Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Sports Monday - March 29, 1993

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BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Reserves continue to
bide time on bench-

A TIME FOR CELEBRATION:
deficit to defeat Temple, ear

by Ken Davidoff
and Ken Sugiura
Daily Basketball Writers




SEATTLE - The general feeling among
basketball pundits seemed to be that Michigan
would need solid production from its bench in
order to check George Washington's depth. As
expected, the Colonials' reserves came through
with 31 points. For the Wolverines, however, a
James Voskuil three-pointer amounted to the
sole contribution from the non-starters. Guard
Rob Pelinka still insisted that he and his fellow
substitutes would eventually be needed.
"I think before this is over, one of us is going
to have to step up and have a magical sort of
game," Pelinka said. "I don't know who it's
going to be or when it's going to be, but I just
kind of sensed that from the beginning."
Eric Riley scored nine points yesterday
against Temple.
SO VERY TIRED: At a press conference
Saturday, the Fab Five looked they would have
liked to be anywhere but the media hotel. They
teflected on a similar press conference from a
year ago and the change in both their attitude and
the nation's expectations of them.
"Last year, we were the fun loving new kids
on the block," Jalen Rose said. "Everybody
wanted to see the Fab Five do well. At the same
time this year, maybe the Fab Five thing is
getting old, as far as the media is concerned.
They want to see the Fab Five go out there and
be Supermen, win every game by 30 points, dunk
every time, play a total game with no turnovers.
What we have to do is not let that upset us."
"For me, I'm sort of tired of the amount of
criticism, even when we're winning," Chris
Webber said. "I'm not saying all of the criticism
is unfair. Most of it could be true, could not be
true ... basically it comes down to respect. When


you're looked at as a novelty act or as part of a
side show, it sort of gets to you."
WINNING UGLY: For a regional semifinal
game, Friday's coniest did not receive high
marks in the aesthetics department. George
Washington shot .338, while Michigan shot a
comparatively sizzling .440.
"We did not play well tonight, but George
Washington is a big part of that," Michigan
coach Steve Fisher said. "They hawked every
move we made; they wouldn't let us inside like
we wanted to go. I think they had a big effect on
how we played."
How they played was cover-your-eyes ugly.
Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose had matching 4
for 12 performances from the floor. As a team,
the Wolverines committed 20 turnovers,
including a Howard inbounds pass to an un-
guarded Rose which sailed over his head.
The Colonials did not offer much in the way
of good basketball. Among the Colonials 47
missed shots (that's one more than the total
baskets of both teams) were a collection of
airballs and bricks large enough for a Victorian
mansion.
From the line, George Washington forward
Bill Brigham was five for nine, but airballed
another attempt. In addition, the Colonials had
15 turnovers of their own, and fouled Michigan
30 times, one short of their season high.
Rose explained the play as an ends justifying
the means type of thing.
"We didn't play the best basketball that we
could today," Rose said. "Our whole team knows
that and our coaching staff knows that. But at the
same time, in a one-game elimination the object
is to win. We know we have to fine tune a lot of
things if we're going to be a national champion,
but at the same time we have to win to get there."
TEMPLE OF DOOM: Michigan's triumph

over Temple marked the second year in a row
that the Wolverines ended the Owl's season. In
the first round of last year's tournament,
Michigan prevailed, 73-66.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Guard Rob
Pelinka, forward James Voskuil and center Eric
Riley all celebrated reaching their third Final
Four yesterday. But only Pelinka saw playing
time for the 1989 national champion squad,
appearing in 26 games. The reserve expressed
true appreciation for his good fortune.
"It's things you dream of as a little kid,"
Pelinka said. "Someone takes Rob Pelinka, and I
take a step out of my body, and I'm standing
next to myself, and that person says, 'This guy
went to three Final Fours,' and I'd be like, 'I
can't even believe how lucky that person is.' I
just feel blessed, and I feel so happy. It's been a
great ride. It's been wonderful."
FISHER IS KING: Fisher has quietly
accumulated a 16-2 tournament record, the best
winning percentage (.889) of any active coach.
He also lifted his mark in games decided by five
points or less to 9-0.
WEBBER'S INN: Webber won the honor of
most outstanding player in the Western regional.
He, Howard, Rose, and Temple's Eddie Jones
and Aaron McKie compromised the all-
tournament team for the region.
SONIC YOUTHS: The majority of the team
attended the Seattle Supersonics-Los Angeles
Clippers game Saturday night. No word on
whether they picked up any pointers from
Michigan alums Loy Vaught and Gary Grant
- both now with Clippers - or any other
players.
IMAGINE ALL THE PEOPLE: A record
24,196 fans attended yesterday's West regional
final, surpassing Friday's mark of 24,021 for a
single date in a Western regional.

GW scares Blue, 72-64, in regional semis

by Ken bavidoff
Daily Basketball Writer
SEATTLE - If George Wash-
ington was alive to see this one, he
probably would have died of
boredom. Michigan's 72-64 victory
over the Colonials in the West re-
gion semi-finals will not likely go
down in the annals of history as one
of the finest displays of basketball.
Indeed, the Wolverines (29-4
overall) themselves criticized their
own play. Friday's box score read
like the ingredients on a box of
Cookie Crisp cereal. You know -
the ultimate result was good, but the
details were ugly - 20 turnovers,
only 10 assists, .632 free-throw per-
centage, and just a 43-41 edge on the
boards.
But as the Wolverines stressed,
they won the game and that was the
only thing that mattered as Michigan
advanced to take on Temple in the
West regional final.
"It may not have been pretty to
you, but it was pretty to us," Mich-
igan coach Steve Fisher said. "It was
a hard-fought game."
Six minutes into the game, it
seemed as though the Colonials (21-
9) were about as physical and ag-
gressive as Coastal Carolina. The
Wolverines built up a 15-2 lead
when George Washington coach
Mike Jarvis called a timeout.
After the break, the Colonials be-
gan to press, throwing off Mich-
igan's tempo. George Washington
cut the 13-point deficit to 35-33 by
the halftime buzzer.
"Fifteen-to-two (the lead) gave
(Jarvis) a great coaching strategy,"
Wolverine forward Chris Webber
said. "He said we were getting it in-
side so let's press, so we (Michigan)
could take quick shots. That coach is
a good coach. As soon as I saw the
press, I realized they were going to
be in contention."
The Colonials stayed in con-
lention for the rest of the game,i
never trailing by more than eight<
points and grabbing a few leads1
themselves. Their downfall proved1
to be rebounding, as they failed to
capitalize on several missed Wol-
verine free throws in the closing
minutes of the game.
With Michigan holding a 64-62
lead with 1:28 left in the game,
George Washington forward Sonni
Holland fouled Webber. Webber's
first attempt on the one-and-one hit

Michigan fans start making their plans to go to New Orleans next weekend for th

Dare disappoints in
rime-time spotlight
by Ken Sugiura However, Jarvis also nc
Daily Basketball Writer Dare's imnortance to his club.

oted

SEATTLE - That George
Washington put a fair-sized scare
into Michigan was surprising
enough, but the fact that the
Colonials did so with little help from
their 7-foot-1 manchild Yinka Dare
is nothing short of mind-boggling.
In what was billed by some as his
coming-out party, the freshman Dare
(pronounced DAHR-ay) fell short in
his effort to announce his arrival to
the college basketball world.
"He certainly found out that
something we've been telling him all
along, and it's good that he found
out first-hand," Colonial coach Mike
Jarvis said. "That he has a long way
to go and I think that's a valuable
lesson."
In the Wolverines' 72-64 re-
gional semi-final victory, the Kabba,
Nigeria native had perhaps his poor-
est outing of the season. He failed to
score on five shots from the floor'
and collected only five rebounds.
His statistics were far below his sea-
son averages of 12.6 points and 10.4
boards.
"I'm not satisfied because I
should've scored more points," Dare
said. "I'm disappointed personally in
myself."
Perhaps the most telling statistic

p .
"We wouldn't be here if it
weren't for him," Jarvis said. "And
if we were going to beat Michigan,
he would have to be a part of us
beating Michigan."
Chris Webber did his part in try-
ing to avert that possibility. The
sophomore applied tight defensive
pressure, challenging Dare's five
shots and laying a body on the 285-
pounder in the lane.
"I don't know if (Dare) was in-
timidated at all, but I think that Chris
did a good job in defending Yinka
Dare," Juwan Howard said. "I think
Chris deserved all the credit."

K ~rrIS F R ILLIi
Jimmy King tries to keep the ball away from George Washington's Sonni Holland and Nimbo Hammons in the
second half of Friday night's victory. King finished with 11 points and 8 rebounds for the Wolverines.

..

While Webber
emerged the superior

may
at the

have
King-


is it going to take for this game to be
over," Michigan point guard Jalen
Rose said. "Once we got those cou-
ple of offensive rebounds and con-
verted on our free throws we felt
'After we missed a
couple of free throws
and knew we were
only up two or three,
you kind of look up at
the scoreboard and

"I'm very proud of George
Washington University," Jarvis said.
"I'm sure we will learn a tremendous
amount from the NCAA tournament
which we were so fortunate to be
in."
"They had a lot of heart,"
Jackson said. "A lot of people were
predicting somewhat of a blowout.
As the game went on they got loose.
They came out early real tentative. I
admire them a lot for their heart."
Juwan Howard led the Wol-

GEORGE WASHINGTON (64)
Fa FT Fob.
Min. NM-A M-A 0-TA F Pts.
Hammons 26 3-12 0-0 1-5 0 4 9
Holland 28 6-11 0-0 4-4 0 4 12
Dare 19 0-5 0-0 1-5 0 3 0
Surles 22 4.10 0-0 2-3 1 1 9
Pearsall 21 1-6 0-2 2-3 2 1 3
Brigham 27 1-3 5-9 3-5 2 4 7
Evans 22 5-12 2-2 2-6 1 5 13
Jones 19 3-8 3-3 1-3 4 3 9
Moses 9 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 5 2
Hart 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Ford 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Withers 1 0-1 0.0 0-0 0 0 0
Tetals 200 24-71 10-16 1435 10 30 64
FG%- .338. FT%- . 625. Three-point goals:
6-25, .240 (Hammons 3-10, Pearsall 1-2, evans
1-4, Surles 1-5, Jones 0-1, Brigham 0-1, Moses
0-1., Withers 0-1). Blocks: 3. Turnovers:'15
(Holland 5, Dare 3, Hammons 2, Surles 2, Evans,
Moses Hart). Steals: 7.

i_
'I'm not satisfied
because I should've
scored more points.
I'm disappointed
personally in myself.'
-Yinka Dare
George Washington
center-