4 Wednesday November 5, 2003 michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com ZrittnSPORTS 8 4 Burnett makes ho-hum debut Let'sfocus on Cavs'wins, not James'windmill dunks By Josh Holman Daily Sorts Writer Cheryl Burnett made her first game appearance on a court as the Michigan women's basketball coach last night, but not to much hoopla - it was just an exhibition mat chup AT9 EESZN CT"N = against MIlHIGA - 78 Athletes in Action. The Wolverines won, 78-71, and Burnett insisted she wasn't nervous about her first game. "I really look at it like prac- tice," Burnett said. "I wasn't real- ly very nervous." There certainly was no pageantry to usher in the Burnett era, but the 1,002 in attendance could tell that something had changed. Athletes in Action opened up with a zone defense that Michigan had barely pre- pared for, and that defense stifled the Wolverines for much of the first half. But for an eight-and-a-half minute span in the second half, the Wolverines showed what they might be capable of Burnett style. Burnett turned on her scramble defense, and Michigan began pressing players and cutting off passing lanes with great urgency. The run-and-gun defense led to I I steals and coast-to-coast buck- ets by speedsters like juniors Sier- ra Hauser-Price and Tabitha Pool. "Today I was trying to get a feel for it," Hauser-Price said. "I wanted to push it more than I actually did, so I'm looking for- ward to improving in the next exhibition game." Senior center Jennifer Smith even took a steal cross-court. She missed the layup, but Pool cleaned up the rebound. Smith led the team with 29 points and 12 rebounds. She also posted 36 minutes, a sign of some worry in a defensive scheme with so much movement. If she continues to run the break, it might take a lot to keep from wearing down. "I'm ready for it," Smith said. "I stayed here all last spring and summer conditioning myself and trying to get stronger." Pool posted 22 points and 12 rebounds, although the most memorable moment of her night may have come on a botched behind-the-back pass to Hauser- Price that earned her a spot on the bench next to Burnett. "She said, 'Make a better deci- sion,' and I know it was the wrong decision to make," Pool said. "I just had to redeem myself and go back out there and play right." Burnett tried to laugh off the play with Pool on the bench, not wanting to ruin such a jovial mood so early in the season. In fact, that mood was best exemplified bythe informal meet-and-greet the play- ers hosted after the game. "I told my players to go in the stands and tell everyone, 'Thank you for being here,' " Burnett said. "And tell them, 'Next time bring ten with you."' LAURA SHLECTER/Daily Michigan's Tabitha Pool brings the ball upcourt in last night's 78-71 exhibition win over Athletes In Action. It was Cheryl Burnett's first exhibition as head coach. Netters ready to defend Varsity Tennis Center By Jamie Josephson Daily Sports Writer Some of the nation's best female ten- nis players are headed this way. This weekend, the Michigan women's tennis team will end its fall season by hosting the 2003 ITA National Indoor Tennis Championships for the first time. The tournament will take place at the Varsity Tennis Center after being held at Southern Methodist for the past nine years. As the host, Michigan gets two wild- card entries. Coach Bitsy Ritt chose freshman Liz Exon for singles and the doubles tandem of Michelle DaCosta and Leanne Rutherford. "Our goals are to be prepared and perform well," Ritt said. "It's an out- standing challenge and opportunity to play great competition at home" Exon (9-2) already has a tournament win, from the Wolverine Invitational on Oct. 5. She posted the Wolverines' best performance at the ITA Midwest Regional Championship, defeating three foes before a quarterfinals loss. A humble Exon explained that she has no expectations entering an event with such challenging competition. "These are the top tennis players in during the past two years in every dual match and tournament. the nation," Exon said. "I want to represent Michi- gan the best I can, and who knows what can hap- pen. It is just an amazing opportunity." The junior duo of DaCosta and Rutherford comes into its wildcard position having split a pair of doubles matches this year. THIS WEEKEND ITA National Indoor Tennis Championships When: Tomorrow through Sunday Varsity Tennis Center "Leanne's play at the net and my big serve will help us," DaCosta said. The other competitors qualified for the tourna- ment with wins in ITA events, including the ITA Regional Championships where Michigan came up short in individual play. The 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams CHRIS BURKE Goin' to work think I finally figured out why I haven't jumped on the LeBron James bandwagon. No, it's not jealousy OK ... it might be a little jealousy. But the main reason that I haven't rushed out to buy that horrendously overpriced James jersey, or why I could care less if James' Cleveland Cavaliers are on TV, is that James has become bigger than the game. And I hate that. It's one of the biggest reasons I never got behind Michael Jordan, and why I can't bring myself to root for the Shaq and Kobe (and Karl Malone and Gary Payton) show in L.A. Heck, it's one of the reasons the NBA is at the bottom of the list when it comes to the professional sports leagues that I get interested in. All last year, we sat and watched in astonishment at the things James could do. The phenom playing against aver- age-talent high school kids looked like the scene from "Billy Madison" where a fully grown Adam Sandler dominates a group of first graders in dodgeball. He was that much better. So everyone sat on the edge of their seats waiting for James to make the jump to the pros. And he hasn't disap- pointed now that he has hit the NBA - there's little question that this teenager has incredible amounts of talent, espe- cially for someone his age. Every night on "SportsCenter", there's five minutes of James' high- lights. He's got endorsement deals, league-leading jersey sales and sky's- the-limit potential. But what always seems to get left out is that he's also (GASP!) got teammates. For whatev- er reason, no one likes watching good teams play anymore. The Detroit Pistons got some of the lowest TV ratings in the league last year because they don't have any superstars. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks-New Jer- sey Devils matchup in the Stanley Cup Finals last season had NHL executives pulling their hair out because no one wanted to see good, defensive hockey. Why watch the Florida Marlins or Minnesota Twins play baseball when you could flip the channel and watch Jason Giambi or Barry Bonds hit the ball out of the Earth's orbit? Call me old-fashioned, but when it comes right down to it, I'd much rather see a team pull out a difficult victory than see James throw down 10 dunks in a Cavaliers' loss. That's why so many people prefer college basketball instead of the NBA. Those late-season games from confer- ences you've never heard of like the SWAC or the Patriot League can turn out to be some of the best contests of the year, because you don't have to worry that every extra. second of TV time will be spent showing one player, like NBC loved to do when the Jordan- led Bulls were playing. Like I mentioned earlier, the over- whelming media attention was one of two reasons I never could get behind Jordan when he was around (the second being that the Pistons should be every- one's favorite team). It didn't matter how good of a year Scottie Pippen was having or how many 3-pointers John Paxson managed to hit - when the Bulls were on, all eyes were focused squarely on Jordan. Honestly, do you think that as many people watched the Bulls in that brief span that Jordan played baseball as after he came back? Absolutely not. But, I'm sure you're thinking, why would we watch when Jordan wasn't there? He was exciting-hecould make shots from every spot on the court and defy gravity when he dunked. And the Lakers are fun to watch because Shaq and Kobe are so dominant. And James is a freak of nature. Fine. I understand. You're never going to hear me dispute the talent of any of these athletes (except maybe Shaq). What these athletes can do is absolutely beyond belief sometimes. But the NBA is closing in on not really being a league anymore. It's get- ting to be James, Shaq, Kobe, and then everyone else. Sure, there are great players in col- lege, but when it comes right down to it, it's North Carolina, Michigan or Duke. People watch 'those games because they have a vested interest in who comes out on top. In the current NBA, just like when Jordan was around, the result isn't near- ly as important as how LeBron did. It's probably not going to change. So, enjoy watching LeBron dribble behind his back and throw down dunks. If you don't mind, I'll just keep watching basketball. 4 This doubles tandem played together include top seeds from California, Northwestern and Vanderbilt.- "Competition doesn't get much better than this," Rutherford said. "It is a huge honor to play at home for Michigan." Ritt told the players to approach this event as a challenging opportunity. She noted that the girls have a better chance of playing well if they are relaxed going into the tournament. "We just want to go out there and have fun," DaCosta said. "But we can compete, and we deserve to be in this tournament." A PAR T ME NT H OM E S Affordable! 1, 2 & 3 Bedroom Apartment Homes 4 Chris Burke can be reached at chrisbur@umich.edu 0 0 S Resident Activity Center Washer & Dryer Carwash Center Nature Trail 1 100 Rabbit Run Circle Ann Arb~or, MI 481 03 Phone (734) 998-1000 Fax (734) 998-0000 www.ced-concordicom Resort to the Lifestyle Yau Deserve. BASKETBALL SEASON TICKET HOLDERS: COACH AMAKER IS REWARDING YOUR PASSION AND PATIENCE TODAY. WATCH PRACTICE AND GET YOUR MAIZE RAGE T-SHIRTS AT 3:30 P.M. AT CRISLER. BE THERE. A