The Michigan Daily - I uesay, October 10, 1995 - 11
Webber signs: 6
years, $59 million
Associated Press
LANDOVER, Md. - Chris Webber
could have gotten more money to play
elsewhere, and he certainly could have
picked a team with a more illustrious
tradition.
Yet, when Webber put his name on a
six-year contract with the Washington
Bullets on Monday, he finally got whathe
had been striving for since becoming the
NBA's top draft choice in 1993.
"It's about being
happy. I have peace of
mind, something I've
been searching for for
two years," he said.
"That's a hard thing to
d6 without, but now I1
have a fmily andaplace
,that ILcan call home."
.Webber didn't have Webber
.eitherinGolden State, where he spent one
season before forcing the Wamors to
-trade him. He didn't have it last year,
either, because when he came to the Bul-
lets in November he signedacontract that
expired at the end of the 1994-95 season.
Now Webberis planning to spend the
rest of his career in Washington. The 6-
-fot-10 forward will receive about $59
.million over the next six years. What
the Bullets want in return is no small
thing.
"When I first saw him last year, I
thought, 'You're going to be my man.
You're going to bring me a champion-
'ship,"' owner Abe Pollin recalled.
a Webber dislocated his left shoulder
east December and missed 19 games.
Washington went onto finish2l-61,miss-
ing the playoffs for a seventh straight
season, and Webberncried after some par-
ticularly tormenting losses.
He led the Bullets in scoring (20.1
points per game) and rebounding (9.6),
but he says it is the number in the victory
column that matters most.
'This is my chance to start all over. I
have something to prove,"he said." I'm
just tired of losing."
So is Pollin, who hasn't been this ex-
cited about signing a player since he got
Wes Unseld as a rookie draft choice in
1968. Unseld ended up spending his en-
tire career with the Bullets and was an
integral part ofthe 1978 worldchampion-
ship team.
Pollin gave Webber a big hug at the
signing ceremony and wore a smile as
wide as the free throw lane.
"Today is probably one of the most
exciting, important days in my career of
owning the Bullets," Pollin said.
When the Bullets got Webber from
Golden State last November, there was
some question as to whether he would
stickaround. Afterall,Webberhadbolted
from the Warriors, so there was certainly
a chance that he would do the same thing
again.
But Pollin and Webberhit it off imme-
diately, and Webber made it clear Mon-
day he would love to keep it that way -
in part because he reveres the rapport that
Pollin has with Unseld, who now works
in the front office.
"I wantto be here fora longtime. Iwant
to retire here, and I told Mr. Pollin that,"
Webber said. "I want to be his second
Wes Unseld. I don't know ifI can ever be
that type ofplayer, and I don't mean it that
way. I just admire the relationship they
have."
Webber and Golden State coach Don
Nelson just didn't get along, and that's
why Webber walked away from a con-
tract that would have paid him much
more than he's getting with the Bullets.
"He just wanted to be happy. People
vilified him forwalking away from Golden
State when they could have paid him
more money than any team in the league,"
said Webber's agent, Bill Strickland."He
realizes that being out there and being
paid a large amount of money doesn't
mean anything if you're not happy going
to work every day."
Webber will reclaim the No. 4he wore
in college, when he led Michigan into the
1993 NCAA championship game. Scott
Skiles wore No. 4 last year and Webber
wore No. 2.
Fmndley poses little
chlenge for Blue
fy Chaim Hymm
Daily Sports Writer
Although the game was played at Elbel Field, it might have
been a task for spectators to recognize the Michigan men's club
soccer team during its 5-1 routing of Findley yesterday.
The usual Wolverines were not on the playing field. Rather,
they were on the bench watching their second-string teammates
play for most of the game.
After they took an early 4-0 lead, Michigan coach Steve
Burns decided to pull his starters midway through the first half
of the game.
"This was an interesting win for us," Burns said. "This was a
game where we got everyone playing time."
One starter who sat out the entire game wasjuniorgoalkeeper
Mike Milman. His position was taken, at least for the day, by
freshman Steve Scanio.
"It was definitely a good experience forme," Milman said."It
gave me a chance to watch the game from another view, and
Steve did a good job."
Michigan was notas successful in the second halfofthe game,
however. The Wolverines were only able to tack on a single
goal, and allowed an opposing goal that stopped a potential
shutout.
Although Milman said he feelt that the win was good for his
team, he admits Findley was not much competition for the
Wolverines, now on a seven-game winning streak.
"We didn't expect much from (Findley)," Milman said. "This
game was just a good stepping stone for our game Wednesday."
Tomorrow, Michigan will play its neighborhood rival East-
em Michigan at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School in a game in
which Burns believes his team will have to play better than it did
against Findley if it is to win.
"I'll cut us some slack because we won," Bums said. "The
truth is we didn't look that good, and I'm hoping we'll play a
little better on Wednesday."
Others on the team said they agree with Burns' sentiment, but
feel there is no need for concern.
"We played pretty sloppy in the second half of the game,"
senior Rob Holt said. "I think ifwe hadn't come out flying in the
first half though, we would have picked it up in the second.
"It's more mentality than anything else, but when we play
Eastern under those lights, I know we'll be inspired to play hard
and win."
Burns acknowledgedthat his team has been performingbetter
than he anticipated by continually winning. But he said he
believes his players have to improve various aspects of their
game if they hope to beat some of their tougher competition,
incuding Eastern Michigan.
"What we now do is get three or four touches onthe ball when
all we should be adjusting to one and two to get the job done,"
Burns said. "We have to get better field awareness, start playing
away from pressure, and have quicker mental speed during our
remaining games if we're going to win."
S. DAMIAN CAP/Daily
The Michigan men's soccer team defeated Findley, 54, yesterday.
Wolverines look to win second straight
said. "We've been taking shots all season
ByD mlm
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's soccer team
willattempttowin two consecutive games
for the first time this season when it visits
Yalparaiso (Indiana) today.
Michigan (0-3 Big Ten, 3-7-1 overall)
is coming off an impressive 5-0 victory
over Creighton Sunday, which snapped
the Wolverines'three-gamelosing streak.
The burst of goals contrasted sharply
with the scoring drought the Wolverines
have suffered throughout the season.
Valparaiso enters today's game with a
dismal 1-10 record and the memory of a
5-0 loss to Michigan last year.
The Wolverine to watch is newly in-
stalled freshman midfielder Kelly
Lukasik.
Michigan coach Debbie Belkin
switched Lukasik from defender to
midfielder two games ago. The move
paiddividendswhenLukasikscoredtwice
on three shots Sunday.
Michigan could be tempted to think
past Valparaiso. Today's game precedes
a big-time Big Ten weekend.
The Wolverines will try to sneak back
into the Big Ten race when they host 1994
Big Ten Tournament Champion Wiscon-
sin (8-4-1) Friday and runner-up Penn
State (9-4) Sunday.
"We haven't talked about the games
this weekend," Belkin said. "We had to
prepare for a good Creighton team, and
we have to focus on Valparaiso also."
THEY SHOOT, THEY sCORE! ... FINALLY:
Michigan's five goals against Creighton
was the Wolverines' highest total of the
season.
Prior to Sunday's game, Michigan had
not scored more than two goals in a game,
despite outshooting its foes, 176-125.
"There's no magic formula," Belkin
long; they're finally
going in."
EXPERIENCE
SHOwS: Among a
team ofupstart fresh-
man, junior
midfielder Kim
Phillips leads all
Wolverineswithfour
goals and eight
points.
Socer
Notebook
GOALIE COMPARISON: Junior
goaltender JoriWelchans and freshman
goaltenderJessica Jones have shared goal
duties all season.
Belkin has said that she will determine
the starting goalie on a game-to-game
basis depending on who is playing well at
any given moment.
Jones (1-2-1, 1.66 goals-against aver-
age), who earned her first victory of the
season Sunday, has recorded 23 saves in
435 minutes.
Welchans(2-5,1.85 GAA)hasstopped
28 shots in 585 minutes.
Sophomore forward Ruth Poulin is
second on the squad with two goals and
six points.
r ___ ® °°
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