The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 6, 2008- 5A

No hope for 'M'
past Big Ten
tournament
Beilein won't accept "I don't know a lot about it,
other than I know, that for us right
invitation to new now, I think that we should take a
shot at winningthat Big Ten Tour-
postseason nament - do the best we can, and
whatever happens at that point,
invitational the season's over," Beilein said.
The Gazelle Group, which is
By DAN FELDMAN organizing the CBI, is confident
Daily Sports Editor the new tournament will compete
with the NIT for teams. Gazelle
Fourteen postseason tourna- created the Coaches vs. Cancer
nents in the last 10 years doesn't Challenge in 1999. At the time,
sound too bad. a conference commissioner told
But when 10 of those are auto- Gazelle Group President Rick
matic entries into the Big Ten Giles the tournament would never
Tournament and none are NCAA be in Madison Square Garden,
Tournament bids, the reality of never be on ESPN, never get good
the Michigan men's basketball teams and never tip-off the sea-
team's recent postseason fortunes son.
falls in line with the program's "Within in a few years, we were
recent level of success. 4-for-4 on those things," Giles
If the Wolverines (5-12 Big Ten, said. "So we're not intimidated."
9-20 overall) win the Big Ten Beilein likes the idea of having
Tournament, they will receive another tournament to increase
the conference's automatic bid to the number of teams playing in
the NCAA Tournament. Other- the postseason. The CBI's games
wise, Michigan's season will be are all at campus sites, and it has
finished. no games on the same days as the
"We're looking to go to get to NCAA Tournament, which Giles
the Big Ten, win the Big Ten Tour- hopes will create more excite-
nament," Michigan coach John ment. Giles said the CBI offers
Beilein said. "If we win that Big better financial models for home
Ten Tournament, go to the NCAA. teams than the NIT. Road teams
If not, we begin spring workouts get similar deals to traveling NIT
the next day." teams.
Contrary to popular belief, the Although Beilein thinks a team
National Invitational Tournament should have a winning record to
doesn't require a team to be .500 go to the CBI, he said the tourna-
to qualify. But no team has ever ment would be appealing to him
entered the tournament with a next year if his team is 14-15. But
losing record, which Michigan is not this year, with a young team
guaranteed to have this year. that played in the Great Alaska
The College Basketball Invita- Shootout.
tional, a new 16-team tournament "Sometimes the Big Ten Tour-
that will compete with the NIT nament, or whatever, is the type
for teams, doesn't require teams of end to the season that can get
to have a winning record either. you ready for next year," Beilein
But even if the Wolverines are said. "We've been through a long,
invited to the inaugural CBI, they long season. Sometimes, it's time
definitely won't be playing in it. to just move forward."
Freshman finds stroke in
familiar warm weather
After coming to U.S. because of her performance, was
offered a scholarship to play golf
to play golf, Malaysia in Australia.
At the age of 15, Tan was faced a
native thrives for Blue difficult decision: keep playing in
Malaysia, or take her talents to a
By RYAN KNAPP bigger stage where she could com-
For TheDaily pete with more talented golfers.
Ultimately, Tan realized that to
For freshman Min Yean Tan, further her game she would need
Michigan winters are nothing to move to Australia.
like home. "I decided to complete my high
But the golfer felt a little more school (in Australia) because the
at home late last month when the golfing opportunities there were
Michigan women's golf team hit better and the golf was of much
the links in Puerto Rico. higher standards," Tan said.
After growing up in Malaysia At the 2006 Junior World Open
and going to high school in Aus- in San Diego, Tan caught the eye
tralia, the warm, friendly climate of several U.S. college coaches,
at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in including Michigan's Kathy Tei-
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico remind- chert.

ed Tan of "I always knew that I wanted to
home. TAN come over to the United States for
That was college," Tan said. "In San Diego,
clear in her I met Coach and she recruited
career-best me. I looked at a couple of other
round of 73 schools, but I really liked Michi-
on the final gan."
day. It was During the fall golf season, the
Michigan's Wolverines' best finish was a tie
lowest round Hometown: for fourth at Price's Give Um Five
of the tour- George Town, Intercollegiate tournament in Las
nament. Penang Island, Cruces, N.M. There, Tan shot a
The Wol- career best three-round score
verines fin- New Zealand (232).
ished 15th Major: The 21st-ranked Wolverines
out of 18 Undecided have a distinct disadvantage, hav-
teams. ing to practice indoors when cold
"I think weather strikes, while other top
that I just women's programs in warmer cli-
need more confidence in my game mates were able to continue prac-
before I start playing consistently ticing outdoors.
well," Tan said. "I didn't really "I believe that the team and I
change all that much about my have worked really hard this win-
game from the first tournament in ter to improve our strength and
Florida. I just trusted myself a lot technique," Tan said. "Coming out
more and I ultimately performed of winter and competing against
better." other teams who have been play-
Tan's recent success has been ing so much more than we have is
many years in the making. challenging."
She is originally from Malay- Min Yean, who has adjusted to
sia, where she started play- the frigid temperatures, has found
ing golf at the age of seven. She a new home in Ann Arbor and has
honed her craft at the local coun- had quite an effect on teammates
try club near her home on Penang and coaches.
Island. After playing for several "Min Yean has brought some-
0 years, she garnered attention for thing new and different to the
her stellar play and represented team," Teichert said. "And I know
Malaysia in national tourna- everyone on this team has taken
ments. and learned something from her.
Tan dominated local and She's just a joy to have on the
national tournaments and, team."

Michigan coach Kevin Borseth tried to motivate his team for the Big Ten Tournament by reminding the current Wolverines that they haven't won a single postseason
game. The last time Michigan won a match inthe Big Ten tournament was in 2004.
ONEL AST CHANCE

Women's hoops'
seniors hope for
first-ever victory
in postseason
By JASON KOHLER
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan women's basketball
coach Kevin Borseth asked his
players if they had ever won a
tournament game.
Each one shook her head no.
The Wolverines haven't seen
the second day of the Big Ten
tournament since 2004, the
year before the current seniors
enrolled at Michigan.
Players told Borseth the team
had always seemed to play well
heading into the postseason, only
to lay an egg in the tournament.
"Lets hope we can reverse our

luck a little bit," Borseth said.
So far this season, the Wolver-
ines (9-9 Big Ten, 16-12 overall)
have reversed all the downward
trends of the recent past. They
have put
together their Penn St. vs
first winning
season in six chigan
years, earn- Matchup:
ing the seventh Penn St. 13-17;
seed in the Big Michigan 16-12
Ten Tourna- When: Today,
ment - the Noon
same seed Where'
Michigan held Conseco
when it won Fieldhouse
its last tourna- TV/Radio:
ment game. BTN
"They've
certainly put
themselves in a position that they
can feel like they can be success-
ful," Borseth said. "But that's all
going to come to a head in the
tournament."

This afternoon, Michigan will
be a favorite to advance, squaring
off against loth seed Penn State
(4-14, 13-17).
In the regular season, the two
teams split the series, both win-
ning their home games. On Jan.
20, Michigan fell 68-57 in State
College. But two weeks later,
the Wolverines avenged the.loss
when they overcame an early def-
icit and outplayed the Lady Lions
for a 68-53 victory.
Penn State tends to push the
pace and sometimes runs a four-
guard lineup.
Borseth knows his team has to
play aggressively against a Lady
Lion team that has defeated then-
No.12 Duke and then-No. 14 West
Virginia.
"On defense, we have to
rebound," Borseth said. "And we
have to take care of the ball on
the offensive end. We've got to
score."

If Michigan pushes past Penn
State, it will face No. 2 seed Iowa
Friday, another team the Wolver-
ines split with during the regular
season.
The Hawkeyes (13- 5,20-9) are
one of the hottest teams in the Big
Ten and at one point reeled off
eight straight in conference play.
Although in past years Michi-
gan played well heading into the
tournament, this year it's coming
off two demoralizing losses.
In those losses, against Wis-
consin and Minnesota, the Wol-
verines had difficulty closing
games. They were outscored by a
combined 35 points in the second
half.
"We just have to have a little
more energy," Borseth said.
But Borseth knows he won't
have trouble motivating his team
in today's game.
All he has to ask is, "Have you
ever won a tournament game?"

Tight 'D,' not scoring, key in playoffs
Berenson tells
backliners to focus on
defensive zone

By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
DailySports Writer
Defensemen contributing
offensively is always a "bonus,"
according to Michigan coach Red
Berenson.
The Wolverines enjoyed that
bonus last weekend, when junior
alternate captain Mark Mitera
posted four assists against Ferris
State. But he's not the only blue-
liner making his presence felt on
the offensive end.
Freshman Chad Langlais leads
all Michigan defensemen in points
with 17 helpers, and sophomore
Steve Kampfer has posted nearly
four times as many points (15) this
season as he did last year.
"If any of our defensemen are
making good passes or shots that
create offense, that's a bonus, that's
good, and obviously we encourage
that," Berenson said
While there's no question that
contributions from defensemen
were key during the regular sea-
son, the increased offense from
the blueline is likely to decrease
with upcoming postseason play.
Instead, Berenson is reinforcing
the unit's focus to playing defense.

SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Sophomore Steve Kampfer and the rest of the Michigan defense have been told to focus on their own zone during the playoffs.

Watching Ferris State light the
lamp after a defensive breakdown
in the third period Saturday didn't
sit well with the coach.
On the play, Kampfer came up
to the slot, but missed the pass
coming his way and found himself
trapped on the wrong side of the
ice. He watched helplessly as the
Bulldogs tied the game.
"I don't want our defense-
men risking defense to try and
get a goal or a point when we're
ahead," Berenson said. "You've got
to learn how to win. You win by

playing smart. You win by playing
defense."
Even though the unit must
place more emphasis on protect-
ing goalie Billy Sauer heading into
the CCHA playoffs, the defense
has improved all year as a whole.
With a completely different
defensive dynamic than last year
- the Wolverines lost defensive
stars Jack Johnson, Matt Hunwick
and Jason Dest to the NHL - con-
fidence is key for the remaining
postseason tournaments, sopho-
more Chris Summers said.

"So you take those four guys
out and all of a sudden you're the
go-to guy," Berenson said. "It takes
longer for defensemen to really get
their whole game together than
it does forwards, because when a
defenseman makes a mistake, the
opponents get a scoring chance."
That makes confidence on the
ice and focus on defense even more
crucial come playoff time.
"This time of year in particu-
lar, this is huge," Berenson said.
"This is huge. It's all about defense
now."

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