0 PORTSe I d lig a n ilq S~iORPS sportsdesk@umich.edu WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2002 1o 0 t z. x Valparaiso lurking in x: r :.:...:.: .: h+. x NIT i W 's first roun . .: ., ply, t K. ..: "...., Georgetown's.Esherick the class act of March By Bob Hunt Daily Sports Writer For the Michigan women's basketball team, a new season begins today. The Wolverines' first-round game of the Women's National Invitation Tour- team kept its season alive. "I wanted to take a team that could show me that they wanted to go," Gue- vara said. "And that's what I saw when we came back from practice. It's not good for our program if I say -'no, we are not going to go.' nament against Valparaiso tonight at Crisler Arena represents a new begin- ning. While Michigan's goal at the beginning of the season was to make the NCAA Tournament, going far in the WNIT would go a long way toward putting in the past this season's disappointments. "I told the team yester- CRISLER ARENA Who: Michigan (6-10 Big Ten, 17-12 overall) vs. Va[- pariso (13-1 Mid-Continent, 24-6 overall) When: 7 p.m. Latest: Michigan will fea- ture a new lineup, with Tabitha Pool stepping in for Susana Jara. Not having played since March 1, the Wolverines are on a new quest with a new starting lineup. Tabitha Pool will start tonight in place of Susana Jara in a more ath- letic lineup that will also include senior Alayne Ingram starting at point guard. Jara, who walked-on four years ago, had started at the games this season. But Gue- day 'I'm tired of hearing how disap- pointed we are and how we didn't live up to expectations,"' Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "The reality is that we are in the WNIT. Let's do the very best we can." After playing far below expectations in Big Ten play, there was some discus- sion as to whether the team would be playing in March at all, but after play- ing well at the Big Ten Tournament the point 19 vara wanted to replace her with the more offensive-minded Pool to help dictate the tempo at the start of the game. "I felt that with that five we are going to start out right away," Guevara said. "It's not a knock on (Jara), but I want five weapons on the floor to start the game." See WNIT, Page 11 DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily In an attempt to put a more skilled, attacking team on the floor, Michigan coach Sue Guevara has inserted Tabitha Pool into the starting lineup for Susana Jara. Cagers taking advantage of home court By Charles Paradis Daily Sports Writer The last time the Michigan women's basketball team played at Crisler Arena, the Wolverines were trounced by Penn State, 65-47 on senior night. Now Michigan has one more chance to make a stand at home as it takes on Valparaiso in.the first round of the WNIT tonight. One of the major differences between the WNIT and the Women's NCAA Tournament is that after the first two rounds WNIT games are still played at cam- pus locations. After the embarrassment at the hands of Penn State, Michigan is anxious to get back on the court at Crisler and defend its turf.- "I think it is going to be nice to play a couple of tournament games at home," senior guard Alayne Ingram said. "It is just good that we get another chance to win on our own court." Michigan earned the right to host the first-round game and has petitioned to host its remaining games as well. Part of what will determine whether Michigan continues to host games is the attendance tonight. "With the WNIT, in the second round, a lot of times it is based on attendance," Michigan coach Sue Gue- vara said. "I'm hoping we can get a decent crowd in here and we play well and that we will be playing here on the weekend too." Michigan hopes its strong performance in the Big Ten Tournament over spring break, including a first- round upset over Illinois and an overtime loss to top- seeded Purdue, will bring the fans to Crisler. "Our faithful are going to show up," Michigan jun- ior center LeeAnn Bies said. "We can get a pretty nice crowd in here to support us." Bies and Ingram were both named to the All-Big Ten second team this season, and both are glad to have the chance to play at least one more game in Crisler this season. Michigan hopes to put on a better show than it did against Penn State. "I think it is great, because for the seniors, we did- n't have a good senior night for them;' Bies said. "I think it is a second chance for us to play better for them and for them to have another chance to play at Crisler for a win." If Michigan wins the game tonight it will play the winner of the Ball State/Louisville game, and the Wolverines may have to travel to either campus site depending on the WNIT committee's decision. Regardless of where the team plays, Guevara knows her players will relish the opportunity to play one more time with maize and blue on their backs. Michigan has high expectations for itself going into the tournament. The Big Ten is ranked third among conferences in the RPI, and with their success in the conference tournament, the Wolverines are excited about their chances. "As long as we keep playing the way we ended the season, we should go pretty far," Ingram said. "(But) we gotta knock down this first game." The best story in college basket- ball during this 2002 edition of March Madness is that of the Georgetown Hoyas. They won't be participating. When Georgetown was not given an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and instead received an invitation to the NIT, coach Craig Esherick respectfully declined. He explained that in order to play in whata is considered to be the "loser's" tourna- ment, Georgetown would have to travelD west, because the DAVID MCI Center in Wash- HORN ington, D.C. will be Tooting My hosting East Regional Own games for the "real" tournament. The traveling would require Esherick's players to miss classes, and the coach would rather his players attend class and receive an education than par- ticipate in the "Not Interesting Tourna- ment." "We wanted to play, but didn't want to play at all costs;' Esherick told The Associated Press. "We're in school now Last year we spent two weeks out west and didn't want to do it again." Thank you, coach. This is the most refreshing thing I have ever heard from an NCAA basketball coach. It's bad enough that the NCAA Tour- nament lasts three weeks, keeping 12 players from 64 teams out of their class- es for half a week (and much longer for some). That the NIT exists at all, keep- ing an additional 480 players out of class is ludicrous. The prestige of the NCAA Champi- onship is not on the line in the NIT. The level of competition is decent, but noth- ing spectacular. Watching Butler and Minnesota battle in the NIT could be interesting, but I would just as soon take satisfaction in knowing that those Min- nesota players were back in Minneapo- lis, writing their poli-sci papers. The NIT, really, is just an excuse for the NCAA to generate more television revenue. Esherick admitted that to play for a national championship in the NCAA Tournament, his team would be happy to travel. But all that traveling for the NIT? "After a while I said, 'Look, maybe we're better off not doing it," Esherick said. I can't praise Esherick enough for this kind of thinking. I wish more coaches didn't accept the NIT scraps the NCAA was throwing to them. I wish they all took as much pride in their players' class attendance as they do in winning what is perhaps the most unnecessary tourna- ment in sports (besides, perhaps, the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament). The NCAA hypocritically professes to be a friend of the student, and claims that scholarship takes precedent over athletics. Then why have the NIT at all? The teams involved didn't make the Big Dance; do they deserve this pathetic consolation prize at the cost of missing more class? It's a long season, and players miss enough class already. The argument can be made that this is preparing them for the rigorous travel schedule of the NBA, but such a small number of these players will ever play professional basketball that I don't think that argument holds water. After covering the Michigan basket- ball team this season, and I thank heaven that the season is over; not because I didn't enjoy covering the team, but because I spent months making excuses to professors about how I couldn't hand in my paper on time because I would be traveling to Bloomington for a game. I can only imagine how many excuses need to be made on behalf of student- athletes. The NCAA is sending student-ath- letes from Hawaii to Dallas for their first round game, kids from Ohio State to Albuquerque and kids from UCLA to Pittsburgh. Every year, the NCAA Tournament is arguably the most exciting sporting event in the country. It is a great part of the national sporting landscape, and I would be vilified if I suggested here that it be tampered with too drastically. But to keep the Bruins, Buckeyes and Rain- bow Warriors closer to home in the future, some changes ought to be made. I propose a system of "regionaliza- tion." The quality of teams is fairly even- ly dispersed across the country (except of course for Big Ten country), and I think it would be pretty intriguing to see regional matchups leading up to the Final Four. Put all the teams that make the Tournament from the WAC and PAC-10 in the West; put all the teams from the Big East, Atlantic-10 and ACC in the East, etc. This year, three of the eight- seed/nine-seed matchups could be regionalized. In the South, Notre Dame is playing Charlotte. In the West, UCLA is playing Mississippi. In the Midwest, Stanford is playing Western Kentucky. Wouldn't it be easier to have Notre Dame play Western Kentucky in the Midwest, Charlotte play Mississippi in the South and UCLA play Stanford in the West? Sure, part of the fun of the NCAA Tournament is seeing teams that don't usually get to play each other do so in the early rounds, but as Esherick says, "At what cost?" It would make a lot more sense to let teams battle for region- al supremacy in the early rounds, and have true regional champions battle in the Final Four. As graduation rates for basketball players decrease, the NCAA needs to recognize how consuming it is for stu- dent-athletes to play an entire season of basketball. It takes away from their stud- ies, their social lives and their capacity to work a job and earn money. The NIT is a joke, and Esherick realizes that there is something more important than play- ing in it. The NCAA Tournament is fan- tastic, but still needs some work to make it student-friendly. I hope coaches will follow Esherick's lead in coming years, and force the NCAA to become a true friend of the student-athlete. David Horn can be reached via e-mail at hornd@umich.edu. 49 Breakaways could be key for M' playoff push By Chris Burke Daily Sports Writer With 10:17 remaining in the second period of the Michigan hockey team's 4- 1 win on Sunday night against Lake Superior, freshman Dwight Helminen bad a lot of ice to himself. The forward was selected by Michi- gan coach Red Berenson to take a penal- ty shot that Michigan was awarded after a Lake Superior defender covered a loose puck in his own crease. Helminen skated as the Yost Ice Arena crowd rose to a fever pitch, and snapped a shot from the slot. The attempt beat Lake Superior goalie Matt Violin, but rang off the goal post, pre- venting the Wolverines from going ahead 3-0. "He took a good shot from about the hash marks and he beat the goalie, he just missed by a little bit," said Michigan associate head coach Mel Pearson, who played college hockey at Michigan Tech. "I think you just try to shoot the puck, you don't want to over-handle it - if you saw me (play) and my hands, you knew that I had to shoot the puck because I couldn't handle it." Helminen's attempt was the second time this year the Wolverines have failed to tally a goal on a penalty shot. Forward J.J. Swistak was stopped in Michigan's 5-4 overtime loss to North Dakota in the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 28. As opposed to Helminen's near-miss, Swis- tak was unable to get a shot off as North Dakota goalie Jake Brandt rushed out and poke-checked the puck away from the charging forward. But as simple as the aim of a break- away or penalty shot might appear, every player approaches an attempt at hockey's most exciting play differently. "A lot of guys know what they're going to do," Michigan forward Milan Gajic said. "I personally like to go five hole or (top) shelf, but I hardly ever deke. But then a lot of guys that never shoot always deke, so it's just what works for you." "If you can shoot from the hash marks stickside it's a good place to go," freshman Michael Woodford said. "But if you think about it too much, you might lose the puck or shoot it wide." The goalie in a breakaway situation is also faced with some decisions of his own. Brandt opted to charge out after Swistak, but his strategy was unusual. "Basically you want to think about cutting down the angle, staying out and forcing (the shooter) to deke," third- string goalie Justin Spurlock said. "You See BREAKAWAYS, Page 11 S >ishi-- u TOP FIVE 7 .REASONS TO M ° NTh ssimr SIATTEND THE SUPER SIX CHAMPIONSHIP: .......* 5. A good reason to yell "ROAD TRIP!" and get off campus for the night. 4. See Mike Cammalleri light up the scoreboard. 3 Student tickets only $7.50 (what a deal) 2. You can call MSU goalie Ryan Miller a "SIEVE!" 1. Cheer on your Wolverines to the 2002 CCHA Championship playoff title. >your first time traveling abroad, that is. >europe from $55 a day! our textbooks cost more than that. contiki has 100 worldwide trips to choose from and you can do it with people your own age. with such a great deal what are you waiting for?!??!!! h e re > greek island hopping > mediterranean highlights 14 days from $969 14 days from $859 to go: > european getaway > simply italy 8 days from $589 13 days from $749 }4 n F CCHA CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND FRI., MARCH 15 " QUARTERFINALS SEED #3 VS. SEED #6 " 4:00 PM SEED #4 VS. SEED #5 " 7:30 PM SAT., MARCH 16 " SEMIFINALS* SCnF 1 &1 -t w#n 2A . -Pn: ;M Ab