9 - Tuesday, February 6, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com
Min need of upset
By DANIEL LEVY
Daily Sports Writer
Out of the frying pan and into
the fire.
For the Michigan men's bas-
ketball team,
it's more like
out of the Michigan at
frying pan, Ohio State
into the fire Matchup:
and then Michigan 16-7;
bashed in the Ohio State 20-3
headwiththe When: Tonight
same frying 7:00 P.M.
pan for good Where: Value
measure. City Arena
The Wol- N
verines enter
the second
half of their Big Ten schedule on
a three-game losing skid after
collapsing at home to Iowa last
Wednesday. To make things
worse, their remaining confer-
ence schedule only gets tougher.
Michigan will face a giant in
Columbus tonight, both literally
and figuratively, in the form of 7-
foot center Greg Oden and No. 3
Ohio State.
The Buckeyes enter the game
tied for first in the conference
(8-1 Big Ten, 20-3 overall) and
are riding a seven-game winning
streak. Allthree Ohio State losses
have come on the road to teams
currently ranked in the top five
(No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Wisconsin
and No. 5 North Carolina).
"They have a lot of weapons,"
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker
said. "When they have it click-
ing together, they're pretty darn
*good and as good as anybody."
Oden is a nightmare matchup
for any team. The 280-pound
freshman has steadily developed
on the offensive end since recov-
ering from an early-season wrist
injury, and the work has shown
over Michigan State last week,
and before that, he poured in
29 against a hapless Iowa squad
- the same Hawkeye team that
took it to the Wolverines last
Wednesday.
"Oden is a force by himself
on the interior on both ends,"
Amaker said. "He's become a
better offensive player as he's
gotten healthier."
Even when he isn't scoring,
Oden can impact a game. He
averages 9.6 rebounds and 3.5
blocks per contest. And that
doesn't include the numerous
shots he alters or prevents from
being attempted in the first
place.
"I think (Oden) is a bigger
opponent on the defensive end,"
senior Courtney Sims said. "He
shuts down people and some-
times even the whole team."
At 6 foot 11, Sims will be vital
to the Wolverines' chances of
upsetting the Buckeyes. Michi-
gan will need Sims to attack
Oden on offense and play aggres-
sive defense without picking up
fouls. With the status of fellow
senior Brent Petway undisclosed
(he injured his left knee against
Iowa), the Wolverines could be
without one of their best interior
defenders. Petway said an MRI
revealed no major injury, but
that he wasn't sure he could play
tonight. Freshman Ekpe Udoh
will most likely get the start if
Petway is unavailable tonight.
That means if Sims gets into
foul trouble, the Wolverines will
have to collapse on Oden to force
the ball out of his hands and pro-
tect Sims. This would leave Ohio
State's deadly mix of Daequan
Cook, Ron Lewis, Jamar Butler
and Ivan Harris wide open to do
damage from downtown. Last
season, the Buckeyes nailed 15
Finally, Michigan will have to
find a way to slow down point
guard Mike Conley Jr. His quick-
ness allows him to penetrate the
lane and set up teammates for
open looks - the main reason
the freshman sports an impres-
sive 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover
ratio.
"It helps a lot (that I've faced
Conley Jr. before)," said sopho-
more Jerret Smith, who has
faced the Buckeye point guard
numerous times playing in the
AAU circuit. "But he's improved
every year, so we have to study
what he does now."
And what Conley Jr. does
now is put opposing defenses to
the test. The freshman is also
capable of finishing around the
rim when given the opportunity,
which forces defenses to make a
difficult choice when he heads
to the basket. Michigan senior
Dion Harris will be called upon
to defend Conley Jr. Harris is
coming off a 0-for-11 shooting
effort in the loss to Iowa, but
doesn't see that game affecting
his performance tonight.
"I haven't thought about (the
game)," Harris said. "There's
eight games (left) for me in the
Big Ten season. I've got to put
certain things behind me and
move on."
Win or lose, the Wolverines
(4-4, 16-7) know they eventually
need to steal a game or two on
the road to make up for the loss
to Iowa if they have any hope
of getting back in the thick of
NCAA Tournament talk. After
tonight's game, Michigan faces
Michigan State twice, an Indiana
team that has had Michigan's
number, Illinois on the road and
Ohio State once more.
The Wolverines have lit their
own fire. Tonight, we get our
Senior forward David Rohlfs celebrates after scoring a shorthanded goal to put Michiganup 2-1 in Saturday's contest.
Shorthanded success
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Writer
A dive, a block, a physical sacrifice.
Those efforts usually describe a successful pen-
alty kill.
But on those rare occasions
when the defensive stalwarts NOTEBOOK
transform their efforts into
offensive glory, the course of the game is inevitably
changed.
Those shifts were constant last weekend as
Michigan and Western Michigan combined for
three shorthanded goals.
The most important man-down goal came cour-
tesy of senior David Rohlfs. On Senior Night, the
Northville native dove to knock the puck out of
the Michigan zone, then outskated one Bronco,
stole the puck from another, before backhanding
the puck under the crossbar to give Michigan a 2-1
lead.
"It was sort of a broken play," Rohlfs said. "Bill
(Sauer) was telling us between periods you just
gotta get it up, because (Western Michigan goalie
Riley Gill) goes down. I got it up, and it went in."
It was Rohlfs's second shorthanded goal this sea-
son. As a team, Michigan is no stranger to scoring
while a man down. The Wolverines lead the CCHA
with 12 shorthanded goals this season.
"All we're talking about is killing that (power
play) when it's 1-1," sophomore Brandon Naurato
said. "Then Rohlfs goes down and gives a second
and third effort and buries it. That's just huge for
the team."
Western Michigan freshman standout Mark Let-
estu did his best last weekend to give the Broncos
momentum.
On both nights, Letestu's shorthanded goals tied
the game and put Michigan back on its heels. With
the two tallies, Letestu upped his season total to
four, tied for first in the nation.
No GOALIE, BUT GLORY: Two Wolverines broke
into the goal column for the first time this season
against Western Michigan. And the Bronco goalie
never had a chance to make the save, because both
times he had left the ice in favor of an extra attack-
er.
On Friday night, senior Jason Dest scored from
the neutral zone to ice away a 7-4 win. It was Dest's
fifth career goal, but first of the season.
Freshman Chris Summers lit the lamp Saturday
for the first time as a Wolverine. Summers, who
usually skates as a defenseman, played forward in
the third period to replace Brian Lebler. Hunker-
ing down to hold off the final Western Michigan
attack, Summers received a pass in the neutral zone
with nothing but open ice and an empty net in front
of him.
After the game, Summers joked that he didn't
even know he had scored until he heard the crowd
cheering.
Summers isn't a newcomer to playing up front.
He played forward as a member of the U.S. National
Team Development Program last season. -
"He's been anxious to try (forward)," Berenson
said. "Now he's a goal scorer."
ROAD'TRIPPING: In the last four weeks, Michigan
has moved from sixth in the CCHA all the way up
to second. But now the Wolverines hit their tough-
est stretch of the season, with the final six regular-
season games away from Yost Ice Arena.
Michigan will travel to Bowling Green Friday,
and then will face off against Michigan State at.Joe
Louis Arena Saturday night. The last two weekends
feature travel north to Sault Ste. Marie (Lake Supe-
rior State) and south to Columbus (Ohio State).
in recent games. Oden averaged triples in an action-packed 94-85 first clue as to whether they can
17.5 points per game in two wins win in Crisler Arena. put out the flames.
Art Monk worthy ofHall
Tf you look at the two players,
both changed the game - just in
different ways.
One opened
his mouth. i
The other
hardlygave
interviews.
One redefined
his position.
The othertt~ .
'hanged the atti-
nude required to KEVIN
fill that position. AIBCfr
One was
named to the The Sixth Man
1990s All-
Decade Team.
The other made the 1980s All-
Decade Team.
So why did it take Michael Irvin
two years to get inducted into the
NFL Hall of Fame while Art Monk is
still patiently waiting his turn since
his retirement after the 1995 season?
The reason: people remember
Irvin.
The Cowboy receiver played the
game with flair and arrogance. He
started the current trend of self-pro- AP PHOTO
motion and cockiness that wideouts Michael Irvin was one of the five inductees into the NFL Hall of Fame this year.
Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens
have continued. And, last week-
end, the Hall of Fame Committee
cemented Irvin's legacy.
I'm not saying Irvin doesn't
deserve a bust in Canton, Ohio, but
is he really more deserving than Art
Monk, who has been on the ballot
seven years?
Monk made the first cut - from
17 to 11 candidates - but couldn't
push through to the final five. And
it couldn't have been because of his
stats.
In his 16 seasons, Monk caught
940 passes for 12,721 yards and 68
touchdowns. He's currently sixth
on the NFL career reception list and
11th on the NFL career receiving
yards list.
Monk's critics will tell you that
his numbers resulted from his lon-
gevity, but they forget his role on
those Redskin teams, that went 134-
82 and won the Super Bowl in 1983,
1988 and 1992.
Drafted 18th overall by Wash-
ington in 1980, Monk usually lined
up in the slot. Redskins coach Joe
Gibbs used him as a possession
receiver to complement the deep
threat posed by fellow wideout
Gary Clark. Monk picked up the
tough yards over the middle and
moved the chains to keep drives
alive.
But the problem remains: No
one really knows the truth behind M C H OAN
Monk's career.
Many of today's fans just want
to see stars like Irvin, the flashy
playmakers. Meanwhile, Monk
sits on the outside looking in even
though he stayed in the league for
more than 15 years. He once held
the record for receptions in a sea-
son (broken by Chris Carter), most
consecutive games with at least
one catch (broken by Hall of Famer
Jerry Rice) and career receptions
(also broken by Rice).
Irvin talked up his game and
backed up. See WRIGHT, Page 10
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