12 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 14, 2001
t
One last tuneup for
track before Big Tens
By Adam Kaplan A
Daily Sports Writer
HAWKEYES
Continued from Page 11
Since that Jan. 20 evening, Michigan (3-8 Big Ten, 9-
13 overall) has won only won more game, a 72-65 victo-
ry over conference bottom-dweller Northwestern.
Sunday's loss to Indiana was Michigan's fourth consecu-
tive defeat.
Michigan will retake the court against Iowa (6-4, 17-6)
tonight in Crisler Arena, hoping to relocate some of the
magic discovered in the first contest.
The team remains optimistic that the season can still
be salvaged, despite the fact that Michigan has to win
nearly all of its games to even qualify for the NIT.
"There have been so many other things that have been
taken out of context that it puts such a drab on the entire
situation," Ellerbe said Monday. "We've lost basketball
games, we haven't lost life. We haven't lost the opportu-
nity. We still have the opportunity to play some games
and have a good season."
Since the last time Michigan played Iowa, the
Hawkeyes lost their leading scorer, Luke Recker, for the
season with a leg injury.
Recker, the Hawkeye's leading scorer, put up 18 points
in the previous meeting, and was largely responsible for
Iowa's near comeback.
The Hawkeyes are in a mini-slump without Recker,
having lost two straight contests - the latest of which
was a 69-61 loss to Northwestern. It was the Wildcats'
first conference win of this season or last.
The Michigan women's track team
is 10 days away from competing in
the Big Ten Championships, but it
has one short stride to make.
"The foundation has been laid,"
liichigan coach James Henry said.
'qt is a matter of putting the final
touches on our work."
The Wolverines will host the
Harold Silverston Invitational, a
non-scoring meet, starting at 10:30
a.m. on Saturday. Two Canadian
teams, four clubs teams, and Detroit-
Mercy will be among the numerous
participants.
For Michigan, this meet gives
them a change of pace.
"Many of our athletes will be run-
ning outside of their events," Henry
said.
Henry is tinkering with the lineup
to enhance the season's work. For
instance, sprinters will run at longer
distances than they normally would
in Big Ten action.
"I am not concerned about how
we perform in particular events,
although a few kids need work,"
Henry said. "We are refining our
skills, so our focus is on speed."
For Junior Tasha Phillips, who
competes in multiple events, this
INDOOR TRACK BUILDING
What: Harold Silverston Invitational
When: 10:30 a.m. Saturday
Latest: In a non-scoring event, Michigan will
face Detroit-Mercy, two Canadian teams and
four club teams are a few of the teams com-
peting in the meet. The Wolverines look to
tweak its lineup as it prepares for the Big Ten
Championships in West Lafayette in just 10
days.
weekend will be another step in
recovering from.a minor injury. She
will only compete in one event in
this meet.
"Two weeks is not enough time for
her," Henry said. "She has been test-
ing it in practice."
Henry indicated that the team will
need Phillips to compete well down
the stretch.
To a large degree, the Wolverines
are looking forward to the Big Ten
Championships, but this does not
mean that the upcoming non-scoring
meet is not important.
"It will be the dawn before the
storm," Henry said.
Next weekend, Michigan will bat-
tle a balanced Big Ten conference,
one that has lots of parity.
"Physically, we are ready," Henry
said. "We will see if we are psycho-
logically and mentally prepared."
Rainout gives women's
golf title after one day
Michigan women's golf team fin-
ished as co-champions of the Lady
Aztec Invitational after the second and
final round of the tournament was
canceled due to rain.
Michigan and Brigham Young were
awarded the title after both shot a low
score of 311 in the first round of the
tournament. Although this was the
first tournament victory for the Lady
Wolverines in six years, the team had
mixed emotions.
In a released statement, Coach
Kathy Teichert said, "It's a great win
for us, but at the same time I wish we
could have gotten another competitive
round under our belts."
- Jim Weber
® AROUND THE TOP 25
Upset city
For the Daily. .
BIG TENS
Continued from Page 11
6 - HAPPY VALLEY HEROES: No. 13
Penn State (4-0, 8-0) has been on a roll
recently, led by arguably the best breast-
stroker in the nation - Kristen
Wooding. Richardson views this team
as "by far the deepest squad in the con-
ference." The Nittany Lions are an up-
arid-coming program under the direc-
tion of Bill Dorenkott - last year's Big
Ten Coach of the Year. After compiling
its first undefeated record in dual
meets, Penn State should give the
Wolverines all they can handle this
weekend -- and more.
7 - THE RED ARMY: They are the
home team and are ranked No. 21.
Those two simple facts give the
Hoosiers (5-1, 8-1) a shot at moving
past some of the more established pro-
grams in the conference. Indiana
placed sixth last season, but it has lost
virtually none of its core-point scorers.
Expect improvement from the ladies in
red.
8 - BOILING up: No. 26 Purdue (4-
4, 11-4) is the consensus choice as the
most improved team this season. The
Boilermakers have posted dual meet
wins over Michigan State, Iowa, Illinois
and Ohio State.
9 - NORTHWESTERN IS GOOD:
Really! Often the butt of jokes from
other Big Ten schools, Northwestern
(2-2, 4-2) proved its athletic ability in
the pool with a win over Michigan just
two weeks ago. The Wildcats are hold-
ing onto a No. 18 ranking in the polls.
10 - NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP:
Michigan State finished a ghastly 100
points short of 10th place in last year's
meet. With a new coach and a new atti-
tude, good things will happen for the
Spartans eventually. But they will have
great difficulty moving up against such
formidable competition.
TONIGHT, 7 P.M. ESPN, NO.3 DUKE
AT NO. 12 VIRGINIA: Virginia is cur-
rently suffering from a two game los-
ing streak and has a losing record in
ACC play at 5-6. Point guard Donald
Hand was a disastrous 0-for-9 from the
field in the Cavaliers' most recent loss
to unranked Georgia Tech. Virginia
desperately needs a win and is glad to
be returning to University Hall to try
to get it.
Unfortunately for Virginia, the Blue
Devils of Duke are the ones coming up
to Charlottesville to see them. Duke is
trying to regain its supremacy over the
ACC, and what better team to do it
against than the team it beat 103-61
earlier this year?
Virginia has the talent and ability to
beat Duke tonight. Duke is not very
deep and - as was evident in last
year's tournament game against
Florida - it can beat the trap, but
begins to tire at the end of the game.
Virginia runs the trap as well as Billy
Donovan's Gators and will use it to
wear out the Blue Devils.
The key to this game will be point-
guard play. Hand must come back from
his most recent debacle and play the
smothering defense he is capable of
against Jason Williams. If Williams can
not beat the trap, Duke cannot beat
Viginia.
Virginia 102, Duke 92
SATURDAY, CBS 1 P.M., No. 6
KANSAS AT No. 9 IOWA STATE: Big 12
foes square off to see who is the best of
the West in this matinee matchup.
Kansas is coming off an embarrass-
ing loss to unranked Baylor and is
looking for something to crush to vali-
date its No. 6 ranking nationally.
Standing in its way is senior Jamaal
Tinsley and Iowa State.
However, maybe Kansas is standing
in the Cyclones' way. Iowa State leads
the Big 12 after Kansas' loss, and this
would be the justification that it is the
best team in the conference.
The Cyclones are undefeated at home
this year, and a lot of that can be attrib-
uted to Tinsley's 15 points and six assists
per game. Also averaging 87 points per
game at home as a team is a great bonus.
Stern okays relocation
for NBA's Grizzlies
VANCOUVER, British Columbia
(AP) - After six years of losing hun-
dreds of games on the court and millions
of dollars at the bank, the Grizzlies look
ready to leave Vancouver - possibly as
early as next season.
NBA commissioner David Stern met
with team owner Michael Heisley in
Washington Monday and agreed that,
considering the money the team is los-
ing, it's time for the Grizzlies to find a
new home.
"We've agreed to assist Mr. Heisley in
exploring what other North American
cities might be appropriate for the
Grizzlies to relocate to, Stern said.
It didn't take long for potential U.S.
homes to begin wooing the Grizzlies.
New Orleans, which once lost the
Jazz to Salt Lake City, was first to show
interest. Doug Thornton, general man-
ager of the New Orleans Arena, said
officials plan to contact Heisley.
"Sources tell us that he is interested
in relocating the franchise, rather than
selling it,' Thornton said. "That's the
challenge of a professional sports fran-
chise, securing ownership."
AP PHOTO
Duke's Shane Battier and Mike Dunleavy will try and dismante Virginia as well as
they did in the teams' first meeting.
Camp Michigania
Aluni Association of the University of Michigan
Working at the University of Michigan alumni camp is a rewarding and
exciting opportunity. Since 1961, Camp Michigania has been a treasured
experience for thousands of UM alumni and their families. Those who
serve as staff members have countless opportunities for personal and pro-
fessional growth.
Meet and work with visiting UM
faculty. Network with UM Alumni.
Make lifelong faendsh ips
Develop leadership skills.
Work in specialized program areas:
Compare that to the 77 points per game
Kansas averages on the road and it looks
bad for the Jayhawks.
Kenny Gregory will have to score
more than his average of 16 for Kansas
to reclaim the top spot in the confer-
ence. Do not be surprised if the Iowa
State fans chant the Jayhawks off the
court with "overrated" all the way to
the Big 12 tourney.
Iowa State 90, Kansas 78
SATURDAY, CBS 4 P.M., OHIO STATE
AT NO. 17 ALABAMA: The Buckeyes
are trying to prove they deserve
respect with a record of 15-9 (7-5 Big
Ten). They have wins over Wisconsin
and Michigan State. Ohio State plays
three guards - each of whom can
shoot the long ball - but is by no
means small with 6-11 Ken Johnson
and his 4.25 blocks per game.
The Crimson Tide is also a very bal-
anced team, but the star is Rod
Grizzard, a two-guard who is listed at
6-8 and can do it all. Grizzard aver-
ages almost 19 points a game and is
only a sophomore. Alabama also has
another sophomore sensation in Erwin
Dudley, a great power forward who
knows how to work in the paint.
This is going to be a great noncon-
ference game to watch. These teams
do not get to see each other very often
and both. are ready to play. The edge
goes to the Crimson Tide though due
to their dominance at home this year,
losing only one game all season in
Tuscaloosa.
Alabama 88, Ohio State 75
SUNDAY, CBS 2 P.M., No.9 FLORIDA
AT NO. 13 TENNESSEE: This is a must
win game for both teams as Florida is
two games back and Tennessee is three
games back from the SEC East's best,
Kentucky. The loser of this game
might as well pack its bags and forget
about winning the division.
The matchups in this game are
incredible. Florida's Teddy Dupay,
Matt Bonner and Udonis Haslem take
on Tennessee's 'Tony Harris, Vincent
Yarbrough and Charles Hathaway.
The point guards lead their teams by
running the offense and shooting the
three when needed. The two forwards
are scorers through and through with
range from the perimeter to the interi-
or. Do not forget the big guys either as
they will control the boards and put up
some points for their team.
Florida will try to press the
Volunteers, but Tennessee has a deep
bench and the premiere sixth man in
the country in Ron Slay. This will be a
close game and Florida's 3-point
shooters will need to be hot for them to
beat Tennesee.
Tennessee 82, Florida 79
Le-bad blood: Lemaire
bad mouths Lemieux
CANONSBURG, Pa (AP) - Of all
the NHL players for Minnesota Wild
coach Jacques Lemaire to pick a fight
with, this might not have been the wis-
est choice - Mario Lemieux.
Lemieux said Tuesday the sore back
that visibly bothered him in Sunday's 4-
2 loss at Minnesota feels much better,
and he is looking forward to
Wednesday's rematch with the Wild in
Pittsburgh.
After being shut out Sunday for only
the second time in his 19 comeback
games, Lemieux was critical of the
Wild's offense-stifling clutching and
grabbing, saying it wasn't what the
NHL is trying to sell.
"It's not a wide-open game, which
they (the Penguins) would love,"
Lemaire said. "If we're not allowed to
hit and not allowed to check, I'm com-
ing back, too. I'm going to play in this
league if nobody touches me, or
nobody back-checks on me, and if they
let me make plays and shoot on the net
and get 2-on-Is and breakaways.
Nobody else comes close."
0
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of U of M
Two former CBA
execs suing Thomas
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NEW YORK (AP) - Two former
executives with the now-defunct
Continental Basketball Association's
La Crosse, Wis., Bobcats are threaten-
ing to sue Indiana Pacers coach Isiah
Thomas, the league's last owner.
The men claim Thomas owes their
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lion, much of it in unfulfilled corporate
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"Hundreds of thousands of dollars
this franchise is owed, plus more in
operating expenses. Where is it? I
know this: We don't have it," said Ken
Koeller, former assistant general man-
ager of the Bobcats.
He said a number of angry former
CBA operatives are also considering
legal action against Thomas.
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