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4- Tipoff '94 - Thursday, November 17, 1994
Fresh faces join old veterans to lead Blue charge
Remaining members
By ANTOINE PITTS
At this point a year ago, the
Michigan basketball team contem-
plated a season without its best
player from the previous campaign,
Chris Webber.
The loss of four seniors meant the
Wolverines were looking ahead to a
year with just seven scholarship play-
ers and Jason Bossard as the lone
senior. Despite the lack of depth plus
illness and suspensions to key players
during the year, Michigan challenged
for the Big Ten title.
After a second-place finish and an
exit in the NCAA Regional Finals, two
more players announced they would
forego their remaining eligibility to go
into the NBA.
The departure of Juwan Howard
and Jalen Rose leaves the Wolverines
with two big holes in the lineup.
"I'm a little extra nervous going
of Fab Five expected
into this season minusJuwan andJalen,"
Michigan coach Steve Fisher said.
"Those are huge shoes to fill."
However, this time around
Michigan has a talented returning
bunch along with the nation's No. 1
recruiting class to help replace the
departed players.
Although it would be asking a lot to
provide what Howard and Rose gave to
this team, seniors Jimmy King and Ray
Jackson - the final holdovers from
Michigan's celebrated 1991 recruiting
class - are the logical choices to lead
this team. Playing second fiddle to
Webber, Howard and Rose in the pre-
vious years, King and Jackson had
room to be followers and let others be
the leaders.
This time around, as the team's
only seniors, they will be called on to
show the way for the Wolverines.
"They are not vocal leaders by
to take on leadership role as top-ranked recruiting class develops
nature," Fisher said of King and
Jackson. "They've played a role
where rather than them saying,
'Let's go, let's do this,' they've al-
lowed someone else to do it. I told
them that is one of the things I want
to see more of from them.
"They also have to be the guys on
the practice floor to tell others, 'tuck
your shirt in, pull your pants up."'
Where the Wolverines will need
the seniors' influence most is on the
court itself. King, the team's top
returning scorer at 12.3 points per
game, and Jackson, the top return-
ing rebounder with 6.8 rebounds
per game, will have to shake the
lack of solid play that has at times
plagued their performances in the
last three years.
"We just need to stay consistent
basically," Jackson said. "We can't get
caught up in all the media hype and we
need to provide the younger fellas the
leadership that wasn't around when we
were freshmen."
Jackson has seen his scoring and
rebounding go up each season since
arriving at Michigan. He averaged
12.4 ppg and 6.5 rpg for the final 13
games last year, but Fisher needs to
be able to depend on Jackson for an
entire season.
King's scoring average has gone
up every year since averaging 9.9 ppg
in his freshman campaign, but his lack
of a steady, strong perimeter jump shot
also worries Fisher.
"They've got to be more consistent
in their play," Fisher said. "If we're
going to be successful, Jimmy King
and Ray Jackson need to shoot over 50
The Paul-SctA
ICKS BA BURTON PITTS
Big Ten Player of the Year Shawn Respert, Mich. St. Michael Finley, Wisconsin Shawn Respert, Mich.
Son Michigan
National Player of the Year Joe Smith, Maryland Lawerence Moten, Syracuse Shawn Respert, Mich. St.
All-Amercan Team Joe Smith, Maryland Joe Smith, Maryland Joe Smith,Maryland
Corliss Williamson, Ark. Corliss Williamson, Ark. Shawn Respert, Mich. St.
Rasheed Wallace, UNC Lawerence Moten, Syracuse Corliss Williamson, Ark.
Randolph Childress, Wake Forest Damon Stoudamire, Ariz. Michael Finley, Wisconsin
Felipe Lopez, St. John's Michael Finley, Wisconsin Lawerence Moten, Syracu
Final Four Arkansas North Carolina Arkansas
Maryland Arkansas UCLA
Kentucky Illinois North Carolina
Georgia Tech Syracuse Duke
Nioal an Ark as North Carolina Arkansas
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
With Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose gone to the NBA, coach Steve Fisher will
count on seniors Jimmy King and Ray Jackson to guide the way this year.
r
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percent from the floor."
Michigan's other returning starter,
junior Dugan Fife, anchors the
backcourt. The Wolverines need Fife
to be an effective threat from long
range to open up the inside game. Fife
shot 40 percent from 3-point range last
season, when he started all 32 games.
"Last year was more of a learning
process for me," Fife said. "Now I feel
I can come in with more confidence."
Makhtar Ndiaye joined the Wol-
verines midway through last season
when the NCAA ruled that Wake
Forest had an unfair advantage in
recruiting him. Ndiaye played a sig-
nificant role in his first game - an
overtime victory against Ohio State
- and started at Minnesota a week
later when Howard and King sat out
with the chicken pox.
This season the Wolverines will not
only count on Ndiaye for rebounding,
defense and shot blocking, they also
need him to contribute offensively in
the low post. To accomplish this, Ndiaye
spent the summer bulking up in the
weight room, and Howard worked
with him on his low-post game.
"I just challenged myself this sum-
mer," Ndiaye said. "I put more weight
on myself and worked on everything,
offensively and defensively"
Bobby Crawford and Olivier Saint-
Jean, Fisher's only rookies from a year
ago, will be out of action for a while,
thanks to injuries. Saint-Jean is recov-
ering from off-season knee surgery,
while Crawford is out following a knee
injury in last Friday's practice.
"It's pretty hard," Saint-Jean said.
"As an athlete, though, you know you're
going to have to go through these kinds
of things."
When the pair returns Michigan's
bench will be even stronger. Last
season Crawford was an effective
three-point weapon until a hand in-
jury limited his playing time. Saint-
Jean developed into Fisher's most
effective reserve last year. In his
only start, Saint-Jean scored a sea-
son-high 11 points and grabbed
seven rebounds.
"Over the summer you think a lot
about what you did during the season,"
Saint-Jean said. "I know a little more
about Big Ten basketball now."
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2. Prohibited logos and names
on anyhbackboard, including
the shot clock.
3. Prohibited wearing of
commemorative patches.
4. With less than three-tenths
of a second on the game clock,
a team may score by only a
tap-in.
5. Expanded backcourt viola-
tion exceptions to a defensive
player who receives the ball
while in the air.
6. Expanded fighting rule to
include coaches and term
personnel.
Experimental: Allowed one 20-
second timeout per half.
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