Field Hockey vs. Central Michigan Friday, 7 p.m. Tartan Turf SPORTS Women's Volleyball vs. Indiana Friday, 7:30 p.m. Crisler Arena The Michigan Daily Thursday, September 29, 1988 Page 9 THE SPORTING VIEWS BY STEVEN COHEN The other night I had this dream, no not a dream, a nightmare. I kept seeing these visions, these recurring images. And I kept hearing Dick Enberg say "It looks like its over for the United States basketball team." I kept seeing zero points next to Danny Manning's name in a box score. Zero points by the NCAA Player of the Year! But worst of all, I kept seeing the scoreboard flash like a neon light, U.S.S.R. 82, U.S.A. 76. But the next morning I realized this wasn't a nightmare or the Twilight Zone. Reality sunk in. I am now a self-divided. On the one hand I think the Soviets played well and deserve credit, but on the flip side, I think the United States made it easy. The United States losing in Olympic basketball? That happened only once before, in 1972 in Munich, and to be honest with you, I never really counted that game in the first place - faulty time keeping. Any game that needs to have the last second replayed twice so the Soviets can win is really a sham anyway. AND YOU know what really bugs me is that we not only made a Soviet victory easy, but we helped. Why are fixing the Achilles tendon of the Soviet basketball player, 7-foot-4 inches, Arvydas Sabonis. It's really great to see that glasnost has come to America. Thanks a lot, Portland Trailblazers, thanks a million Ted (America's Game) Turner. Soviet coach Alexander Gomelski acknowledged his debt to the Americans after the Soviet victory. "United States basketball and NBA basketball helps my country," said the coach in his broken english. "I am very happy. Thank you United States basketball." Wait a minute. What am I saying? Who am I, Harry Truman, Joe McCarthy, Archie Bunker? This is crazy. This is just basketball, a sporting event, not World War III. The efforts of those in the NBA who try to integrate Soviet stars probably are promoting world peace and good will. But then again maybe John Thompson was right in his paranoia. Maybe we did give the U.S.S.R. the rope to hang us with. Maybe nice guys do finish last. I have trouble coping with all this. When I think of basketball I think of Springfield, Mass. and the Hall of Fame, the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers. I think of Air Jordan. The last thing I needed to see was a bunch of foreigners walk away with a victory in our game. Let the Bulgarians have weight lifting, give the Chinese table tennis, but please keep that basketball gold medal in the good ole U.S.A. BUT I must deal with the sad reality of the situation. The United States lost and now they will play U.S. hands over basketball crown the loser of Yugoslavia and Australia for the bronz6 medal. John Thompson is a proven coach, but he is not immune to the big upset. Villanova stunned his Georgetown team in 1985. But at least an American team was still the winner. This year, his monastic coaching style didn't do the trick. Winning the gold was supposed to be a foregone conclusion. But the rest of the world is catching up with the Americans. In a series this summer the Atlanta Hawks split a two-game series with the U.S.S.R. O.K, so maybe if we sent in Jordan, Larry, Magic, and Dominique, we would have cleaned house, but we still could have, and should have defeated the Soviets. The Soviets average Olympic height was 6-feet-8 inches, and they did have some good shooters such as Sharaunus Marchulenius, who scored 19 points, and Rimas Kourtinaitus, who scored 28 points. But the Americans, who had a deep, quick, defensive team, were unable to press the Soviets effectively. They were unable to get into their running game and fell victim to the experience of their opponents. THE LOSS of the great shooter, Hersey Hawkins, hurt the Americans, but, nonetheless, they didn't take advantage when they should have. The Soviet's best player, Marchulenius, had four fouls in the second half. The U.S.A. should have taken the ball to him, and fouled him out much earlier. Instead, the Soviets played a half court game and Danny Manning sat on the bench in foul trouble for most of the game. It seemed questionable that Manning should sit for all but two minutes in the first half because he had two fouls. When he came in, he tried to do too much and failed. Maybe it was foolish for Thompson to try to mold the Olympic team into a Georgetown type team. With only a few months to train, the Americans were unable to master the pressing defense his system required. Th% cornerstone of the U.S. strategy was there trapping full- court press. The Soviets broke this with relative ease. The Americans pressed near the end, but it wasn't enough as Kourtinaitus was able to score two easy baskets to seal the victory. The unthinkable has happened. Maybe its not so bad after all. We lost fair and square, not in a circus like that of 1972. And we still have an 85-2 record in Olympic basketball to be proud of. Maybe its time to give credit to the Soviets for playing a great game and defeating the best collegians our country had to offer at our own game. LISA WAX/Daily Jessica Rizzolo clears the ball during Michigan's 2-0 loss to Schoolcraft College at Mitchell Field, yesterday afternoon. It was the first loss of the season for the Wolverines. Women's soccer gets a lesson' in defense from Schoolcraft BY JAY MOSES Shouts of "First to the ball, Blue!" could be heard coming from the players on the bench at the Women's soccer club's game yester- day afternoon. They should have shouted louder. National Junior College champion Schoolcraft College beat Michigan to the ball consistently, and the result was a 2-0 loss, the Wolverines' first setback of the season. The loss moved Michigan to 6-1, while Schoolcraft improved to 3-0-1. Michigan suffered a devastating setback in the first half when sophomore goaltender Shelley Brown went down with a knee injury on a save attempt. Schoolcraft's Sharyl Acitelli scored the first goal of the game on that play. "I WOULD imagine (Brown) will be out a couple of weeks," said Michigan coach Bobby Paul. "It was pretty serious. We'll just have to sacrifice one of our field players." Brown is the only true goaltender on the team, so the Wolverines suffer when she is unable to play. Never- theless, sophomore Crista Towne performed well as a backup, allowing only one tally. "I felt like we carried the play," said Paul. "We just didn't create op- portunities in their end of the field." The Wolverines had a difficult time capitalizing on opportunities as they were stifled by Schoolcraft's air- tight defense. Michigan had several good chances to score, but each time they were turned away by goaltender Kris Moore and the Schoolcraft fullbacks, who outhustled the Wolverines. SCHOOLCRAFT demonstrated quick talent and sharp execution despite being a team made up entirely of first-year players and sophomores. Michigan, in contrast, was unable to take advantage of its greater experience. In the second half Schoolcraft's first-year halfback Dawn Gabriel scored the insurance goal on a break- away which caught the Wolverine defense napping. Nevertheless, Michigan played a gutsy game, led by club president Amy Stock and first-year player Marianne Giolitto, reassuring Paul that the team will rebound. "This game was disappointing. We didn't execute what we practiced. 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