8 - Tipoff '- Thursday, November 17, 2$ a a W 0 ____ ________ -- Respert leads Spartans in tight race MSU guard is preseason Big Ten Player of the Year When Jud Heathcote bids fare- well to East Lansing at the end of the season he may very well have a new ring on his Mi n St. finger. Shawn 10-8, 2012 Respert's deci- sion to forego the " NBA draft and stay with Michi- gan State for his final season gave Heathcote a real- istic chance ton finish first in the Big Ten. HOm: January 22 Respert is the Away: February 21 preseason Big Ten Player of the Year for good rea- son. Last season he buried opponents with 24.3 points per game and is on pace to be the Spartans' all-time lead- ing scorer. Eric Snow may be neglected by fans, but conference coaches know how good the Spartans point guard is. Last year he averaged 6.7 assists to lead the Big Ten. The senior is noted as an outstanding defensive player as well. "I think Michigan State has a real good chance (to win the conference title) with their backcourt," Minne- sota coach Clem Haskins said. "Any time you have a Respert or Snow, three-year starters, you just have to give them a chance. In this league, to win, you have to have a good, solid backcourt." Snow's biggest problem is well- documented; he flat-out cannot shoot foul shots. He shot an ugly 45 percent from the charity stripe in 1993-94. After the backcourt the Spartans have a lot of questions to answer. Anthony "Pig" Miller graduated, leav- ing Michigan State with a big hole in the rebounding department. Junior Jamie Feick is leading candidate to be Miller's replacement. Juniors Daimon Beathea and Quinton Brooks are both returning starters who are hoping to raise their point production this season. Brooks averaged over 11 ppg last year and will have to take some of the scoring pressure off of Respert. Sophomore Jon Garavaglia had a strong showing in the NCAA Tourna- ment and it is anticipated that he will be much improved this year. Thomas Kelly is Heathcote's only freshman but he has legitimate chance to see some playing time. State could be very good if the team can develop around Respert. He has been included on most All-Ameri- can teams. He will break Michigan State's all-time scoring record, set by Steve Smith, with 449 points. If he can average over 27.5 points per game he will break Calbert Cheaney's Big Ten scoring record (2,613). The Spartans will need better foul shooting (66 percent last year) and somebody to replace Miller's re- bounding if they want to contend for the title. If Brooks and Feick can step up on both ends of the floor and Respert really is the player that everyone is saying he is, Heathcote may just exit East Lansing with his fourth Big Ten championship. - Paul Barger Read Daily NICKNAMES Continued from page 17 by a nickname too-one that, of course, ties the new recruits into the legacy of their predecessors. Fab Five II? The second coming? Fab six through ten? Well, I've pondered this whole nick- name thing too, and here's my take on what we should call them: Jerod, Maceo, Willie, Travis and Maurice. What's that, you say? That's not catchy. That won't fit into a headline. That won't make for a good book name. What gives'? What gives is that handing the new recruits nicknames - like the Fab FiveII - sets an expectation that they will make the same kind of impact as the class of 1991. But they won't. They won't start together as fresh- men. They won't put Michigan on SportsCenter night after night by carry- ing on the legacy ofhigh-profiling dunk- ing and trash-talking. They won't lead Michigan to the Final Four this season. Why not? Because the circum- stances that allowed the Fab Five to excel do not exist for the new recruits. The Fab Five were the main talents on a team that needed direction; the 1991-92 team was theirs to take over. But, the 1994-95 squad already be- longs to Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. Consequently, the freshmen will play more of a supporting role, filling in where needed, spelling the already large load of talent. Maybe one or two will start. Per- haps all of them will play. But no tidal waves of impact. No trend-setting. No controversy. Nothing that will compare with what the Fab Five did. "We don't need any extra crosses to bear, with everything being a compari- son," coach Steve Fisher says. "The minute you say 'Fab Five anything', it is an immediate comparison. Things are never the same, even when the faces are the same." Fine then, you say. If you don't want to give them a nickname that draws comparisons to the Fab Five, how about some other one? How about the quintessential quin- tet? Or the raucous rookies? Something that characterizes them for what they'll do as a group - like the nickname Fab Five did. But you know what? Ten years from now I don't want to remember Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson for what they did collectively. I want to remem- ber them for what they did as indi- viduals: Webber for his monstrous dunks and immense power. Howard for his low-post finesse and stoic character. Rose for his flair and bravado. King for his exceptional play-making abil- ity. Jackson for clutch play and get- the-job-done mentality. Shawn Respert could eclipse Calbert Cheaney's conference scoring record. ilhi have fighting chance MAt d-hv s dMAN/naily Maceo_ Baston dazzled at the Wolverines slam-dunk contest. While Michigan, Indiana, Michi- gan 'State and Wisconsin are at-_ tracting the most Illinois attention in the 10.8, 17-11 Big Ten pre- season, Illinois may have them all matched. Consider that although the Fighting Illini lost Deon Tho- Away: January 17 mas and T.J. Home:Febmary26 Wheeler to graduation, they return three standout starters-last season's freshman sen- sation Kiwane Garris, low-post force Shelly Clark and three-point sharp- shooter Richard Keene. Add to the mix a number of prom- ising youngsters, and the Big Ten might have another legitimate con- tender. Garris may be the key to the equa- tion. He was a top candidtate for Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors last season, before Iowa's Jess Settles outplayed him to earn the award. Nonetheless, his explosive scor- ing out of the backcourt makes him one of the most dangerous point guards in the conference; last season he scored 30-plus points in consecutive games, See ILLINOIS, Page 26 But in 20 years from now all that will be lost. They'll be remembered as Fab Five, for who they were as a group. And the individual will be over- shadowed - if not forgotten. I don't want to see the same thing happen to the new recruits. Regardless of what they accomplish as a group, they are all poised to become excep- tional players on their own right, and deserved to be recognized for as much. Maybe this time around we can do exactly that if we get one thing straight right off the bat: Their names: Jerod, Maceo, Willie, Travis and Maurice. iQro$ ITALIAN RESTAURANT 0% FAT (and proud of it!) Effeclency is our goal. You'll be In and out in no time " Resumes while ou wait * R :r in minutes Autbmated Self-erve machlne that collate and staple We r 4ntheorcde bov Rik sShip UPS with us. 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