r t rfi r Tipoff'92 lb 4 # + , Thursday, November 19,1992 lb Tpoff'92Thurday Novmbe 19,199 ur, three, two, one, Szero. As the last few seconds ticked off the clock that Monday night back in April, so did the dream of a national championship season for the Michigan Wolverines and their five freshman starters. The Wolverines had per- formed better than the 20-point defeat they received at the hands of Duke would lead one to believe, yet their storybook season had taken a turn for the worse. The Fab Five would not win the NCAA title, preventing them from winning the four titles they all felt so confidently could be obtained at Michigan. As Michigan returned to Ann Arbor, the sadness was lessened by simple arithmetic - the five freshmen still had three years to hang a NCAA title banner in Crisler. The logic was that while four championships might have been unrealistic, one or two or even three could be attainable. After all, the five starters were only freshmen and next year's team returned nine players who had started for the Wolverines at some point in their careers. Next year is now this year, Don't let expectations run away With ou and the logic still holds true - Four is no easy accomplishment. another solid basketball team. or does it? While the Blue Devils have Instead, the Blue Devils had While Michigan can boast participated in five consecutive more luck than the name arguably the most talented team Final Fours and six in the last Krzyzewski has consonants and in the country, the pressure seven seasons, they are the are considered a modern day surrounding exception rather than the rule. dynasty. Ryan the Wolverines Only one other team has made This isn't the first time Herrington to return to the back-to-back appearances Michigan has found itself in this Final Four - during the same time period. situation. Following the Wolver- let alone win And even UNLV got a little help ines' national championship the title - is from the NCAA when it allowed season in 1989, expectations y tremendous. the Runnin' Rebels to defend were running high for Michigan Simply making their crown in 1991. to repeat in 1990. Just as this it back to the The Wolverines face a year's squad has most of its key NCAA tourna- dilemma. Is it reasonable to ingredients returning from last ment for a expect them to return to the season, the 1990 Wolverines had second con- Final Four? And if they don't four of their five starters back to -T secutive year live up to this expectation, will defend their crown, three of - atrwill not do. the season have been a failure? whom were in their senior Even winning Duke has defied the Final season. It seemed almost a the Big Ten championship - a Four odds with superb talent, certainty that Michigan would feat that no Wolverine ballclub but also with some help from the find its way back to the finals. has done since 1986 - might be basketball gods. If it were not for Yet, as we now know, that anticlimactic if Michigan does a couple of last second prayers was not the case. Someone forgot not return to the promised land made by Christian Laettner in to tell Loyola Marymount how of New Orleans. two of the last three tourna- good Michigan was. The Lions Yet, getting back to the Final ments, Duke would simply be ended the Wolverines' dreams of repeating with a 149-115 blowout. So much for certainty. As much as last season's tournament run was sweet given the fact that no team led by five freshman starters had ever gone so far, the Wolverines have made it very difficult on them- selves for the next few years. The room for error has been cut to a minimum. The question is no longer whether Michigan will win a national title but when and how many. Michigan coach Steve Fisher was recently asked whether it was a blessing that his team didn't win the national champi- onship last season in that it will help motivate the players this year to return to the Final Four. Fisher gave the reporter a very straightforward answer. "I don't think it's ever a blessing if you lose, especially at that stage," Fisher said. "We may never get back there." We may never get back there. Take those words to heart. The fact that Michigan is the pre- season favorite of a couple of prognosticators guarantees absolutely nothing. The best team does not always win the one, including the Blue Devils themselves, fully expected the championship the following year. The burden of expecta- tions, pressure and bad luck, however, prevented Duke from returning to the Final Four until Banks and his crew were long gone. "We were very lucky the year before," Foster remembers. "All the breaks went our way, no injuries. Then the next year we had injuries, and little problems cropped up and became bigger problems." But while there are no teams that can stop Michigan, there haps all of the preseason hype takes place in Bloomington. "You have to be very good," Foster warns, "and you have to be not just lucky, but very lucky." Team strife. So far, the senior class has dealt with its unique situation with great aplomb. Pelinka, Riley, Talley and Voskuil have all acknowl- edged and accepted their roles as key reserves instead of starters. However, all four, to some degree or another, have ex- pressed a desire to play profes- sional basketball. Certainly they Basketball Times 1 A MICHIGAN TRADITION SINCE 1915 CNN/USA Today NCAA Preview I 1I This may be Fisher's toughest task this season: Finding enough time for nine or more very talented basketball players. If it isn't, then maybe handling the "E-word" will be. Expectations. The Wolver- ines aren't worried about them for the moment, but the season has not begun. Fisher remem- bers a quote from Ohio State star Jimmy Jackson after the Buckeyes' loss to Michigan in the regional final ended the dreams of the senior-laden team. "He made a comment that it was as if Michigan was playing with the five seniors and Ohio State was playing a little scared," Fisher says. "Maybe that comes with expectations." But while there are some things that may pull this team down, at the very least, it won't be easy. On the balance of "Reasons Why Michigan Can and Will Win vs. Reasons Why It Can't and Won't," the side weighted with reasons why Michigan can is awfully heavy and convincing. Family. As Webber says, his fellow 13 Wolverines are not teammates, but brothers. It is not the Michigan basketball team, but the Michigan basket- ball family. "As long as they remain friends, and keep that sense of family and sense of team unity, they'll be fine," Hunter said. And in this family, the elders say they are willing to sacrifice for the good of the clan. Each has stated something to that effect, and must be taken at his word. The success of the season may very well ride on whether or not the Wolverines can remain family. To a man, the Wolverines think they will. Confidence. What makes this team different is that it is supremely confident in itself. These Wolverines do not take their cue from every other team around and dismiss their chances and play up everyone else's. Not a chance. From Webber to walk-on Sean Dob- bins, there is an air of confi- dence, even of arrogance, that is almost tangible. "I don't think there's that much pressure on us," Pelinka says, apparently ignoring the fact that an entire campus is saving money for a plane ticket "If I didn't think we could win a national championship, I wouldn't play," Webber said at last season's outset. "We're on a mission," Howard added. "What innocent braggadocio," many people said. Fans and writers alike took a, "Well, we won't let them in on the secret that freshmen don't win the a t be ha to th, I i . 1. ti4 Ann Arbor, Michigan Hom ea e za f pat - . i e Italian Restaurant 300 Detroit St. - 665-0444 at Catherine across from the Farmer's Market c-- Headquarters for: CHAMPION REVERSE WEAVE - T-SHIRTS - SHORTS - HATS GIFTS - RACQUETS - FOOTWEAR- RACQUET STRINGING perhaps lurk out there a handful of factors that just may. Injury. It is the first reason Foster, now head coach at Northwestern, gives for explain- ing why Duke didn't return to the Final Four in 1979. His point guard, Bob Bender, contracted appendicitis the week before the NCAA tournament began. With their deep roster, the Wolverines have an advan- tage that Duke didn't, but if Webber breaks an ankle, what would Fisher rather have: a healthy ankle or depth? Bad luck. Something else Michigan has no control over. Bad luck can come in the form of an injury or a bad call, or maybe something worse. "Crazy things happen in the tournament," Fisher says, "both for you and the kind against you." Most of the crazy things that happened were for Fisher and his team. Michigan played No. 14 seed East Tennessee State instead of third-seeded Arizona in its second-round NCAA game. At the tail end of regulation in the regional final overtime win over Ohio State, Buckeye Chris Jent's desperation shot failed to go in. If the basket goes, or if the Wolverines face Arizona, per- Street & Smith's Dick Vitale's Annual Sport Magazine 2 4 6 know that the best way to be noticed is to be on the court, playing significant minutes at significant times. This season is different from last in that no member of last year's senior class - Hunter, Kirk Taylor, Chris Seter, and Chip Armer - had designs on playing professionally and may have more willingly accepted their fate. This year, each will be playing in some part for his livelihood. Furthermore, who wants to spend his senior year watching from the bench? They will not begrudge their younger teammates for their playing time. They have exhib- Sophomore Chris Webber, a preseason all a Big Ten and NCAA Title to his long list of * DeLong Michigan Basketball Uniforms wI extra-long short -- in blue, white & gold * Special Fall Hours Mon-Wed 9-6 * Wide selection of Baseball Caps: Wool and wool blends -- fitted and adjustable * We Ship Anywhere in the USA Catalog & phone orders accepted 902 S. STATE 668-7296 'We'd like to hang a Big Ten banner. We'd be the first since '86. And we'd like to get back to the Final Four, too.' - Steve Fisher Thurs-Sat 9-9 711 N. UNIVERSITY 668-6915 ited far too much class for that to be a possibility. And, as Fisher points out, "this group of kids really likes being together." But it could happen that the seniors' frustrations, not with the team, players or coaches, but with themselves and their playing time, could spill out onto the court. to New Orleans. "We don't get stressed, or uptight, or put pressure on ourselves to get things done," Voskuil adds. "It just happens." Ask Webber about what sort of odds he would set on Michigan's chances to make the Final Four, and he responds, "What'sreal good odds?" NCAA title - let's let them find out for themselves" attitude. And then they waited. And waited. After the Wolverines stunned Ohio State and the nearly 20,000 Buckeye fans in Rupp Arena to reach the Final Four, Rose made the definitive state- ment about his team. "It's been a reality from the beginning," Rose chided the press. "Now it's a reality to you." Call it confidence, character, or family. There is something very different about this team. This club listens to no opinions but nat pOs att cor cor say thi got difi to cha out