Detroit Free Press du lieu suivant : Detroit, Michigan • Page 31

DETROIT REE PRESS Tuesday, Mar. 12, '74 1-D 2-D U-M Cagers Roll into Tourney, 75-67 CAMPY FOULS OUT. THEY STILL BEAT INDIANA Barry's 40 Stops Pistons, 120-108 BY CURT SYLVESTER Free Press Sports Writer CHAMPAIGN, III. If there was any doubt about the best basketball team in the Big Ten before Monday night, Michigan cleared it up in a hurry. The Wolverines grabbed the early lead and never gave it up, even with Campy Russell on the bench after fouling out, as they whipped co-champion Indiana, 75-67, in a playoff to determine the Big Ten's representative to the NCAA tournament.

U-M, now 21-4 overall, will join the mid-east regional tournament Thursday night, meeting second-ranked Notre Dame at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. INDIANA, WHICH went all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA last year before bowing to eventual champion UCLA, closed out the season with a 20-5 record, both U-M and Indiana finished the conference season with 12-2 records, necessitating the neutral-site playoff. The only thing neutral about it, however, was the floor. The Hoosiers sold better than 8,000 tickets to the game and their red-clad fans drowned out the 500 U-M fans who paid their three bucks and drove down for the game. But there was no way the Hoosiers could drown out U-M's dream of going to the NCAA to play for a national title.

As usual, it was Russell leading the way, and every other player putting in his bit here and there. It had to be that way, because the Wolverines had to play their final four minutes and 48 seconds without their Big Ten scoring leader. But little Joe Johnson and big C. J. Ku-pec came to the resuce and U-M went from a 60-58 lead when Campy fouled out to their final eight-point margin.

BY CHARLIE VINCENT Free Press Sports Writer A strange thing happened to the Detroit Pistons' "magic number" Monday night. It didn't change. The Pistons, who need any combination of three of their own wins and Los Angeles losses to assure themselves of a NBA playoff berth, ran into Rick Barry's hot hand and lost to the Golden State Warriors for the first time this season, 120-108. Barry kept the Cobo Arena crowd of 5,175 buzzing as he hit 11 of 18 first half field goals to lead the Warriors to a 70-51 halftime BppjppBjBjfBffMpBHB JhmHPImP lr i t. BtBtMBtM HHr9P0t 1ft ''-iw tWiPlPiB' flfl SRf MtmBlT li C'MT MKSfWSm At W9yPTsRSI JKBfiwkumMm ML 'Etili' SwJB ffPTjl liHMnfl7! advantage.

KUPEC SCORED six of his game-high total of 22 in those final minutes and Johnson came up with what was probably the final nail in the Hc sier coffin. With U-M leading, 66-63, and less than minutes to go, Johnson spotted daylight on a fast break, streaked by Indiana's 6-foot-11 center Kent. Benson and scored on a layup. DETROIT GOLDEN STATS What Does Baseball Mean to You? 40 Adams II 4-4 7 0-0 4 2-3 4 Barry Lee Johnson Mullens Beard Barnett Russell Dicke 17 10 15 It 4 1 0 i ij i 3-4 5- 0-0 0-0 0 3-4 0 0-0 7 3-4 2 4-8 6 3-4 4-4 2 0-0 1-2 0 M) 3 0-0 0-2 3 0-0 7 Howe 10 Lanier 27 Menselt 13 Bina 12 Trann 10 Ford Norwood Davis Kelso Nash Lantz 44 20-78 '01 Totals Totals 53 14-17 120 3' 22 28 120 24 30 27 105 DETROIT 21. Golden state Ji DETROIT 27 Fouls: Golden State 6 A 3,175.

LAKELAND The man was angry when he spoke and maybe it was only natural his words came out that way. But yet, his words were shocking. They weren't what you expected to near from him and not what you'd expect to hear from any ballplayer in the first few weeks of spring training when the world is supposed to be such a wonderful place. He sat there in front ol his locker, sweating from his day's work, and said baseball was the bunk. He said the moment you signed your first contract, it wasn't a same anymore.

He said it wasn't any fun. He said it was a business and that's all it was. He said it was just another way to make a few bucks. I heard these things my first day in camp with the Tigers and they have bothered me ever since. I could understand the man's anger, for he had a reason to be angry, hut to teel this way about the business you are in must be an awful feeling for anyone.

Sure, this is a business, a dollars and cents business. The Atlanta Braves are about to prove that with their exploitation of Henry Aaron. It is proven everv year by the way the players are bought and sold like so many cattle. It must be this way for the reason of survival. But somehow baseball has always seemed to be a different sort of business a sperial way for a man to make a living.

Maybe because it is a child's game they art playing, the game we knew growing up. I don't believe, for instance, Al Kaline is still playing to pull another $100,000 out ot the game. I believe Benson fouled him, turning it into a three-point play, and i all the Hoosiers could do was keep fouling, hoping to get the ball back. It didn't work that way though. Rupee hit four-for-four on one-and-one situations and Chuck Rogers, playing for Russell, hit two more.

The Wolverines, who had split their first two games of the season with Indiana, bounced out to an early lead behind the scoring and hustling of freshman guard Steve Grote and forward Way-man Britt. A batch of Indiana fouls helped U-M to a slight 38-36 halftime lead and, as the Hoosiers continued to commit fouls. Michigan built the lead to 56-45. WHEN RUSSELL got a pair i of quick fouls, his third and Please turn to Page 4D, Col. 4 Even though Barry cooled off some in the second half, he finished with 40 points making 18 of 32 from the field.

IT WAS SIMPLY a matter of the Warriors, who now lead the Los Angeles Lakers by a single game in the Pacific Division, being more desperate for a win than the Pistons. Only one team from the Pacific-Division will make the playoffs and a loss Monday would have dropped the Warriors into a first-place tie with the Lakers. Golden State had not beaten the Pistons in their first four meetings and came into Detroit for this two-game series without starting center Nate Thurmond, who is back on the west coast with a foot injury. The Pistons' Bob Lanier had a field day against George Johnson and Derrick Dickey for the first 20 minutes of the first half, pumping home 17 points before a scratched right eye sent him to Detroit Osteopathic Hospital for examination. He did not return to the game, but a preliminary report said he had suffered a minor scratch to the white area of the eye and would probably he able to play when the same two teams face each other here Tuesday night.

But even Lanier's 17 first half points were not enough to keep the Pistons in the thick of things in the face of Barry's onslaught. "WHEN HE'S shooting like that," said Piston coach Ray Scott, "there's no way to stop him. That's why he's Rick Barry." Detroit scored the first six points and that was the only time the Pistons led all night. Golden State outscored them, 16-3, over the next five minutes to take a 16-11 edge and Detrot was never in front again. Barry had eight of those 16 points.

Golden State eventually built its lead to 23 points 86-63 midway through the third period. But the Pistons did not fold their tent and softly steal away. With four reserves Ben Kelso, George Trapp, Stu Lantz and Bob Nash on the floor, the Pistons slowly narrowed the gap and the Warriors began to have visions of their playoff hopes disappearing. "We needed a lift and those guys gave it to us," Scott said later. 'They did a lot of Please Turn to Page 4-D, Col.

8 INDIANA (7): May 2-2 Green M-J Benson 2-4 12, Buckner 3 0 0 t. Ah Held 0 o-o 0, Laskowski 7 20, Wilker ton 1 0 1 2, Ahernethy 0 0-0 0, Morris 0 0-0 0. Totals: It U-M. MICHIGAN (75): Russell 7 3-1 17, Brllt mi, Kupec io-ii 72, Grote O-Sli, John'-on I 3-3 5, won ell 1 0-1 2, Rogers 0 2-2 2. Totals: 27 21-M.

Halftime: Michigan 31, Indiana 34. Fouled out: May, Benson, Buckner, wil-kerson, Russell. Total fouls: Indiana 11, Michigan II, Free Press Photo by RANDY EDMONDS Curtis Rowe goes over Kick Harry for 2 Piston points PROTECT OUR NATURAL RESOURCES. BUY YOURSELF A LOCKING GAS CAP. OURS FITS ANY DOMESTIC CAR.

7.95 those 139 hits are that important to him. I don't believe Willie Horton is thinking nt the dollars and cents when he hits one upstairs and Ihen trots out to leftfield and listens to those kids cheering madly lor him. In fact, I don't believe that even Mickey Lolich, a man with a cash register mind, thinks about what it may mean to next year's contract when he slips a third one past Brooks Robinson with two out and runners on second and third. Of course it always gets down to what did you hit or how many games did you win and that's unfortunate. But there is still a strange joy to this game, a boyish elation, that is not a part of, say, banking.

Or selling insurance, cars or beer. Who cheers a cheese salesman? Clouds Like Soap Suds Ralph Houk, the manager of the Tigers, sat in the dugout before Monday's exhibition game with the St. Louis Cardinals and looked out at his players working out on the field. It was another magnificent day, another springtime jewel. The sky was bright blue and he clouds looked like soap suds.

A soft breeze blew across the field. "Anyone who doesn't like this life has to be crazy," said the manager. Maybe Houk could afford to be esthetic His job is safe. It is secure. He has a three-year contract calling for more than a year, making him the highest-raid manager in Detroit history.

But even sitting there with him, in the cool comfort of his dugout, I did not get the idea he was thinking of the money he was making from his profession. I got the notion, instead, he would not be any place else in the world, nor would he be wearing anvthing else but these foolish looking knickers and that uniform blouse which looks like a parachute around his ample body. So I went around to some ot the people on this team, players, a tew coaches, even Houk himself, and asked them if they Culd tell me Just what baseball meant to them. Not one and let me make this clear not one answered quickly. Or abruptly.

All gae it great thought. Maybe they'd never been asked such a question really, such an obvious question. All pondered over it. Ratine thought for fully two minutes before answering. Jim Northrop came back a second time to make certain I had his answer correct.

Young John Knox, the kid trying to win a job at second base, never really answered because he felt so much and could not put it into a few words. 'What does baseball mean to me?" said Dick Sharon, the guy with the tunny lines. "It's something 1 can excel at and that makes me happy." Kaline Makes His DH Debut -Pow! 2 Hits BY JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sports Writer LAKELAND After 2,687 officially sanctioned main events not to mention one World Series, 15 All-Star Games and about 500 exhibitions Al Kaline made his debut Monday. It was an encouraging success. Destined to serve as the Tigers' designated hitter in Ralph Houk's scheme for the coming summer, Kaline found his name on the lineup card Monday for the first time this spring.

And for the first time he got Hk. wdhr an 'A Reflection of Life' some idea of how it's going to feel to be the "10th man" on the team this year. MONDAY, ANYWAY, it felt great as Kaline collected a couple of singles and chased the St. Louis leftfielder all the way to the wall while the Tigers were squeaking out their third win in a row, 3-2, over the Cardinals on eighth-inning doubles by newcomers Gary Sutherland and Ben Oglivie. "I'd say my first experience was a pleasant one," said Kaline, who admitted he didn't know quite what to expect before the game began.

"1 didn't have any trouble concentrating at all." Instead of playing rightfield. as he has done what seems like a million times since 1953, Kaline sat in the dugout between at-bats, keeping an eye on the outfielders as Houk has asked him to do and doing a little cheerleading. "I used to always cheer on the days when 1 wasn't I i I i Al Kaline ing," he explained with a hrnad grin. "When 1 was playing, I trier! to concentrate completely on the game. Mow that I'm sort of in-between.

I don't know quite how to act." You'd never have guessed Please turn to Page 2D, Col. 2 Coach Dick Tracewski saic: "This may sound corny, but baseball is a reflection of lite, You are out there so much, exposed so much, you can't hide. If you have guts on the field, you'll have guts in life. If you dog it out there, you'll dog It in life. I have tound the players I like on the field are the ones I like off the field." Houk said: "It's everything to me.

My family comes first and baseball is second, but baseball has enabled me to give everything to my family." Bill Freehan said: "It is simply what I like to do best in life. I know it will all end one day, but 1 appreciate all the days I have in it." Kaline said: "It's a daily challenge in my life and I could never see me doing anvthing which did not have a challenge." John Hiller said: "Fur me, it's a second chance to make something out of my life, andl will he forever grateful." Joe Coleman said: "It's a boyhood dream come true for me to play a game I love and get paid for it." Mickey Lolich said: "It's the pride, knowing I am one of the best athletes in the country, where people recognize me and know me." Northrup said: "I'm doing something I enjoy. I suppose you can call it an ego trip but it is very fulfilling and very satisfying to make a living at something you like. Not many men get that chance." Norm Cash said: "It is the way I make my living hut it has been a good life for me. It has been a great learning experience." Willie Horton said: "It's all I got," which was pretty profound.

But then there was Ike Frown, the beloved "Boats, a personal favorite, an innocent in his own way. He does not have much talent, and maybe he won't even make it out of Florida with the Tigers this time. Rut his answer had a sperial ring to it. "Baseball," he blinked. "What does baseball mean to me? It means going into the hole and coming up with the hall and hearing the people cheer when you throw the runner out." Kuhn to Braves: Gotta Play Aaron It sure would be a bite to wait in line, get all gassed up for the weekend, and then find that someone with a little less patience made off with the petrol.

Our locking gas tank cap fits any domestic car, has a nifty chrome finish, comes with two sets of keys. You could spend 7.95 a lot more foolishly. rn Hj the Ruth's career home run record of 714 in Atlanta where the Braves play their following 11 games. "I have had a number of discussions with Rill Bartholo- NEW YORK (UPI) -Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn Monday virtually ordered the Atlanta Braves to play Henry Aaron against the Reds in Cincinnati on opening day April 4, The Braves had announced SE lflflEHH run I (Rraves chairman and HUGHES HATCHER month they would not chief executive officer) about i February announcement regarding Henry Aaron," said Kuhn in an announcement I PJi I uled for I mi immedial HAH STORES OPEN TUESDAY EVENING EXCEPT WOODWARD NEAR STATE TIL 6 P.M., evening AMD RIVFR A. aRFFMFIFI AMD RIPAAINGHAM Til VW 3 parties start Aaron in the first three games in Cincinnati.

They want him to get his shot at. tying and breaking Babe Please turn to Page 2D, Col. I PPPBBH HppBH.