8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 31, 2005 , EXHIBITION OPENERS: MEN - SAT., NOV. 5 vs. GRAND VALLEY STATE WOMEN - TUE., NOV. 1 vs. ATHLETES IN ACTION Basketball teams getting ready for tipoff 'M' looks to guards for successful season By Scott Bell Daily Sports Writer CHICAGO - Last year, the Big Ten had its fair share of representa- tion at the Final Four. Among the sea of North Carolina's blue and Louis- ville's red was Illinois' orange and Michigan State's green. The jersey colors may have clashed; the style of play that brought those teams to the NCAA Tournament did not. All four teams - especially the two Big Ten teams - had the one thing in com- mon: good perimeter play. "I think basketball will always go how the guards go," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "The day of the Georgetown (big man dominance) is over because there are none of those guys left in college basketball." The importance of perimeter play seemed to be one of the major themes at this year's Big Ten Media Day held yesterday in Chicago. While Izzo's Spartan squad looks primed for anoth- er Final Four run - his backcourt core of Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown and Drew Neitzel remains intact - defend- ing Big Ten champion Illinois hopes to rebuild what it once had. Big Ten Pre- season Player of the Year Dee Brown returns as the lone backcourt player left from the Illini's run to the cham- pionship game last year. Luther Head left due to graduation, and Deron Wil- liams decided to forgo his senior year for the NBA. "Anytime you lose players like Deron and Luther, it's going to be hard" Weber said. "Our expectations aren't what they were last year, but they're still high. Michigan State is the best team, hands down. But aside from them, I think we're right in the thick of things for spots two through eight. It depends on what teams can step up." With second place and the subse- quent spots that follow declared wide open in the tough Big Ten conference this year, it appears that whoever can best emulate last year's equation for success could be on the fast track to a solid conference finish. That formula could very well be exactly what this year's Michigan men's basketball team is tooled for. With redshirt junior Lester Abram returning from injury and senior Daniel Horton back after battling offcourt issues, junior Dion Harris will have two others to complement him in the backcourt. "I think with those three kids, you're looking at three veteran perimeter players - guys that have been able to perform at moments throughout their careers," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "We need all three of them to perform." Expect Amaker's challenge to be met with open arms. Abram was the team's leading scorer during his sophomore year, and Horton's ability to take over a game has been shown numerous times throughout his three- year career. The talent that Michigan possesses is not in question. Weber said the Wolverines can stand toe to toe with anyone in the league. "I think Michigan has as much talent as anybody," said Weber, last year's consensus national coach of the year. "They had so many off-the-court issues and injuries, now it's just wheth- er or not they can put it all together." Michigan also has sophomore Ron Coleman to aid its backcourt. Cole- man saw significant minutes during his freshman year while filling the void left by Abram and Horton, who was out because of legal trouble. The rest of the Big Ten certainly is not lacking in strong backcourts. Iowa boasts senior guard Jeff Horner to aid a strong Hawkeye bunch that returns four starters. Minnesota's senior guard Vincent Greer comes into the season as a member of the preseason All-Conference team. But Amaker is confident in his own backcourt. "I like to think that we have our perimeter intact," Amaker said. "If we have Horton, Harris and Abram, we will be able to compete with the other top perimeters in the league." Maize-Blue scrimmage ends in overtime By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Writer "Healthy, happy and hungry." Michigan men's basketball coach Tommy Amaker guaranteed the fans at Crisler Arena after Saturday's Maize and Blue scrimmage that his team would aspire towards those three goals in the upcoming season. After a single 20-minute period, the Maize needed a three-minute overtime to edge the Blue 53-50. Dividing the Michigan roster into the two squads, the Blue started seniors Daniel Horton and Chris Hunter, junior Courtney Sims, sophomore Ron Cole- man and freshman Jevohn Shepherd while senior Graham Brown, juniors Dion Harris, Lester Abram and Brent Petway and freshman Jerret Smith took the court first for the Maize. The Blue used defensive pressure to notch the first two points of game. After Hunter stole the ball on a trap at the top of the key, he raced down the sideline and saw Shepherd streaking to the basket on the opposite side. Hunter lobbed an alley-oop to Shepherd, but the freshman wasn't able to control the ball and missed the layup. Hustling after the ball, Shepherd stole it back and dished it to Sims, who put in a fadeaway jumper from the baseline. Unfazed by the early flurry of defensive aggressive- ness, the Maize quickly took the lead. Harris drove to the foul line and bounced a pass around a defender to a wide-open Lester Abrams who drained the three pointer to give the Maize the advantage - much to the crowd's pleasure. "It felt really good (to get back in front of the crowd)," Abrams said. "I missed it a lot last year, and I can't wait for the first game this year so that I can see the real crowd that's going to be here. I don't know how I'm going to feel that day, but I just can't wait for it to come." As the game progressed into the late stages, the score remained close with each team playing stout defense while attempting to gain the advantage. With just under 10 seconds left on the clock, Brown scored on a bank shot from the left block to give the Maize a two-point lead. Quickly inbounding the ball, Horton dribbled down the court, pulling up at the top of the key to take a three to win the game. As the senior shot, Petway bumped him and the referee called the foul, providing Horton with a chance to end the game with three shots from the line. After making the first, Horton flicked up the sec- ond shot, and the ball rolled around and out of the bas- ket. Clapping his hands together in disgust, Horton refocused and converted the last free throw attempt to tie the game at 41. In the extra session, Abram started the Maize attack. Jumping in front of a pass to the wing, the junior pushed the ball up the court and passed to Har- ris who was fouled going up for a layup. The junior drained both foul shots, notching a two-point lead for the Maize. The highlight play of the overtime period came when Harris drove the ball to the middle of the key. While looking at the corner, he threw a no-look pass to Petway - who had drifted under the basket and Pet- way finished - with a crowd-electrifying slam. While the scrimmage was mainly geared toward the fans, the Wolverines used the competition to work on their new style of offense. Throughout the game, each team took every oppor- tunity to push the ball up the court and create fast- break opportunities. The up-tempo style allowed the Wolverines to force the issue and try to make things happen offensively. "One of our emphases this year is to push the ball," Horton said. "In the Big Ten, you have to try and get as many easy baskets as you can because it's so hard to score in a half court set" The scrimmage also allowed the Michigan fresh- men to acquire a glimpse of the college basketball atmosphere. Both Shepherd and Smith played a majority of the minutes for their respective teams. "This is a learning lesson for me," Smith said. "The guys have helped me a lot to get my confidence. It helped me a lot to know that these people support me." Notes: Doubling as a hurricane-relief event, the Maize and Blue scrimmage raised a total of $960 towards the Hurricane Katrina reliefefforts. Fans were asked to donate a $1 when they entered the arena. 0 ALEXANDER DZIADOSZ/Daily Jerret Smith started in the Maize and Blue scrimmage. The freshman saw substantial minutes In the intrasquad dual. Freshmen called on to lead 'M' in Big T Michigan State, v Ohio State remain conferenCe favorites SARA LIVINGSTON ON WOMEN'S HOOPS "Do not get lazy on your pumps, do not get lazy on your pivots," coach Cheryl Burnett yelled from the center of Crisler Arena early Saturday afternoon during the first few minutes of the Wolverines' open practice. "Don't get lazy." That's certainly easier said than done. Inevitably, one has to wonder, will the Michigan women's basketball team - with just one upperclassman - get lazy come January? By then, the team will be midway through conference play, and this year's Big Ten is nothing to sneeze at. Perennial powerhouses No. 2 Michigan State, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 11 Minnesota all play Michigan twice, giving the Wolverines more than enough to handle. "We look at (the season) one game at a time, but in the back of our minds we know we have a really tough season ahead because of all of the competi- tors in the Big Ten," junior Kelly Helvey said. "But we are just going to go in focused and just keep playing our hardest and that's all we can do. And who knows, the outcome could be on our side." So, maybe pessimism isn't the best way to approach this season after all. Maybe the Wolver- ines have gained more during the offseason than they have lost - something that would certainly say a lot about the team's new batch of freshman. With the departure of Tabitha Pool, Michigan's leading scorer as well as freshman Becky Flippin who, transferred to Division II preseason favorite Drury University, the Wolverines need offensive productivity and will be looking toward the fresh- men to help fill that void. Freshman Jessica Minnfield will most likely come into the Michigan starting lineup as an offen- Big Ten Trouble? The Wolverines struggled last year in the Big Te winning just once in 16 tries - with a 63-61 win against Indiana on Jan. 23. Michigan will face an tough year in the Big Ten - three of the teams i the conference are in the preseason top 15. Her It~%[ a +n nh .- O ntnnc N 0M inhidnn- sive specialist, while classmates Stephany Skrba, Ashley Jones and Melinda Queen give Michigan the added height and pres- ence on defense they were lacking last season. "We're really excited," Burnett said of the upcoming season. "We just gained so much athleticism and size. Our expecta- tion is to press a lot more defensively. We are now going to be able to do a lot more of the defensive things that we want to do and were unable to do in the past." Midway through the practice, as she walked to pick up a ball that had rolled to the bleachers, Helvey jok- ingly said, "Maybe I'll just take a seat right now," signaling to the front row of seats. Letting out a light laugh, she knows better. As the team's only upper- classman, Helvey's 10 teammates will look to her for insight into the rigors of the lengthy season. During the next water break, she remained on the court, working out some lingering kinks to the team's spread offense with Burnett. By the time they had finished reviewing the play, the short recess was over and Helvey's water bottle remained untouched. A defensive spe-j cialist, Helvey will need to improve on her 6.1 points-per-game from last season if the team is even going to have a chance in the j Big Ten. "There is no question that Helvey is one our best defensive players and one of our hardest workers," Burnett said. "And in our program it doesn't matter what age you are, if you are the best defensive play- er and you are the hardest worker, you are going to be one of the leaders." Pulling on their shorts and dragging their feet, the Wol- verines were clearly tired as in they headed into the weight n room to finish practice. Maybe nother they will be able to fight r's through the fatigue this time, with the excitement of the new Y By Ian Robinson Daily Sports Writer CHICAGO - A year has passed, but it seems that nothing has changed. Last year's Big Ten co- champions - Ohio State and Michigan State - were picked to finish No. 1 and No. 2, respec- tively, once again. Buckeyes' coach Jim Foster - who was named conference coach of the year last year - worded it best at yesterday's Big Ten Media Day when he said: "We finished 14-2 (in the Big Ten) last year and lost only one starter. It's not like I'm waking up and hearing something that I didn't expect to hear." Juniors Jessica Davenport - Big Ten player of the year - and Brandie Hoskins contributed to the United States' gold-medal winning performance at the World Univer- sity Games. Michigan State - which reached the national championship game for the first time in school history - should challenge for the conference crown this season as well. The team will have to adjust to losing two of its top-four scorers from last season, including WNBA champion Kristin Haynie. Wooden Award finalist Lind- say Bowen and Kodak/WCBA All- American Liz Shimek will lead the Spartans, but the pair should receive support from a talented recruiting class headlined by McDonald's All- American Tiffanie Shives. Minnesota and Purdue were picked to round out the upper ech- elon of the Big Ten. in Minnesota history with 176, lad season. The Boilermakers return four aP their top five scorers from a squad that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Tennessee. Last season markect the first time in head coach Kristin Curry's tenure that her team failed to earn 10 Big Ten wins. The consensus fifth team in the conference is Iowa. After going through the nonconference sched4 ule undefeated, the Hawkeyes went 8-8 in the conference and failed tax make the NCAA Tournament. But showed the strength of the Big Ten by reaching the WNIT Final Four. The Hawkeyes return leading scot- er, Crystal Smith, who averaged 16.8 points per game and Big-Ten All-freshman team member Krista VandeVenter who registered a teai high of 7.6 rebounds per game. The rest of the conference is wide open with schools losing students to graduation and other coaches estab- lishing their programs with players they recruited. "From six through 11, anything can happen," first-year Indiana coach Sharon Versyp said. "Every- one's goal is to be in the top five or six teams in the conference so you can make the postseason." Although the rankings predict the Wolverines to finish 10th in the conference - ahead of Northwest- ern - many of the coaches around the conference believe that the Wol- verines could be a sleeper team. "With (coach Cheryl Burnett) coaching players that she recruited, I see Michigan as the most improved team in the Big Ten," Foster said.