I Page 10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 4, 1989 1989 CAA CHA PIO S Seattle spotlight shines on Robinson BY ADAM SCHRAGER SPECIAL TO THE DAILY SEATTLE - Since Michigan arrived in Seattle there has been a sharp increase in the amount of rice being bought. It seems that some Seattle merchants are trying to make the San Francisco treat the Seattle treat. Credit this increase directly to Michigan forward Glen Rice, who entered last night's game averaging 30.6 points per game in the NCAA tournament. With Rice's dramatic performances in the post-season, his stock in the upcoming NBA draft has been upgraded substantially. "Glen Rice is the best non-big man in the country," college basketball analyst Al McGuire wrote in the Seattle Times. "He's eyeball to eyeball with (Arizona's) Sean Elliot in ability. And if he continues to score, Michigan will be difficult to stop. "Rice's biggest asset is his movement without the ball. After he gets the ball, all anybody can do with any type of defense is pray. I don't think it's possible for anybody to be as good as Glen Rice in this tournament, but the last time I said that about anybody I said about Larry Bird." Rice was the subject of many rumors hours before Saturday's contest against Illinois. He slipped in practice and felt a tinge in his hamstring. As a precautionary measure, the second-team All American iced the hamstring all evening and played with "no pain" on Saturday. But this scare was enough for Rice to realize what is really important in his life. "I sat in my hotel room on Friday night hoping that nothing was serious," Rice said. "Everything that I worked for could have disappeared so quickly. I am just thankful to God and my family for being here." SOME NBA TEAM is going to be thanking its favorite deity when the June draft arrives. South Alabama coach Ronny Arrow was made a believer after Rice dissected his team for 36 Rice points, eight Rice re- bounds and five Rice assists. "He's going to make some NBA coach a better coach at the time," Arrow said. If that is the case, then has Rice made interim coach Steve Fisher a better coach than he really is? "Glen Rice has been as good as any player in America, maybe better than any player in America over the last five games," Fisher said. "It's been truly phenomenal the way he's played at both ends of the court. He just won't let us lose. He makes my job easier." Keeping the Wolverines from losing is something that Rice's teammates are stressing. "Whenever we're not playing well, Glen steps to the forefront," Loy Vaught said. " He just doesn't want to take the uniform off for the last time." Regardless of the outcome of last night's game, Rice was forced to take off the Maize and Blue, never to be put on again. BY ADAM SCHRAGER SPECIAL TO THE DAILY Seattle - While recent observers of the Michigan basketball team may think that Glen Rice is the key to the Wolverine success, opposing coache know differently. "Rumeal Robinson is the key to their ballclub," Indiana coach Bob Knight said after Michigan played the Hoosiers earlier this seasion. "We thought that we had some pretty good guards, but he was dominant. He makes things go for them." These kinds of compliments have been surrounding Robinson since his 14 point, 12 assist performance in Saturday's win over Illinois. With those 12 assists, Robinson is now 12 behind Gary Grant's all-time season assist record of 234 set in 1987-88. "Rumeal Robinson really hurt us," Illinois coach Lou Henson said. "We put two players on him and he still penetrated. He was the key to the game." Last night's matchup pitted Robinson against Seton Hall's Gerald Greene in what has been dubbed a matchup of the two most underrated pointguards in America. Senior pointguards like Sherman Doug las of Syracuse and Oklahoma's Mookie Blaylock have gotten most of the publicity. What people have failed to realize is that Robinson has outplayed the publicized pointguards, including Blaylock. Earlier this season, Robinson Robinson scored 20 points and destroyed the vaunted Oklahoma press with ease. Robinson was not a media focal point during the regular season, but things have startedto escalate with Michigan's post-season success. "I felt I have not had a lot of attention during the year, but I knew mA time will come," Robinson said. "Seniors are going to get their attention, they are supposed to get the attention. They have been playing the game for a long time." Some might say that Robinson's modesty is becoming of him, while others including Fisher just want him to admit how good he really is. "Maybe he hasn't been mentioned in the same breath as two or three of them who are supposedly the premier point guards in America, but I can say this - we wouldn't trade Rumeal for any other guard in the country." ROBIN LOZNAK/aly His career at Michigan is over, but Glen Rice will continue to make his ranbow jumpers and power slams in the National Basketball Association. Rice will probably make some NBA coach quite happy. Everything that I worked for could have disap- peared so quickly. I am just thankful to God and my family for being here. - Glen Rice on his injuring his hamstring Friday l Glen Rice's records NCAA records - 184 NCAA tournament points breaks Princeton's Bill Bradley's 1965 record of 177 NCAA tournament points. - 75 NCAA tournament field goals breaks Houston's Elvin Hayes' NCAA toumment record of 70 field goals. - 27 NCAA tournament three-pointers breaks Freddie Banks' 26 NCAA tournament three-pointers in 1987. Big Ten record - All time Big Ten scoring leader with 2442 career points, edging out former Wolverine Mike McGee's 2439 points. Michigan records (in 134 games as a Wolverine) - 949 points in a season - 363 field goals in a season -99 three-pointers in a season NCAA All-Tournament Team Frustrated Frieder must sit and watch l c 1 i f 1 i 1 BY STEVE BLONDER SPECIAL TO THE DAILY SEATTLE - Over 39,000 fans jammed the Kingdome to watch Michigan defeat Illinois Saturday night and an even bigger crowd was expected last night. But one person chose to watch the festivities from his hotel room in an effort to stay out of sight. The trip to Seattle has been a living hell for ex-Michigan coach Bill Frieder. He has been virtually restricted to his hotel room because every-one wants to talk with him about the circumstances of his Ann Arbor departure. "During Saturday's game I sat right here, paced the floor and watched the game on television," Frieder said yesterday morning. "I don't want the cameras on me, I just want to watch the game and enjoy it. "If I could go to the arena and sit down, that's what I would want to do. But because of all the other people, I wouldn't be able to." Frieder said he has talked to the coaching staff every day, although not concerning the team and players. Several players said after Saturday's game they were looking forward to talking with their former coach. Despite the strong bonds existing between Frieder and "the entire oper- ation, including the secretaries" he brought to Michigan, Frieder watched last night's game alone in his hotel room with his trademark towel draped over one shoulder. "If I went to the game, I would have wanted to go into the lockerroom. But I don't think the athletic director would have let me," Frieder said. "I DON'T want to have to walk out with the general crowd. I'm showing support but staying completely out of the way...they've done that to me." Basketball experts, media, other coaches, and even players have said Michigan would not have been playing for the NCAA champ- ionship if Frieder was still coaching the team. But to Frieder, this assessment makes no sense, as he sees the same Wolverine squad he saw during six of the last seven Big Ten games. "I don't care how they've been quoted. I know how questions can be leading. I'm not going to agree with that because we'll never know. It could have happened and it might not have happened, but it's easy for 4 Gerald Greene Richard Morton Rumeal Robinson Danny Ferry Glen Rice Seton Hall Seton Hall Michigan Duke Michigan File Photo Could this be a wee bit of foreshadowing? In a game earlier last year, Steve Fisher watched as Bill Frieder coached. Now, as the sign held up by an assistant coach says, things are "opposite". Now Arizona State's coach , Frieder must sit and watch while interim coach Fisher does the work from the sidelines for the Wolverines. Most Outstanding Player - Glen Rice i Blue fans had hard time heading west STEVE BLONDER SPECIAL TO THE DAILY SEATTLE- Not everyone decided to take to the streets in celebration of Michigan making its first Final Four appearance since 1976. A small group of Michigan faithful set their sights on joining the Wolverines in this Washington city and overcoming any obstacle to get there. "Getting out here was one of the hardest things I've ever done," LSA senior Ron Emanuel. "But when you're devoted, you make things happen." Emanuel flew to Portland, Oregon (150 miles away) Friday night with LSA senior Mike April, who had watched Michigan earn its Final Four birth last week in Lexington, Kentucky. "I would have given up anything to be in Seattle," April said. "This is a once in a lifetime experience." For most, getting out to Seattle wasn't as easy as 1 or 2 phone calls. "It took a lot of scrambling and a lot of phone calls," 1988 graduate Scott Kaufman said. "But it's not often that Michigan gets to the Final Four, and if I weren't here I would regret it for the rest of my life." SENIOR Josh Neren, who has been to the Rose Bowl twice, called the Final Four "an event bigger than the Super Bowl." Neren was in California for a job interview and made the trip up the coast because "this is it." While most of the visitors aren't used to Michigan being in the final game, University president James Duderstadt sees the Wolverine presence in last night's game as "natural." "The first time I had the opportunity to see a Michigan team was in 1965 everyone to say.. "But if that's the case, maybe I deserve a lot more credit for doing what I did." Even though he is no longer the coach, Freider never had any doubts about coming to Seattle. He said he had planned on leaving Sunday, but his family wanted to stay for last night's championship. Saying he had done "nothing" to enjoy himself since arriving in Seattle, Frieder described the whole experience as "pulling my guts out." Batters eager to swing away Baseball plays WSU Softball faces CMU BY JAY MOSES After opening its Big Ten season by taking three of four games from Northwestern last weekend, the Michigan baseball team takes a break from confer- ence action today to face Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe Wayne State. The Wolverines (16-7, 3-1 in the Big Ten) know from exper- ience not to take a team like Wayne State (7-9-2) too lightly. Last year, the Tartars earned a split of the two games. Michigan routed WSU in the first game, Coakley is hitting at a .325 clip. Catcher and team captain Mike Perkins is hitting .302 and leads the team with 15 RBIs. In the pitching category, WSU features Steve Walter (2-0). However, the Wolverines are more likely to face Steve Savage (0-2), a transfer from Michigan, and Lou Bonin (0-2-1). The Wolverines find them- selves in good shape after last weekend's games - hitting over .300 while their pitching has exceeded expectations. The only maior setback at this point is BY JONATHAN SAMNICK Although Ann Arbor exper- ienced early April weather last weekend, the Michigan softball team's scheduled opponent, the University of Akron, was myster- iously snowed under in Ohio. The Wolverines are eager to get back into action after a long lay- off when they face Central Mich- igan today in Mount Pleasant. Michigan enters the game ranked eighth nationally with an 18-6 record. Unranked Central is 10-10, a fact which makes CMU coach Margo Jonker proud. "We have a .500 record at this 16-1 record and a 0.91 ERA, needs only 11 wins during the rest of the season to break Vicki Morrow's 1987 school record for wins in a season. "Michigan's playing as well now as at any time I've ever seen. But I think that if we play well we can beat them," Jonker said. Earlier this year Michigan beat Central in the Bud-Lite classic 4- 3. "We made crucial errors in that game," Jonker said. "But like good teams do - they capitalized on our mistakes."