The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 20, 2006 - 3B
AD unconcerned with Cagers'
needs
Though many people feel oth-
erwise, I've always found the
Maize Rage hard not to like.
Now, they aren't as clever
as they think they are,
and aren't as raucous as a
lot of others schools' stu-
dent sections, but at least
they're not waiting for
the team to become good
before they lend their sup-
port. Especially because
... well ... that might take
a while.
But after the Big TenS
Tournament, my respect
for the Maize Rage has The S
turned into sympathy. It's
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portsj
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become abundantly clear
that having a successful basketball team
isn't important to the athletic depart-
ment, and, unless that changes, nothing
that any of the Ragers do will matter
one bit.
Since the Wolverines' loss to Minne-
sota in the first round, many have put the
blame on head coach Tommy Amaker
and gone to Athletic Director Bill Mar-
tin to find out where things stand.
And Martin's answers are simply baf-
fling.
"Tommy has done an outstanding
job," Martin told The New York Times
a week ago. "I told him to build a pro-
gram, not a team. He's the right fit for
the team."
Then, when asked whether Amaker
was under pressure to reach the NCAA
Tournament, Martin replied, "Abso-
lutely not."
Now, it would be debatable but
understandable if Martin were to say
that Amaker is going nowhere and that
he was confident Amaker was the right
coach to lead the program. But instead,
Martin is either in denial or simply
doesn't care that the basketball program
is struggling.
When Martin became
athletic director in 2000, two
of his more important early
tasks were to clean up the
basketball program, (which
was dealing with Ed Martin
aftermath), and solve the
budget problems the athletic
department was having at
the time.
AD Fortunately, these prob-
TU lems are now long gone.
lionda Lately, Bill Martin has
nn " turned his attention to trans-
forming the athletic campus.
In the last five years, there has been a
new locker room for the football team,
a renovation to Yost Ice Arena, a brand
new academic center and a football
recruiting center. And up next, eventual-
ly, will be luxury boxes and who knows
what else in Michigan Stadium.
It's clear that the football program
is incredibly important to the athletic
department. When it needed a nicer
locker room and a recruiting center
(which is essentially an empty room .
with plasma TVs) to impress the high
schoolers, it seemed to happen imme-
diately. After all, Football Saturdays
are the athletic department's cash
cow, and Martin wouldn't dare mess
that up.
Meanwhile, the basketball program is
in desperate need of a practice facility,
and though Martin has acknowledged
that it is needed, it's not in the immedi-
ate plans. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised
to see the football team's practice facil-
ity revamped first, even though it is
legiate history.
Pess
conference
quotes:
Michigan coach Kevin Wright:
"Well, actually, we're not that
disappointed. We saw the Big Apple
two years ago, and I don't believe it's
changed since then."
"I congratulated the guys after the
game on a great season. We didn't
finish how we would have liked, but
this loss gives us a good launching
pad for next year."
"Clearly, PG #4 didn't want to play
anymore when he intentionally fouled
out with six minutes left in the
game."
Procrastination Station
Notre Dame 120, Michigan 47
* Play of the game - Notre Dame PG
#2's 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left, which
put him over the century mark.
* Player of the game - Notre Dame PG #2: The scene after the
game said it all - PG #2 holding up a piece of paper with the number
101 on it. After hitting six 3-pointers in the first three minutes, PG #2
only got hotter. He scored 101 points, a collegiate record, including
68 points in the second half. He finished 30-for-51 from downtown,
contributing to arguably the greatest individual performance in col-
Notre Dame coach Matt Singer:
"No, I wasn't trying to run up
the score. I was just waiting
for Michigan to go on one of its
patented late-game runs, but that
never materialized - go figure."
"I knew Michigan's perimeter
defense was horrible, but this was
ridiculous-101 points? For a point
guard? You've got to be kidding
me. On the other hand, PG #2 did
miss 21 3-pointers, so I guess the
Wolverine defense deserves some
credit."
"Looking at the other sideline, I
thought coach Wright was going to
have an aneurysm. I think he should
check into a hospital, as well as
basketball coaching school."
AOIGsm d g OAYA/Daily
Although his team failed to make the Big Dance, Tommy Amaker is not on the hot seat.
I
hardly needed.
Yes, Amaker deserves most of the
blame for Michigan's late-season col-
lapse. Whether the problem is that he
doesn't bring in enough good players,
doesn't help them improve while they're
here or doesn't make enough adjust-
ments during the game, something isn't
quite working.
But the problems shouldn't end with
Amaker. If there's no pressure on him
to find ways to improve, and if this "it
is what it is" attitude continues, then
maybe we should all just treat the
basketball season the way the athletic
department seems to: as a way to kill
time between football seasons.
- Sharad Mattu can be reached
at smattu@umich.edu.
Inspirational walk-on leads Blue
IRISH
Continued from page 1B
last Thursday by putting on one of
their best performances in weeks to
move on to tonight's game.
The Fighting Irish (6-10 Big East,
16-13), on the other hand, always
seemed to come close - but not
close enough - to toppling many of
the highly ranked opponents it faced
this season. Eight of Notre Dame's 13
losses came by six points or less, and
four of those were decided by just one
or two points.
"We're playing against a basketball
team that, from what I've watched over
the course of this season and happened
to catch a few things because they're so
widely talked about around the coun-
try, how close they were in so many
ball games and how tough they played
some of the very best teams in the
nation right down to the wire," Michi-
gan coach Tommy Amaker said. "They
had some tough luck, but they've cer-
tainly turned things and won a number
of games down the stretch."
When the teams met earlier this sea-
son, the story was much the same for
Notre Dame. And Michigan emerged
with a 71-67 road victory midway
through the nonconference season
when a jumper by guard Dion Harris
with just 17 seconds remaining gave
Michigan the victory. Seniors Daniel
Horton (19 points) and Graham Brown
(13 points, 10 rebounds) helped pace
the Michigan victory, which marked
the fifth in the Wolverines' seven-game
winning streak to start the year.
"I think Notre Dame is going to
come here, and they'll be ready to play
because we got one from them at their
place earlier in the year," Brown said.
Once again, Michigan will have the
task of stopping the sharp-shooting
Chris Quinn, who went for 26 points in
the previous matchup. Quinn leads his
team in both points (17.7) and assists
(6.4) per game. Big East coaches
recently named Quinn to the all-con-
ference first team.
Then there's the inside presence of
Torin Francis, who averaged more than
11 points and nine rebounds a game
this season.
"It's going to be fun for me," said
Michigan forward Courtney Sims, who
played AAU basketball with Francis
before college. "And as a team, Notre
Dame and Michigan, it's a rivalry, so
it's going to be very interesting to see
what happens."
By Colt Rosenswelg
Daily Sports Writer
Ask Michigan coach Kurt Golder
for his all-time, No. 1 gymnastics
story, and he'll tell you about senior
Drew DiGiore.
After finishing 44th at the junior
nationals, DiGiore walked on to the
Michigan men's gymnastics team as
a freshman in 2003. Just trying to
maintain his spot on the team, DiGio-
re made a great deal of progress.
"The next thing you know, he's
in the Big Ten finals (for the vault),
and he happened to be in first place,"
Golder said. "And then he ended up
- (winning) in the finals. And then we
went to NCAAs, and he won prelims.
And then he won the team finals, had
the high score. Then, he won the indi-
vidual finals. In his last five competi-
tions, he broke our school record five
consecutive times. He won a Big Ten
title and an NCAA title."
Now DiGiore is one of the team's
most important leaders, both as a
competitor and a cheerleader. He spe-
cializes in the vault, pommel horse,
and still rings. On the floor, DiGiore
tries to inspire his teammates to work
as hard as they possibly can through
his own example. And when on the
sidelines, his voice is one of the loud-
est and most constant. According
to Golder, it is not uncommon for
DiGiore to lose his voice after dual
meets.
But DiGiore does more than just
cheer. Over the summer, he and fel-
low seniors Gerry Signorelli and Luke
Bottke attended a leadership work-
shop held for Michigan athletes, with
the specific goal of sharing what they
learned with the rest of the squad.
The previous summer, senior gym-
nasts attended the very first seminar.
To the regret of their teammates, they
did not apply its lessons to the team,
which contributed to Michigan's dis-
appointing sixth-place finish at the
NCAA Championships.
DiGiore, Bottke and Signorelli did
not make the same mistake, and much
of the team's camaraderie and posi-
tive chemistry can be attributed to
their efforts.
"(The leadership workshop) defi-
nitely shaped the year for us as lead-
ers," DiGiore said. "Even though we
don't have captains, I think the seniors
who have the most experience feel that
we can give the rest of our teammates
something to think about in terms of
the stuff we learned there."
One of the most significant things
DiGiore learned was just how much
work goes into forming a great team.
"For the first time, we really got to
talk to people on other teams about
leadership and team togetherness,"
DiGiore said. "I didn't realize how
much they work at it. I thought it just
came into play, just happened because
they're more team oriented sports.
That's something that I don't think we
had thought about. I think a captain-
less team is the first step. We did take
a lot away from that experience."
In addition to the usual aspirations
for a national team title, DiGiore has
high hopes for the future of the young
team that he will leave behind after
this year. Because of this season's
large freshman class, it was espe-
cially crucial for the team leaders to
set up the proper work ethic and team
spirit.
"This team is much different from
any other Michigan team I've been
on," DiGiore said. "The mindset ...
is completely different. I think we've
gotten to the point where everyone
is coaching everyone. Sometimes,
I see the coaches just sitting down
and watching, taking it all in. Two or
three guys will come up to someone
at the end of a turn and give him cor-
rections and tell him things that he
did well. That's what we wanted to
instill in the gym, and it has made a
big difference."
WELL, MICHIGAN "OUTLASTED"
ILLINOIS, MICHIGAN STATE, INDIANA
OHIO STATE, IOWA AND WISCONsIN.
CAN'T YOU JUST HEAR TOMMY
AMAKER CHUCKLING? HA. HA.
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FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan is thankful for senior Drew DeGiore's immense impact on and off the mat.
I U
The University of Michigan
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
VICTOR B. LIEBERMAN
Marvin B. Becker Collegiate Professor of History
A New Vew of Eurasia:
8oo - 8 oo
Rackham Amphitheater
Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 4:10 PM
SPACE IS LIMITED, SO RESERVE YOURS TODAY!
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