Hoopsters Title Hopes Dashed

by Andrew Golding

It has been a year filled with a firing, tons of rumors, the annual car accident, excitement over a solid start, disappointment over some recent conference losses, and the realization that the Big Ten title is almost completely out of the question.

This year's men's basketball season has been interesting, not especially memorable, certainly not poor, but not filled with the moments which make fans and observers talk about on-court heroics with reverance years later.

Three weeks ago, on January 20, the team was 14-4, tied for first in the Big Ten at 4-1, and thinking about a Big Ten title, which Michigan has not won since 1986. "I don't see any reason why we can't win" it, said junior center Robert "Tractor" Traylor at the time. "If we can pull off four or five road wins, I think we'll be fine."

Five days later, U­M was trounced on the road versus Illinois, and again on January 29 at home against Purdue. Thoughts of a Big Ten title were shaky at best, and further dashed in their most recent contest, a 88-78 road loss to Minnesota (10-12, 3-8) on February 7. Presently 5th in the conference - Michigan State leads with a 10-1 record - it would be virtually impossible for U­M (17-7, 7-4) to conclude the season on March 1 as the leaders and the best.

In the Minnesota game, U­M jumped to an early 5-0 lead, and led at halftime by 2 points, but eventually fell due to a three-point shopping spree from several of the Golden Gophers who shot 14-20 from three-point land, tying a conference record. U­M senior and solid pro prospect Maceo Baston rebounded from a meager 10 point, 3 rebound performance against Northwestern two days earlier to score a career high 27 and haul down 7 rebounds. Still, Baston's efforts were not enough as U­M could not stop or match Minnesota from the outside.

Against Northwestern on February 5, U­M played one of their most exciting games of the season, though it could be argued they did not start playing until the final nine minutes of the contest. U­M took an early 7-0 lead and convential wisdom should have led all in the arena to be on guard for a blowout. Northwestern resides in the cellar of the Big Ten standings seemingly every year and has followed suit this year, entering the game with a 1-7 conference record. They also have a new coach, the exciting Kevin O'Neill (see sidebar), and few players who are able to create their own shots off the dribble besides 6'11" senior center, Evan Eschmeyer.

The Wildcats played well after some early difficulties and took the lead with eleven minutes remaining in the first half, pushing it to seven points at halftime. No matter Northwestern's impressiveness, the real story was U­M's horrendous play: having to force numerous attempts with the shot clock running down, missing several easy layups and dunks, launching mostly perimeter jumpers, and shooting 40 percent through the first twenty minutes compared to Northwestern's 61 percent clip. Overall, U­M looked uninspired, and frustrated with their own ability to get anything started.

The play of the team was best exemplified by the team's two big men, Baston and Traylor, who each acted out their frustrations in different ways.

Near the end of the half, one in which he finished with four points and one rebound, Traylor received the ball in the post and decided he would dunk the ball by any means necessary. The only problem was somebody was in the way, the 240 pound Eschmeyer. It was no surprise when Northwestern's star center took a colossal tumble, nor when Traylor was called for an offensive foul. After all, Traylor is "listed" at 6'8", 300 pounds, and is not referred to as the "Tractor" for being skinny.

Baston engaged in his own battle with Northwestern's Napoleon Harris, and seemed to mentally take himself out of the game in the process. A 6'4" freshman forward on loan from the Wildcats football team, Harris displayed an ability to play defense, push Baston around, deny him the ball and generally annoy UM's 6'9", 210 pound senior forward in the process. Baston's numbers mirrored Traylor's in the first half as he was actually outplayed by Harris. a player of much less ability, experience, and height.

Early in the second half, O'Neill inserted Harris into the game, realizing he was able to effectively neutralize Baston in the first half. At once, the war began in the paint area. Jockeying for position down low, Harris bumped Baston out of the post and Baston responded with a rake to the eyes, albeit accidentally. While Harris tried to clear his vision, he was called for the foul as the official apparently only saw the push. Nevertheless, the jockeying continued as the two players were called for a combined seven second half fouls.

U­M fell behind by as many as twelve points before mounting a charge led by senior forward Jerod Ward and junior guard Robbie Reid. How Hollywood-esque it was for Ward and Reid to lead the run, two players who each have been frustrated in their respective U­M basketball careers. Ward, the enigmatic, oft-injured, streaky jumpshooter, was ranked in the top five of high school players four years ago (see sidebar). His career at U­M has been filled with injuries and if he can finish this season without incident, it will be the first full season he has played in his four years here. For Reid, a first-year transfer from Brigham Young University, losing the starting job he held for the first twenty-one games of the season was upsetting. "It's been disappointing to come off the bench" he said in the postgame press conference. "It's been a disappointment."

Ward started the 9-0 run with a free throw and nailed a three-pointer to end it, sandwiched between five Reid points, to cut the Northwestern lead to three at 52-49. The relatively silent crowd which had nothing to cheer about for most of the game was suddenly energized, and Traylor added to the hysteria by waving his arms furiously in the direction of the fans. U­M took the lead on a Ward dunk with 4:15 remaining and two Ward free throws with six seconds remaining clinched a hard fought, 74-67, U­M victory.

Soon after though, the relief over the Northwestern win was met with disappointment over the loss to the Golden Gophers. Again, U­M did not seem to feel a sense of urgency until late in the game and by the time they did, they could not make a run to salvage a win. Buoyed by Baston's hot shoting and a late push, U­M cut the lead to as little as six with fifty-six seconds remaining, but the Minnesota win was a mere foul-shoting formality.

This week, U­M meets Ohio State at home before a February 17 showdown on the road versus Michigan State. In their earlier encounter, U­M easily dispatched their in-state rival, 79-69, but MSU has gone undefeated in the Big Ten since that meeting.

To reach the NCAA Tournament, which U­M embarassingly failed to do last season, U­M probably needs to win at least three of their last five games, and perform well in the ignaugural Big Ten Tournament, March 5-8, at the United Center in Chicago, IL. Without such a performance, U­M will likely return to the minor league of post-season play - the NIT Tournament - which would be an extremely disappointing finish for a team ranked in the top 20 in all pre-season polls. MR

This article was published in the 11 February 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 16, Number 7).
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