The one, Michigan`s Steve Fisher, is less than two years away from a magic-carpet ride that ended in a national championship. The other, Minnesota`s Clem Haskins, is less than a year away from a glorious ride that ended with a two-point loss to Georgia Tech in the Southeast Regional final.
But this season, Fisher absorbed bruising defeats in his Wolverines`
first four Big 10 games, and now he prepares for a Thursday meeting with Indiana with conference victories over only Northwestern and Wisconsin. And this season, Haskins absorbed telling defeats in his Gophers` first three Big 10 road games, and now he prepares for a Thursday meeting with Ohio State with his only conference victories coming at home over Iowa (by two) and Purdue (by three).
They are, then, soulmates this season, who have been ravaged by graduation, forced to abandon hope of immediate glory and left to face the shoals of their Big 10 schedules with lineups littered with kids barely as old as today`s sunrise. That prospect would please marketing sharks, those predators who cater in their campaigns to every youthful whimsy, but here-in one of the country`s toughest conferences-it often means nothing more than agonizing defeats highlighted by bewildering performances.
So Michigan pops out more turnovers than a bakery, shoots less than 40 percent while losing to Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan State and bows to Iowa after scrambling back to take a one-point lead with three minutes remaining. And Minnesota struggles with an inside game no more dangerous than a rubber knife, manages to shoot above 50 percent in but two of its first 15 games and goes through comatose stretches like the one that afflicted it last Saturday at Michigan State, where it fell behind 25-7 before rousing from its stupor.
”You have to be willing to be a little more patient with mistakes made,” says Fisher. ”You can`t comprehend how they`re made, why they`re made, but you have to realize it`s the first time they`re being made by these kids. So instead of getting mad, you have to move ahead calmly-though I do find myself biting my tongue on occasion.”
”You can talk all you want about talent, but there`s no substitute for experience,” says Haskins. ”The key is to teach them how to win, and to do that, they have to go through the wars. That`s why I want all my young guys to play as much as they can. It`s not that I`m writing the year off. But we are in a rebuilding year.”
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The one, Fisher, rebuilds now after losing Rumeal Robinson, Terry Mills, Loy Vaught, Sean Higgins and Mike Griffin. They were the Wolverines`
foundation over the last two seasons, but now the first four are spread throughout the NBA and Griffin toils in Japan.
So this season Fisher is left to trot out a starting lineup that normally includes two sophomores, two juniors and only a single senior, guard Demetrius Calip.
”You go through a lot of emotions, that`s for sure,” Calip says of his unique status as the Wolverines` only experienced player. ”One minute I feel I should take over since everyone is so young, then I start to feel selfish. One minute I feel like I`m monopolizing the basketball, then we come down four, five possessions and don`t score, and I say, `Hey, it`s up to me, I should take over.`
”It gets frustrating. My first three years here, we were used to winning, and for that to stop, it`s a bad feeling. It`s hard to get used to. I still feel we have a chance to make a run, but we`ve got to see how their inexperience affects the young guys in the heat of competition.”
The other, Haskins, rebuilds now after losing Richard Coffey, Willie Burton, Melvin Newbern and Jim Shikenjanski. They were the Gophers` foundation over the last two seasons, but now the first pair is in the NBA, and the steeliness all four provided is as rare at Minnesota as a shooting touch.
So this season Haskins is left to trot out a starting lineup that normally includes two freshmen, a sophomore, and a pair of seniors, forward Walter Bond and guard Kevin Lynch. They are called The Young (for obvious reasons) and The Restless (for the seniors` anxiousness to move on to the pros). ”But I`ve made a commitment to play our young front line as much as possible,” says Haskins.
Why?
”You watched our team play the last two years. That was the same team that lost 18 games in 1988. Maturity made the difference. Like Shikenjanski. He couldn`t catch the ball or pass a lick when he started. The key is to stick with them. These guys are our future. I think our group, if it stays together, in two years and I can take this group and win.
”They just have to learn that certain teams play certain ways. Here`s what Indiana`s going to do in a critical situation. Here`s what Purdue`s not going to let you do in a game. Then when they face that as juniors, seniors, it just clicks in. I think that`s important, players getting used to handling important situations.
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”The key is executing in crucial situations. Young people have a hard time doing that. They panic.”
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The one, Fisher, was acutely aware of his situation before this season began, and he was then realist enough to admit some startling facts to himself. He knew that those games with teams like Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan and Chicago State, games he normally could regard as laughers, would this year be tighter and crucial to any hopes Michigan had of making a seventh straight NCAA tourney appearance.
He knew he could not afford the luxury of preparing for more than one game at a time, a luxury he was able to indulge last season. He knew he might open the Big 10 schedule with four consecutive losses, a fear that was transformed into reality. And he knew, as that schedule then unfolded, he and his team could not afford to lose any game it should win if it hoped to give its school its eighth consecutive 20-win season.
”It was exciting, approaching the unknown. It was also a little unnerving,” says Fisher. ”Last year, we didn`t care who we played or where, we knew we`d be in the tournament. But this year I was able to look at games I knew we`d have trouble winning. Now I didn`t tell the kids that, but I thought it to myself.”
How are you handling this brush with reality?
”I`m no different than you or anyone else,” he says. ”I want to have success, and in our business, success is measured in wins and losses. So I want to win. But I`m also a realist, so I was also able to look out and know we`d struggle along at .500, maybe a little better, maybe a little worse. I think then you have to take enjoyment in little things. Maybe seeing them do things you worked on in practice. You have to measure success in those terms.”
The other, Haskins, was also aware of his situation before this season began, yet his Gophers entered it differently from Michigan. The Wolverines summarily were consigned to the Big 10`s second division, but Minnesota was considered by many as the threat most likely to challenge conference powers Ohio State, Michigan State and Indiana.
But then Bond missed eight games with an injury, and Haskins was forced to juggle his lineup, and now his young team faces the hee can coach the game, so you`re always going against the best in the country. You have good talent, too. So put the coaches there, put the talent there, it makes it tough to win. ”We`re still babies”-and here, in conclusion, he could be speaking for his soulmate-”Babies! We`re not playing with that confidence great players have-and need.”