a Friday March 12, 2004 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com SPORTS 8 To dance, Cagers need strong finish Icers hope new lines can reignite offense By Chis Burke Daily Sports Editor On Jan. 28, the Michigan basketball team came up with one of its better per- formances of the season. The Wolver- ines were lights out from the field, and exploded for. a 90-84 win over Iowa. Three weeks later, onh Feb. 14, the Wolverines went into Iowa City and ; collapsed in a 69-61 loss to the Hawkeyes. The two-game set summed up Michigan's 2003-04 cam- paign - one day the Wolverines would look like world-beaters; the next, they couldn't do anything right. Michigan (8-8 Big Ten, 17-10 over- all) will open its Big Ten Tournament play today at 2:30 p.m. when it takes on Iowa (9-7, 16-11). And if the Wolverines are still cling- ing to NCAA Tournament aspirations, then they had better hope that the right Michigan team shows up. "I think when you are young, you are always looking for opportunities to grow and develop," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "I think we have seen that it in different pockets through- out the season." While the young Wolverines have hit some trouble spots on the road to suc- cess this year, all of the negative moments could be erased should Michigan put together a good showing this weekend. Most college basketball analysts believe that the Wolverines will need at least two wins to have a shot at the NCAA Tour- Y .nament. But Michigan a vsda would rather not leave it wt k. up to chance. "I think most of us feel that our conference tournament is wide open," Amaker said. "If the kids can start to believe and start playing to win (instead of) not to lose, they will have a good chance." "I'm packing for the whole week- end," said sophomore Lester Abram. Last year's trip to the Big Ten Tour- nament ended well before the weekend was over. On the eve of the Wolverines' quarterfinal contest against Indiana, guard Daniel Horton suffered an ankle injury in practice. With Horton far from full strength, Michigan's season ended in a loss to the Hoosiers. That experience alone has Horton, who had one of his best performances of the season in Michigan's win over Northwestern last Saturday, itching to get another crack at the tournament title. "I look at it as I didn't really get a By Sharad Mattu Daily Sports Writer Graham Brown and the rest of the Wolverines have one last shot at the NCAAs. chance to experience playing in a big game like that - I played, but I wasn't 100 percent," said Horton. "My focus now is to get prepared to play at a high level (against Iowa)." The Hawkeyes enter today's game in the same position as Michigan - likely needing two wins to garner NCAA Tournament consideration. Truthfully, the fact that the Hawkeyes are even being considered for the Tour- nament is a tribute to the job they've done this season. During the course of the year, Iowa lost its top two centers, Jared Reiner and Sean Sonderleiter, to injury and personal reasons, respectively. In spite of that, the Hawkeyes have managed to secure a first-round bye and will be tough opponents for the Wolverines. "(Iowa coach) Steve (Alford) has his team playing very well, and they are coming off a big win at Purdue," Amak- er said. "They will be a very competi- tive and spirited team." Regardless of the opponent, Amaker and the Wolverines are aware that noth- ing less than a great showing in Indi- anapolis will keep their NCAA Tournament bubble from bursting. "Getting into the NCAA Tournament would be a monumental step for our program," Amaker said. "For our play- ers, this is what you play for. When you start the year, your dream is to play in the postseason." Though they won't be waking up from a nightmare muttering, "there's no place like home" to themselves, the Wolverines just might share Dorothy's sentiments. That's because - as has been the case for Michigan's football and basketball teams - the - hockey team plays at a TRIS V much higher level when in Ann Arbor. Though the Wolverines won all 13 con- M ference home games, they v were just 5-8-2 away from S Yost Ice Arena.} This weekend's CCHA Tournament first-round series with Nebraska-Omaha will mark Yost's last stand, as the Wolverines will be on the road for the remainder of the season. But Michigan coach Red Berenson has made some changes for the last few home games. After 16 straight games with the same four lines, Berenson has given the lineup a makeover, hoping to reignite a scoring attack that has come back to earth after its best stretch of the season. In its last four games, Michigan has scored just eight goals and gone 0-3-1. "Our offense has struggled a bit the last two weeks," said Milan Gajic, who will be alongside Jason Ryznar and Andrew Ebbett on his line this weekend. "It's not that we're not getting chances, things just aren't quite clicking. And it's a bad time to not be clicking. We went a long time without changing lines, so hopefully this can get us going." The fact that the first line changes in 10 weeks have come just before the postseason doesn't have the Wolverines worried. Over the course- of the season, the coaching staff changes the lines often enough to eliminate any chemistry issues. "What would be tough is if we were a pro team and we brought in a bunch of players at the trade deadline and tried to fit them in," Berenson said. "These are players that have been playing together all year, and in some cases three years." Gajic agreed: "We've all played with each other. EEKEND There's only three fresh- men up front, it's not like gpn < the lines are totally new" g>: Gajic was referring to the fact that Berenson kept two players from ..cessar old lines together, hop- Ae ing a different third player will make the dif- ference. For example, Gajic and Ryz- nar played together during Michigan's tournament run last year, and Ebbett and Ryznar have been playing together lately. "I'm trying to find lines that are going to compete and play well at both ends of the ice," Berenson said. "It's not just about scoring. It's about playing good defense and playing responsibly so that in any situation we can send out a line we can be comfortable with." But the last two weeks haven't been all that bad for some members of the hockey team. Freshman center T.J. Hen- sick, who led the Wolverines with 41 points, was named to the All-CCHA first team by the league's coaches. Hensick is the first freshman Wolver- ine ever to be named to the first team. His 30 assists are tied for second in the NCAA. He was also named to the CCHA all-rookie team earlier this week. Junior defenseman Brandon Rogers and sophomore goaltender Al Montoya were named to the CCHA's second team. a ,' MENS SWIMMING AND DIVING Coben ready to take step one in title defense By Gabe Edelson Daily Sports Writer "Hey! You're leaning the shoulders back a little bit in the start." Jason Coben nods. "Narrow press right there, and try to keep the shoulders over so the feet get thrown up over your head." Another nod, followed by another attempt from the one-meter springboard. Michigan diving coach Chris Bergere is help- ing Coben in his preparation for this weekend's NCAA Diving Zones in Bloomington. While the rest of the swimming and diving team will remain in Ann Arbor to practice another two weeks for the NCAA Championships, Coben, a senior, will hit the road with three divers from the women's team. Unlike the swimmers, who have had opportunities to qualify for the championships with automatic or consideration times in dual and conference meets throughout the season, Coben has one shot. A two- day stretch of regional competition at Indiana will determine whether or not he will be able to defend his 2003 NCAA Co-Championship on the 10-meter platform at the end of the month. "This is a big meet for me," Coben said after prac- tice Tuesday. "Not so much to prove myself, but just to stay consistent and get to the meet that really mat- ters. I just have to stay calm. As long as I make the NCAAs, I'll be a happy camper." Coben is often anything but cheerful during prac- tice, where it is not unusual for him to become angry with himself when things do not go smoothly. On See COBEN, Page 9 M L - i . * - - 74___________________