BASKETBALL NOTEBNK
Baston's incomplete
eaves Blue shorthanded
The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, January 9, 1995 - 5
Michigan still searching
for complete game effort
By SCOTT BURTON
Daily Basketball Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK - When
Iahktar Ndiaye and Maurice Tay-
r got in foul trouble early against
enn State yesterday, the Michi-
an basketball team had no one on
te bench to go to for help down
Michigan was left shorthanded
ihen freshman Maceo Baston was
reed to stay in Ann Arbor in-
tead of making the trip to Penn
tate because of academic reasons.
Baston had a grade that had not
een turned in because he still had
iork to complete in class. The
icomplete made Baston ineligible
>@he game against the Nittany
,ions.
Baston is expected to be ready
play Wednesday night against
awa.
DUNKS-A-wHOOPs: Penn State
iissed two breakaway dunks in
esterday's game.
The most embarrassing effort
ame from Pete Liscicky, who not
ny bricked an uncontested tran-
i* dunk with a teammate trail-
ig, but also received a technical
uf for hanging on the rim.
"Pete is still recovering on the
loor of the shower," center John
maechi quipped.
"People start salivating when
ley get a break-away and I guess
le ball slips."
WHO's No. 1?: Although the
c'State basketball team may
ot win a national title anytime
non, the football team came aw-
lly close to doing so-finishing
ro. 2 in both the AP and CNN/
[SA TODAY national polls.
However, Michigan basketball
oach Steve Fisher thinks the
ittany Lions should have been
hampions or at least co-champi-
*Ve drove by the football sta-
dium and saw "national champion,
'86 national champion '82," Fisher
said, "and it's awful, awful that
Penn State can't say' national
champs '95."'
"(Nebraska coach Tom)
Osborne should be a national
champion coach, but so should
(Kerry) Collins, (Ki-Jana) Carter
and coach (Joe) Paterno."
CENTER PLAY: Penn State cen-
ter John Amaechi did something
Arizona's Joseph Blair and Duke's
Cherokee Parks couldn't - they
completely dominated Michigan's
big men.
Amaechi, who stands 6-foot-
10, plowed home 26 points, many
coming because he simply over-
sized 6-foot-9 Makhtar Ndiaye and
Maurice Taylor down low.
More importantly, he got both
men in foul trouble, sending Tay-
lor permanently to the bench at the
8:14 mark of the second half.
Without Baston, Fisher subse-
quently was forced to stick 6-foot-
9 forward Jerod Ward and 6-foot-
8 swingman Willie Mitchell on
Amaechi for the final eight min-
utes of the game.
In that stretch, Amaechi scored
10 points.
By RYAN WHITE
Daily Basketball Writer
If you've been saying to yourself,
"This is not a normal Michigan bas-
ketball team," Ray Jackson would
agree with you.
"We just don't fight, and that's
uncharacteristic of a Michigan team,"
Jackson said following yesterday's 73-
63 loss at Penn State. "Wejust haven't
fought the fight."
That seemed to especially be the
case in the first half of the game against
the Nittany Lions.
After scoring the first basket of the
game, the Wolverines watched Penn
State open up an 18-point lead in the
first half.
Michigan had 14 turnovers and
shot just 21 percent (6-28) in the first
half.
It was a disappointing performance
for the Wolverines who had put to-
gether their first complete game effort
last Wednesday against Purdue.
"We know we had to come out and
play hard like we did against Purdue,"
said freshman Willie Mitchell who
had a career high 15 rebounds. "We
didn't play hard until we were down."
Michigan did play once they were
down. In the second half the Wolver-
ines cut the turnovers down to four
and raised the shooting percentage up
to 42.5 percent.
Unfortunately for Michigan, it was
too little too late.
Also, unfortunately for Michigan,
it has been that way most of the sea-
son.
The Wolverines got blown out of
-Crisler Arena in the first half of their
game against Penn on Dec. 20.
Michigan put up a strong second
half but still lost the game on a last
second shot by the Quakers' Jerome
Allen.
Against Arizona at the Palace of
Auburn Hills on Nov. 30, Michigan
trailed at halftime by just a point, 32-
31. It ended up losing the game, 78-
57, after a horrendous second half.
That included nearly eight minutes at
the beginning of the half without a
point.
The same thing happened at Penn
State.
According to Jackson, the prob-
lem has been the team's overall effort,
and the way that the team has, br more
appropriately has not, come around at
this point in the season.
"We've got to develop as a unit,"
Jackson said. "Everyone has got to
play hard."
And Jackson knows that "every-
one" includes himself and fellow se-
nior Jimmy King, who Jackson said
have had their lapses as well this sea-
son.
There is a real simple reason why
the Michigan basketball team is 1-1 in
the Big Ten instead of 2-0.
"We just didn't come out and play
hard from the beginning," Mitchell
said.
Senior Ray Jackson and fellow Fab Fiver Jimmy King have been inconsistent at
times this season, as the Wolverines have looked to them for more offense.
ad white, so that the team would get
entally prepared for the Spartans.
he players also wore green pennies
i g practice to psyche themselves
vidently, the ploys worked.
Michigan has gotten over the hump
ow. The Wolverines needed to be-
eve that they could win before they
ould go out and do it. Five
onconference wins boosted their con-
dence; now they can carry that swag-
er over into conference play.
A good example of this happened k
ithe Northwestern game. With 1:58
fining in the game and Michigan
gad, 67-53, Shellman hit a longw
ree-pointer with aplayerin her face.
he shot fell and a foul came with it.
hellman gave high-fives to her team-
lates and started talking trash to thet
pposing players.aw
Talking trash?
When was the last time Michigan
lked trash? Evidently, they've been
hing their male counterparts too;
Well, maybe not, since the:
omen's record differs from the men's 1, P I,
y only one loss.
IHWGAN STATE (75)
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Steady guard play from freshman Akisha Franklin's emergence has keyed
Michigan's surprising showing this season.
Franli taes control
at ont guard for Blue
By RODERICK BEARD
Daily Basketball Writer
Among Michigan coach Trish Roberts' Christmas wishes must have been
more consistent guard play for her young Wolverines.
She probably deserved one.
After all, her point guard from last season, Jennifer Kiefer, suffered a knee
injury during the summer and is out for the year. Roberts has been scrambling
all season to find someone to fill the void. She tried everything, including
placing freshman Molly Murray in the spot. The problem was that Murray is a
small forward. It was like trying to fit a square block into a circle - it just wasn't
a good fit.
Finally, Roberts found a solution. After Michigan lost to Iowa last week,
Roberts noticed freshman point guard Akisha Franklin and decided to give her
an opportunity.
"(Iowa) put a lot of pressure on us and Mekisha (Ross) and Molly (Murray)
had problems with the pressure. Akisha came in and played against a very good
defensive Iowa team and really kept her composure," Roberts said. "I just
decided all week that we were going to go with her at point guard. I think she
responded very well."
Besides her good ballhandling and added scoring punch, Franklin contrib-
utes tenacious defense and hustle to the Michigan backcourt. With Amy
Johnson, the Wolverines may finally have the consistent backcourt tandem they
have sought all season.
In her debut as a starter, Franklin tallied 11 points, five rebounds and four
assists, helping the Wolverines beat state-rival Michigan State for the first time
since 1989-90. She followed that performance with an outstandingall-around
outing against Northwestern. Her 15 points, nine assists, five rebounds and
three steals surprised Wildcats and evened Michigan's conference and overall
records for the season.
"She did a nice job of running the offense and did a very good job on our
point guards," Northwestern coach Don Perrelli said. "She handled the point
very well."
Before starting Franklin, Roberts started Murray four times and Ross eight
times, looking for the right mix. Roberts said that when she was trying to find
a starter at the beginning of the season, she didn't think Franklin was ready to
play point guard.
«T A A... n'+ th,..t- h ,uaccarin~ri ni rr l, I htr th~t f ch c vn ~ur csrirl~c
FO F REB
MIN M-A MA T A F PTS
Sanders 30 3-4 4-6 3-11 3 3 10
(. Kelley 36 8-21 1-2 3-5 2 5 17
Gray 22 5-6 3-5 1-5 0 3 13
lace 35 5-10 1-3 0-0 3 3 14
2 rs 29 6-13 2-2 0-0 5 5 16
13 1-4 0-0 1-2 21 2
wesley 5 0-2 0-0 0-001 0
Engen 8 1-2 0-0 1-2 0 0 2
Larrabee 3 0-0 1-2 0-0 0 2 1
0. Kelley 19 0-2 0-0 1-2 2 4 0
rotals 200 2964 12-20 10-32 1727 75
FG%:.453. FT%: .600. Three-point goals: 5-12,
.417 (Place 3-6. Powers 2-4, Kelley 0.1, Wesley
1) Blocks: 3 (Engen 2, Sanders). Turnovers:
20 (K. Kelley 5, Sanders 5, Wesley 3, Euler 2,
Gray 2, Powers 2, Place). Steals: 8 (Sanders 3,
Eu2, Gray 2, K. Kelley). Technical Fouls:
MICHIGAN (80)
FG FT RES
MIN MA N-A Q-T A F PTS
Shellman 32 1-4 4-5 1-4 7 3 7
flWlacinto 14 5-7 12 1-4 1 4 11
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily