oreboard -
W L New Hampshire 72
Rn Bay at (11) FLORIDA 131
SAN FRANCISCO, Inc. FLORIDA STATE 58
(10) Temple 69
MEN'S NCAA South Florida 90
BASKETBALL (18) TENNESSEE 102
(13) KENTUCKY 66 Colgate 49
DAYTON 68 (14) SYRACUSE 83
Coppin State 44 Vermont 51
(5) CONNECTICUT 89 (15) H10 STATE 74
*1 hollay
wish/ list?
Just one
Pequest .. .
car Santa: I know I'm writ-
ing a little early this year, but
I've been really good and I
need your help. You've got to get rid
of all these in-season college basket-
ball tournaments. That's my one
Christmas wish.
No more Maui Invitational, no
#re Great Alaska Shootout, no
more Preseason NIT. I can't take it
anymore. These tournaments are
killing my early-season enthusiasm
for -college-
basketball.
I don't want CHRIS
to see whether DUPREY
Oregon State
will advance to
play the win-
Sof Southa
Dakota State
and Bethune-
Cookman. I ; f
don't want to
see how UPE's
ridieulous soop
Gene Keady
looks wearing one of those Hawaiian
shirts. I just want to watch regular
basketball games.
# hese tournaments are horrible
for fans. America gets no warning.
Just as we're starting to be
deprived of our college football,
we're force-fed this garbage. And,
knowing these Hawaii tournaments,
toy favorite team will probably end
up playing at 3 a.m. local time any-
way. There's a reason they don't call
it December Madness, you know.
ESPN could at least warn us by
Ing the truth on commercials:
Over the next three nights, we're
going to stuff your face with the
same eight teams. Learn more about
Utah State than you ever wanted to
know. Get ready-you're going to be
sick." By the end of the third night,
the low-budget color commentators
can't find anything new to say.
Playing games five time zones
away deprives the college campuses
some marquee matchups. Whyi
s ould season-ticket holders be
forced to sit through the Indiana
States and Akrons of the schedule,
when the team takes off for the
Pacific every time it plays someone
halfway decent?
It's no good for the teams, either.
You fly halfway across the country,
play three games in 72 hours in some
glorified high-school gymnasium
(you can tell by the drinking foun-
.s built into the side wall and the
pull-out bleachers), and then fly
home, and take two weeks to recov-
er. Sounds like fun. By the time the
players get over the jet lag, Clem
Haskins could be hired by
Minnesota as Dean of Student
Affairs.
The preconference schedule is
meant to give teams an opportunity
to et ready for the season - a game
*the road, a game at home. (Or if
you're Michigan this season, a game
on the road, six games at home.) Do
you learn more about the character
of your team playing in front of
15,000 hostile opposing fans, or
2,500 tourists and the Hawaii Five-O
reunion cast?
In-season tournaments can be
absolutely destructive. Ask Travis
Conlan, Robert Traylor and Maceo
I ~ton and the rest of the 1996-97
higan squad. They were 8-0,
ranked No. 3 in the nation that year,
having beat Duke on the road and
Arizona. Then they got suckered
into playing at Maui over the
Christmas holiday, where they lost
two of three games to some really
laughable opponents, flew home just
two nights before their Big Ten
opener, and lost that too. They ended
having a pretty nice postseason
though-in the NIT.
So Santa, please grant me this one
request. I promise I won't forget the
milk this year.
- Tell Chris Duprey what you
think of his Chri-smtas inishes b' e-
mailing hiit at eduprer umstttich.edu.
NBA
Sacramento 88
MIAMI98
Dallas 82
NEW YORK 107
Golden State 99
UTAH 115
NHL
Washington 1
TORONTO 3
ScrIm
SPOITS
Tracking 'M'VPs
Michigan quarterback Tom Brady was named the teatm
MVP at the football bust yesterday. Brady was the
team leader despite splitting time with Drew Henson
early in the season.
Tuesday
November 30, 1999
Wolverines looking for offense to tuck away Friars
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Arun Gopal
' Sports Writer
he Michigan women's basketball
m has an impressive 4-0 record to
t the season.
Jnder normal circumstances, this
ld be cause for tremendous opti-
>m.
ut, the two most recent wins,
inst Cincinnati and Holy Cross.
e been rather ugly. To be blunt,
higan has laid enough bricks to
d a fireplace. The Wolverines
iged their way to a 41 percent
oting night against Holy Cross.
hlighted by a six-point offensive
[osion in the game's first ten mini-
s.
ks a result, contrary to the lyrics of
D and the Gang, the Wolverines are
celebrating the good times.
"I just asked my team, 'Where is the
team that was in Colorado? Did we lose
it in the mountains?"' Michigan coach
Sue Guevara said after the Wolverines'
71-55 victory over Holy Cross.
Michigan will attempt to rediscover
its offensive touch tonight, when the
Wolverines host Providence at Crisler
Arena.
After a horrendous 5-22 record last
year, coach Jim Jabir's Friars were
looking for a fast start this season.
Unfortunately for Jabir, Providence has
lost 3 of its first 4 games.
Despite that fact, Michigan is not
taking its Big Last foe lightly.
"Providence plays a lot like
Cincinnati," Guevara said. "They really
like to penetrate and drive to the basket.
"We've talked about guarding
against a letdown, and to be honest, it
doesn't matter whether their record is
1-3 or 4-0. Right now, it's about what
we need to do to sharpen up."
The Wolverines have been able to
compensate for their sputtering offense
with a stifling defense, holding both
Cincinnati and Holy Cross under 60
points. According to Guevara, the key
has simply been team effort.
"We've done a good job on our team
defense," Guevara said. "Our defense
and our rebounding have kept us in
these last two games, but I know that
our offense will come around eventual-
ly."
To increase scoring, Michigan will
need to solve the zone defense.
Both Cincinnati and Holy Cross used
this defense to neutralize the
Wolverines' potent running game, and
Providence can be expected to chal-
lenge Michigan in a similar fashion.
While Michigan was still able to
defeat both the Bearcats and the
Crusaders, it was forced to do so with
rebounding and defense. This style of
play would have made Michigan
State's Tom Izzo and the Flintstones
proud, but it can be painful to watch.
"For one thing, we will have to be
more patient," Guevara said. "We'll try
to get the ball into the post more.
Essentially, we want to make the zone
shift"
In order for Michigan to get the ball
into the post, it will need better com-
munication between its guards and for-
wards.
The zone defense confused the
Wolverines to the point where forward
Ruth Kipping and center Alison Miller
had only 10 combined shots against
Cincinnati and Holy Cross.
"We need our post players to step up
and call for the ball:' Guevara said.
"Our perimeter players were having
some trouble seeing them, so they need
to be able to at least hear them."
Regardless of whether or not
Michigan wins this game, it needs to
see more continuity on offense. If the
Wolverines have a third consecutive
sluggish outing, changes could be in
order.
"I don't know if I'll make any major
changes," Guevara said. "At this point,
'im still trying out different combina-
tions.
"Ms belief has always been that if
you play defense, you'll get to play.
Right now, there are a lot of people on
this team who are making it difficult
for me to keep them off of the floor."
LSU offers job to Saban
Katrina Lehman
and the rest of
the Wolverines
didn't expect an
t a' NCAA Tournament
berth, but they
got one. Michigan
plays Fairfield in
the first round on
Sunday.
KIMITSU YOGACHI/Daiy
Surprise1AA M'eceive
NC"AA t ourney berth
AP peO
r Michigan State's best season in years, the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1may be coach Nick Saban's last game with the Spartans.
/IichiganS obolt.
staff and wire reports
AST LANSING - Michigan
e football coach Nick Saban
replace fired Gerry DiNardo at
isiana State, two Louisiana tele-
on stations reported yesterday. A
higan station reported that he
been offered the job but had not
decided whether to accept.
AFB television in Baton Rouge
WWL television in New
cans both cited unidentified
rces in their reports. Louisiana
t sent an airplane to Lansing,
h., to pick up Saban to bring
to campus Monday evening,
WAFB reported.
Louisiana State's sports informa-
tion office said they could not con-
firm the reports, but WAFB said
Saban will have an announcement
sometime today, and that LSU is
"highly optimistic."
Saban met with Michigan State
players late yesterday afternoon in a
prescheduled meeting to discuss
their upcoming Florida Citrus Bowl
appearance and told them they
might be hearing media reports that
lie was considering another job. He
didn't specify the school, two play-
ers said.
"All fie said was that he had been
contacted by another school,"
Michigan State tight end Ivory
McCoy said.
Defensive back DeMario Suggs
said he supports whatever decision
Saban makes.
"I'd be sorry to see him go, but
it's his decision," Suggs said.
"Whatever is best for him and his
family."
Saban was not at his office last
night and could not be reached for
comment. Offensive coordinator
Morris Watts said he believes Saban
See SABAN, Page 12
By Jon Zemke
Daily Sports Wetter
The Michigan volleyball team's
resiliency paid big dividends Sunday,
as the Wolverines earned their second
NCAA Tournament bid in the pro-
gram's history.
"To us, it's a total gift," middle
blocker Annie Maxwell said. "It was
icing on top of the cake."
The surprise bid will pit Fairfield
(30-3), the Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference champion, against
Michigan (16-15) in the first round in
Stockton Calif. on Friday. The winner
of the match will then face the winner
of the top-seeded Pacific vs. Colgate
match on Saturday for a berth in
regionals.
"Something that is in our favor is
that Fairfield hasn't played a very
strong schedule," Michigan coach
Mark Rosen said. "I imagine we're
going to match up pretty well but you
never know."
Michigan was one of eight teams
selected to the tournament from the
Big Ten. It was the first time in con-
ference history that the selection
committee took eight Big Ten teams.
Their selection caught Michigan
off guard. The Wolverines had not
even organized a team meeting to
watch the selection process and two
players had already left for Chicago
thinking their season was over.
A friend of Maxwell's, who plays
for Virginia, had been watching the
selection process and had seen
Michigan's name pop up in the 64
team brackets.
"She called me up and said, 'Annie,
do you that you guys are in the tour-
nament?"' Maxwell said. "So I start-
ed screaming and said to Maggie
(senior defensive specialist Maggie
Cooper), 'We're in the tournament!'
Maggie said, 'No we're not. My
career is over.' It took 15 minutes
before it sunk in."
The next thing Maxwell knew, she
was calling Rosen and the rest of the
team with the news.
"We called around immediately to
let them know there was practice
today and to just get things rolling,"
Rosen said.
What really got the postseason
rolling for the Wolverines was win-
ning three of their last four games -
two of those opponents -- Michigan
State and Illinois also made the tour-
nament.
See TOURNEY, Page 13
aban's coaching career
e following is the record of the teams coached by Nick Saban, who is reportedly being
nsidered for the head coaching position at Louisiana State.
hool
Aedo
chigan State
chigan State
chigan State
chigan State
chigan State
)tats
Year
1990
1995
1996-
1997
1998
1999
w
9
6
6
7
6
9
43
L
2
5
6
5
6
2
26
T
0
1
0
0
0
0
'I
Bowl
Independence
Sun
Aloha
Citrus
Tte ;istoc tuta'tlPress
RCHA.EOLOGICAL FIELD
ICHOOL
IUMMER 2000
Cadiz, Spain
Participate in an ongoing investigation of
a first millenium B.C. settlement at
Villamartin. Hands-on training in field
excavation and artifact processing. All
instruction conducted in English.
Excursions to sites and museums around
Sevilla, Gibraltar and Cadiz.
HE DAILY WILL $E IN
ATLANTA FOR THE
SIG TEN-ACC
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