Friday
March11, 2005
sports. michigandaily.com
sports@michigandaily.com
UobE IrLEbi1un
9
. .............
One and
done
In tournament,
final push falls
shortof Victory
By Josh Holman
Daily Sports Editor
CHICAGO - It was a completely different setting - postseason
play in the United Center, their backs up against the wall in a win-or-
go-home situation.
But the drama played out in familiar fashion. It was a game in which
the Wolverines gave it their best shot only to real-
ize that, during this tumultuous season, their best GA
was never enough. N H E
The Northwestern Wildcats (15-15) hit the >.
brakes on Michigan's roller-coaster season in a 58-56 victory at the
opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. It was the third straight loss
for Michigan (13-18) and its 13th in the last 14 games. >
"We're obviously disappointed that we weren't able to pull games
out," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "It's still what it is. It's a .. ;
loss on our record and a loss for our team."
The Wolverines had plenty of chances to pull out the win and even ..
controlled the beginning of the game. But a series of mistakes proved k
too difficult for them to overcome. t
Michigan dug itself out of a 10-point hole to close the gap to two
with 1:08 remaining in the game. After a defensive stop, the Wolver-
ines had 35 seconds to set up a game-tying shot. Freshman Ron Cole- .
man - who went 0-for-7 from the field - found himself open from
behind the 3-point line and fired up a miss with 23.9 seconds still left
on the clock.
Northwestern guard T. J. Parker gave the Wolverines another chance
See WILDCATS, page 10 Senior Dani Wohl goes after a loose ball in his last game as a Wolverine.
Tourney loss just
mirrors Blue's year
JASON COOPER/Daily
BRIAN SCHICK
Schick Happens
C ICAGO - It's funny how one
40-minute game can combine so
many storylines from an entire
31-game season. For the Michigan basket-
ball team, yesterday's 58-56 loss to North-
western was a pretty close representation
of this season as a whole - a combination
of errors that was devastating at times and
an end result that didn't cost the Wolver-
ines as much as it could.
The first half saw Michigan grab an
early eight-point lead and enter the locker
room at halftime up by six. At the begin-
ning of this season, Michigan was able
to put together a decent nonconference
record (8-5) that helped set up an early 3-0
run in conference play.
But then trouble set in. Northwestern
went on a 12-0 run in the second half
and never looked back. During the Big
Ten season, the Wolverines amassed a
10-game losing streak and they never
recovered.
In the waning minutes yesterday,
Michigan decided to make things inter-
esting and battled hard to close out the
game. But it ultimately came up short and
lost by two. In the last two games of the
season - against Iowa on Saturday and
Northwestern yesterday - the Wolverines
lost close games in the final seconds. They
took the Hawkeyes into overtime and lost
to the Wildcats in the final 10 seconds
yesterday.
So after a rollercoaster season, it only
seemed fitting that Michigan would play
its last game of the 2004-05 season in the
same fashion. But the last phase of both
yesterday's game and the final loss of
the regular season showed that this team
wasn't ready to throw in the towel and that
they desired to play hard for 40 minutes
- something that was lacking at times
earlier this year.
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker was
asked at the postgame press conference
what he could take away from this season,
and he said he wasn't sure at the time if
there was anything. But I would be willing
to say that he and the players should take
pride in the way they played in the final
two games.
After three uninspired losses to Purdue,
Minnesota and Ohio State earlier this sea-
son, I was convinced that the Wolverines
wouldn't play a competitive game again. I
mean, who could blame them? This isn't
the way the season was supposed to go.
But the last two games showed that
these players were still motivated to win,
and the talent lost to injuries probably
would have been enough to put Michigan
over the top in both games. The losses to
Purdue and Ohio State were due to miss-
ing talented players and a lack of effort.
Yesterday's loss was due to the reduction
of talent. All I want from a team is to leave
it all on the floor at the end of the day. It
seems that it took until the end of the sea-
son before Michigan began to regain that
competitive edge.
"I think (yesterday's game) shows the
competitiveness of our kids," Amaker
said. "It's been a tough year for all of us,
but I think they've shown the heart and
character they have by the way they kept
fighting."
I know what you're thinking: "I don't
care about effort. I want wins!" Well, that
just wasn't in the cards this season. I'm not
going to lie and say that Michigan didn't
squander games it could have won earlier
this season - the loss to Illinois is a great
example. But the fact remains that Michi-
gan didn't live up to the preseason hype,
and people needed to adjust their expecta-
tions as each player went down to injury or
suspension.
I'm also not saying that simply plugging
Lester Abram and Daniel Horton into yes-
terday's lineup would have equaled instant
victory. Both are great players, but nearly
the exact same team couldn't get it done in
the Big Ten Tournament last season either.
Ultimately, what it boils down to is
effort. Illinois showed that even putting the
more talented lineup on the floor doesn't
guarantee a victory, as it pulled off just a
seven-point win over Michigan earlier this
year. Amaker has been talking about try-
ing to get Michigan in a "position to win"
all season, and it seems he has finally been
able to that - complete with a patchwork
lineup - in the last two games.
Talent can only get you so far, and
even with Horton and Abram returning to
the lineup next year, everyone will need
to give it their all every night. Or else,
Michigan could find itself watching March
Madness at the end of next season, again,
as opposed to actually dancing in it.
After bad year, Amaker expects to return
By Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Editor
CHICAGO - Will Tommy Amaker
be Michigan's coach next season?
The Wolverines finished the end of
the season 1-13 after a 12-5 start, and,
right now, Amaker
is on the proverbial
hot seat.
"I expect to be
back," Amaker said.
"I haven't been told
any other reason why
I wouldn't be back."
a
goo
Michigan finished the year with a 4-
12 conference record - the worst dur-
ing Amaker's four-year tenure. On top of
that, his most prized recruit, guard Daniel
Horton, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor
domestic violence charge. The squeaky
clean image for which Amaker has been
known now has a glare.
But Amaker understands the highs and
lows of college basketball. He expects
there to be speculation about his job secu-
rity, especially because the Wolverines
began this season with legitimate NCAA
Tournament hopes.
"I think we've made leaps and bounds
prior to this season," Amaker said. "We
have put things in order that have got-
ten people very excited about where this
program has the potential to go, and I
think because that has not material-
ized as much as any of us wanted this
season, I think sometimes that can be a
little deflating. And it can cause some of
the questions I'm being presented with
right now."
Amaker added that winning the NIT
Championship last season was "not an
insignificant achievement."
VuKu-ouT-sICK: Northwestern coach
Bill Carmody stared straight ahead at the
post-game press conference cameras, then
gestured with his thumb to his right and
said curtly, "Vedran had a bad game."
Laughter filled the room. But North-
western's Vedran Vukusic wasn't smiling.
The 6-foot-8 forward from Split, Croa-
tia had one of his worst games of the sea-
son, scoring just seven points on 2-for-8
shooting. The senior, who averages 17.2
points per game, fouled out with just
under four minutes remaining in the sec-
ond half. Vukusic averaged 24 points per
game for the Wildcats in their previous
two meetings with Michigan this season.
"We were very lucky to get him in foul
trouble," Michigan senior J.C. Mathis
said.
The Wolverines tried to front-
guard Vukusic when he was on the
floor, continually denying him post
position. Vukusic - who played just 15
minutes the entire game - looked lost
in the paint, throwing up off-balance
shots on more than a few occasions.
SIMS-CITY: Forward Courtney Sims
played his best game of the season, scor-
ing a career-high 25 points on 8-of-9
shooting.
"Today I just didn't want this to be our
last game," said Sims. "I am real close
with J.C., and I didn't want it to be his last
game and (Dani Wohl's). That was the
motivating factor."
Sims had a total of just four points the
past three games for the Wolverines. The
sophomore added 20 pounds of muscle in
the offseason but progressively worked
the weight off as the year unfolded. The
sophomore struggled to establish post-
position all season and never seemed
to feel comfortable with his fluctuating
weight.
Forward Brent Petway said he was glad
that Sims finally excelled on the court,
much like he does regularly in practice.
"I hate practicing against him," Petway
said. "He got to show some of the things
he does in practice that makes me so mad
sometimes. That's what we need out of
him. We were able to ride him a little bit.
We kept getting him the ball, and he kept
on finishing."
Sims's performance yesterday was
an encouraging sight for Amaker, who's
been critical of the forward lately. It was
also a positive for ... well ... Sims.
"I don't think a lot of people have seen
what I can do this season because I've been
struggling a little bit," Sims said. "So it was
good to showcase my talent."
HEALTHY HUNTER: Chris Hunter
- who averaged 9.8 points per game
for the Wolverines in 22 appearances
this season - said his ankle, which
he injured earlier in the year and then
re-aggravated in February, wasn't
bothering him yesterday against the
Wildcats. Hunter played a total of two
minutes.
Brian Schick can be reached at
bschick@umich.edu.
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