SportsMonday - November 22, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 3B Michigan 82, Oakland 62 Michigan toasts Champagne, Oakland T. J. BERKA , By Mark Francescutti Daily Sports Writer Sorry - got caught in traffic. Heavy thunderstorms and Michigan's Weshmen wreaked havoc on Oakland this past Friday night. The rain and traf- fic caused the Golden Grizzlies to arrive late on their 50-mile trip to Crisler Arena. The tardiness carried over to the game as Oakland fell flat in the first half, while the Michigan men's basketball team cruised to an 82-62 victory. The Wolverines won their first season opener and first home opener under coach Brian Ellerbe, thanks to a huge Offensive rush in the first half Meanwhile, the Grizzlies looked like they were late and lost, netting only seven field goals and 19 points in the first 20 minutes. "I can't tell you what happened in the first half, I don't know," Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. "It might be my fault, we left at 4:30 and we couldn't get here. It was after seven and we're just getting in. Our players were in a panic and we layed like it." On the other end of the court, every- thing looked fabulous for Michigan's freshmen. Gavin Groninger and LaVell Blanchard began their Michigan careers with a 3-pointer each, as Michigan went on runs of 6-0, 15-1 and 17-2. The Wolverines at one point led 40-10, before Oakland cut the margin to 42-19 at halftime. "We came out with unreal intensity d we were all over the ball," starting Wnter Josh Asselin said. "Everyone was moving the ball. I think we stressed that we wanted to come out and defend our home floor. That's our pride." While many fans focused on the Wolverines freshmen, a sophomore rose as the high Michigan scorer in the final stats. Sophomore Leon Jones backed up Ellerbe's decision to place him in the grtig lineup, tallying 22 points and l e rebounds, while providing a strong slashing presence. "I think Leon has gained a lot of con- fidence over the summer," Asselin said. "Everything he's done in preseason and over the summer has shown that he's really come to play. Last year he might have been a little hesitant, but now he realizes as one of the veterans that he has to step up." Oakland stormed back in the second half, giving the young Wolverines a jolt of reality. "I think one of the things with young teams is when you get up early, you get a false pretense of why and how you got up," Ellerbe said. "Young guys think they got up because they made a lot of shots, and they got up because they played defense. "The shots we started to take in the second half were good shots, but they weren't timely shots. We should have worked the ball around more." Taking advantage of Michigan's cold stretch, the Grizzlies broke out of their shooters' block and pushed the ball inside to forward Dan Champagne, who scored 26 points. Oakland hit four straight jumpers at one point to trim Michigan's lead to nine. On the Grizzlies' next possession, however, Jason Rozycki's jumper swum around the rim before trickling out. The miss turned into an easy Blanchard dunk at the other end, along with a momentum change Michigan wouldn't relinquish. "There was a sense of urgency," Asselin said. "All of sudden we had a big lead and it was diminished to nine. We realized we had to step up again and it showed a lot of poise from our team" The freshmen showed their all-around talents in the victory, as four out of five of them hit their first career shots. Guard Jamal Crawford had 21 points. Guard Kevin Gaines added six assists and Blanchard chipped in 12 points and six rebounds. Still, turnovers were a problem. "We scored 82 points and we had 27 turnovers," Ellerbe said. "If we can cut that in half, we can probably be where we want to be - in the 90's close to 100. "But that's youth. They're going to drive me nuts, but we're going to stick with them. We're going to have a lot of mistakes, but we never can not work hard. We aren't going to accept that" Ellerbe benched freshman Kevin Gaines for the first several minutes as punishment for breaking an unspecified team rule. "We had to make sure that he has to follow suit and adhere to all the rules," Ellerbe said. "No one is bigger than the program. He served his time." It deftinitely was a better season than you think DAVID KATZ/Daily Michigan sophomore Leon Jones had 22 points Friday in the Wolverines' season opener against Oakland. "I can't be shy ... if I'm going to be a leader," Jones said. Jones leads exWs Blue offense with 2 Men's basketball box score. Page 2B. By Jacob Wheeler Daily Sports Writer The understudy now stands in the spotlight. There were times last season when Michigan guard Leon Jones' pride hurt. He sat on the bench through the pro- gram's most dismal season in 17 years, while veterans Louis Bullock and Robbie Reid tried in futility to carry the team, launching one 3-point attempt after another. Jones didn't get much playing time a year ago, and when he did, he nailed only 29 percent of his shots and less than 20 percent of his 3-pointers. But one year later - after Bullock's and Reid's departures, and his own surge of confidence - Jones has become one of the key actors in the backcourt. He started at small forward on Friday night in Michigan's season-opening victory against Oakland, and submitted an Oscar-worthy performance. Jones led all Wolverines with 22 points on 9 of 15 shooting, and punctuated Michigan's explosive first-half start with a tip-in and 3-pointer, back-to-back, increasing Michigan's lead to 28 points with 5:49 remaining in the half. "He's playing like he has a year under his belt, and that's old on this team," said Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe. Ellerbe acknowledges that Jones took his micro- scopic team role personally last season, and that it might have inspired him to work harder over the off-season. But instead of sitting off stage in the limelight, while the seniors played out their last season in Michigan uniforms, now Jones is one of the veterans. He bal- ances out a backcourt filled with fresh- men who exhibit talent, but also first- year imperfection. "My role on the team is different this year," said Jones. "I'm more of a leader to some of the younger guys on the team. I can't be shy or go out there with a lack of confidence if I'm going to be a leader" Friday night was a perfect example of the stability that Jones brings to Michigan. In a surprise move, Ellerbe did not start bona-fide point guard freshman Kevin Gaines because, as he said during the post-game press conference, Gaines broke an unspecified team rule. "We had to make sure that he under- stands he's very important to the team, but he's got to follow suit with what we're doing," Ellerbe said. "I think he was a lit- tle unsettled, not quite sure when I was going to put him in." Despite the lightning-quick coast-to- coast dribbles and the no-look passes he showed in two exhibition games, Gaines didn't enter his first college game until four minutes into the first half- It had no apparent effect on Michigan's game plan, as Jones teamed with freshmen Jamal Crawford and Gavin Groninger to manipulate Oakland's lethargic backcourt. In the campaign's first minute Groninger and Blanchard sank 3-pointers, on assists from Jones and Crawford, and by the time Jones nailed his first long-range shot, Michigan held a 14-4 lead. Jones' outside shots and aggressive play sparked the Wolverines all night. He nailed three of five shots from behind the 3-point are, but it was one drive to the hoop that impressed Ellerbe the most, because the sophomore appeared tenta- tive too often last season. "He had the best play of the game," said the third-year coach. "Stepping from behind the (free-throw) line, he drove to the hoop on one dribble and just layed it up. We need plays like that from him. We've got to get those from Kevin Gaines as well." There are few things better than a football victory if you are a fan of Michigan athletics. Seeing the Wolverines march up and down the field for touchdowns inspires a great deal of excitement for the fans of maize-and-blue. But there is something just as good as seeing your team win. While reveling in a victory over Ohio State in the last game of the season is one of the highest moments in a Michigan fan's life, there is a moment that rivals a vic- tory as far as the giddiness that it causes. That extra-special moment? Seeing your archrivals fall flat on their faces. This season has been extra spe- cial for the Wolverines. While the 1999 season isn't quite as exciting and memorable as the 1997 national championship season, it has had a lot of value. And it's not due to anything that Michigan has done on the field. Don't get me wrong, a 9-2 season isn't shabby by any means, even if it did involve a loss to Illinois. Neither is the likely invitation to the Orange or Fiesta Bowl, two rather appealing bowls. Though the football team had a good year, Michigan fans are a pretty spoiled group, similar to teenage movie stars. They expect the Wolverines to be among the nation's elite, so this year's 9-2 record is seen as ordinary, as mis- guided as that may be. But what is not ordinary - but makes for a fun-filled season - is the tragic but deserved fate of two of Michigan's most hated rivals, Ohio State and Notre Dame. The fact that these teams have shown the football competence of 'The Little Giants' makes me want to dance a jig. The Buckeyes, with their annoy- ing helmet stickers and their twice- as-repulsive battery-throwing faith- ful, are enough to make a Michigan fan puke. And Notre Dame, with their silly little green man jumping around and praising the luck of the Irish after harrowing wins over Navy, inspires some Michigan fans to boycott NBC. So when the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes on Saturday, preventing Ohio State from winning the bag of potato chips and 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor the Motor City Bowl pays out to whoever wants to spend Christmas in Pontiac, my holiday cheer increased tenfold. But honestly, this event was months in the making. When Ohio and Cincinnati - two teams that would be eliminated in the opening round of the Rhode Island high school playoffs -- grabbed early leads on the Buckeyes, you could tell something was wrong. As for Notre Dame, the luck of the Irish was about as useful for them as a wetsuit in the Sahara. Time and time again, the Fighting Irish would muddle around in the game's final moments by missing assignments and taking sacks. So when I got home from Saturday's game and saw Boston College smacking Notre Dame around on television, my holiday cheer went to a level normally attained with the use of illicit drugs. I even bought my friend a Mr Spot's Chicken Philly due to my glee. But the cheeriness and friendli- ness I have because of this great event does have its drawbacks. Because I was feeling like a nice guy, I figured that the Ohio State and Notre Dame fans deserved some sort of prize for watching their team clown around for three months. So after much deliberation, I decided to repay these horribly mis- guided, but loyal, fans. This prize, I figured, would be to have the Fighting Irish and Buckeyes joust in their very own bowl. I realize that there are plenty of useless bowls already out there and the introduction of a bowl featuring two sorry national pretenders would dilute an already saturated market. Therefore, I decided to put this showcase game in an extravagant location. With Miami, New Orleans, San Antonio and Los Angeles already taken, I thought that Gary, Ind. could be a prime location. I also figured that this game would need to have a catchy name and a highly respected corporate sponsor to garner the interest of the nation. So the Camel Lights Smoke Bowl is born. Thanks to the lack of clean air in northwestern Indiana, it will be easy for the city to acclimate itself into the bowl's concept. To attract television viewers, the Smoke Bowl will jazz things up. Instead of flipping a coin at the beginning of the game, the captains of Ohio State and Notre Dame will engage in a shoot. So instead of call- ing heads or tails, the captains will be doing paper, rock, or scissors. Also, when one team scores, an assistant coach from the other tea. is picked from the sidelines and brought to the middle of the field. After that, the mascot from the scoring team flogs the unlucky coach unmercifully with a crowbar. OK, so maybe I'm not the nicest guy in the world. But having the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish shut out of the bowl season brings joy to. all the world - T Berka can't believe the good fortune that has graced this football season. He can be reached at berkat@unmich.edu. t DAVID KATZ/Daily Center Josh Asselin (with ball) fought his way to a double-double against Oakland Friday, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Easy Money $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ U44 Looking for some extra Spending cash? > ) Work in a relaxed environment ? 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