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November 27, 2000 - Image 13

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The Michigan Daily, 2000-11-27

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i

SportsMonday - November 27, 2000 - The Michigan Daily - 5B

Quote of the week
"We're ready. We've got the talent. We've just got
to go out and play hard mentally."
- Michigan freshman guard Avery Queen on
Michigan's upcoming schedule which
features Wake Forest, Maryland and Duke

9Wagner
i Michigan

Player of the game
Michigan forward LaVell Blanchard
Blanchard scored a game-high 24 points
and snagged a career-high tying 13
rebounds in the win over Wagner

83
98

'en and Searight adjust to running Michigan offense

By Michael Kern
When a team starts a lineup as
young as Michigan's -- three fresh-
men, a sophomore and a junior
, inst Wagner on Saturday - it is
going to make mistakes. So far this
"ason, tie Wolverines are averaging
more than 20 turnovers per game.
Even more challenging for
Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe and
his staff is that Michigan has two
freshmen, Avery Queen and Maurice
Searight, managing the point on
offense.
Last season, the Wolverines had a
similar situation with two freshmen,
Kevin Gaines and Jamal Crawford,
unning the offense. In their first
three games, Gaines and Crawford
turned the ball over a combined 25
times and had an assist-to-turnover
ratio of just over one.
By comparison, Queen and
Searight have combined for just 10
turnovers and have an assist-to-
turnover ratio of almost three.
Much of this may be due to the fact
that unlike last season, when the two

enough scorers that Queen and
Searight can focus on running the
offense and distributing the ball.
"I definitely understand my role as
a point guard," Queen said. "I need to
lead the team and get everyone else
involved. I led the team against
Western and I understand that is what
Coach wants me to do."
"I want to be the leader and dis-
tribute the ball," Searight said. "If I
get a chance at a good shot because I
have a good look, I'll take it then.
But until then, I'm just going to dis-
tribute the ball and try and make a
good pass."
The young Wolverines have made
their share of mistakes so far this
year. But they have been able to make,
up for it with strong play elsewhere.
Against Wagner, Michigan turned
the ball over 13 times in the first half.
At times, the Michigan offense
looked out of control and out of sync
against a pressing Wagner defense.
The Wolverines made up for the
sloppy play with great shooting,
making 5-of-7 threes and shooting 55
percent from the field.
In the first half, Queen twice
missed open layups on the fastbreak
after breaking the press. But he also
hit two big three-pointers to extend

Positive turnover
Through their first three games,
freshman point guards Avery
Queen and Maurice Searight
have managed a much better
assist-to-turnover ratio than last
season's freshman point guards,
Kevin Gaines and Jamal
Crawford, Here is a breakdown of
the four players' assist-versus-
turnovers through three games.
Player Assists Turnovers

'Wagner (83)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Hall 30 7-15 4-6 0-4 3 5 18
Jefferson 14 3-7 3-3 0-1 04 9
Pritchard 29 4-8 4-4 2-8 1 2 14
Kauder 29 4-9 00 0-1 0 2 11
Edwards 29 4-12 3-4 1-4 3 4.11
~esn 25 3-7 6-9 2-5 1 3 14
itki on 0 1 12 0-0 1 1 1
Johnson 1 00 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kabore 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
J Aen 1 0-0 00 0-0 0 0 0
Wyae 12 0-5 0-0 1-1 0 2 0
Jasn 20 2-6 0- 2-4303 5 5
Ju.Allen 3 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Totals 200 27-71 21-28 11-33 9 >28 83
FGI: .380. F W:.750. 3-point FG: 8-23, .348 (Klauder~
3-6, Pritchard 23. Dye 2- 5,Jackson 1-1, Ja. Allen 0-1,
Hall 0-1, Jefferson 0- 1, Kabore 0-1, Wilkerson 0-I,
Edwards 0-3 .Blocks 3(Wyatte 2, Jackson). Steals: 8
(Edwards 2, Hall, Jefferson, Johnson, Klauder, Pritchard,
Wilkerson). Tunovers: 13 (Pritchard 3. Dye 2, Edwards
2, Jackson 2, Hall, Jefferson, Klauder, Wyatte). Technical
fouls: none.
MICHIGAN (98)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A OT A F PTS
Blanchard 29 6-14 10-13 4-13 0 2 24
Young 24 6-7 0-0 1-5 0 3 12
Moore 21 5-8 01 5-9 1 4 10
Queen 21 3-6 1-3 0-5 5 0 10.
Robinson 28 5-11 6-9 5-7 1 3 17
Jones 15 2-3 0-0 0-i 1 2 4
Searight 21 0-3 2-2 0-3 7 2 2
Dill 1 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
Gitson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Gotfredson 1 0-0 0-0 11 0 0 0.
Garber 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0_
Groninger 19 1-4 3-4 0-2 3 1 S
Asselin 17 3-4 6-6 1-4 0 4 12
Adebiyi 1 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Totals 200 32-64 28-38 17-52 19 22 98
FG%: ,SOO. FPQ/o:.737. 3-point FG: 6-13,-462 (Queen
3-3, Blanchard 2-4, Robinson 1-3, Adebipi 0-1,-
Groniner 0-2). Blocks: 8 (Asselin 4, Moore 2. Young 2)
Steals: 10 (Searight 3, Blanchard 2, Queen 2, Garber,
Moore, Robinson). Turnovers: 23 (Blanchard 5,
Robinson 4, Jones 2, Asselin 2, Groninger 2, Moore 2,
Garber, Young). Technical fouls: none.

Gaines '99
Crawford '99
Queen '00
Searight'00

15
12
14
15

12
13
4
6

Michigan's lead after a Wagner run.
A few times, fellow freshman
Bernard Robinson dribbled reckless-
ly up the court, almost turning the
ball over, before using his athleticism
to make a spectacular play.
Despite some early glitches, both
Queen and Searight are also begin-
ning -to show signs that they can be
the floor generals Ellerbe wants.
On Saturday, Searight had just one
turnover to go with seven assists. A
number of times down the floor in
the second half, the freshman broke
the Wagner press and made a no-look

- I
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
Freshman Maurice Searight has stabilized the Michigan offense, sharing time
with freshman Avery Queen at point guard.

e"shman
roxide a
scoring,

guards were relied on to
good chunk of Michigan's
this season's team has

pass to a teammate for a dunk.
The freshmen "have their
moments," Ellerbe said. "To ask
them to play consistent for a whole
year -- there's one or two freshmen

that can do that. What we'd like to
see is that they continue to get better
in different phases of the game.
"We're happy with their progress
long as it's steady and continuous."

Wagner ........ .....3 3
Mecigan-------.........50

50 -83
48 - 98

Attendance: 8,987
Conference Overall

Pressig need: Get the ball hiside

month ago, Michigan coach
Brian Elerbe talked of
three-headed post rotation
that could change the way Michigan
approached things offensively.
Ellerbe
described pos-
sible scoring
objectives that
emphasized
halfcourt
structure and a
fluid inside-
outside attack
that could be GEOFF
built around GAGNON
some very big A
bodies in the (-Thang
paint.
The image
that Ellerbe painted then was a lot
different from the one that a winded
Josh Moore saw on Saturday. After
beating a tenacious run-and-shoot
Wagner squad, the freshman center
said he thought games have felt more
like track meets so far as Michigan
has eased its way to a 2-1 mark.
Michigan has scored nearly 100
points in each of its three games
largely on the strength of slashers
and scorers like LaVell Blanchard
and Bernard Robinson. But with
teams like Wake Forest, Maryland
and Duke on the horizon, Michigan's
post needs to assert itself now in
order to keep defenses from seeing
Michigan as a one-dimensional
squad.
Ellerbe has made no secret of the
fact that Blanchard has developed
into Michigan's primary offensive
threat -"Lavell's our one constant
right now," he said after Saturday's
win.
But that's a revelation that was evi-
dent even months before the season
began.
With Blanchard's underlined name
scrawled on every opponent's chalk-
board, Michigan must continue to
find ways to pull defenses off the
sharpshooting sophomore while
opening up the perimeter for
Michigan's guards.
To no surprise this duty must fall
to the post rotation of Josh Asselin,
Chris Young and Josh Moore. A
somewhat unlikely cast of supporting
actors, Michigan's big three have
been eyed by Ellerbe as a fundamen-

tal cog in Michigan's offensive wheel
from day one. But with the emer-
gence of offensive firepower away
from the basket from the likes of
Maurice Searieht and Gavin
Groninger, coupled with the explo-
sive tandem of Blanchard and
Robinson. a balanced Michigan
attack hinges on its play down low.
With the brutal schedule of the
next two weeks. a more dominant
and visible showing from Michigan's
low post will allow the Wolverines to
exploit their offensive weapons with
the type of balance that they showed
at times on Saturdav.
Perhaps Michigan's best example
of what works came in the first half
of Saturdavs victorv. Just before the
midway point in the opening stanza
with Michigan leading by a basket,
the ball was reversed around the
perimeter before being dumped
inside where Young turned and
dunked.
In the next trip down the floor,
Wagner collapsed inside, allowing
Blanchard to step to the top of the
key and bury a triple.
Just seconds later, the overmatched
Seahawks again denied the post, giv-
ing Avery Queen an open look for a
3-pointer that gave Michigan a
seven-point lead and had Wagner
coach Dereck Whittenburg looking
for a timeout.
Using its post to open up the
perimeter, Michigan had its halfcourt
offense clicking when it slowed the
run-and-gun Seahawks into a con-
trolled set.
In contrast, just two minutes later,
Michigan was caught running with
the free-shooting Seahawks and
ended up paying for it, as Queen left
a layup on the front of the rim and
then fired an errant pass out of
bounds to Whittenburg. The contrast
in styles seemed striking and had
Ellerbe urging his team to apply the
brakes a bit.
"I would have liked the tempo to
be a little bit slower at times,"
Ellerbe said.
"I think our guards will learn that
we need to play our tempo and not
someone else's."
As Ellerbe would agree, the
Wolverines don't need to put the
reigns on their athletic playmakers
and tie them into a halfcourt set for

40 minutes a night, but they do need
to make defenses respect what they
can do in the paint if their truest
strengths are to shine.
When Michigan played with
patience and poise it looked promis-
ing.
When the Wolverines ran against
the speedy Seahawks the result was,
at times, disjointed play that helped
lead to 14 first-half turnovers.
Dumping the ball down low and
forcing defenders to collapse on
Michigan's big bodies will open
seams for shooters like Groninger
and Blanchard to step into while
drawing fouls that equate into easy
free-throw chances.
So far though, Michigan's attempts
to go inside early and often have
been thwarted by foul trouble that
has besieged the big men and seated
them with Ellerbe on too many occa-
sions.
The loss to Oakland saw the rook-
ie Moore foul out while both Young
and Asselin came within a whistle of
doing the same.
What's more, Asselin's foul trouble
this weekend allowed the senior to
play a paltry 17 minutes - too few
for the veteran to impact games from
here on out.
A surprising bright spot in the
three-man rotation has been the play
of Young. Despite a rash of turnovers
against Oakland and Western
Michigan, a tougher Young has been
a more aggressive defensive force
taking charges and picking up loose
balls.
But his real efforts are obvious on
offense. Averaging almost 14 points
per game and seven rebounds, Young
is turning into the type of force on
the blocks that Michigan will need to
complement its more potent scorers
out of the paint.
Young said after his first career
double-double in Tuesday's win over
Western Michigan that he's devel-
oped a more assertive mindset this
season, that he's looking to score
every time he touches the ball. This
attitude bodes well for a team that
will need to establish a dynamic
inside-outside attack in preparation
for the meat of its nonconference
schedule.
- Geoff Gagnon can be reached at
ggagnondunich. edu.

Team
Minnesota
Michigan State
lowa
Penn State
Illinois
Michigan
Northwestern
Indiana
Ohio State
Purdue
Wisconsin.

W
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

L
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

W
4
3'
2
2
3
2
2
2
2
1
1

L
0
0
1
2
1
1
1

Yesterday's resuts:
No. 8 ILLINOIs 86, Texas Southern 67
Georgetown at Minnesota, inc.
Saturdav's games:
MICHIGAN 98, Wagner 83
No. 18 WIscoNstN 68, Northern Illinois 64<
PURDUE 72, No. 1 Arizona 69 -
PENN STATE 73, No. 22 Kentucky 68
No.4 MICHIGAN STATE 83, E Washington 61
Tomorrow's gmes:
Wake Forest at MICHIGAN, 7 p.m.
Northwestern at Clemson, 7:30 p.m.
Illinois at Duke, 9 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Iowa, 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday's Qames:
Purdue at Virginia, 7 p.m.
North Carolina at Michigan State, 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Florida State, 8 p.m.
Tomorow
Michigan vs Wake Forest. CaslerArena, 7
p.m. (ESPN)
Michigan hosts the 17th-ranked Demon
Deacons as part of the Big Ten/ACC
Chalenge. Wake Forest (4-0) is coming off
of an 86-47 drubbing of Campbell this
past weekend.
Five Demon Deacons currently average
double-figures in scoring. With Darius
Songalia in the paint, the Demon Deacons
boast a balanced inside-out attack.
This weekend
Saturday, Michigan vs Maryand B8T
Cl ssk MCICenter, Washington D.C, I
p.rn,,;Sunday, Michigan vs. St John's or
George Washington; 3 or 5 p.m
No. 6 Maryland is coming off back-to-
back loses to No 8 Illinois and Dayton
earlier in the week at the Maui Invitational.
The Terrapins (1-2), a Sweet 16 team last
year, have veteran leadership from Juan
Dixon, Lonny Baxter and Terrence Morris
- all potential All-Americans.
St. Johns (3-1) is led by Anthony Glover
and freshman Omar Cook
George Washington (4-0) is led by super-
sophomore SirValiant Brown, who is aver-
aging 22.5 points per game so far this
season.

MARJORIE MARSHALL/Da y
Sophomore forward LaVell Blanchard grabs one of his career-high 13 rebounds
In Saturday's 98-83 victory over Wagner'

WAGNE.R
Continued from Page LB
The current play of point guards
Maurice Searight and Queen is anoth-
rceason for confidence.
m entt used to the college
game," -,ns. '! mI'm getting com-
f::rtable:makin my moves and playing
my game. Im more comfortable and
I'm getting used to the pace of the
game."
The point guard agrees with Ellerbe
that thc Wolverines are ready to face
tougher challenges.
"We're readv," Queen said. "We've
got the talent. We have to play hard

mentally."
And for 40 minutes. Against
Wagner, the Wolverines jumped out to
an early lead and had difficulty staying
focused to end the game.
"I thought we were pretty solid for
most of the first half and we had a few
good moments in the second half,"
Ellerbe said. "We would have liked to
have seen more consistency. With our
young team and young guards, I don't
know if 40 minutes of consistency is
really something you can get, but that's
what we're going to strive for."
Starting Tuesday, 40 minutes of con-
sistency is something the Wolverines
will absolutely have to have.

WEEKEND'S BEST

HERO OF THE DAY:
Forward Troy Murphy scored 30
points and grabbed seven
rebounds in leading No. 14 Notre
Dame to a 69-51 victory over No.
16 Cincinnati at the first-ever John
Wooden Tradition. The junior
blocked six shots and made 10-of-
13 free throws.
BoIuNG OVER:
Purdue upset No. 1 Arizona at the

over No. 22
Kentucky.
The loss
was
Kentucky's
second loss in
a home opener ,
in the last 25
seasons. 7-
FOR WHOM THE
BELL TOLLS. y r5

Team
1. Arizona
2. Duke
3. Kansas
4. Michigan State
5. Stanford
6. Maryland
7 North Carolina
8. Illinois
9. Tennessee
10. Seton Hall

Rec.
3-1
5-0
5-0
3-0
4-0
1-2
3-0
3-1
3-0
2-0
1n ,

This weekend's results
lost to Purdue 72-69
beat Army 91-48
beat Washburn 99-56
beat Eastern Washington 83-61
beat Georgia 71-58
did not play
did not play
beat Texas Southern 86-64
did not play
did not play

IT ... -.

I

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