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