Page 4-The Michigan Daily-Sports Monday- February 18, 1991 Theodore Cox Calip needs to share the wealth EVANSTON - With 50 seconds left in the game against Northwestern, Michigan guard Demetrius Calip drove the lane against Wildcat Charles Howell. As Calip rose in the air, he ex- tended his right arm with the ball firmly set in his palm. He then punched the ball through the net with authority. But the Wolverine captain was not done yet, for as Calip was gliding to the basket, he was bumped by Howell. The ref whistled the foul. Calip, re- lieved that the game now belonged to Michigan, kept his arm extended. He went up to Howell and placed his hand within a few inches of the for- ward's face. He yelled something to Howell and then walked over to the free-throw line. Calip was happy. The Michigan bench was happy. Wolverine coach Steve Fisher was happy. I wasn't happy, and it wasn't because Northwestern is still winless in the Big Ten. Was there really any need for Calip to show- boat? This was just Northwestern - a game Michigan should have easily won and had to win. Yet at halftime, the Wildcats were up, 30-25. The Wolverines had to struggle most of the second half just to squeak out a victory. For Michigan to make the NCAA tournament, the Wolverines need Calip to be a team leader, not a crowd pleaser. A leader is someone who real- izes how to best use their talents for a victory. This has been Calip's problem all year. Several times this season he along with the other Michigan guards have missed dunk attempts, when simple layups would have produced better results on the scoreboard. Yes, it is very exciting when someone 6-foot-1 slams one over the big guys. I enjoy it as much as anyone else. But Calip is not Michael Jordan. Calip's timing has to be on for him to dunk. In a game situation, this is often a difficult task. Calip should realize this, and save his flair for a slam dunk contest. The bucket is more important to Michigan this year. As the team leader, Calip also has to realize when to shoot and when not to shoot. In Saturday's game, he shot 1 for 9 from the field in the first half. Many of the shots he took were open attempts, but if he knows that his shooting touch is off, he should get the ball to someone who is shooting well, in- stead of continually forcing the ball up. "The shots we had were good shots," Fisher said, "but when you miss three or four in a row and then your post players never get a touch, now you've got to say that might be a good shot, but don't shoot it." This is something Fisher has been stressing all year. Michigan is mediocre at best when shooting from the perimeter. And as Northwestern coach Bill Foster said, "If you only shoot from the out- side, you put too much pressure on your defense to win the game." It is obvious from the stat sheet that Michigan as a whole did not pass the ball very much as the team only had 11 assists. The one thing Calip has done often this year is come through for the Wolverines in the clutch. He had eight points in the final quarter of the game. And that is important, but he would make things easier for himself if his team wasn't in -the awk- ward position it was during the final minutes of the Northwestern contest. "Demetrius tries awfully hard," Fisher added. "He's not afraid to let it fly. He plays hard and sometimes he gets like he's going to carry the load and he can't do that." In order for Michigan to be successful, Calip has to redirect his energy into making the team look good rather than himself. BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK Riley excels despite loss of grandmother by Jeff Sheran Daily Basketball Writer EVANSTON - Michigan center Eric Riley's grandmother passed awa3 Friday after suffering a stroke earlier in the week. Riley did not start again Northwestern, but played 34 minutes, notching 14 points and nine rebounds. "I just wanted to dedicate the game to her - it didn't matter who I player against," Riley said, referring to his dominance over Wildcat center Kevir Rankin, who did not score in the game. "I just knew I was gonna come ou and play strong." First-year forward Sam Mitchell started in place of Riley, who checked it at the 16:55 mark. When he did enter the game, the 6-foot-11 sophomor seemed tentative. "I came off the bench, so I was a little tight," he said. However, Riley's play improved as the game progressed. His defen* shone, as evidenced by Rankin's ineffectiveness. At 11:50 of the first half, reserve center Charles Howell drove the lane only to find Riley's lanky arms in his way. In one motion, Riley blocket the ball and stripped it, leaving Howell bewildered and the Northwestern fan: awe-struck. Riley excelled on offense as well, sinking the 10-foot jumpers that hac refused to fall in previous games. "Most times I look for teammates cutting," Riley said. "Tonight I fell like I could hit most of the time." But his most significant play was his monster dunk off the dribble with 1:29 left in the game, amid the 10-0 run that sealed Michigan's victory. It might have been just another two points. But it seemed to represent more, like a release of season-long offensive frustration. Or a dedication tc his grandmother. "I think he might have put a little more into that dunk," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "I was really happy for him, the way he hung tough and played the way he did." A THIEF AMONG US: Wildcat point guard Pat Baldwin's four steals gave him single-season record for steals by a Northwestern player. In 23 games, Baldwin has recorded 71 steals, and his three-per-game average leads the Big Ten. Ironically, the Wildcat thief hails from Leavenworth, Kansas, site of on of the nation's largest prisons. LIDS ON THE RIMS?: Michigan's .226 first-half shooting percentage dwarfs, or shall we say, enlarges its season low of .343 against Iowa State. The Wolverines shot .640 in the second half, topping their season high is .558 against Central Michigan. "I didn't think we were taking bad shots in the first half - they just weren't falling," Fisher said. "I just told them at halftime not to take that shot in the first 10 seconds." Michigan's game total Saturday night was .411, below its .454 average. MEDIA ASSASSIN: Michigan forward James Voskuil barrelled into the press table during the second half of Saturday night's game. In the process, Voskuil's knee knocked a reporter's portable computer onto the court, causing batteries to fly everywhere. Play was stopped briefly. After the game, the reporter, from the Daily Herald, assuaged the fears of his fellow writers when he announced that he had not lost his story. He added that the computer remained in tact, except for one broken key. When asked if Voskuil purposely tried to break the reporter's computer, perhaps in a lash at the media, Voskuil joked, "Yes." JENNIFER DUNETZ/Daily Michigan forward James Voskuil looks for the open man during the Wolverines slim victory over Northwestern Saturday in Evanston. Boltermakers bounce into Ann Arbor for Big Monday by Theodore Cox Daily Basketball Writer For the second straight week, Michigan will make an appearance in one of ESPN's Big Monday games. This time, the Wolver- ines may actually have an opportunity to win the game, as Purdue will come to Crisler Arena, rather than Michigan going to Ohio State as the squad did last week. The last time the Wolverines (5-7 Big Ten, 12-10 overall) played Purdue (4-8, 12- 10), Michigan was embarrassed at Mackey Arena as the team was hammered, 86-69. It was one of Michigan's worst games of the season as the squad dropped its fourth straight game and was winless in the confer- ence. The Boilermakers ripped the Wolver- ine defense to shreds, slamming home 12 dunks. "Purdue let us have it," Michigan for- ward James Voskuil said. "We've got to just play smarter - knowing when to shoot and when not to." Purdue was led in that game by forward Jimmy Oliver. The senior threw in 35 points before he was finished for the night. He leads all Purdue scorers, averaging over 18 points per game. Forward Chuckie White promises to give Michigan just as many problems as he is averaging 14 points per game. "We've got 24 hours to get ready for them," Michigan guard Michael Talley said. "They really did a job on us last time." The Boilermakers are coming into Ann Arbor after defeating Minnesota Saturday, 89-82. Both teams are still in the hunt for a possible NCAA tournament or NIT bid. Be- cause this game is at home, this is almost a must-win game for Michigan. Otherwise, the Wolverines will have to steal a victory on the road against either Illinois or Indiana. "We're shooting for a victory over Purdue after the drubbing we had last time," Michi- gan coach Steve Fisher said. "We're playing one game at a time, first of all, seeing if we can win that next one, and beat the people that are either right above us or right behind us. That's what we've got the next two games with Purdue and Wisconsin." The biggest question mark in the game is whether center Eric Riley will play. He is planning to attend his grandmother's funeral today, and it is not known if he will be back in time for the 9:30 p.m. start. One player who should receive more playing time is Michigan guard Kirk Taylor. The junior has had an up-and-down year thus far, but Fisher credits much of Michigan's comeback against Northwestern Saturday to Taylor's defense. At the time when Taylor came in, Wildcat guard Pat Baldwin was having a scoring field day. But Taylor caused Baldwin to pick up his fifth person- nel foul with two minutes left. WILD CATS Continued from page 1 start of the second half, and de- fense keyed the subsequent Michi- gan victory. "Their press just threw some timing off," Wildcat coach Bill Foster said. "They were really quick, and our inability to score in the last seven minutes lost it for us." Michigan had struggled on de- fense early in the game, allowing Northwestern its inside strength - back door layups. "We worked on stopping the back-cuts in practice," forward James Voskuil said. "Unfortunate- ly, the last four minutes of the first half they took us." However, Foster wasn't satis- fied. "I thought we could get more back doors," he said. "We got a few, but not as many as we fH thought we could get."~ Fisher cited guard Kirk Taylor's play off the bench as an important factor in the game. "I thought he was the guy who got us going on defense," Fisher said. "His defensive spark was a big key for us in the second half." Taylor's offense provided a Big Ten Through Feb. 17,1991 Men's Basketball Standings Conference Games All Games TEAM W L PCT. W L PCT. Ohio State 12 1 .923 21 1 .956 Indiana 10 2 .833 21 2 .913 Illinois 8 4 .666 18 7 .720 Michigan State 8 5 .615 15 8 .652 Wisconsin 6 6 .500 12 12 .500 Iowa 6 7 .462 17 8 .680 Michigan 5 7 .416 12 10.545 Purdue 4 8 .333 12 10 .545 Minnesota 3 9 .250 10 12 .454 Northwestern 0 13 .000 5 18 .217 =round the Big Ten- Associated Press It was a duel worthy of the two top teams in the Big Ten, and when the smoke cleared after two overtimes, victorious Ohio State and defeated Indiana had the satisfaction of knowing they couldn't have played harder. "That was a tremendous college basketball game. I've never been involved in a better game," said Ohio State coach Randy Ayers, whose second-ranked Buckeyes downed the No. 4 Hoosiers 97-95 on Sunday. Treg Lee, who had tied the game in the first overtime, hit a 10-foot jumper from the left baseline with four seconds left in the second overtime to give Ohio State the triumph and sole claim to first place in the conference. In Saturday's contests, Michigan State nipped Illinois 62-58, Purdue beat Minnesota 89-82, Iowa lost 56-55 to Wisconsin and Michigan beat Northwestern 64-58. At Columbus, Ohio, Indiana had a five-point lead with one minute left in regulation and a four-point lead at one time in the first overtime. It took a last-second shot by Jim Jackson, who had a career-high 30 points to go with 11 rebounds and six assists, to send the game into the -first overtime and Lee's basket to tie it in that period. Jackson also disrupted two last-second shots by Indiana in the first extra period and set up Lee's game-winner in the second overtime. I 0 Men's Boxscore 0 ________________IV_________ I 1 IUT 'TItfA N f£AN TlE' WnD, 0 ?TuvuVQrr DN rcQl,