshmen. The other forward position ap- parently belongs to Glen Rice. The; soft-spoken sophomore averaged 16 minutes a game last year and ap- peared in all but one regular-season contest. Rice recorded seven points and three rebounds per game. With a youthful lineup, Michigan may not expect to match the success of recent Wolverine squads. Last year, Frider's team went 26-7, star- ting the season ranked second in the national polls. It bounced around the top 20 throughout the season. BUT THE NCAA tournament was not kind to the Wolverines, handing Daily Photo by DAN HABIB Senior Antoine Joubert will lead a young group of Wolverines this winter. The 6-5 guard is a four-year starter, and will probably be the only senior starter as well. them the same early exit they took the year before. Michigan was eliminated in the second round in Minneapolis by Iowa State, 72-69. Tarpley scored 25 but couldn't get the support he needed. Grant's one-of-nine shooting inspired the comment, "Me and the NCAA just don't get along." Michigan found experience doesn't guarantee a winner. "Without experience, we'll strictly be a rebuilding club - especially in the front line," Frieder said. "But that doesn't mean we can't be com- petitive." Speedy compacts are efficient in the long haul. Big Ten Standings Conf. Overall W L W L X-MICHIGAN..........14 4 28 5 Indiana ................. 13 5 21 8 Michigan State.........12 6 23 8 Purdue ................. 11 7 22 10 Illinois .................. 11 7 22 10 Iowa .................... 10 8 20 12 Ohio State .............. 8 10 18 14 Minnesota .............. 5 13 15 16 Wisconsin .............. 4 14 12 16 Northwestern ........... 2 16 8 26 x-conference champion "P Frieder I Daily Photo by DAN HABIB Glen Rice slams down two against Tennessee last season. The sophomore forward averaged seven points a game as a freshman. COMPLIMENT YOUR TASTE e AND JUDGEMENT. WEAR A ROLEX. For the man with a commitment to quality in lifestyle and dress, there is only one timepiece: Rolex. Elegant and impregnable in gold or surgical stainless steel, a Rolex Chronometer proclaims your good taste. Like all Rolex Oyster Perpetuals, this 30-jewel date chronometer is self-winding, and is also guaranteed pressure-proofdown to 165 feet. 9 If Freshman Terry Mills was expected to immediately contribute on the court, but his only contribution for Michigan will be cheering from the' =