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What about Bob?
A day with Knight
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by Ken Davidoff
Daily Basketball Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - There are some people
who make news by merely existing. Elvis Presley
was probably like that in his day. Napoleon, too.
Now, in 1992, that list has dwindled to a mere
few. I had the privilege of crossing one of these
icon's paths last week when I encountered one
Robert Montgomery Knight.
You know him as Bob, coach of one of the
most successful college basketball programs in
modern times. You are also likely aware of his
antics throughout the years, whether it was
throwing the chair across the court at Purdue or
taking his squad home in the middle of an
exhibition match against the Russian National
Team.
That the Indiana coach showed up at the Big
Ten Men's Basketball Tipoff Luncheon this past
week was surprising in itself. Knight is not ex-
actly buddy-buddy with the media, and most as-
sumed he would not bother making the 45-
minute journey from Bloomington.
He entered the media lounge fashionably late,
clad in a bright, red sweater splashed with white
stripes. Before he could even mutter his first
profane comment, reporters swarmed him like a
flock of teenage girls would Luke Perry. The
other coaches in the room must not have known
what hit them. Suddenly, the reflections of Steve
Fisher and his associates became as valuable as a
"Dukakis/Bentsen '88" button.
He lay down the ground rules immediately. "I
ain't gonna talk with all those microphones right
up in my face, I'll tell you that right now," he
said, shooing away ravenous radio casters. The
other coaches had condoned this inconvenience,
but the General let everyone know who was in
charge.
A naive young soul asked Mr. Knight what
his expectations were of Calbert Cheaney, his
star player. Knight ate the reporter for lunch.
"Well, I had hoped that he would grow eight
inches since last season," he explained with a
straight face. "That was my major expectation,
and at this point he has not fulfilled it. Since he
hasn't grown eight inches, I guess we're stuck
with him as he is."
Another scribe suggested that Knight had
mandated a championship for his freshman class
of 1989, which had now reached its senior year.
Hello, dessert.
"Who were the people that said that?" he
asked angrily. "The people that said that have no
fucking idea what basketball is all about. Don't
put words into my mouth, because that is not
something that I said."
As the day progressed, the coach shifted his
anger towards one of his opponents: Illinois
coach Lou Henson. Granted, the owner of the
Lou-do started the taunting, but it is safe to say
that Knight sank the argument to new depths.
Coach Henson told the luncheon crowd how
poorly he had been treated by crowds in Indiana.
"But I expect to get treated poorly there because,
after all, fans are an extension of the coaches."
Henson didn't stop there. "I think Bob Knight
should forewarn his fans if he's going to wear
that sweater," he said. "Bill Foster, will you
please unplug him?" The Northwestern coach,
sitting next to Knight, smiled uncomfortably.
A few speakers later, coach Knight took the
microphone for his returning strokes.
"Lou, I hope that fans everywhere aren't an
extension of a coach because the last time we
were in Champaign, we were on a street by the
arena and we saw a guy in blue and orange
pissing on a hydrant," he said.
"Then we turned a corner," he continued,
"and we saw three guys dressed in orange and
blue watching another guy dressed just like them
screwing a goat." The Market Square Arena floor
exploded with laughter. .
Knight's personality has its advantages,
though. Just as he doesn't fear the media or his
fellow coaches, he also criticizes the NCAA
without hesitation. And a lot of his ideas make a
hell of a lot of sense. For example, he questioned
the wisdom of the league schedule-makers.
"I would think that if you are really concerned
and know what the hell you're doing when it
comes to scheduling, the first thing that you do is
say that each team will play every Saturday or
Sunday," he said. "Then that way you have elim-
inated some weekday games.
"The next step would be utilizing vacation pe-
riods, starting with Thanksgiving. Going to Dec.
1 (to start the season) was a mistake because then
you eliminate a holiday.
"Then I think you should be required to play
three or four games during the Christmas break.
Now, what you've done by judiciously using
weekends and holidays is set up an entire sched-
ule where you're going to miss very little class.
Considering the crunch that everyone is under fi-
nancially, the schedule could then be played with
30 games, if you wanted to, with still fewer class
days missed."
Not too bad for such an insensitive lout. Yes,
Bob Knight is far from perfect, and we're talking
far like the distance between Mercury and Pluto.
He can often be an intimidating jerk, and his
volatile temper may some day catch up to his
basketball achievements and force him into an
early retirement.
But after seeing the legend in person, I've de-
cided I'm, glad that Bobby Knight exists. His
teams constantly provide the most exciting com-
petition around, and his vile mouth can some-
times surprise with unsurpassed wisdom.
I imagine Elvis had his enemies. Maybe even
Napoleon, too. But along with the sea of hatred
and contempt come a multitude of admirers.
When it comes to Bob Knight, count me
along the latter.
Students scrimage during last night's open tryouts for the men's basketball
team at Crisler Arena. Roughly 30 players showed up for the practice.
'M' hoops, walk-Ons
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by Ryan Herrington
Daily Basketball Writer
Without the fanfare of Midnight
Madness surrounding the opening of
the 1992-93 season, the Michigan
men's basketball team embarked on
its quest to return to the Final Four
yesterday as the Wolverines held
their first official practice.
The date for the start of the prac-
tice season was set back this year
from its usual starting date of Oct.
15. While that means two fewer
weeks of drills and conditioning,
Michigan coach Steve Fisher was
indifferent about how it would affect
his team.
"We're anxious to get started,"
Fisher said. "I don't think it will
have a major impact on any of us. I
think if you asked the players, they'd
say they were happy with it. It's two
less weeks of practice and two more
weeks to play on their own."
In addition to the first practice for
the squad, an open tryout was held
last night for students interested in
walking on to the team. About 30
players showed up for the two-hour
session, which included some basic
drills and some full court action. As-
sistant coach Jay Smith is hopeful
that the Wolverines might find a
solid role player for the team.
"We're only carrying 12 guys on
scholarship and we'd like to carry 14
just because of injury purposes,"
Smith said. "We could use a couple
extra people for playing.
"You never know what you're
going to get. We're hoping maybe
there's another Freddie Hunter out
there that we can add to our team."
Hunter, who played for the
Wolverines the last two seasons and
was the team's captain a year ago,
walked on to the team in 1990.
The open tryouts end tonight with
another two-hour session beginning
at 7 p.m. The coaches will decide
from there whether to call any of the
players back.
The Wolverines' first regular
season game is Dec. 1 at Rice.
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