10- The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 17, 1998 Wolverines can't mount 'counter' attacks By Andy Latack Daily Sports Writer After yesterday's loss to Ball State, Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe couldn't stop talking about "counters." What exactly did he mean? He might have been talking about a new position created by the basketball program. You know, people hired specif- ically to sit on the sideline and keep track of important statistics. Yesterday, their job would have been to count the number of easy shots Michigan missed in the paint. Quite a formidable task. But no, that wasn't what he meant. Maybe he was talking about fast food counters, as in the place where Ball State's rotund 260-pound Brian Burns - who scored four crucial points to end Michigan's frantic second-half run - likely spends a bit of his time. No, that wasn't it either. In the Michigan offense, a counter is an alternative - "Plan B" that allows the Wolverines to be effective even when an aspect of their attack is neutralized. Only Michigan didn't use these options against Ball State. "We've got counters for everything," Ellerbe said after the game. "When something's taken away, we're not going to the counters." Against Ball State, that "something" was Michigan's guard play - the heart and soul of the offensive game plan. Sure, Louis Bullock and Robbie Reid were still the team's leading scorers, but Ball State's speedy guards made sure the backcourt duo didn't get too many open looks at the basket. It was time to go to a counter. Michigan needed another option. Ellerbe saw this, but his team didn't. "We didn't take advantage of Lou and Robbie getting overplayed," Ellerbe said. "We're not executing and we're not retaining information. We need to know what we're doing and when we're doing it." When Ball State guard Duane Clemens wasn't burning Michigan for a game-high 23 points, he was harassing Bullock and making him work for shots. And although Michigan recognized this, nobody was able to step up and shoulder the offensive burden. "A lot of times when we are in our offense and the option we are looking for gets taken away, we don't get our second and third options," Bullock said. "Until we start doing that, teams will continue to take away that first option." And although the humble senior did not mention what that first option was, yesterday's disappointing loss made it all too clear -- Michigan lives and dies by its guard play. With Clemens making life difficult for Bullock, and Reid shooting just 2- for-9 in the first half, it would have been a great time for someone else to step up. It almost happened a few times. Down 12 at the break and having scored just 23 points in the opening frame, Michigan surged back in the opeiting minutes of the second half. Center Josh Asselin and forward Brandon Smith sandwiched two buckets each around a Bullock layup, and Michigan cut the deficit to one, 35-34. Ball State coach Ray McCallum called a timeout, and Michigan's other offensive weapons showed signs of life. But after trading baskets, Burns 1um- bered around center Peter Vignier for a lavup, and put back an uncontested tip in the next trip down the floor. The Ball State lead was back to five, and a few possessions later, the Cardinals were again up by double digits. "I don't know if we felt like eetry* thing was going to be all right after (cut ting the defecit to one)." Ellerbe said. "But we didn't come back and sustain their run. You don't want to dig a big hole, spend your energy coming back, get there and then not have enough to get over the hump." And although Ball State turned in an impressive defensive effort against Bullock, this was clearly a winnable game in Ellerbe's eyes, even without Bullock putting up huge numbers. But the captain just didn't get much help from the rest of the team. "Lou only took 12 shots, and he tried to create some opportunities," Ellerbe said. "He made some good feeds to guys who didn't catch the ball and didn't cash in on them. Those become demoralizing plays." DAVID ROCHKIND/DaiIy u~s Bullock goes up against Ball State center Brian Bums. Bullock managed to score 19 points last night, but was hounded all game by the Cardinals' stingy defensive pressure. Ball State beats 'M' CARDINALS Continued from Page 9 and Bullock combined to shoot 1- for-6 from long range, putting the Wolverines in an early hole. "We made a few adjustments at the half and tried to make sure we got everybody involved, and took some pressureoff Lou and Robbie," Ellerbe said. With Michigan's guards taking time to warm up, forward Chris Young asserted himself early on the inside for the Wolverines by scoring a Iayup and drawing a foul on con- secutive possessions, to end up with five points in the half. On the other end of the court, however, Ball State's outside game was rolling, as Cardinal guards Shane Franks and Mickey Hosier helped the cause, nailing early threes and taking a 14-5 lead. By himself, Young still couldn't make up for the lack of production from Michigan's backcourt, consid- ering frontcourt mates Asselin and Smith were having a difficult time scoring. With two early fouls midway through the first half, Asselin's efforts were curtailed as he put up just two shots in the period. Smith was also slow in pulling the trigger, resulting in an increased dependency on Bullock and Reid. The lack of balance gave way to Ball State's biggest run of the game, as the Cardinals scored 12 straight points and opened up a 19-point lead, making the score 28-9. But with the Wolverines on the ropes, Bullock knocked down his only three of the half, cutting Michigan's deficit to 16. More important, how- ever, it ended a four-and-a-half minute drought in which the Wolverines didn't score a single point., Ball State (75 MIN MA NA 04 A F PTS Mason 21 3-6 2-3 1-3 1 1 10 Clemens 30 7-15 813 2-5 2 3 23 Johnson 25 0-3 0-0 2-5 0 3 0 Jackson 32 2-5 9-10 0-3 2 2 14 Hosler 23 1-2 0-0 0-1 1 2 3 Davis 18 1-2 0-0 2-6 1 2 2 Murray 7 1-i 0-0 0-1 0 0 2 Campbell 1 0-0 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 Burns 14 3.5 3-4 315 1 2 9 Franks 12 2-6 0-0 0-0 0 1 6 Moodle 16 1-5 2-2 0-0 1 2 5 Jones 1 0.0 0-0 0-0 00 0 Totals 200 21-50 25.3410-29 9 18 7, FG%: .420 FT%:.735. 3-point FG: 8-17.-471 (Mason 2-4, Franks 2-5 Clemens 1-1. Hosler 1-1, Jackson 1-3, Moodle 1-3). Blocks:1(Clemens). Steals: 11 (Clemens 4, Jackson 3, Moodie 3, Mason). Technical Fouls: 0. Michigan (64), F MIN M-A N-A 4T A F PTS Smith 37 5-12 0-1 2-4 3 3 12 Asselin 29 2-5 2-3 4-9 1 5 6 Vignier 30 2-3 0-0 2-7 1 2 4 Reid 39 6-16 1-1 1-2 3 3 16 Bullock 35 612 55 0-3 4 5 19 Jones 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Oliver 5 0.1 0.0 0-0 2 2 0 Young 19 3-4 1-4 0.5 0 3 7 Totals 200 24-53 9-14 9-30 14 25 64 FG%: .453 FT%:.643 3-point FG: 7-18.389 (Reid 3-8. Smith 2-4, Bullock 2-6). Blocks: 4 (Smith 3, Asselin). Steals: 3 (Bullock. Reid. Smith), Technical Fouls: 0. Ball State .... ..........35 40 - 75 Michigan............................23 41-- 64 At: Crisler Arena Attendance: 9,932 Mortimer injured, but ready for NCAA finals 1 0 By Raphael Goodstein Daily Sports Writer The sixth-ranked Michigan men's cross country team accomplished its most impressive task to date on Saturday by earning an invitation to the NCAA Championships without the team's best runner. "I thought it was great. We didn't run with our best runner and I was a little concerned," coach Ron Warhurst said. "But freshman Mark Pilja ran instead and he really stepped up for us and fin- ished fifth for us. The rest of the team also stepped up, especially Todd Snyder. He ran as well as he has run all year." Senior All-America John Mortimer did not run Saturday due to injury but is expected to run this upcoming Saturday in Lawrence, Kan. Everyone stepped up to replace Mortimer. Snyder finished in second, Jay Cantin came in 12th, Steve Lawrence in 13th, Don McLaughlin 26th and Mark Pilja 29th to help the Wolverines finish sec- ond behind Michigan State. Mortimer is expected to practice three times this week to help get ready for the NCAA finals. "He's looked good in practice. He has worked on the bike and in the pool to help him get ready, Warhurst said. "I'm looking for him to finish. If he finishes in the top 35 that would be great" Mortimer's injury does not mean the Wolverines have deflated expectations, though. The Wolverines are looking to bring home a top- four finish. "Arkansas and Stanford are the best two teams in the nation. After them, though, it will depend on what teams runs the best race," Warhurst said. "We could finish anywhere from third to eighth. After those two teams, we feel like we are in the next tier of teams. "We'd love to finish in the top four, that would be a nice trophy to be able to bring home. If everyone runs their best race I think that we will be able to finish in the top four." If the Wolverines are to finish in the top four they will need another good team performance. "Had Mortimer been healthy he would have probably finished third or fourth. Realistically, we are looking for Snyder to finish anywhere from fifth to 15th," Warhurst said. Kansas' course is one of the toughest in the nation, and that looks to be in the Wolverines favor. The Wolverines have practiced running 10K races all year, even though dual meets are only 8K races. Also, Michigan runs on the Michigan Golf Course, which is considered one of the toughest courses in the nation. "The course is really tough. A lot of teams will be intimidated, but, we won't be," Warhurst said. "Our course is about as difficult as it gets and we have practiced for this all year. "The key will to be how we pace ourselves. We can't go too fast because there is a big hill at about the 9,000-meter mark. If you're fading before the hill, you'll fall apart at the final 1,000 meters. Especially, if it rains and gets sloppy." The Wolverines will fly to Kansas on Saturday morning and practice that afternoon. "Almost everyone has a little identity with the football team. So we'll watch the football team Saturday. If they win it will really fire us up," Warhurst said. "We'll practice right after. Sunday, we'll just pray." I I DANA IINNANE/Daily Senior Don McLaughlin helped the men's cross country team to a second-place finish In the NCAA regional, The second-place finish guaranteed the Wolverines a spot in the NCAA Championships. THEDAILYM SPORTS FOR Tih tteedo h unli nyagi mrfrW leie ThEBES M'BASKETBALL 1 COVERAGE,.igta h n ftetne's nya1vvn e o ovnns London $355 Oakland $1954 Tokyo $976 4Ro $856 Fares u ar TDo not include woes Resulions appy Are ubiCt to chang. Travel CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange 1218 South UniversityAve. Ann Arbor [734]-998-0200 CouncilAnnArbor@ ciee.org e - - By Jon Zemke Daily Sports Writer At the beginning of the 1998 Michigan volleyball campaign, the team set very lofty goals for itself. Because of these lofty goals, the team has often been -------------- labeled as its own Volleyball worst critic by several players. COmmentary Winning the------------- Big Ten championship and going to the NCAA tournament were among the goals that the team set for itself. The Big Ten championship has been mathematically out of reach for the Wolverines for a couple of weeks now. Inconsistent play, rotating setters and bad luck have plagued Michigan all season. The only consistent thing has been the Wolverines' inability to win close games. This has led Michigan's record to plummet to 4-12 in the Big Ten and 12-14 overall making the NCAAs seem out of the question now. Especially with the team's record of late. Michigan is in the middle of a four- game losing streak and has not enjoyed consecutive wins since the team's initial six-game winning streak at the beginning of the season. This didn't help anything. Michigan volleyball coach Greg Giovanazzi said that any hope of the NCAAs is all but gone, and that the team is in a state of frustration. But there is the ever-small glimmer of hopeshining in the distance - way off in the distance. The Big Ten is by far the most com- petitive conference in the nation when it comes to volleyball. It has consis- tently had at least five teams ranked in the top 25 all season, and Penn State, the conference leader, has been battling for the top spot in the nation all fall. With the conference being as deep as it is there is a chance the NCAA might take seven teams for the tour- nament. Michigan closes out its season with four games, including the home finale No. 2 Penn State and the season finale at No.8 Wisconsin. Ohio State and Iowa, teams that Michigan can beat, are also left on the schedule. "We'd have to upset at least one of those two (Penn State and Wisconsin) and win the other two (Ohio State and Iowa)," Giovanazzi said. But when asked about his team's tournament chances, Giovanazzi said that they were out of the question. The team's chances might be out of the question, but they are not totally ruled out. It would take a sweep of the final four games to even generate talk about having a legitimate chance at tournament play. But it would take convincing wins against Big Ten cellar trolls Iowa and Ohio State, and upsets of both Penn State and Wisconsin. This isn't very likely to happen the way Michigan has played this season. It has been unable to beat teams like Ohio State all year, and hasn't even come close to competing with the likes of the Nittany Lions or the Badgers. The Wolverines would have to undergo a 180-degree turnaround to approach that little glimmer of hope way off in the distance. But right now, the team is the only one that thinks it can do it. S = COLUMBIA UN IVERSITY SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily Linsey Ebert and the Michigan volleyball team have taken flore licks then they have given out this season. The Wolverines are 4-12 in the Big Ten, one year after making their first-ever NCAA toumament appearance. To study at the School of International and Public Affairs is to arrive where the world's pathways of learning, policy, and action converge. At SIPA, Columbia University connects in countless ways with New York City, I-Nua .+i 1 t.N Mf MI t 14i1mw n n " i nr RIM' ~-.Li ih ! "S- - S ON Q Wiwi" I