10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 12, 2002 Pool can't keep pace in speedy Big Ten Big Ten coaches still expect NCAA berths By Bob Hunt Daily Sports Writer Just a few months ago, it seemed as if Tabitha Pool was going to be the player that would put Michigan into the college basketball elite. Pool came to the program this year as perhaps Michigan's greatest recruit ever. Ranked as the top play- er in the state and one the top play- ers in the nation by many publications, Pool was sought after by almost every major program. But after considering traditional power- houses like Tennessee and Georgia, Pool decided to stay in her home- town of Ann Arbor and play for the Wolverines. At Ann Arbor Huron High she averaged 21.6 points, 17.1 rebounds, three assists and six steals a contest. Pool was so good that she was named Michigan's Miss Basketball even after she tore her ACL halfway through her senior season. In fact, when the Detroit Free Press profiled the award's 11 finalists, five named Pool as the best player they had ever played against. Because of this hype Michigan fans thought Pool would come in and make an immediate impact, even coming off the serious injury. But things have not, as of yet, come to fruition. "Offensively she's just making a lot of mistakes. It's almost to the point where 'you know what Tab, you have to stop playing afraid to make mistakes,"' Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. Pool started off the season domi- nating opponents with her athleti- cism, the same way she did back in high school. In the third game against New Hampshire, Pool debuted in the starting lineup and shined, pouring in 21 points. A cou- ple of weeks later at the Big 10/Pac 10 Challenge against Washington in Seattle, she pulled in her first dou- ble-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. But in Big Ten play, Pool's offen- sive production came to a halt. Since scoring 14 against Wisconsin on Jan. 6, Pool's field goals have been few and far between, resulting in her removal from the starting lineup after playing Penn State on Jan. 13. She hasn't hit more than two shots from the field in a game since she hit three at Penn State; her shots have gone all over the place. On Feb. 3 against Northwestern, Pool's first two shots were airballs and her third hit the bottom of the backboard. "I think I just have to work a little harder," Pool said. "Because my shot's not falling." Although Pool has played well on defense, she has had trouble adjust- ing to the pressure applied by the defenses of the Big Ten. "The quickness she saw against Ohio State, she's just as quick as them," Guevara said. "But she's never seen that at Huron High School." While it may be too late to make a real impact on this year's team, Pool's best days are ahead of her. Her athleticism still stands out on By Steve Jackson Daily Sports Editor Many people have labeled this a down season for Big Ten basketball. But despite the conference's absence at the top of the national polls, many of its coaches believe that the NCAA Tournament Selection Com- mittee will look favorably on them. "I still think we a have good shot to get six teams," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "It's not our fault that we have more parity in our league than most people have." There is still plenty of basketball to be played, but if the Big Ten teams continue to tear each other down, it will be difficult for that many schools to be dancing this March. Right now, just three teams (Indi- ana, Ohio State and Minnesota) have fewer than five conference losses. "It's kind of the general feeling that the Big Ten is down this year and won't get as many teams in," Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien said. "But a lot of it will depend on what happens to other at-large teams in other conferences." If a lower-seeded team manages to win the conference's automatic bid by winning the Big Ten Tournament, as No. 6 seed Iowa did last year, the odds of the Big Ten getting five or six berths increases dramatically. But if the same sort of unusual conference champions emerge else- where in the nation, this may be the first time since 1998 that the confer- ence will send fewer than six teams to the NCAA Tournament. Two teams that are surprisingly "on the bubble" are Michigan State and Illinois. The Spartans (5-5 Big Ten, 13-9 overall) have been decimated by injuries and have failed to meet their preseason expectations.. But Izzo's teams have historically been very successful, and opinions differ as to whether or not that will help them with this season. "In the past it would have mat- tered more than it would in the pres- ent," Izzo said. "Because we went to three straight final fours, does that make this year's team any different? I guess it really shouldn't." Whether or not it should be a fac- tor, that level of success is difficult to ignore. "I would think that their recent success would get somebody's atten- tion and give them a little bit of an edge," O'Brien said. Another team that has fallen short of preseason expectations is Illinois (6-5, 17-7). After opening the season as a pop- ular Final Four projection, Illinois has struggled in conference play, which may hurt them come tourna- ment time. "Listening to College Hoops 2night and some other people, they seem to put more emphasis on con- ference record," Illinois coach Bill Self said. "But the gist of it I get is that there will be more considera- tions other than the RPI." The RPI is a combination of record and strength of schedule, which the selection committee uses to assign at-large berths. "If you're on top, the RPI is a great deal," Self said. "If you're not, it's a terrible, how-can-we-use-that measuring stick." Several teams in the Big Ten, including Michigan, need more than a little help to make the field of 65. On Feb. 6, the NIT expanded its field to 40 teams in a one-year experiment. But this will most likely not enable any additional Big Ten teams to compete in postseason play. The NIT will not choose sub-.500 teams, and it has historically taken every Big Ten team with a winning record that it possibly can. 0I Tabitha Pool has not shown the consistency of skill that earned her solicitation from such nationally prominent schools as Tennessee and Georgia. Medal tracker Th Country U.S.A. Germany Austria Norway ®Russia "Italy rough 14 events Gold Silver Bronze Total the court, and the traces of her injury are all but forgotten. "I almost want her to play like she's on the playground when she's RAMS Continued from Page 9 "We have to put this behind us," Swenson said. "We wanted momen- tum going into Purdue but that did not happen. We have to be able to keep (Young) in the game. If we can do that then we have better chance to come out of there with a win. "This is the type of game that you want to put behind you." MILESTONES: Blanchard's 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting was 2 3 1 6 2 3 1 6 1 1 4 6 2 2 0 4 1 1 1 3 2 0 0 2 i Attention: Pre-Med/Pre-Nursing Students Excellent opportunity to work with doctors in a camp infirmary setting, as a Camp Health Officer.We will pay for the short certification course. Enjoy working in a beautiful Northern Michigan setting. Consider Living Next Fall in THE ICC STUDENT HOUSING CO-OPS Approx. $415/month Includes utilities, laundry, parking, social activities and all the food you can eat. 662-4414 Student Owned - Democraticall Run ContractsAvailable NOW. www.icc.umich.org on offense," Guevara said. "Because she can get to the basket, and she's got a sweet shot." It's just going to take time. enough to move him into 15th on Michigan's all-time scoring list. He surpassed current NBA All-Star Chris Webber and 1960's legend Dennis Stewart. His next targets on the list are Maurice Taylor and Ray Jackson. Junior Gavin Groninger, who has a tendency to have big games for Michi- gan against non-conference oppo- nents, shot 3-of-5 from behind the 3-point line last night. His final 3- pointer gave him 100 for his Michigan career. - MONDAY'S GAME MICHIGAN (66) FG FT REB MIN M-A MA 0-B A FPTS Gibson 9 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0 Bailey 27 1-4 0- 1-3 0 4 2 Young 16 2-2 2-3 2-3 1 5 6 Jones 30 2-6 1-2 1-3 1 1 7 Gotfredson 12 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 0 3 Queen 32 1-8 0-0 2-3 3 3 2 lngerson 7 2-2 0-0 1-3 1 1 6 Robinson 28 4-10 2-2 2-5 4 4 11 Groninger 17 3-6 1-1 0.2 1 0 10 Blanchard 35 6-13 5-6 0-3 3 5 19 Adebiyi 12 0-1 0-1 1-2 0 3 0 Totals 225 22-55 1-1511-34 15 26 66 FG%: .400. FT%: .733. 3-poInt FG: 11-30 .367 (Groninger 3-6, Ingerson2-2, Jones 2-3, Blanchard 2-7, Gotfredson 13, Robinson 1-4, Queen 0-5). Blocks: 6eYoung 3, Robinson 2, Bailey). Steals: 6 SBlanchard 3, Gibson, Young, Robinson). Turnovers: 8 (Robinson 4, Blanchard ,Bailey2, Young 2, Jones 2, Queen 2, Groninger 2, Ingerson). Technical fouls: none. Colorado State (70) FG FT REB MIN M-A *A 0-T A F PTS Clark 24 1-5 3-4 2-8 1 4 5 Greene 33 7-14 2-3 1-7 2 4 16 Nelson 35 5-10 6-6 4-6 1 2 16 Mackin 37 2-5 3-6 1-4 3 0 7 Bi rley 39 4-8 0-1 0-0 3 212 Smith 8 1-2 1-1 2-2 1 1 3 Rakiecki 15 0-2 0.1 0-6 2 2 0 Robinson 10 0-2 0-0 0-1 1 1 0 Brown 13 1-3 1-1 1-2 1 0 3 Burke 0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Williams 11 3-3 2-3 1-1 1 2 8 Totals 225 2455 1&261440 1619 70 FG%: .436. FT%: .692. 3-point FG: 4-11, .364 (Bir- ley4-7, Rakiecki 0-2, Mackli 0-1, Robinson 0.1). Blocks: 2 (Greene, Nelson). Steals: 12 (Birley 4, Macklin 2, Greene 2, Williams, Clark, Nelson. Turnovers: 14 (Greene 3, Clark 2, Nelson 2 Mack- ln 2, Williams 2, Smith, Rakiecki, Brown). Techni- cal fouls: none. Michigan............29 30 7 - 69 Colorado State........,25 34 11 - 71 At: MobyArena (Fort Collins, Colo.) Attendance: 4,007 [SPRING BREAK~ Did"r I 'J Xrww4;i Most NCAA teams from one conference: Seven from Big Ten in 1994, 1999 and 2000. Lowest RPI at-large in NCAA: No. 74 New Mexico in 1999. Most losses with at-large berth: Seven teams with 16 losses, including Georgia last year. Most wins for NIT team: 24 (Southwest Missouri State 1997, Delaware 2000). Highest RPI rating for NIT team: No. 33 Oklahoma in 1994. Best record for NIT team: College of Charleston finished 22-3 in 1996. Highest RPI ranking for sub-.500 team: Virginia was No. 53 in 1996. Home court: The NCAA does not allow teams to play tournament games on their home courts. A home court is defined as any court where a team plays more than two games. This rule will prevent the following team-location pairings: Wisconsin (Midwest' Region), Kentucky (South Region), Syracuse (East Region), DePaul (Chicago), Georgetown (Washington) and New Mexico (Albuquerque). BIG TEN STANDINGS Big Ten Overall AP RPI RPI rank Good W's Bad L's Team W L W L (Top 50) (Bottom 200) Indiana 8 2 15 7 22 .630 12 5 0 Ohio State 8 3 17 5 23 .614 19 3 0 Minnesota 7 3 14 7 43 .588 39 4 0 Wisconsin 7 5 13 11 - .557 71 5 4 Illinois 6 5 17 7 18 .619 16 3 0 Michigan State 5 5 13 9 - .580 50 4 1 Michigan 5 6 10 12 - .534 97 1 4 Northwestern 4 6 13 9 - .553 117 1 2 Iowa 4 7 15 10 - .572 58 2 2 Purdue 3 8 11 14 - .549 82 2 2 Penn State 2 9 6 16 - .470 213 0 3 Blue using weekend to rest for Big Tens 40 You are welcome to Ash Wednesday Meditative Worship for Campus & Community An ecumenical service of Scripture, prayer, silence, meditative singing of music from the Taize Community, liturgical dance, imposition of ashes, and Holy Communion C- I 4 ' By Ryan Leventhal For the Daily The big question on track fans' minds is, "Will Alan Webb run this weekend?" The answer, said Michigan men's track coach Ron Warhurst, is still "no." The highly touted freshman has been sidelined with an Achilles ten- don injury for the entire season. Many were hoping that he would be able to run at this Saturday's Harold Silverstein Invitational, which will take place at the Michigan Indoor Track building. "His leg is still bugging him," jun- ior distance runner Dave Cook said. "His biggest races are outdoor. There's no reason (to race) now and to get hurt." The road to recovery has been an arduous one for Webb. He worked out twice last week, putting time in on the training bike and in the pool. The biking, however, won't bring INDOOR TRACK BUILDING Who: Michigan hosts Harold Silverstein Invita- tional. When: 9:30 a.m. Latest: The Wolverines will try some new peo- ple in some new places as they prepare for the upcoming Big Ten Championships. the team has focused on preparing for the Big Ten Championships. This weekend's invitational will be what senior sprinter Ike Okenwa calls a "chill meet" but Okenwa is very interested in facing off against local rival Eastern Michigan University. "Most of the people are not racing the event they're racing at Big Tens or they're taking the meet off," Cook said. One of the runners taking the weekend off is freshman Nathan Brannen. Brannen was instrumental in helping the team to a third-place finish in State College last weekend, as he won the 800-meter. The time off will allow him to rest in prepara- You've got the business savvy, but things aren't challenging. Well, come join the Business Staff at the Michigan Daily and become an Account Executive. You will sell advertising locally and nationally, manage your own account territory, create ad copy, and earn commission based pay. We're talking big i