The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, January 23, 1995 - 3
Rose
The former Michigan basketball star
talks about adjusting to the NBA
RACHEL BACHMAN
Bach's Score
With the 13th pick in the 1994
NBA Draft, the Denver Nuggets se-
lected Jalen Rose out of Michigan.
Before starring for the Wolver-
ines, the six-foot-eight swingman
played for ex-Michigan assistant
coach Perry Watson at Detroit
*Southwestern High School, where
he led the Prospectors to the USA
Today National Championship in
his senior year. Southwestern lost
only one game in Rose's final two
years there.
He followed these successes by
playing for Michigan's Steve Fisher
for three seasons. While with the
Wolverines he played alongside the
*likes of current Washington Bullets
Chris Webber and Juwan Howard,
as well as current Michigan seniors
Jimmy King and Ray Jackson.
Together, those five made up the
recruiting class known as the Fab
Five - the class to which all col-
lege recruiting classes are now com-
pared. During his stay in Ann Ar-
bor, Rose reached two NCAA Chain-
ionship finals and one regional
fnal.
'He finished his career at Michi-
gan ranked sixth on the Wolverines'
41! -time scoring list with 1,788
points, sixth in games started with
JO1, fifth in career assists with 401,
fifth in steals with 117and second in
qfreer three-pqinters with 124.
Daily Sports Writer Brett
Krasnove recently spoke to Rose
*about his days as part of the Fab
Five, his developing career with the
Nuggets, Michigan's new recruit-
ing class and his future plans.
Daily: How are you adjusting to
the NBA?
Rose: Very well. Everything's
starting to come around the way
I've anticipated it being, and I'm
just trying to get better every day.
I'm just trying to get my timing
together. To me, shooting is noth-
ing more than just timing and rep-
etition.
D: Do you feel like you're part
of something big as a member of the
Nuggets?
R: Definitely, because we're an
up-and-coming team. There are not
too many teams in the league where
you can come in with a chance to
*make a big difference and make an
impact around the NBA, and we
have that opportunity.
D: What differences in coaching
philosophy do you see between Dan
Issel (coach of Nuggets at the time
of the interview) and Steve Fisher?
R: Oh, it's different because the
NBA is a players' game and college
is a, coaches' game. In college, all
the good coaches are going to al-
Ways win because they know strat-
egy each and every night they're
going to do what it takes to win a
particular game. In the NBA, you
have to just go out and play, and
pJAy as one game.
'D: What's it like living in Den-
ver after spending most of your life
in Michigan?
R: It's a big difference. The
*lifestyle is different. I grew up in
the Detroit-Ann Arbor area. That's
where all my friends and family are.
I'm not here with all my family and
friends, so it's a big adjustment for
me, but I'm having fun.
: How important was it to have
Chris Webber in the NBA a year
ahead of you to give you a feeling of
NBA life before you actually turned
*pro?
R: It was very important because
it helped me with a couple of things.
Nor only did it help me as far as me
asking him questions and him an-
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE THE DOME
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE THE DOME
I THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE THE DOME
GO LF
1 1
swering and helping me get through
college, but at the same time, seeing
him make it, seeing him be success-
ful, let me know that not only could
he do it, but I could do it too.
D: Do you laugh when you hear
people saying "maybe Jalen will be
traded to the Bullets too"?
R: Well, anything can happen in
this business. That's one thing I've
grown to learn. But if it does hap-
pen, I'll be happy. If it doesn't, I'll
be happy in Denver.
D: You were playing with pro-
They were 15-14 and the next year
we were playing in the finals.
D: Do you keep in close contact
with your former teammates or do
you find it difficult?
R: All the time. Every time we
get a chance. I talked to Jimmy and
Ray the other day before they played
Iowa and I talked to Chris and Juwan
not too long ago, so we all keep in
contact.
D: How do you feel about the
new group of Michigan freshmen
being called Fab Five II? Do you
4 x' z
R: My most comfortable posi-
tion probably is point guard because
I feel my ability to think and my
ability to pass and lead a team is
received better at the point guard
position.
I'm able to handle the ball so
much more when I'm running the
point, but as long as I'm out there on
the floor, it really doesn't matter to
me.
D: What about when you and
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf are in the
game together? Who plays point
guard?
R: When we're in the game to-
gether, I play point.
D: You are known for being a
very confident, somewhat cocky
player. Do you feel as though other
players mistake that for arrogance?
R: Sometimes, but at the same
time what you have to realize is that
I wasn't born with everything com-
ing easy to me. I wasn't born with
everyone telling me, "Jalen you're
gonna be this, Jalen you're gonna
be that." Everything I had to get I
had to earn and I had to earn the hard
way.
So in doing that, I sustained so
much confidence in myself and my
ability because I knew how quickly
people would turn, how quickly
people would doubt you.
You'd be great after a great game,
then you'd be horrible after a bad
loss so as I grew to learn all those
things and scenarios, that made me
more confident in myself. As long
as you have confidence in yourself,
you don't have to worry about what
others think.
D: Are you sick of hearing Fab
Five questions?
R: No, because the Fab Five was
history. We were the most famous
team in college basketball ever. I'll
never get tired of talking about the
Fab Five and my experience at
Michigan because that was a big
part of my life.
D: Do you expect to return and
get your degree?
R: Oh, I plan on graduating.
Right now, I'm trying to make a
little money so when I go back to
school I'll have a little money in the
bank.
But I plan on completing the
degree, but I just don't know when.
It's gonna be hard with all the rigors
of the NBA, but it's something I
look forward to doing and I will do.
Crisler seating leaves
'M' fans out in the cold
T his is the way it's set up: Students pay $80 for season tickets to the
Michigan basketball team's games. Seems fair enough; the
Wolverines are perennial Big Ten contenders and fashion
trendsetters. But come game day (or even game week), the athletic
department exacts another toll on student fans: their time.
You've seen the sight. Two to five days before a big game, the tents
come up, the plastic tarps unfurl. And students settle down for what often
shape up to be long winter nights.
All for a good seat at what they can only hope will be a good game.
Dozens of people made Crisler Arena's sidewalk their home the night
before yesterday's Michigan State game; 10 people stayed out two nights.
Granted, you've got to be a little nuts to carry out such a plan, with
three inches of snow falling Friday night, two the next. But because of
Michigan's first-come, first-seated rule (Michigan is the only Big Ten
student section with unassigned seats) crazy is exactly what you have to be
if you want to be near the court.
Sophomores Eric Davidson and Jack Zellmer were in the first group in
line. Saturday evening, they divided their time avoiding the soggy spot in
their tent and bracing against subfreezing temperatures. But they say they
don't mind the pregame routine.
"(Camping out) attests to the competitive nature of the university,"
Davidson said. "It creates excitement for each game."
By sports fan standards, the scene is picturesque - some people paying
pizza deliverers, others sledding down Crisler's hill.
But social afternoons give way to bitterly cold nights, a sheet of nylon
the only protection from the elements. And nights are cut short by the nine-
eight- or six-a.m. "line check," whereby security guards verify that those
waiting for seats are indeed in line. Miss a line check and you lose your
place.
"I slept on my car seat," senior Craig Boruchov said. "I'm going to miss
class Monday (he'll be sleeping) but it's all worth it to see the hoopsters
play."
Not everyone is so die-hard.
Senior Todd Arky said it's no fun to wait outside, but "You get inside
and you have no choice but to go crazy cheering.
"But if you have a test the next day, or are sick...." What do you do
then?
"The fact that we have to keep checking in ...
that's treating us like
See BACHMAN, Page 8
EVAN PETRIE/Daity
fessional basketball players in
pickup games before you were in
college. How did that experience
help you adjust to the NBA?
R: That did a lot to help me. Plus
my friends at Michigan did a lot to
help me. I'm not in awe when I go
into these big arenas because I did
that in college, playing in Final Fours
and Final games. I'm not nervous
when we play on TV because we did
that in college every game.
D: Do you regret not winning a
championship at Michigan?
R: As you look back on it, you
feel a sense of disappointment but
we did so many things for college
basketball that a championship
couldn't even take the place of them.
Now young players come in, they
feel confident and they want to do
well and I think we put Michigan
back on the map. I think when we
got there, they were an NIT team.
think that's too much unnecessary
pressure to place on them?
R: I think that's unnecessary
pressure for them, but I think that's
part of it (being highly-touted fresh-
men) and I think they're gonna be
able to handle it. People are getting
down on them right now because
they're not having the early success
that we had. But they're not us.
But at the same time, I think
they're gonna be a real good team
this year and I think they can do a lot
to help it. All they gotta do is just be
patient and just remember that
they're all they have and they gotta
be for one another, and I think that
as soon as everybody realizes that,
they're gonna be a good team.
D: You're a very versatile player,
since you played both guard posi-
tions as well as small forward at
Michigan. At which position do
you feel most comfortable?
DOUGLAS KANTER/Day
Jack Zellmer, Miki Rubinson and Eric Davidson (left to right) slept in a tent
through two snowy nights for front-row seats at the Michigan State game. They
like the unassigned format of student seating; others aren't so dedicated.
i