10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 4, 2005
Amaker hopes freshmen gain
experience in exhibition game
0
By Scott Bell the true goal of the preseason is simple:
Daily Sports Writer improvement.
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker hopes
While the Wolverine football team may to get his freshmen into game-like situa-
be taking its first week off in nine weeks, tions for valuable experience. Romulus
action around the intersec-
tion of Stadium and Main
streets won't be completely
nonexistent this weekend.
That's because the Michigan
men's basketball team offi-
cially begins its exhibition
season against Grand Valley
State.
Michigan unofficially had
its first preseason contest
last weekend with its annual
TOMORR
Grand Valley"
Michiga
2 P.m.
Crisler Ar
ALEX DZI-
ADOSZ/Daily
Freshman
Jerret Smith
hopes to
get some
collegiate
experience
this Saturday
against Grand
Valley State.
Maize and Blue scrimmage, but Saturday's
contest will be the first opportunity for it to
see game action against other teams.
"We certainly have been looking for-
ward for this for a while," Michigan coach
Tommy Amaker said at Media Day. "We all
recognize that tough year we had last year,
and (it's good) for our kids to come back
and be excited for a good preseason."
The Wolverines have yet to lose an exhi-
bition game during the Amaker era. But
while streaks may look nice on paper,
native Jerrett Smith saw a sig-
nificant amount of time at point
guard during the Maize and Blue
OW scrimmage last Saturday. While
State at he struggled with a few early
in turnovers on self-proclaimed
"lazy passes," Smith was able to
make clutch free throws down
ena the stretch.
- Jevohn Shepherd and Kendric
Price are the other two scholar-
ship members of Amaker's fourth
recruiting class who will be looking to ben-
efit from playing time on Saturday as well.
"With an upperclassmen-laden team that
we have, you're always hopeful that you
can get contributions from your younger
players," Amaker said. So you never really
know. But the main area for our freshmen
is to be competitive and be ready to work
every day."
The Lakers - a Division II team from the
Midwest's GLIAC conference - are com-
ing off an up-and-down season in which
they finished 18-10. They also display a lot
of young talent, and it's a returning sopho-
more who poses the biggest threat. Muske-
gon native Callistus Eziukwu led the team
in scoring (13.7), rebounding (8.1), blocked
shots (114) and shooting percentage (73.7)
- all as a freshman.
After finishing second in the GLIAC
North, the Lakers dropped the first game
in the conference tournament to abruptly
end their season. Much like Michigan, they
return with their entire squad from last
year nearly intact, losing only Marcus Wal-
lace to graduation.
Along with getting young people the
opportunity to play, Michigan will hope to
work on its fast-break game. The Wolver-
ines showed at times last year the inability
to score in the half court set at a consistent
basis, so one of their main goals for the year
is to play a more up-tempo game. In last
Saturday's 23-minute scrimmage, the Maize
and Blue scored 103 points combined, many
of which were on the fast break.
The game begins at 2 p.m. at Crisler
Arena. Michigan then has one more exhibi-
tion game before it begins the regular sea-
son on November 18 at home against the
Central Michigan Chippewas.
I .
--- -- - -------- ------------ --
Your potential. Our passion.:
NwaI%
.. -. . .., uv x 'f
FOOTBALL
Continued from page 9
momentum and we're doing some
things very well," Carr said. "But
given our injury position, I would not
trade that bye week."
Even so, Carr made it clear that he
doesn't believe the week off will stop
his team's momentum. If anything, he
expects the Wolverines' three-game
winning streak to keep them motivat-
ed even with the time off.
"You hope that you have a football
team that understands that there is a
lot to play for," Carr said. "I think
that's the most important thing. ... If
there is something that bottles that, I
would like to know what it is."
Carr might not have the magic
potion to guarantee that his team
remains focused through its bye week,
but the chance for at least a share of
its third straight Big Ten champion-
ship should do the trick.
And if all else fails, early prepara-
tion for Ohio State can't hurt.
IRISH
Continued from page 9
Michigan must also work on stron-
ger offense in the third period. This
season the team has scored 13 and 11
goals in the first and second periods,
respectively, but only five goals in the
final frame.
The Fighting Irish do not have a goal-
scorer with more than two goals.
Their leading point-scorer, freshman
center Erik Condra, has five points,
all off assists. He will be expected to
set up his teammates throughout the
night. Notre Dame lost its goaltender
from last season, Morgan Cey, and
has split time between two goalies
so for this year. Likely to start is the
CCHA rookie of the week from last
week, Jordan Pearce. This season he
is 1-1-0 and was responsible for the
shut out win against the Tigers on
Saturday.
The Wolverines will counter with
senior Noah Ruden. Ruden notched
his first career shutout last Saturday
against Alaska-Fairbanks when he
blanked the Nanooks on 23 shots.
Tonight's game begins at 7:35 p.m.
and can be seen on CSTV on tape-
delay at 9 p.m. Michigan will come
back to Yost on Saturday night to fin-
ish the home-and-home series. That
game will also start at 7:35 p.m.
DID YOU
KNOW THAT
THE MICHIGAN
WOMEN'S
GYMNASTICS TEAM
HAS EARNED
SEVEN STRAIGHT
BIG TEN ThiEs
... THAT THE
WOMEN'S CROSS
COUNTRY TEAM
HAS WON THREE
IN A ROW?
01
Use OneNote free for an entire semester.
Microsoft' Office OneNote 2003 is a software program
that gives you one place to store, search, and organize
the info you need. Download your free trial today!
Microsoft Office
OneNote2OO3
0 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft the Office logo,
OneNote, and "Your potential. Our passion." are either regtered trademarks or
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
.. .