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20B - The Michigan Daily - ripoff'99 - Thursday, November 11, 1999

9


Knight doesn't need
license to win 20

It's always an exciting Indiana sea-
son when Bobby Knight guides the
Hoosiers.
Somehow, he always finds a way to
eclipse 20' wins, which he's accom-
plished 20 times in his 28-year reign.
Even when his teams have been
questionable, like it is this season,
Knight has found the postseason.
Forward Luke Recker and his 16-
plus points per game left, but the
Hoosiers return a solid backcourt
and add a frontcourt with promise.
Senior A.J. Guyton, a Big Ten pre-
season pick for all-conference, will
take on a leadership role both on and
off the court.
"I am very pleased with his job in
practice this year," Knight said. "He
gets his teammates involved. He has-
n't shot much in practice this year
but shoots the ball very well. Guyton
can be an exceptional. player. Since
his freshman year he has been a key
player, however, we haven't seen him
be as consistent as he could be."
He will be joined by senior
Michael Lewis at the point.
Dane Fife from Clarkston, will
look to back up the duo, giving the

Hoosiers a quality backcourt that can
keep up with the influx of great
guards in the Big Ten.
Down in the paint, Indiana will
rely on sophomore Kirk Haston to
develop his game further. While lim-
ited, Haston can provide the Hoosiers
with a strong presence on the inside.
"As one of the big kids, he is one
of the hardest working kids I have
seen," Knight said. "He is playing
better now then when practice start-
ed. Big players have a hard time con-
centrating and keeping focus.
"His ability to shoot from the out-
side complements what he does
inside."
Seniors Larry Richardson and
Lynn Washington will also help.
The Hoosiers add five new faces,
including three forwards that can
help a questionable frontcourt.
Indiana could -be better, though, as
Knight saw three players in as many
years transfer to other schools. If he
can't keep his players in
Bloomington long enough, Indiana
may quickly find itself in the Big Ten
basement.
- Mark Francescutti

Indana~a
Coach: Bob Knight (29th season)
Last season: 9-7 Big Ten
(T-3rd), 23-11 overall
Key returners: Sr. G A.J. Guyton, So.
C Kirk Haston, Sr. G Michael Lewis,
Sr. F Larry Richardson, Sr. F Lynn
Washington, So. G Dane Fife
Losses: G Luke Recker, F William
Gladness
(31.4 percent of offense)
Nonconference tests: Temple
(neutral-site) Nov. 26, Kentucky
(neutral-site) Dec. 4, North
Carolina (neutral-site) Dec. 21.
Make or break: Can Guyton create
his own shot without Recker?

Wiconsin
Coach: Dick Bennett (fifth season)
Last season: 9-7 Big Ten
(T-3rd), 22-10 overall
Key returners: Jr. G Mike Kelley, Jr.
F Andy Kowske, Jr. F Mark
Vershaw, So. F Charlie Wills
Losses: G Ty Calderwood,
G Sean Mason
(42.1 percent of offense)
Nonconference tests: at Wake
Forest Nov. 30, Texas Dec. 7,
Temple Dec. 29
Make or break: After losing their
two top scorers, will the Badgers
score enough points to give their
stingy defense a chance to win?

Badgers need offense

Ii

* ffI- UiN* ION~~ *
SENIOR HISTORY
CONCENTRATORS
Colloquium sign-up for winter term 2000 is Monday,
November 15. 9:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. in 1024 Tisch Hall.

Since Michigan's motto for the season
is 'Ready to Run,' maybe Wisconsin's
should be 'Ready to Walk'.
You can envision coach Dick Bennett
in the Wisconsin huddle during the
Badgers' pitiful 32-point showing in their
first-round NCAA Tournament loss to
Southwest Missouri State last season.
"OK, we've got to drain the clock.
Pound the ball inside, throw the ball off
the rim, grab the rebound, kick it out to
our guards, and we'll kill another 35 sec-
onds."
And if the Badgers could be con-
sidered 'explosive' last season, with
Sean Mason and Ty Calderwood, then
he dynamite is gone in 1999. Those
two have departed - Mason is head-
d for the greener pastures of the
BA - and the Badgers must pick
p and move on with what little they
ave left.
Mike Kelley and Travon Davis, who

combined to average just 5.5 points per
game last season, are expected to take
over as the starting guards. The develop-
ment of highly touted freshman Kirk
Penney, a New Zealand native who will
enter his first season of ball on this side
of the International Date Line, will be
key for the Badgers.
Still, it's likely that any team that can
score 65 points will beat the Badgers. A
piece of advice - if betting on any game
involving Wisconsin, take the under.
Perhaps Wisconsin's greatest strength
is its knack for beating the teams they're
'supposed to beat. The Badgers won't
scare any of the conference's top teams,
but they will grind out victories over the
Penn States and Northwesterns of the
Big Ten.
In the haves-and-have-nots world of
the Big Ten this season, that will be a
strength the Badgers can build on.
- Chris Dupre_

Iowa trying
to recover
after huge
roster loss
Only a team as deep as Iowa could
lose, so many key players and still be
able to field a team.
Jess Settles' eligibility has expired
- finally. J.R. Koch left after a pro-
ductive career in the frontcourt. Role
players Kent McCausland and Jason
Bauer are gone. Guy Rucker gave up
his eligibility by playing in a semi-
professional league over the summer.
And pleasant freshman surprise Joey
Range couldn't get his academics in
order and left to pout in junior college.
In what has become a rebuilding
season for both of Iowa's major sports,
Steve Alford has taken the role of pro-
gram savior. He has a few tools to
work with - Dean Oliver averaged
just under 12 points a game last season
as a sophomore, Jacob Jaacks is a
grinder down low and provides those
fabled 'intangibles.' Ryan
Luehrsmann is usually good for two or
three three-pointers a game -
although you couldn't get him to go
inside the three-point line if you paid
him.
But like the fate that befell
Michigan last season, when the young
Wolverines were forced to play a near-
impossible schedule, Alford and Iowa
are almost guaranteed Grim Reaper
victims, with a nonconference slate
that includes national champion
Connecticut, Maryland and Missouri.
The only help on the way is from
two junior college transfers, Joe
Fermino and Rod Griffin. Their statis-
tics are impressive, but jucos are
always a gamble.sTake a wait-and-see
attitude with these two.
Right now, Alford has told anyone
who will listen how excited he is to be
in Iowa City. Hopefully the dim out-
look on this season won't kill any of
that youthful passion.
- Chris Duprey
Iowa #,
Coach: Steve Alford (first season)
Last season: 9-7 Big Ten
(T-3rd), 20-10 overall
Key returners: Jr. G Dean Oliver,
Sr. G Ryan Luehrsmann, Sr. C
Jacob Jaacks
Losses: F Jess Settles, F J.R. Koch, C
Guy Rucker, F Joey Range, F
Sam Okey, G Kent
McCausland
(62.3 percent of offense)
Nonconference tests: at
Maryland Nov. 30, at Missouri
Dec. 18
Make or break: Is Iowa ready for the
transitionperiod that lies ahead?

Basketball coach
hopes to continue
student involvement
To THE DAILY:
As we finalize prepar4ions for the upcoming
1999-2000 Michigan basketball campaign, I wanted
to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for
your support this winter. I have long felt that without
the support of the campus community, any college
basketball program is void of emotion.
The student body, in particular, is the backbone
of spirit within an arena and really establishes the
emotion that all other fans tend to feed off. Our goal
is to continue to spotlight the Michigan student body
and give them their own identity, the Maize Rage.
We hope this special group will continue to
develop into an intimidating force that our oppo-
nents must battle each game. This year all student
season ticket holders will receive a free Maize Rage
t-shirt that we hope to see at each home game. The
Maize Rage t-shirt is the official game day jersey of
the Michigan student body.
We are extremely excited about this upcoming
season. With a mix of seasoned veterans and young
talent we should be an exciting team to watch all sea-
son long. After playing the toughest schedule in the
country last season, we continue this season with 13
of our 21 opponents having played in a postseason
tournament last season. Ten teams participated in the
NCAA Tournament and three in the NIT. Plus, we
play three of the four NCAA Tournament Final Four
teams at Crisler Arena - Duke (Dec. 11), Michigan
State (Feb. 1) and Ohio State (Feb. 6). It should be an
exciting year!
In addition we have made tremendous strides to
improve our overall game-day atmosphere in Crisler
Arena off the court. We have integrated a new state-
of-the-art sound system to work in conjunction with
the Michigan basketball pep band and cheerleaders.
This should further eliminate the existence of any
"dead times" during the game and it should provide
a festive backdrop for all time-outs and halftime
periods.
We're also excited to welcome the Michigan
dance team as a permanent addition to the basketball
game day lineup. The Michigan dance team, com-

prised of Michigan students, will be present at court-
side each game to help energize the Crisler Arena
crowd. Other areas of improvement include a new
concessionaire, new novelty venders and the addi-
tion of ATM machines on the arena concourse. We
will be working closely with The Michigan Daily to
provide you with a preview of each week's game day
entertainment and giveaways.
We sincerely appreciate your support of the
Michigan basketball program and looking forward
to seeing and hearing you often at Crisler Arena this
season.
Go Blue!
BRIAN H. ELLERBE
HEAD BASKETBALL COACH
'Bandwagon mentality'
causes low ticket sales
To TE DAILY:
I am disappointed in the lack of student interest
for this year's basketball team. It seems whenever the
topic of the team is brought up someone remarks,
"Oh, they suck."
As a whole, the lack of ticket sales in my opin-
ion is due to the bandwagon mentality of many stu-
dents. They don't want to support the team on a
down slide, but I bet many of those same people
rushed to the stores to buy 1997 National
Championship garb to show their "spirit."
If people don't buy season tickets because they
are not interested in basketball or are appalled at the
shenanigans of Ed Martin, so be it. The whole point
of having student sections is to have fun, cheer wild
stuff and watch the team progress. Perhaps Michigan
fans should look to the example of Duke.
The Cameron Crazies, yes those SAT 1400 and
above bookworms, come out in full force every
game, even when the Blue Devils had some rough
periods when their Coach K sat out due to health
problems a few years back. The basketball team
won't be that bad this year anyway, folks.
BRIAN WALBY
ENGINEERING FIRST-YEAR STUDENT AND
SEASON BASKETBALL TICKET HOLDER

Why do we fans love to watch hockey
games at Yost? For me, it is the small arena
which bears down on the ice like a hawk on
prey. As a fan in Yost you know what you say,
even if you are sitting fifteen rows up could be
heard on the ice. You know that your cheers
carry throughout the 6,000 person arena. You
know that when you enter into Yost, there are
decades of tradition and excellence.
This is the same feeling I get when I walk
into the Big House. Michigan Stadium, howev-
er, has a different sense of greatness. Firstly,
the sheer awe of l 1,000 people blows ones
mind away.
And the grandeur of being in the largest sta-
dium in America makes for chills up and down
one's spine. Furthermore, the big house carries
a sort of class with its ability to keep commer-
cialism out of the stadium in large part. Except
for the constant flying of planes carrying ban-
ners, everything you see at the big house is 100
percent football.
This brings us to Crisler. The last of the tri-
umvirate of major sports here at the
University. What is it about
Crisler that carries the same
uniqueness or greatness like
Yost and Michigan Stadium?
The simple answer is NOT H- Wth
ING. Yep, you heard me, noth-
ing, nada, zip, zilch, zero. As man
a hardcore fan, the bareness
and sterility of Crisler make court, t
watching a game damn near 'W ew
unenjoyable. I cannot name We W
one unique aspect of Crisler; 'cra
something that I would not
find at any- other basketball They 1w
arena in the country. We do
not have a distinctive student Us ti
section.Fa F
The student section that Fab F
we have is not very threaten-
ing in that the first row of stu- Hu'
dents sit about ten feet away
from the court. Hardly, a
daunting notion as a player.
When our basketball team goes down to
Cameron Indoor Stadium, they know that
opposite their bench is a menacing array of
wild students ready to tear the limbs off any
player that dares to try and save a ball or come
near the stands.
At Crisler, which has information and press
rows flanking both sides of the court, the fans
sitting right up front can barely be heard on the
court. As a fan, you do not feel like a factor at
Crisler. You feel like a spectator that might just
as well be sitting in the upper bowl then stand-
ing, screaming your lungs out.
What can be done to make Crisler more like
the Little House?
If I had my way and I was able to design a
new seating system at Crisler that might help
the cause as a fan and player I would do some-
thing like this:
First, remove the press and information
rows from courtside, at least on the students'
side. This would let student seats move up
right behind the benches, where they could
really be heard.
Then, I would immediately implement an
idea already proposed, to bring in low risers
and pack 1,500 students behind the benches,

Thursday, November 11, 1999 -
LETTERS TO THE EDITORI-

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How can they fix Crisler?
We urge you to contact the University's Board in Control of
Intercollegiate Athletics and let your feelings be heard about
the pitiful state of Crisler Arena.

cired.

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