The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, November 22, 1993 - 3

Grant
The former Michigan point guard
* describes life with the Clippers


KEN SUGIURA
Close But No Sugiura


Gary Grant was one of the best
point guards to ever wear a Wolver-
ine uniform (1984-88), earning All-
America honors his senior year. A
first-round draft pick in 1988, he
quickly established himselfon the Los
Angeles Clippers and is enjoying his
fifth year with the club. He startedfor
the Clippers hisflrstthree years, rank-
ing among the top five in the NBA in
assists in 1990-91. The last two years,
he has been a key player off the bench
for the Clippers. Daily Sports Writer
Scott Burton spoke with Grant re-
cently as his team geared up for the
'93-'94 season.
Daily: There were thoughts this
summer that you were not going to
return to the Clippers. How and why
did you decide to sign with the Clip-
pers?
°Grant: We came to terms and
everything was OK. It wasn't a situa-
tion where I wanted to leave the Clip-
pers. I just wanted to be secure for my
family.
D: You were venting some con-
cern with the Clippers' drafting of
(Seton Hall guard) Terry Dehere and
as to what exactly your position on
the team was. How did that affect
your outlook of your future with the
Clippers?
G: No, I didn't worry about that at
all. The most important thing was
once I signed with the Clippers, we
are all as one. I don't know how
(Clipper coach) Bob Weiss is going
to play Mark Jackson, myself, Dehere
orRon Harper.
I know that Ron and Mark are
starters, and me and Dehere will come
off the bench to try to spark it up.
Who'll come offfirst, I don't know-
it's just a matter that we're all a team
now.
D: What other options did you
pursue this summer?
G: We talked to Indiana, we talked
to the Lakers, and we talked with the
Miami Heat. Those three teams were
right there - it was just a matter of
them making some trades and me and
my agent, Norm Nixon, decided that
we shouldn't wait no longer - we
missed training camp - so we were
willing tojustgo ahead and start play-
ing again.
D: Would it have been tough to
leave the Clippers?
G: Oh yeah, because this is my
home and it would have been tough to
get up and pack and start fresh in a
new place. But playing in the NBA is
a great feeling and I think you'd get
used to playing anywhere.
D: Are you satisfiedat this point in
your career to come off the bench?
G: Yeah, that's fine because I have
a great guard in front of me and I
know how this system works. I started
for three years for the Clippers, I got
hurt, and then Doc Rivers came in and
started a half-season in front of me.
I took that job back, then they traded
Doc for Mark Jackson, and you know
when they trade for somebody, he's
most likely going to be the starter. I
respect his game, and I would just like
to back him up, until one day I get a
chance to start for someone, probably
like that new team in Toronto.
D: Your third year you had the
ankle injury. At that point you were

pretty much entrenched in the start-
ing point guard position. How tough
was it then for that to happen to you?
G: It was a bad situation, like
anybody when they get hurt, you take
a step back for a while, regroup and
come back strong. I think I came back
strong last year on the defensive end
-- I got back to the sense of playing
tough defense like I did at Michigan.
I have to continue it from this point
on.
D:Is that what the Clippers are going
to ask you to doto come off the bench and
really be a defensive stopper?

can jump in to a starting position?
G: I think so. We signed for two
years so we can have that opportu-
nity. We want to be unrestricted when
that new team comes out and have
that opportunity to be one of those
starting guards for that team.
D: How do you think this year's
team shapes up?
G: I think we're going to be all
right. I think that coach Bob Weiss
brought a lot of happiness, I see a lot
of people happy in practice, I see the
ball moving a lot more and I think it is
going to be an exciting year.

could - to really go out and play as
well and play as many minutes - but
now that he has the opportunity, I
think he's going to do a great job.
D: You have two first-round losses
the last two years. What do you think
it's going to take to get over that
hump?
G: I think to win enough games'so
we can start at home first (laugh). If
that's not the case, we'll just have to
buckle down and win a couple of
games on the road and then come
back and play two at home.
We always seem to get one at the
L.ter gym, or at least win two at our
place, and go back and they end it
there.
D: A lot of Clippers over the years
- Charles Smith, Danny Manning
now, have portrayed the Clippers front
office in a negative light. Do you
think this is fair?
G: I couldn't even answer that. I
don't know how Danny or Charles
have been treated, I don't know how
they've treated the Clippers. I don't
even really get involved in that.
D: Are you personally happy with
the way you've been treated?
G: I've been treated fairly. Every
organization has its ups and downs,
but overall I'm happy with the Clip-
pers.
D: How distracting is it for a player
when you're surrounded by all this
negative attention?
G: Well, in the past it was kind of
hard, because we had to go out and
perform at a professional level, and
when it wasn't professional - mean-
ing all 12 guys and the coaching staff
being together-it makes ithard. But
throwing away all the negativism, I
think this year there is going to be a lot
of happiness and togetherness.
D: How do you imagine the Man-
ning situation is going to resolve it-
self?
G: I think if we have a great year,
Danny Manning is going to stay. I
think if the crowds support him and
everybody is trying to win and work
together, the money wouldn't be an
issue for Danny Manning.
D: Now there was talk that Man-
ning might be involved in a trade with
your former teammate Glen Rice.
Would you look forward to reuniting
with him?
G: Yup. Glen Rice is a great out-
side shooter, he's a great basketball
player and person period. Just play-
ing with him at the University of
Michigan, I think it would be a great
idea. But I don't think that will hap-
pen - Danny Manning is a great All-
Star himself.
Either one would be great, but as
long as we have Danny here, we might
as well keep him, because he is a
outstanding talent.
D: How about playing with Loy
Vaught? Is there a special connection
or bond that you guys share because
you were former college teammates
(at Michigan)?
G: Oh yeah, we always talk about
old times, and when something hap-
pens on the court or in practice we
always talk about 'Hey, that happened
back at Michigan.' It is real fun to see
him out there and playing because
you always have those memories.

G: Oh yeah, and push the ball up
the floor, keep the tempo moving even
faster than the first team. And my
thing is on the defensive end - Ijust
like to stop guards from doing what
they want to do, stop different plays
that they want to accomplish, and try
to slow them down a little bit.
D: Since your injury, do you think
you've been given a fair shot at being
the Clippers' starting point guard?
G: It happened so fast when I got
hurt and then the next year they
brought in a veteran, Doc Rivers, and
we shared it - he started some, I
started some - then they brought in
Mark Jackson, and as I said before,
he's proven to be a starter, and I can
live with that because I can back him
up and learn from him.
D: Do you thing there is a future
for you as a starter, if not for the
Clippers, for somebody else?
G: I've known for a fact that I
could start for five or six teams right
now. Obviously Utah has their guard,
John Stockton, with Tim Hardaway
getting back he has his spot in Golden
State, and all the veteran guards, Isiah
Thomas with the Detroit Pistons, you
can go down the list of players who
have those jobs wrapped up. But there
are a lot of teams out there that no
doubt I could start on.
D: So do you think expansion is
one of those opportunities where you

FILEPHU'UT
D: Can you compare what Bob
Weiss brings to the team with some of
the other coaches you've had over the
years?
G: The one thing I know he brought
is freedom, meaning that you can come
down and shoot the ball, and as long
as you take a good shot and as long as
you're playing hard on the defensive
end, I think it's a free game.
D: You've got basically the same
ingredients as last year, minus Ken
Norman. Whatdoes his loss mean to the
team, and who is going to fill his shoes?
G: Ken Norman's loss means a lot,
because he was one of the players that
always ran the floor real hard and he got
us those easy baskets in transition.
Now Danny Manning has to take
that slack up. I think on the defensive
end, Ken gave us a lot of toughness
under the boards that we have to get
more out of from Stanley Roberts this
year. I think we can rebound on those
things if those two guys step up.
D: Now who is actually going to
fill his starting role in the small for-
ward position?
G: I think Loy Vaught is going to
do that real well, and Loy is going to
give us a lot of rebounding and a lot of
inside dunks.
Ken was a more active offensive
player than Loy, but Loy can be ac-
tive enough on the offensive end, he
just didn't have the opportunity as I

Climbing gym business
going up the walls
T ina Sommer takes it slowly. She will try a certain climbing maneuver,
and if she doesn't quite make it, she can wait.
She will rest a little bit, hanging mid-air in the comfort of her harness,
drying out her grip by dipping her hands in her pouch of chalk. Then she
will the move again, contorting her body to climb higher and higher.
Jill Gallagher's style is a bit different. She is persistent and aggressive
in her approach, attacking the climb as if being pursued. If she is held up, it
is not for long, stretching her long limbs as far and high as they will reach.
Their styles are somewhat different, but they both produce the desired
effect. On their attempts, Sommer and Gallagher both reach the ... ceiling.
Welcome to the Ann Arbor Climbing Gym.
Open since Sept. 22, 1993.
Over 1,000 served.
Elevation: 22 feet.
"Around
February, I was
graduating from
business school.
I worked at
Northern
Telecom and
wanted to try
something else
for a change,"
says Cortland
Coene, owner of \
the Detroit
area's only
climbing gym.
The gyms . ;
are the latest
fitness trend,
combining two .
rather powerful
desires: the urge k \
to climb, and
the urge to stay'
close to home.
With the ever-
increasing
participation in
outdoor
activities,
climbing gymst.
are a natural.
Many, like the
Ann Arbor gym,
are warehouses
with plywood
towers rising to
the ceiling. ,;,_::. .; 'N .
The nearly-
solid towers are}
full of holes, EVAN PETRIE/Daily
some of which Jill Gallagher scales the Ann Arbor Climbing Gym walls.
are filled with holds, plastic pieces that jut out from the flat surface and
look and feel like the crags climbers use in normal climbing.
Despite the obvious differences and drawbacks between climbing gyms
and the great outdoors, the gyms have been all the rage.
Prices are reasonable, and Coene's background in business is apparently
paying off. Weekends see steady streams of business, enough so that a
partner of Coene's is spending his vacation from Ford putting up a shorter
wall toward the rear of the gym to help meet demand.
While many visitors to the gym are getting their first contact with the
sport, others are veterans engaged in the fledgling sport of indoor climbing.
Sommer, an LSA sophomore, has only been climbing for six months
but is a regular at the gym at the end of West Ann Street. A friend took her
to a similar facility in Albion, and she took quickly to the sport.
Before final exams last spring, Sommer saw fit to take a weekend-long
climbing excursion. "I just loved it," she says. "It's really addicting."
Two Saturdays ago, Sommer went to her first competition along with
Gallagher, a Rackham student and Sommer's instructor at the gym, and
two other Rackham students, George Pellissier and Tim Werner.
Sommer took second - one spot ahead of her teacher - in the
intermediate division of the Windy City Blowout II, a competition held on
a 100-foot wall in Chicago. Pellissier and Werner just missed qualifying
for the finals of their divisions.
Pupil credited her flexibility. Teacher believed otherwise.
Explained Gallagher: "I'm really old, she's really young."
And while Gallagher might be exaggerating a hair, Coene reports that

the gym's clientele has included both the really young and old.
Unlike activities such as running or aerobics, climbing's popularity
rests in the mental aspect of the sport, Coene believes. "This is something
that challenges and pushes you beyond something you're capable of. It's as
much mental as it is physical."
Mitch Albom
/
. 7
Warner Books $21 .95
S19.75 at Borders


Bormet takes 158-pound title to lead Blue at St. Louis Open
By RYAN WHITE As for the tournament, Bahr was awarded when a match is won by been held by Dave Porter, who tm
DAILY SPORTS WRITER ~han with his team', erfrmance more than 15 onit "Rnts in ws;uct ninned Purdurestlers in
II jJJ VYLI 13 ~'L1 3~.'1J1i11~.~. ILII L. ~J1L3 J'..LiLW 41) 4.). j~ll1~..~.~t4'TV1'ULX J** .".

wice
nds

One can hardly blame the mem-
bers and coaches of Michigan's wres-
tling team if they are tired today. The
team logged over 1,000 miles on the
road this past weekend. In between
the traveling, they found time to com-
pete at the St. Louis Open.
"It was a long trip," Wolverine
coach Dale Bahr said. The team made
thetrip to St. Louis last Thursday and
wrestled all day Friday and Saturday.
They left at 9 p.m. Saturday night and
arrived back in Ann Arbor at 7:30
a.n. yesterday morning.

1iPPy IL 11 U 1 p. J1V 1i1:.
"It was a good tournament for us,"
Bahr said. "No team scores were kept
and it was nice to get a good gauge to
see where we're at."
Michigan failed to place in any of
the three classes (118, 126 and 134
pounds) that Bahr says they are least
experienced, but they made up for it
in the upper weight classes.
The Wolverines were led by se-
nior Sean Bormet, who wrestled at
158 pounds. Bormet won the title by
defeating Clemson's Mike Miller by
a technical fall. A technical fall is

civic~~~ Elm iF~ . aa wajb
dominating," Bahr said.
Leading up to the championship
match, Bormet pinned two other oppo-
nents in times of 17 and 24 seconds. The
pin 17 seconds into his second match
gave Bormet a new Michigan record
for fastest pin. The previous mark had

once during the 1966-67 season and
again the following season.
In addition, Bormet was awarded
outstanding wrestler at the tourna-
ment, as voted on by the coaches. He
also won the award for most falls at
the competition.

I U


Department of Recreational
Sports
INTRAMURAL
SPORTS PROGRAM

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