The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 3, 1993 - 15 " Women cagers look to make It two in a row By BRENT McINTOSH DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER The seven dwarves? Nope. Seventh heaven? Probably not. Lucky seven? hmmm . The Michigan women's basket- ball team certainly does not consist of Disney characters, and it may not be in a state of peaceful bliss, but there is no question that it is hoping that seven is its lucky number this weekend. That's how many Wolverines will suit up today at 8 p.m. in the Marriott Classic against the host California- Irvine Anteaters (0-1). While that number is up from the six Wolverines that beat Eastern Michigan, 76-62, Tuesday, the Wolverines (1-0) will have to avoid injury and battle fatigue to win the first-ever meeting of the two schools, and then to win again tomorrow against either California State-Sacramento (0-2) or North Texas (0-0). "There's only going to be seven of us again and playing back-to-back contests will be tough as far as fa- tigue," freshman guard Amy Johnson said. Johnson led the Wolverines against Eastern Michigan with 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists --in her first regular-season contest sporting the Maize and Blue. Johnson will probably be joined in the starting lineup by sophomore forward Jenhifer Bryzezinski and freshmen Silver Shellman, Jennifer Kiefer and Catherine DiGiacinto. DiGiacinto also poured in 21 points . Tuesday to go with a game-high 15 rebounds. While the Anteaters may be more experienced than the Wolverines, that doesn't quite mean they're ready to follow Bill Laimbeer into retirement. Nine underclassmen pepper the 13 spots on the UCI roster. Junior forward Jinelle Williams is UCI's leading returnee, averaging 11.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game :.last year in the Anteaters' two-vic- tory campaign. Williams is comple- mented by senior guard Karie Yoshioka, who had 22 points in the Anteaters' 73-67 loss to Arizona Sun- day, but Coach Colleen Matsuhara said she still isn't sure of the play of anyone except Williams. "Jinelle Williams is our leading scorer," Matsuhara said. "We haven't had consistent play from any of the others so far." With one win under their collec- tive belt, the Wolverines are looking to equal the sum of last year's victo- ries today, and speculation abounds that they could have a two-game win- ning streak for the first time in over a year. "The teams that we play are defi- nitely beatable," Johnson said. "I'd like to tell you that we're going to win, but I can't." With Brzezinski and DiGiacinto both standing 6-foot-1, the Wolver- ines should be able to out-rebound the Anteaters. Rebounding is a weakness for UCI. The other game today features North Texas against Cal State-Sacra- mento. Should the Wolverines win 0 today, they would play the winner of that game tomorrow at 8 p.m.; a loss would place them in the 6p.m. conso- lation game. - Daily Basketball Writer J.L. Rostam-Abadi contributed to this report. THE SPORTING VIws: Laimbeer's tactics will not be missed By MICHAEL ROSENBERG DAILY SPORTS WRITER If you ask Bill Laimbeer what his finest basketball attribute is, he'll tell you its his unparalleled desire to help his team win. Actually, if you ask Laimbeer, he'll probably snort, "Who the hell are you and why should I talk to you?" That's because Laimbeer, who retired from the Detroit Pistons Wednesday, is, by most accounts, an egocentric jerk. In that sense, he is not alone among professional athletes, many of whom wouldn't give you the time of day if you bought them a Rolex. What made Laimbeer different was his ability to carry his obnoxious, selfish personality onto the floor. He would do anything in a basketball game - flail elbows, push players, even trip opponents. All in the name of winning. Did Laimbeer's attitude help his team win? Yes. But that doesn't make it OK. Basketball, like any organized activity, has rules. The object of the game is to help your team win while competing within those rules. Now, obviously, not every offense can be met with an equal punishment. If a player is injured by an opponent and misses the rest of the season, the opponent will almost certainly not be suspended for an equivalent amount of games. If a player is elbowed in the stomach while going for a rebound, chances are he will not be awarded possession of the ball. In other words, you can get away with a lot in this game. Laimbeer knew that, so he showed little restraint and less remorse in his effort to aid the Pistons. Whenever someone asked him why he was so aggressive, he would just shrug his shoulders and offer some flimsy excuse about wanting to win. But that doesn't cut it. Sure, his tactics helped his team. So would bribing the referees or giving the opposition's bus a flat tire, and if someone did that, nobody would dismiss it is part of a desire to win. There's a word for that kind of strategy. Cheating. There are different kinds of cheating. Some cheating is easy to spot, and easy to discipline. Some cheating is more difficult to spot, and almost impossible to discipline. Bill Laimbeer was a cheater. A good player, yes, but a cheater. He broke the rules, not to mention any sort of ethical standards, all the time, then would give that dumb "What..did I do?" look when he was caught. When you are as universally despised as Laimbeet was, there's probably a pretty good reason. When yot play in the NBA for 14 years and only three figures in the league wish you good luck upon your retirement none of whom are players - there's probably a reason. Laimbeer was hated for the cheating. It gave him an advantage he never earned. Many said that Laimbeer was not a basketball player and would not have played a minute in the NBA if he hadn't used cheap, illegal tactics. This is not true. You don't lead the league in rebounding, as Laimbeer did in 1986, if you are not a player. You do not start on two championship teams, as Laimbeer did in 1989 and 1990, if you are not a p player. Laimbeer did not lack ability. He did not lacktm io determination. He lacked2e integrity. You don't go injuring others in your:' profession simply Laimber to improve your status in the field. Not unless you're a lawyer, anyway. There are no tears being shed for Bill Laimbeer. He lost any chance for sympathy many elbows ago. He will never be liked by his peers. He will never be respected by them. He will never sit around with his contemporaries, talking about the good old days, when everyone worked hard and played fair. Most of all, he will never be missed. No one that ruthless ever is. Jacksonville gives NFL solid southern market REBECCA MARGOLIS/Daily Catherine DiGiacinto shoots a jumper Tuesday against Eastern Michigan. Pistonis drop fifth straight first without Laimbeer ASSOCIATED PRESS Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and a lot of NFL owners were gushing about the selection of Jacksonville as the NFL's 30th franchise. "The southeast is the nation's most rapidly growing area," Tagliabue said, adding that NFL ratings in Jackson- ville were higher than any of the other four contenders. "We get a lot of our players from there," said Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, who indeed have an inordinate number of players from the state of Florida - thanks largely to the fact that Jimmy Johnson coached college football in the state and knew the talent there. But the fact remains that the NFL is taking a calculated risk by tilting to the southeast with its two newest franchises. Why? Because the NFL's most loyal fan base is in the northern half of the country - where it began and where college football doesn't have the in- credibly deep emotional loyalties that run through the South. To put it another way, draw a line from Washington west to Denver and turn it up north and you find the NFL teams that have the deepest loyalties, year in, year out; win or lose - Chi- cago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buf- falo; Washington, New York, Phila- delphia, Green Bay and Denver. The Sun Belt? About the only city where an NFL team draws consistently well is New Orleans, which has the mindset of those northern cities -we'll go to the game to cheer or boo, but we'll go. Forget Los Angeles, where USC, UCLA, the Dodgers and the Lakers are king - the Rams have to win to draw and the Raiders have never re- ally settled in. San Francisco? One reason the Niners are a good road team is that their home crowd is quite laid back. If they ever start los- ing, how many of those fans will take their wine and brie elsewhere? And Florida's no great NFL stronghold. Sure,TampaBay haslost 10games or more for 10 straight years (going on 11)-a good reason NOT to draw. But Miami has been a consistent contender since Don Shula got there in 1971, yet still doesn't sell out every week - moving to safer and more comfortable Joe Robbie Stadium from the Orange Bowl didn't do the trick. And visiting teams draw fans there- watch this week's game with the Gi- ants and check out how many trans- planted New Yorkers are cheering for the visitors. Jacksonville could be a different story - a city looking for an identity that the NFL might put on the map. Being "the only game in town" has made NFL boomtowns of Denver, Buffalo and New Orleans. But the south is college football territory and always has been. Florida and Florida State are within a two- hour drive and south Georgia, from where the Jaguars also hope to draw, is a place where "How about them Dawgs?" is part of the dialect. The question is what happens in the fourth season, after the Jaguars are 2-5 after having gone 1-15, 2-14 and 4-12? If they get 73,000 raucous fans in the Gator Bowl booing the hometown heroes, the NFL will know it's made a wise choice. AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - A.C. Green scored 10of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and the Phoenix Suns held on for a 102-101 win over Detroit, sending the Pistons to their fifth straight loss Thursday night. A basket by Green gave the Suns a 102-99 lead with 12 seconds re- maining. Isiah Thomas, back after missing seven games with a broken bone in his right hand, sank two free throws with seven seconds left. Following a timeout, Sean Elliott stole the inbounds pass from Charles Barkley. But Elliott was called for charging into Frank Johnson as he drove the lane. The Suns got the ball back with just under two seconds re- maining and ran out the clock. Barkley's turnover was one of only nine for the Suns, who went more than 37 minutes without one (from 3:34 of the first quarter to 9:44 of the fourth). Barkley had 21 points and 10 as- sists and was one rebound shy of a triple-double. Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle and Oliver Miller all joined Green with 16 points for Phoenix. Terry Mills had a season-high 33 points for Detroit, 14 in the first quar- ter. Thomas equaled his season-high with 26 points and added 13 assists. The Pistons had a 13-point lead midway through the second quarter. But Barkley scored 11 points in a 21- 6 burst and the Suns took a 51-49 lead after a three-point play by Danny Ainge with 1:51 left in the half. Baskets by Mills, Elliott and Tho- mas helped Detroit go off with a 55- 52 halftime lead. Bill Laimbeer, the 36-year-old Bad Boy who retired Wednesday, was in a seat at courtside for this game. Barkley, his old nemesis, walked over and shook hands with him just before the opening tip. During the first timeout, the Pis- tons ran a tribute to Laimbeer on the video screen of the scoreboard at The Palace. The tribute was Laimbeer highlight clips set to the music of Stevie Wonder's "'For Once In Your Life." U.S. OPEN Continued from page 14 * had a good race." Michigan had two current and one former men's swimmers in the finals of the 400 freestyle. "The 400 freestyle was an out- standing race," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "Tom Dolan, the freshman, was ready to swim. He was hungry, he wanted to win that race." The men finished off the night on * a sweet note, winning the 800- freestyle relay. Senior Rodney VanTassell,junior Marcel Wouda and freshmen Chris Rumley and Dolan's time of 7:23. 02 was enough to beat the closest team by several body lengths. to see incoming recruit Talor Bendel. She is seeded in the top ten in three events including the 100 butterfly, (second seed), 200 butterfly (sixth) and 200 freestyle (ninth). Bendel, however, has neither ta- pered nor shaved for the meet and does not expect to swim her best times. "I just hope to swim as well as I can," Bendel said. "I'm hoping to go a little faster than my times at this point last year. I warned (Coach Richardson) that I wasn't going to be shaved and tapered. I just hope I can perform as well as I can." In other consolation final races, 17-year-old high school senior Kim Johnson from Richardson, Texas, fin- ished first and second in the 200- meter individual medley and the 50- meter freestyle respectively. Johnson is one of Michigan's recruits for next season. She has already signed with the team. "I was nervous after prelims," Johnson said. "I felt at home and I'm real excited. I don't want to wait until September to start swimming here." To find out who is victorious at the U.S Open this weekend, read SPORTSMonday. m