The Michigan Daily - Monday, January 16, 1989 - Page 19
Adam's Rib
BY ADAM SCHRAGER
ROBIN LOZNAK/Daily
Rumeal Robinson, as hard as he tried with this no-look pass, couldn't fake out Illinois by himself on Saturday. The
Wolverines dropped their first Big Ten game of the year to the Fighting Illini, 96-84.
*Burson and boys in W Frieder's boy,
Vitale. Ann
Proposition 48
has gone too far
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - After Illinois' 96-84 victory over Michigan,
conversation strangely did not address the game. It did not cover Illinois'
Kendall Gill's 26 points on national television, nor Michigan's Glen Rice's
30 points, but instead, the latest tightening of the Proposition 48 rule
affecting college athletics.
"After we have proven that this rule has worked, we decided to go and
change it and take away an athlete's chance," said Michigan coach Bill
Frieder early in his post-game press conference. "It's going to lead to
cheating, bribes, and boosters paying kids' ways. We had a good thing
going...Why change it?"
The rule, which previously stated that athletes who did not meet
particular academic requirements, specifically achieving a 700 on their SAT,
would be unable to practice, work, or play with their respective teams their
first year at school. Last week's tightening at the annual NCAA convention
states that these athletes now cannot receive any financial aid during the year
that they are ineligible starting in 1990.
IN SATURDAY'S Georgetown-Boston College game, Georgetown
head coach John Thompson walked off the court following the tipoff in
protest of the new rule, leaving his assistants the coaching duties. While
Saturday's coaches may not have been as actively against the rule as
Thomson, the feeling for his cause was definitely sympathetic.
"I don't blame him," said Illinois head coach Lou Henson. "Someone
needs to show that what is taking place is wrong. I'm talking about the
chancellors and presidents around the country because you won't find a coach
with this revision."
The fight for Proposition 48 has been championed by many people,
including myself, but this time the NCAA has gone too far with their rule
adaptations. To say that the rule specifically does not affect minority
athletes more than majority athletes would be naive.
"It will affect 90 percent of the kids from the inner-city," said Illinois'
Nick Anderson, a Prop 48 victim two years ago. "I know that I wouldn't
have been able to afford Illinois if I hadn't had aid. The people who passed
this rule should come live in my neighborhood (Chicago's South Side) and
then pass a rule as stupid as this. I'll tell you what...that would never
happen."
The only thing that this can lead to is the rise of the junior and
community colleges in this country. But the Big Ten's recent rule forcing
junior and community college transfers to sit out a year before playing will
put the chibosh on recruits attending Big Ten schools.
So with all the hullaballoo surrounding yesterday's Big Ten game, the
surrounding message was that administrators and chancellors returning home
should not expect an apple on their desks, but a banana peel in the doorway.
BY STEVE BLONDER
The sign in the Michigan locker room states one of
ill Frieder's goals for this year's team: "To beat every
dam from Ohio and Michigan."
t So far, the Wolverines have played their role well,
easily knocking off Youngstown State and the various
saite schools. But 14-2 Michigan will have its hands
foll tonight against an Ohio State team that some say
has yet to reach its potential.
"Ohio State is a very dangerous team, but I think
they could be a year away," ESPN analyst Dick Vitale
said at the Big Ten Basketball Media Day in
November.
-FOR MICHIGAN, which suffered its first
conference loss Saturday at Illinois, the game is a
must win if the Wolverines expect to compete for the
conference title.
"We need to be ready to play Ohio State at home
Monday night. If you want to contend for the Big Ten
&itle, you have to win all of your games at home,"
*Rieder said.
Ohio State has not won in Crisler Arena since
1984, but that doesn't bother Buckeye coach Gary
Williams.
"I'm tired of hearing about that. We've got five
guys and they've got five guys. We've just got to go
out and play," Williams said.
WILLIAMS, who feels Michigan is "the most
talented team in the Big Ten" as far as high school
accomplishments, thinks his team can beat the
Wolverines by keeping the ball away from Glen Rice.
"If Glen Rice gets the ball 17-feet from the basket,
he's going to try to score," Williams said. "He's a
great shooter, so we just can't let him get to where he
feels comfortable. We're going to have to work hard to
keep him from getting the ball, if we are going to
win."
Ohio State returns four starters from last years' 20-
13 squad, including preseason all-Big Ten candidate Jay
Burson, who is averaging over 24 points per game.
"Jay Burson is past the point of being a novelty.
He is one of the best in the country," Williams said of
his senior guard.
Sophomore center Perry Carter will be expected to
neutralize the Michigan frontline which has
contributed to the Wolverines' 641-303 rebounding
edge this season. Last year, Carter averaged over seven
rebounds per game.
Arbor today
ESPN basketball guru Dick
Vitale will be in Ann Arbor*
signing copies of his new
'book,Vitale: Just your average
bald, one-eyed basketball wackoa
wha beat the ziggy and became a
Vitale will be at Comnmunt
Newscenter 1301 Souith
University from 12-1 today.
Basketball nuts can also listen to
Vitale broadcast the Michigan
game tonight at 9:34 on ESPN.
- Steve Rtondqr
Illini ices game from the line
Woastin
ntinued from Page 1
THE WOLVERINES got a
me high 30 points and nine
bounds from Glen Rice. Loy
ught scored 22 off the bench,
while Rumeal Robinson tossed in 15
eints and handed out eight assists.
But where was everyone else?
Terry Mills, the 6-foot-10 forward
mainaged just 10 points and three
rebounds. Sean Higgins was 1-for-9
ftm the field, finishing with five
points and five turnovers.
a In addition, Kirk Taylor failed to
score and turned the ball over twice
in only eight minutes of action.
Mark Hughes made only one basket
aid played just nine minutes.
AS A RESULT, Michigan had
trouble scoring inside and turned the
ball over 17 times.
"This team's going to make
turnovers all year because we don't
hive true guards," Frieder said. "It's a
pjoblem against pressure defenses
because you can't take forwards and
make them guards overnight, and.
that's what we've been trying to do."
The absence of a ballhandler was
particularly glaring when Robinson
went out in the second half. .
"We're getting by with Rumeal
on the floor," Frieder said, "but when
*he comes out we're dead. We just
can't go very long without him."
BUT ROBINSON may not be
able to handle his full-time
ballhandling responsibilities.
"Rumeal was having trouble
bringing the ball up," Gill said. "He
was tired. I could just sense it."
Other Wolverines were fatigued as
well. "I could see it on their faces,
the way they were breathing," Gill
said. "Every time we got to the free
throw line they were grabbing their
shorts. That's when you could tell a
ptayer is tired."
After gaining a seven rebound
advantage at the half, the Wolverines
sputtered and allowed the Fighting
"IIIini to even up the rebounds in the
second half.
"We felt that if we could beat
them on the boards we'd win it,"1
Henson said. "We did a much better1
job of it in the second half."
FORWARD Nick Anderson,
who finished with seven reboundsc
after corralling just one in the first
half said: "In the second half I wasl
moving better, going freelance andi
attacking the boards."
Michigan trailed by as many as 101
in the first half, but battled back toc
take a 44-43 lead on a free throw by1
Vaught.t
But then the momentum shifted.t
Gill; who led Illinois with 26 points,s
nailed a 15-footer with seven seconds1
left to put his team ahead by one.
After Taylor fumbled the inbounds
pass and lost it out of bounds, Gillj
hit a three-pointer buzzer-beater from
the top of the key. The Fighting
Illini never looked back.
"We had a little momentum going
and that really hurt us," Frieder said.
"But it wasn't the end of the world,
we just had to bounce back."
THE WOLVERINES made a
second-half run, but couldn't get over
the hump. Down 70-56 with just
under 11 minutes left in the game,
the Wolverines went on an 18-8 run
to make it close.
Illinois came back, however,
scoring on every possession down
the stretch.
"We had to work so hard to close
it that we didn't have enough left in
us to get it done," Frieder said.
"Whenever we made a run, they'd
come back and score. We just
couldn't negate them enough."
Gill added: "We never pushed the
panic button. When Michigan got
close to us, we were still
comfortable, and that was the
difference."
Blue banter
-Frieder was surprised that Henson
did not accept the 500 dollar bet on
Illinois winning the game. Frieder
said: "I'll tell you, he's stupid, isn't
he?" But Henson said he agreed to the
bet. "I don't know whether he knew
it or not, but I did accept his wager.
We'll probably talk about the 500
dollars a little later on."
-Referees Tom Rucker and Sam
Lickliter were delayed by bad weather
in Indianapolis and didn't arrive until
4:04 had elapsed in the game. Jerry
Menz, the Big Ten observer of
officials for games at Illinois, and
high school referee Joe Tomlinson of
Champaign were forced to officiate in
their place.
BY ADAM SCHRAGER
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - It was a
scenario feared by the orange-clad
Illinois fans: the Illini at the foul
line.
And with two minutes to play
Illini fans' throats clogged and their
minds became dizzy because
Michigan had begun to foul.
Illinois fans have seen it before.
Their teams have been known to
have Mount Olympus .crater-sized
leads before blowing it in the final
minutes by missing their free
throws.
"Teams of previous years would
have pressed the panic button, but
not this one," said Illinois guard
Kendall Gill, who scored 26 points
on the day. "We were still
comfortable when they got close and
we weren't going to let this one slip
away. This wasn't going to be
another Villanova."
ILLINOIS played Villanova in
the second round of the NCAA
tournament last March and pulled off
a choke that would have made
Philadelphia Eagles head coach
Buddy Ryan envious.
The Fighting Illini led by ten
points with three minutes to play
before missing eight-of-11 foul
shots, including the front end of five
one-and-ones, to lose the game, 66-
63. °
There were other examples of
opponents' comebacks that left the
Illini crying foul play. Last season,
guard Larry Smith missed four
straight one-and-ones in a game
against Auburn to help the Tigers
erase a 27-point Illinois lead, before
losing in overtime.
But as Gill pointed out,
Saturday's contest was not another
Villanova. The Illini sank 10-of-11
foul shots in the last two minutes to
increase their lead from eight to 12.
Gill himself made four straight
before missing with 16 seconds
remaining and the game was all but
over.
"We showed a lot of character in
making our shots at the end of the
game," said Illinois coach Lou
Henson. "This team is different from
years past in that we are winning the
close games. You ask anyone how
you win the close games and they'll
say, 'Make your free throws down
the stretch.' We're doing this these
days."
While this may be true, the Illini.
II
Rea
W1e
Vaifq
cCIoa5610d
Gill
... 26 points
are still not shooting well for the
season. Their 64 percent shooting
for the season is the same as last
year's, when they finished last in the
conference in that category. Whether
or not Illinois does well in the
conference and the tournament
depends on their foul shooting,
which as everyone knows is a
stone's throw away.
i :..__
h' I|r dif i- RESTAURANT
'24 YEARS EXPERIENCE'"
-CH EF JAN
TOP GOLD MEDAL WINNER
JUDGES SPECIAL AWARD
SPONSORED BY MICHIGAN RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION
MICHIGAN CHEFS DE CUISINE ASSOCIATION
BLUE RIBBON WINNER
BEST CHEF AWARD
lid IA I A L J iC (T/"\Ad f f
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