w w w 2B - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 TIPOFF '06 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com TIPOFF 6 Wednesday, November 8, 2006 -7B TIPOFF 2006 Daniel Levy sorts out the contenders and the pretenders in his Big Ten preview. Seniors Courtney Sims and Dion Harris try to finally fulfill high expectations. Captain Lester Abram looks to bounce back after two injury-riddled seasons. IIII11111 1111 I I0 1111 p l I I I lllIIII, I I I I1111111IIIII IIIIII III ~ I 1111111111111111 10 1,1I II I II II I11111I I IIIIII .I11 , 1111111111I11I 11111111 111111 ,111 PRODUCTION CREW H. Jose Bosch Daniel Bromwich Mark Giannotto Daniel Levy Basketball Writers Donn M. Fresard Editor in Chief Jack Herman Managing Sports Editor Jeffrey Bloomer Managing Editor Alex Dziadosz Mike Hulsebus Managing Photo Editors Lisa Gentile Cover Zachary Meisner Cover Photo Peter Schottenfels Photo Editing Alexis Floyd Business Manager Robert Chin Display Sales Manager Ben Schrotenboer Assoc. Display Sales Manager David Dai Special Project Manager Special thanks to: Kellyn Jackson, Lindsey Unger and John Lowe 2006-07 MICHIGAN ROSTER ° No. Name Pos. Wt. Ht. Yr. Hometown 1 Jerret Smith PG 195 6-3 So. Romulus 2 C.J. Lee G 180 6-0 Jr. Pittsford, N.Y. 3 K'Len Morris G 185 6-4 Fr. Grand Blanc 4 DeShawn Sims PF 225 6-8 Fr. Detroit 5 Dion Harris G 205 6-3 Sr. Detroit 10 Reed Baker PG 175 6-1 Fr. Fort Myers, Fla. 12 Anthony Wright F 235 6-6 Fr. Sterling, Va. 15 Jevohn Shepherd G/F 210 6-5 So. Toronto, Ontarino 21 Kendric Price PF 205 6-8 So. Boston, Mass. 22 Ekpe Udoh F 240 6-10 Fr. Edmond, Okla. 23 Brent Petway PF 210 6-8 Sr. McDonough, Ga. 24 Ron Coleman G/F 210 6-6 Jr. Romulus 25 Zack Gibson C 220 6-10 Fr. Grand Blanc 30 David Merritt PG 170 5-10 Jr. West Bloomtield 32 Lester Abram (c) G/F 200 6-6 Sr. PontiacJ 40 Phil DeVries F 225 6-10 So. Shelby Township. 44 Courtney Sims C 245 6-11 Sr. Boston, Mass. JuniorRonColemanwill looks BE REAdy FOR BASkETbA[I SEASON (pn 'YOUR MiclvhiqAN BAskubtl BEAR Plush B AskEttAl UNzips WITnA BEAR nsidE $ 10.00 s c (IcvdesT A X a 1*0 OndER SENd ChuCk OR MON(y OR(d1:R 10: KAThi's Cot[EqE BEARS PO Box 53 NSTiTUIE, WV 25112 104-421-2371 kTTp://sToREs.EbAy.coM/cotlEqE-BEaRsAsNd MoRrE SENIORS . From page 5B be a successful Big Ten center. With a new eating program, Sims put on 25 pounds. But the extra poundage has hurt Sims, causing him to be unable to play for an extended amount of time or go after rebounds aggressively. He played more than 30 minutes on just five occa- sions last year. His shooting percent- age was very good (63 percent), but he often did not put up enough shots to be effective - perhaps a result of tir- ing quickly and not having the energy to create them. And Sims certainly wasn't aggressive going after offen- sive rebounds. He managed more than three offensive rebounds just once during conference play, and he finished with one or zero offensive boards in 15 Big Ten games. Losing pounds, gaining passion So this summer, the Wolverine coaching staff decided that Sims's big- gest task would be to lose weight. The coaches wanted Sims to drop at least 13 pounds from the 258-pound frame with which he entered the summer. Sims succeeded in bringing his weight down, and his coaches are looking to take advantage of his new condition. "We need Courtney to have a consis- tent senior year," Amaker said. "He's capable of doing that. We talked about him shedding a few pounds and try- ing to be a little lighter to be a little bit more active, agile and quick, to get up and down the floor a little better and to be in better shape. That's one of the things that we talked about for our team. Courtney is a guy that's attacked that very well so I've been pleased with that." It's important for Sims to be able to keep up with the up-tempo style of play that Michigan hopes to employ this year. But necessary to that style of play is a point guard who can direct the team and control the pace of the game. With Horton gone, it's up to Harris to be that type of leader. This summer, he worked on developing his game as a point guard. "The last time I played (pointguard) was in my sophomore year when I had to really come in and play (due to Hor- ton's knee injury and legal trouble)," Harris said. "It was unexpected and kind of just got thrown on me. Now, I'm really comfortable with the ball in my hands. I worked on it all summer and really had it in my hands a lot." Harris committed himself to bas- ketball during the offseason, working in the gym even when the other guys took days off. That's a switch from the approach he took in previous years. "In the past, I really got away from having a passion for the game," Harris said. For a natural scorer like Harris, it might be tough to evolve into a point guard that sets his teammates up before looking for his own shot. For help with that, he turned to an assis- tant coach who has known the guard since he was 9 years old. "He is a very cerebral player, he has really good skills and he has really goodunderstandingofthegame,"Mike Jackson said. "So we talked about him playing the lead guard and not putting so much pressure on himself to score, because that will take care of itself. He needs to work on running our team, making good decisions and creating plays for our team." Harris lost weight this summer as well, reducing his body fat to 7 per- cent, and he and Sims were not alone. The football team tried to get smaller and faster, and the two squads saw a lot of each other during the summer. With the football team 10-0 and head- ing toward a possible National Cham- pionship game, Sims and Harris can see their hard work paying off in the future, as well. "We look at the football team doing well now and that drives us," Sims said. "Dion and I look at that and see the opportunity. They went through struggles last year, and we can do the same thing that they are doing right now. A lot of them tried to lose weight, and that's basically what I did. And they always have high expectations and they have to deal with that, so seeing what they went through, that drives us." Their final (four) chance? Both Sims and Harris entered Mich- igan with lofty individual expecta- tions. They have yet to live up to their highly touted resumes. Harris even says as much: "I don't think I've done enough up to this point in my career." But fulfilling individual expecta- tions isn't remotely as important as the bigger goals these two players have for the Michigan basketball team. Both expect to get over the hump and make the NCAA Tournament this year. Both would consider this season - and their careers - disappointments if they do not make the tournament. But Sims explains that his goals are even larger than that. "I remember one time I heard (Duke) coach (Mike Krzyzewski) talking about coach Amaker, and saying how he was probably one of the most important players of coach K's career because they made it to the Final Four when he was there," Sims said. "They didn't win a National Championship when he was there, but he brought the program back. And five years from now, I want to be known as somebody who brought the program back and put itback on its feet, and maybe assisted to eventually win- ning a national championship. "Hopefully we can even do it this year, make it to the Final Four. People don't really talk about that with us, but we talk about it - especially Brent (Petway), since it's in Atlanta (his hometown). So we talk about that all the time and I think we have the talent to do it." For the Wolverines to get anywhere close to the Final Four, Harris and Sims will have to expel their unwelcome houseguest. Maybe send him down the same road as Sims's extra weight. Or shove him to the same corner where Harris's lack of passion now resides. After all, the house is only big enough for two: Sims No. 1 and Harris No. 1. +' . .- - -s T > : .. .: :.: : .: : i W a.. .. ':h.. ARE YOU READY MAIZE RAGE? DAILY SPORTS. PHOTOS BY JEREMY CHO/Daily Seniors Dion Harris and Courtney Sims battled with inconsistency last season, but with newfound focus, dedication and determination, they hope to lead the Wolverines to an NCAA Tournament berth this year,