The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 31, 1997 - 11
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Takizgit one cliche at a
tine, Michigan readto o
N ew coach. New players. New momentarily. "I don't know, maybe if T H E
schedule. Same script. The I'm blindfolded."
Michigan men's basketball team Even the usually animated Traylor
made its first official appearance yes- was reserved, saying he hopes the
terday at Media Day, and the cliches Wolverines can make the season "the
were flowing just as freely as Robert best it can be." He did, however, show
Traylor's shorts. some signs of life when asked why
And with all that has happened to most publications have picked
the team over the past year, you'd think Michigan to finish in the lower half of Media Day didn't feature a whole lo
there would be some interesting new the Big Ten. of news. in fact, most of what was
conversations circulating. That wasn't "Everybody has an opinion, he said was old and worn. Here are the
the case. said, shaking his head and smiling. Wolverines' favorite cliches, and
Delayed for more than two weeks - "We have an opinion as a team, and who said them:
thanks to the firing of Steve Fisher and we think we're gonna finish first.
the subsequent search for a man to fill Nobody else can control where we fin- "1 think we're going to get better a
his position - the day began with a ish in the Big Ten except for us, so the season progresses."
press conference what people say doesn't really bother Ellerbe Conlan
by coach Brian me." Bullock
Ellerbe, then pro- Senior Travis Conlan, who captains
ceeded with indi- ' the team along with Traylor, echoed "'I do whatever it takes for this
vidual and team his teammate's sentiments, saying, "I team to win."
pictures before ... 's_. haven't read a newspaper in about a Ward Baton
culminating in a year and a half." But don't count Traylor Reid
merry-go-round Conlan out when it comes to the art of
of player inter- JIM the cliche - he's a captain for a rea- We're capable of playing
views. ROSE son ConianyBullock
Ellerbe wasted Rose "There's a sense of urgency around
no time getttng Beef here now," he said. "Every practice "It's time for us to step up and win.
acquainted with counts. I feel a sense of urgency Bullock
the media, and myself, because I want to go out on a Traylor Baston
though he has been head coach for positive note. I want to leave Michigan
only a week, he displayed full com- a winner." "We're looking forward to playing
mand of the required clich6 rhetoric (a But the undisputed King of the some basketball."
must for any big-time coach or ath- Clich6 (at least for the day) was much- Ellerbe Conlan
lete). maligned forward Jerod Ward, whose Traylor Bullock
"We're excited about getting started" injury-ridden career has met with non- Ward Baston
after the coaching change," Ellerbe stop criticism by members of the Reid
said. "It's been an adjustment, but media for the past three years. So it's
these guys are very mature, and they're no surprise that he knows how to the game of basketball is more ment
very understanding ... that's where the deflect a few questions here and there. than physical. We're just looking to
chips fell, and we've had to deal with "I'm not worried about how much I improve on last year's performance.
it. That's the nature of the business play, where I play or when I play," But, as Ward might say, that's wat
we're in," Ward said with a straight face. under the bridge. They're taking it o
After the chaos of recent weeks, the "Players play and coaches coach, so game at a time.
players and coaches are ready, he said, I'm just concerned with helping this -- Jim Rose can be reached via e-m
to finally start doing what they pre- team find a way to win. At this point, at jwrose @umich.
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*ding his pet dog outside his Ypsilanti apartment, David Bowens talks reflects on his time as a Michigan football player and
what went wrong for him academically. Bowens is taking extension courses now through the University in an attempt to
regain his eligibility, and he is working full-time in order to pay his tuition and rent bills.
HOOPS
Continued from Page 9
to face larger obstacles than Jansen.
His academic troubles, he said, were
caused by poor time management
and the emotional turmoil that fol-
.:ed the shooting of a close friend.
Bowens, who would not identify the
friend, said he spent much of his free
time with the friend at the hospital as
his grades dropped.
After Bowens was delcared ineli-
gible for spring practice, Carr helped
him transfer during the summer to
Eastern Kentucky, where Bowens
said he would have prepared for an
NFL career. But he was able to get
t of the deal.
I was mad at myself," Bowens
said. "I took advantage of being a
student-athlete by neglecting the
academic resources available to me
that the school was providing. I com-
mitted to Eastern Kentucky, but
when I came back (to Ann Arbor), I
changed my mind."
Intervention by several of his
teammates - including Woodson
and former Orchard Lake St. Mary's
teammate DiAllo Johnson, who is a
defensive back at Michigan - con-
vinced him to make a comeback.
Woodson, Johnson and other play-
ers have worn Bowens's old No. 6 on
their wristbands this season as a
show of support.
"We care about him, and we want
him to know that," Woodson said
earlier this year.
Bowens is living in an Ypsilanti
apartment, working full-time to sup-
port himself.
With no football scholarship, he
has had to pay for school himself.
"It's really difficult," Bowens said.
"I've realized the opportunities that I
had, and I'm still a die-hard
Michigan man. I want another
chance.
"(To) everyone who was a fan of
David Bowens, I want to say I'm
sorry for letting them down. But I
have problems of my own. I let
myself down, Coach Carr and every-
one who represented me. I wasn't a
student-athlete; I was an athlete. And
that's going to change.
"I'm going to be eligible, and bas-
ketball is going to happen."
sumably do best (maybe even better
than recite cliches): play basketball.
"We feel like practice is going pretty
well," Ellerbe said. "The guys are all
ready to play, and they're ready to have
a better season than last season."
Ellerbe ranked high on the cliche-
meter: he even managed to use the
term "barking up the wrong tree"
twice during his time behind the
microphone.
But much of the day's focus sur-
rounded Robbie Reid, the 23-year-old
Brigham Young transfer guard whom
many have touted as the backcourt
general Brandun Hughes was not.
Ellerbe, however, hinted that Reid's
role may be as more of a shooter than
a point man:
"Robbie is one of the three guards,"
Ellerbe clarified. "Right now, his
shooting is ahead of everything else"
he does.
Ellerbe said Reid's absence from
competitive play - Reid recently
completed a two-year Mormon Church
mission in Greece, in which the final
15 months were spent without him
even picking up a basketball - would
make his development a slower
process than some might expect.
For his part, Reid agreed that he is
still making the transition back into
basketball mode. He had no problem,
however, making the transition back
into clich6 mode.
"I'm a very intense player, and I'm
very competitive, and I'll do whatever
it takes to win," he said, with no appar-
ent Greek accent. "Overall, I think it
will be great for me to play at a place
like Michigan, where the competition
is tough, night-in and night-out."
One of Reid's backcourt mates,
sharpshooter Louis Bullock, said
Reid's adjustment has been fairly
smooth. According to Bullock, Reid
"has been getting comfortable with the
rest of the guys." Bullock also said, not
surprisingly, that it was "time for
Michigan to step up and win."
Bullock strayed from cliche auto-
pilot only briefly - and only because
his shooting prowess was called into
question. Earlier in the week, Ellerbe
claimed that he - Ellerbe, not
Bullock - was Michig 's best shoot-
er.
"He might be," Bullock said, emerg-
ing from his interview-induced trance
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
When they weren't spouting cliches, Maceo Baston, Louis Bullock and Robert
Traylor found time to be jovial in a tumultuous time at Media Day yesterday.
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