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8A - Thursday, February7, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
'A' apparently not OK for Mitera
New role hasn't
translated into
After transfer, guard
left out in the cold
sustained success
By ANDY REID
Daily Sports Writer
Three photos hang on one wall
of the Michigan hockey team's
lounge. They are surrounded by
NCAA Championship trophies,
Brendan Morrison's Hobey Baker
Award and various other shrines
dedicated to the Wolverines'
accomplishments over the years.
Pictures of Kevin Porter and
Chad Kolarik have hung proudly
all season, and now Mark Mitera
has taken his place as the most
recent edition to the wall of cap-
tains, after junior Tim Miller lost
his alternate captainship before
the Great Lakes Invitational.
But like his picture, which
hangs slightly askew from Porter's
and Kolarik's, the junior has yet to
completely fit in as the team's new
alternate captain.
"He had arrived," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said of
Mitera's mentality after becoming
co-alternate captain. "You never
arrive. You never get there. If you
think you've got it made, you'll be
slipping backwards, or you won't
be as good as you were."
one of the hardest working
members of the Michigan hockey
team, Mitera flew under the radar
for the first half of the season,
compiling some of the best defen-
sive stats in the country.
The Wolverines' opponents tal-
lied just one even-strength goal
when Mitera was on the ice in the
first 20 games, a feat few noticed
while Porter put up huge offensive
numbers.
In fact, Mitera had never been
in the limelight until he became
alternate captain. Even though
his defensive statistics were com-
Junior Mark Mitera's performance has dropped off since Michigan coach Red Berenson promoted him to alternate captain .
parable with those of superstar
Jack Johnson last season, Mitera's
efforts were largely overlooked, as
he played in the shadow of the cur-
rent Los Angeles King.
But it all changed once Beren-
son decided to give Mitera the 'A.'
Suddenly, reporters were asking
to speak with him after practice,
drawing attention to the soft-spo-
ken junior.
Now with five even-strength
goals scored against him this year,
Mitera was called out in a meeting
between him and Berenson Satur-
day morning before the Wolver-
ines' pregamoe skate. Berenson and
the Livonia native talked about his
lack of consistency in the second
half.
Mitera's efforts during last Fri-
day's 3-3 tie with Northern Michi-
gan could've been the reason for
his meeting with Berenson. The
Wildcats tallied an even-strength
goal with Mitera on the ice, and
the defenseman turned in a minus-
one rating for the game, his first
negative plus-minus performance
all season. During Michigan's cur-
rent four-game winless streak,
Mitera is even.
"I was playing rock solid the
first half, up until the GLI," Mitera
said. "These past couple week-
ends I haven't been as on top of my
game."
The meeting paid off Satur-
day night when Mitera noticeably
ramped up the intensity. He also
had his first positive plus-minus,
since Michigan's 3-2 win over
Notre Dame Jan. 18.
Berenson said he's pleased with
the outcome of the meeting so far.
"It shows up in practice, in your
work habits, shows up if you're
taking little shortcuts off the ice,"
Berenson said. "And pretty soon,
you're taking shortcuts on the ice.
Mitera, he has made hinself and
proven himself as the leader of
our defense, and now obviously,
there's responsibility that goes
with that."
But Mitera's teammates haven't
noticed anything different about
him since becoming assistant cap-
tain, on or off the ice.
When asked if Mitera had
changed since January, freshman
defender Tristin Llewellyn defini-
tively responded with a sharp
"No," offering no further explana-
tion.
Regardless of Mitera's per-
formance in the last few weeks,
Berenson expects his alternate
captain to be in top form for the
stretch run.
"I think he'll be back on track,"
Berenson said. "I've made it obvi-
ous to Mark that (his effort) is
important. That's where his game
starts."
Lucas-Perry must
wait until next year
to help woeful
Wolverines
By MARK GIANNOTTO
Daily Sports Editor
It's peculiar to leave a peren-
nial powerhouse located in warm,
sunny Tuscon, Ariz., four months
after arriving there. And it's even
stranger to return to a Great
Lakes-sized rebuilding project in
the frigid, snow-ridden winters of
Michigan.
But freshman Laval Lucas-
Perry did just that. The Flint
native made the perplexing deci-
sion to transfer from Arizona in
December to help fellow Michi-
ganders, sophomore DeShawn
Sims and freshmen Manny Harris
and Kelvin Grady, bring the Wol-
verines back to glory on the hard-
wood.
But unlike Sims, Harris and
Grady, Lucas-Perry can only
watch as Michigan struggles
through its worst season in near-
ly 50 years. According to NCAA
transfer rules, Lucas-Perry must
sit out a full year before becoming
eligible to play again.
Because he transferred in
December, his debut in maize and
blue will have to wait until Big
Ten season next January. But hav-
ing to sit and wait just makes the
current debacle on the court - the
Wolverines are 5-17 overall and
have lost 10 of the 11 games since
Lucas-Perry arrived on campus
- that much tougher to handle.
"I've never lost this much in my
life," said Lucas-Perry following
Michigan's 77-65 defeat to Min-
nesota last weekend.
Michigan coach John Beilein
shares his frustration. Both player
and coach know he would be a
significant contributor if he were
allowed to suit up. Lucas-Perry,
a three-star recruit out of Flint
Powers High School according to
Rivals.com, averaged 26 points,
seven rebounds and six assists as
a senior. He played in five games
for Arizona this season, averaging
four points per contest.
"I think he's been terrific,"
Beilein said. "When he makes
plays in practices, there's things
where I say, 'Darn it,' ...I wish we
would guard him better. So, yes,
he's going to help us in the back-
court in the future."
Luckily for Lucas-Perry, get-
ting to know his teammates in the
middle of the season hasn't been
much of an issue. A standout on
both the Michigan high school
and AAU circuits, Lucas-Perry
was already familiar with many
of the Wolverines' in-state play-
ers. They were the main reason he
transferred to Michigan.
He also knew a lot about the
Michigan program after being
heavily pursued by former coach
Tommy Amaker a year ago.
"It wasn't anything in particu-
lar about Arizona," Lucas-Perry
said. "It was just me not feeling
comfortable there. I was just try-
ing to find somewhere comfort-
able, where I can be myself."
But now, the only times Lucas-
Perry can show himself on the
court is in practice, where he usu-
ally emulates the opponents' best
player on the scout team.
It's been a tricky situation for
the coachingstafftohandle.While
it's obvious Lucas-Perry has star
potential, the coaches have to con-
centrate on the players they can
use now. To avoid losing practice
time with other players, Beilein
and assistant coach Mike Jack-
son have started doing individual
drills with Lucas-Perry after the
team's practices are over.
They both make it a point to
remind Lucas-Perry the waiting
is almost over. There are just nine
games remaining this season and
Beilein estimates there will be six
to eight games before Big Ten play
begins next January.
"I don't have regrets," Lucas-
Perry said. "I wanted to get out of
Arizona, I wanted to be here and
I'm going to be the best guard I
can."
"
"Bridging the Worlds of
Business and Public [health"
John 0. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH
Executive Vice President forlHealth
Wa-Mart Stres, Inc.
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health
Departnent of Health and Human Services
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