10A -The Michigan Daily -Friday, October 12, 2001

Spikers
practice at
fast pace
By Charles Paradis
Daily Sports Writer
Every weekday, the Michigan volley-
ball team gathers in Cliff Keen Arena
for a few hours to practice. Its time is
limited to just two or at most three
hours a day, but in these few hours the
team never stops moving. This constant
activity in practice will help the
Wolverines (4-2 Big Ten, 8-5 overall)
as they travel to take on Illinois and
Indiana on the road this weekend.
Speed is an important part of the team's
practice mentality.
"No matter what we are doing we
want to keep it fast paced," coach Mark
Rosen said.
The team does this for two major

Jones believes tough times
finally behind Wolverines

E
I

By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Editor

B"RA"NDONSELOFF/Daiy
Michigan senior Katrina Lehman looks
to continue her strong play in Illinois.
coaches assist them in this by constant-
ly urging the players not merely to get
through a drill, but to get through it
faster than they have before. The play-
ers have bought into this philosophy
and try to be quick in everything they
do, including putting up and taking

reasons. First, vol-
leyball is a fast
game. The team
endures rigorous up
tempo practices to
prepare for the
rapid pace of the
game. Second, the
Wolverines cannot
afford to practice

CHAMPAIGN, ILL.
Who: Michigan (4-2 Big Ten, 8-5 overall) vs.
Illinois (2-4, &5)
When: 7 p.m.
Latest: After sweeping Oakland at home earli-
er'this week, the Wolverines return to Big Ten
play.

down the nets.
Another major
component of prac-
tice is that the
coaching staff tries
to incorporate com-
petition in all
aspects of the prac-
tice. This is done in

Leon Jones has taken his interest in film and cine-
ma to another level since arriving at Michigan three
years ago. He's participated in a few plays and also
shot a couple films of his own with some of his bas-
ketball teammates .
Now, as one of Michigan's senior tri-captains,
Jones will be playing a major role in directing the
biggest movie of his life - his final season as a
Wolverine.
"It's been tough going through all the hardship the
past few seasons and persevering through that, and
then through the past years when people could have
given up and transferred because they didn't want to
do it anymore," Jones said. "But it'd be all that more
gratifying if we can make something special happen
this year and surprise people in my senior year."
One reason Jones feels Michigan can do just that is
because the captains strongly believe in the same
message that the new Michigan coaching staff is try-
ing to instill - making it easier for it to trickle down
to the rest of the team.
"I think it helps you to not look at the coaches as a
good cop, bad cop," Jones said. "If you have your
peers, people you are always with telling you the
same thing, it helps out a ton.
"Plus, it's not that we're going out and saying it
because the coaches tell us to - we actually believe
it."
Jones has noticed a much closer, tight-knit group of
Wolverines on this year's team. By taking more inter-
est in each other, Jones said that Michigan's chemistry
has improved tremendously from last season.
Sophomore Bernard Robinson admitted that not
every Wolverine knew each other last year, which was
part of the problem, as the team suffered on the court
to a 10-19 finish.
"Nobody pushed or challenged us to do it," Robin-
son said. "So we didn't bother to do it. We just came
out here, and I was a freshman so I came out here and
did what everyone else was doing.
"You can see the difference between last year and
this year how much better it is to get to know each
other and how much it helps on the court."
Robinson and sophomore Avery Queen were put
on probation by former coach Brian Ellerbe for some

off-the-court issues last season, including being
caught wrestling in the middle of US-24 with former
Wolverine Kevin Gaines, who was later arrested for
driving under the influence. Robinson and Queen
were also suspended for the first half of the Indiana
game on Feb. 12 for a violation of unspecified team
rules.
"That was just a mistake on their part," Jones said.
"I mean, people make mistakes sometimes. But we're
trying to make sure that those kinds of things don't
happen again."
One step Michigan has taken is installing a "Big
Brother" system, where each senior takes an under-
classman under their wing and helps them along with
guidance. Jones is the "Big Brother" of freshman
Dommanic Ingerson, whom Jones said has been
.given a bad reputation for incidents that stemmed
from high school.
"He's definitely had some bad press," Jones said.
"But he's a really good kid - even silly sometimes."
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker and his coaching
staff have given a lot of responsibility to the senior
captains - Jones, Chris Young and Rotolu Adebiyi,
and have asked them for a lot of input. And they've
been pleased with the results.
"Our tri-captains have been instrumental in leading
our ball-club up to this point," Amaker said. "They
have done a terrific job of showing the way. Anytime
you look for a successful team or a successful pro-
gram, you're going to rely on the leadership - and
the same thing goes with us."
Jones often takes a camera with him when he walks
around campus, or is hanging out with teammates,
and said he's going to make a movie about this season
- starting tonight at the first practice.
"At the end of the season I can put something
together and people can look back on it and say, 'This
is where we started and this is where we ended up,' "
Jones said.
And what would be a perfect ending to his movie?
"An NCAA championship," Jones said with a
chuckle. "I never been to the NCAA Tournament and
I'd love to get there in my last year. I want this to be
the best year of my career because I'll always remem-
ber it."
ROBINSON WATCH: The first official Michigan prac-
tice starts tonight, but one of the Wolverines' big guns
won't be participating in all the drills on the Crisler

at a slow pace

because they do not have the luxury of
unlimited practice time.
Not only does the team try to prac-
tice fast, but players constantly try to
go faster through specific drills. Their
PRINTING
LOWEST PRICES!
HIGHEST OUALITY!
FASTESTSERVICE! U
1002 PONTIAC TR.
994-36471

part because of the competitive nature
of the players.
"If we can find a way to score it, or
put some kind of goal or some kind of
competitive scenario in to it, it moti-
vates them to play at a higher level,"
Rosen said. 0
This competitive feel usually takes
the form of a game, where the team
tries to build a specific skill. One side
will be trying to win a certain amount
of points, while the other side is trying
to stop them from scoring. For the most
part, these games are fun for the team,
which is exactly what the coaches want.
"We want them to enjoy being here,
we want them to have fun," Rosen said.
The coaches will not let the players
get too distracted by the fun and games.
Like so many other aspects of life,
equilibrium is the key.
"You have to find that balance where
we have fun and enjoy what we are
doing," Rosen said. "But when the ball
is in the air and we are trying to execute
something we are focused on doing
that."

MASJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
Michigan senior Leon Jones hopes that this year's
Wolverines can make something special happen.
Arena floor. Robinson, who's been recovering from
mono since early August, has only been involved in
"25-percent" of what the other players have been
doing in workouts, and said he doesn't know when
he'll be at full-strength.
"I'll play whenever the coaches say I can," Robin-
son said.
But the Michigan coaches want to take precaution.
"We just want to get Bernard healthy," Amaker
said. "He's a player we need on the floor."
BLOCK SEATING: Michigan is introducing block
seating for season tickets at Crisler Arena. Any stu-
dent group registered with Michigan can apply for a
block of up to 15 seats for season tickets which will
be in the organization's name.
The block seating is an attempt to encourage stu-
dents to buy tickets who do not want to be bound to
an entire season's worth of tickets, but split them with
other members of their group.
"The students are extremely important to where we
want to go," Amaker said.
The groups' tickets will rotate from game to game
between the gold and blue levels, so the seats will not
be the same every night.
The application deadline is next Friday.

Pistons fans welcome
Jordan in his return


p60%

Learn More
About the
Peace Corps

AUBURN HILLS (AP) - Michael
Jordan began his comeback by block-
ing the first shot of the game.
Jordan appeared in a Washington
Wizards uniform for the first time last
night, playing 16 minutes in the first
half of a 95-85 preseason loss to the
Detroit Pistons.
Welcomed with a huge, warm ova-
tion in the first game of his comeback,
Jordan had a sellout crowd gasping
with excitement just 18 seconds into
the game when he swooped into the
lane from the foul line and swatted
away a shot by Pistons forward Ben
Wallace.
Jordan went on to miss his first shot,
a 3-pointer, and make his second - a
20-foot jumper over Corliss
Williamson - for the first points of
the game.
He played the opening 8:08 of the
first quarter and the first 8:25 of the

Join us for a Peace Corps Information Meeting And Video
Tues., Oct. 16, 7 to 9 p.m.
Int'l Ctr, Rm. 9, Michigan Union, 603 E. Madison St.
Interviews: Drop by the UMich Peace Corps Office (Interna-
tional Center), or call the Peace Corps Campus Recruiter at
734-647-2182 to schedule an INTERVIEW

http://www.peacecorps.gov

second, scoring eight points on 4-for-8
shooting with three rebounds, two
turnovers, a steal and the block. He
did not play in the second half.
Used as the primary ballhandler for
most of his minutes, Jordan showed
off a few perimeter moves to free him-
self for jumpers. He had one chance to
dunk the ball, but instead dropped in
an alley-oop layup off a pass from
Courtney Alexander.
Matched defensively in the first
quarter against Williamson, a small
forward, Jordan was beaten once on a
backdoor play and failed to box out on
another play, leading to a tip-in by
Williamson.
Pistons reserve guard Jon Barry got
the best of him on two plays in the
second quarter, driving around Jordan
for a reverse layup and then popping
open for a 3-pointer from the corner
when Jordan did not fight through a
screen.
"I'm going to make him respect me.
He don't respect me," Barry turned
and said to his coach, Rick Carlisle, as
Jordan looked on with a smile.
The Wizards were outscored 23-7
when Jordan was on the floor in the
second quarter, and official Steve Javie
even whistled him for a palming viola-
tion that drew astonished hoots from
the crowd.
Jerry Stackhouse of Detroit led all
scorers with 30 points. Richard
Hamilton had a team-high 24 for
Washington.
Fans crowded beneath the basket
and snapped photos during warmups
as Jordan worked up enough of a
sweat to make his bald head glisten. A
sellout crowd of 22,076 at The Palace
of Auburn Hills cheered loudly for
Jordan as he was the last Washington
player introduced, then chanted "We
Want Jordan" in the third quarter and
"We Want Michael" in the fourth.
"Boos would not surprise me.
Cheers is certainly a respectful thing,
and I appreciate that, but I'm just

4

Micheal Jordan received a warm ovation in his first preseason game as a Wizard.

going out there to play the game and
hopefully I can go out there and do
something," Jordan said prior to the
game.
Jordan's decision to play in Wash-
ington's first exhibition game saved
the Pistons from a ticket refund night-
mare.
Had Jordan not played, the Pistons
were prepared to let fans exchange
tickets for last night's game for tickets
to one of the two Wizards-Pistons
games during the regular season. But
with only 2,000 tickets remaining for
those games, supply would not have
met demand.
Jordan, after announcing Wednes-
day that he would sit out games
against the Pistons and Miami Heat,
changed his mind three hours later,
after the Wizards received a phone call
from deputy commissioner Russ

Granik.
The final 2,000 tickets for the game
were sold out by yesterday morning,
team spokesman Matt Dobek said.
"I didn't know the expectations of
the fans," Jordan said after the Wiz-
ards' shootaround. "Once I got the
response of everybody in terms of
tickets and whatever, I felt compelled
to play from that standpoint. I don't
want to disappoint anybody.:
Thursday night's game marked Jor-
dan's first time on an arena floor and
his first public appearance in an NBA
uniform since he played his final game
for the Chicago Bulls in June 1998.
Jordan, citing his lack of condition-
ing, had planned to sit out the- first two
preseason games. His reasoning, he
explained, was that the Wizards will
be playing two games in Miami and
Detroit during the regular season.
)r 'M' golf

I
I

Consistency is key f

By Daniel Bremmer
For the Daily
The Michigan men's golf team will leave for Duke
today to participate in the Duke Golf Classic Sunday and
Monday. The tournament is its second to last of the fall
season.
The team heads into Duke looking to improve on its
last performance at the Xavier Invi-
tational. At the event, the team
struggled in its last round - all five DURHAM
players shot par or worse - but held
on to place fifth out of 19 teams. Who: Michigan at Duket
"We need to concentrate on trying When: Sunday-Monday.
Latest: After finishing fift
to be more consistent, not letting a the Xavier Invitational, ti
good possibility get away from us hestrong showinP a

who finished 24th overall with a five over par 218. Senior
Andrew Chapman and junior Scott Carlton finished tied
for 33rd shooting 220, eight shots over par.
The Wolverines were hurt by a lack of balance in their
scoring. After finishing a combined one over par through
the first two rounds on Monday, the team combined to
shoot 10 over inTuesday's final round.
Carras said that in order to win, the team must have

M, N.C.
Golf Classic
th in a 19-team field at
he Wolverines want to
at Duke. This will be

more balanced scoring, and no two play-
ers can afford to play poorly at the same
time.
"I thought the guys on the whole did
a pretty good job; we-just can't put on
the finishing touches," Carras said of the
team's struggle in the final round. "It's a
team effort. We just didn't get it togeth-
.4 .71. - .


I I