8A - Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com
Rose would help
program blossom
He never addressed a possible
coaching future while speaking
with reporters during a reception
on Jalen Rose Day.
But at Michi-
gan's 49-43 win
over Illinois Feb.
23, former NBA
and Fab Five
star Jalen Rose
sure seemed like
a future college V
coach.
Before tipoff, MARK
every Wolver- GIANNOTTO
ine starter went
over to Rose's
courtside seat to pound fists as if he
were another assistant coach.
Players didn't leave until each
got a nod of approval from Rose,
some even waiting for a last word
of encouragement. Heck, Rose even
coached one current Michigan
player - sophomore DeShawn Sims
- in a Detroit summer league a few
years ago.
And when asked before the game
what he wanted to get out of the day,
one meant to honor his contribu-
tions to the community, Rose wasn't
concerned with his achievements.
Like a coach, his focus was on the
game at hand.
"The team has been struggling
this year, so I want them to play the
best game of the season," Rose said.
So if the players alreadytreat him
like a coach, and he's already talking
like a coach, why isn't Rose a part of
the Michigan basketball program?
Yes, I realize there's a stigma
attached to the Fab Five, seeing as
Chris Webber, Rose's childhood
friend, can't have anything to do
with the program until 2013.
But do you realize it's been 15
years since Webber last took the
court in a Michigan jersey? Snoop
Dogg was accused that same year
of being an accomplice to a mur-
der. Now, he has a reality show on
E! about his parenting skills. Much
has changed.
Frankly, it's about time this pro-
gram lets bygones be bygones and
gets back to winning basketball
games legitimately. And part of let-
ting go of the past is letting Rose get
back in the fold.
"There's no shame," Rose said of
the Ed Martin scandal. "What was
said was said. What was alleged was
alleged. But ultimately, time heals
alliwounds, in my opinion. It's going
to be time to move on eventually. I
just hope I'm not in a wheelchair or
walking in a cane or in a gravesite
when it happens. I want to be here
to see it."
I'm not condoning Webber -
and likely some of his teammates
- receiving NBA salaries while at
Michigan. In 2002, Rose said he
accepted pocket money from Mar-
tin, but he wasn't part of the NCAA
investigation.
But at the same time, I'm done
condoning the Wolverines' recent
performance on the court. For the
team, the problem is easy to iden-
tify. It's just much harder tofix than
Michigan coach John Beilein may
have thought. As open shot after
open shot clanked off the rim this
season, it became clear that the
Wolverines lack talent.
To his credit, Beilein is trying to
fix this. He has already brought in
Arizona transfer Laval Lucas-Perry,
along with three Beilein-esque
players (read: great shooters lacking
in athleticism but ripe for develop-
ment) in the 2008 recruiting class.
When explaining why he wanted
to Michigan at his introductory
press conference last April, Beilein
spoke of a desire to go after the
nation's elite recruits. He thought
the Michigan brand gave him that
ability. So far, it has gotten him in
the door with the top AAU stars, but
no 4- or 5-star recruits have signed
on yet.
That would change if Rose were
walking into the homes of recruits
on behalf of the program. With his
accomplished 13-year NBA career,
which ended last season, recruits
would see a recognizable face they
could associate with past Wolverine
basketball glory.
Put him alongside fellow Detroit
natives Sims and freshman Manny
Harris, and the Wolverines will
have a stranglehold on the fer-
tile recruiting territory that is the
Detroit Public School League. Rose
may have been nomadic during his
pro career, playing for six teams,
but he remains a local legend from
his days at Detroit Southwestern
High School.
And judgingfromRose'shalftime
speech two weeks ago, when he cut
off the band, which began playing
"The Victors" before he finished his
speech and thanked his Fab Five
teammates, none of his signature
charisma has disappeared since he
left Ann Arbor in 1994.
Rose as a coach just makes too
much sense. But then again, that's
what we said about Les Miles, too.
Rose said two weeks ago he
planned to sit down with Beilein
after this season to talk about any-
thing basketball-related.
For the program's sake, let's hope
the conversation revolves around
making every day Jalen Rose Day
for the Michigan basketball pro-
gram.
- Giannotto can be reached
at mgiann@umich.edu.
Junior Mark Mitera's plus-24 rating ,which ties him for the team lead,
s evidence of the alternate captain's defensive impact this season.
On D,' Blue returns to basics
Af
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The
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"I th
doingI
said. "N
ter strong start ing hard, winning one-on-one
battles and tying up loose guys in
eason, Michigan front. I think we've gotten away
from that in the last couple weeks,
ense has slipped so we need to make sure everyone
is focused on their guy."
By ANDY REID The penalty-kill unit has been
Daily Sports Writer a particular sore spot. Michigan's
last regular-season opponent,
stout defensive effort dis- Ferris State, came into the series
by the Michigan hockey converting just 16 percent of its
blueliners has been one of power play chances on the season
st surprising aspects of the but scorched the Wolverines for
ines' ascent to their first five man-advantage goals - a 41-
title in three years. percent clip.
by junior defensive stal- Although not normally known
lark Mitera, Michigan went for their offensive prowess, the
hree-month, 20-game tear Bulldogs kept the Wolverines on
n the season where it gave thier heels with crisp passes in
e than two goals just once, the Michigan zone, eventually
2 loss to Ohio State on Nov. finding open shots at goaltender
Billy Sauer.
the unit has slipped slight- "For whatever reason, we've
y, giving up four or more gotten a little hesitant on the PK,"
hree times since that streak assistant coach Billy Powers said.
on Jan 26. "We're reacting instead of playing
rink we need to get back to within the system. Now, we're try-
little things well," Mitera ing to encourage more movement,
Mtake sure we're backcheck- more anticipation, and that will
get us a little bit more aggressive."
Powers also mentioned the
Wolverines' decreased ability to
clear the puck during penalty-
kill situations as a reason for the
recent struggles.
When Michigan can't clear the
puck from the zone, their oppo-
nents have more time to find offen-
sive rhythm and open shots.
The recent penalty-killing woes
could spell trouble for the Wol-
verines against Nebraska-Omaha
in the quarterfinal round of the
CCHA Tournament this week-
end. The Mavericks boast the best
power-play unit in the conference
(almost 25 percent) and notched
three power-play goals in two
games against Michigan earlier
this season.
Instead of spending all its time
preparing for Nebraska-Omaha,
the Wolverines have taken an
inverted approach to practicing
the penalty kill, focusing more
on its own problems than on the
Mavericks' strengths.
"We haven't focused on Nebras-
ka's power play, because we've
kind of gotten away from some of
the little things we were doing at
the beginning of the year," Powers
said. "Last week, we took advan-
tage of that time, and we spent
some time on our system, just kind
of fine tuning our system."
During the last two practices
before Friday night's game, Mich-
igan will apply its penalty-kill
practice to Nebraska-Omaha's
multifaceted gameplan. Powers
admits that shutting it down will
be a tall task.
The Mavericks have two highly
skilled power-play units, so the
Wolverine penalty killers won't
be able to focus on just one set of
players. They don't have a go-to
play, instead employing several
different puck rotations to get
shots to the net.
"I think if we can focus on get-
ting our PK and our system fined
tuned, we can then approach what
UNO's doing and hopefully have
more success than we've had late-
ly," Powers said.
'M' waits for bid with excitement and uncertainty
By ANTHONY OLIVEIRA
Daily Sports Writer
Up until this year, Kevin Borseth
and the Michigan women's basket-
ball team have been on opposite
tracks.
For Borseth, each of his nine
seasons at Wisconsin-Green Bay
resulted in a NCAA or WNIT bid.
Finishing first in regular-season
Horizon League play each year, his
Phoenix always had another game
after the conference tournament.
For Michigan, there was never
a postseason. With losing records
since the 2002-03 season, the Wol-
verines never got to see the court
after bowing out of the Big Ten
Tournament.
But when Borseth joined the
Michigan staff, he immediately
brought a winning culture to a
team that had once dwelled in the
basement of the Big Ten.
While he hasn't ensured the
Wolverines a bid in a tournament,
Borseth has given them a feeling
the Wolverines haven't felt in a long
time - the possibility of a postsea-
son bid.
"I think it's exciting," senior
captain Krista Clement said. "It's
always hard for seniors to leave
basketball - something they've
been doing their whole life. Any
extra opportunity is agood one."
And then there's the flip side.
"There's really uncertainty right
now," Borseth said.
Whether it's excitement or
uncertainty, Michigan will learn its
fate Monday evening following the
NCAA selections.
With a 17-13 record, the Wolver-
ines have put together a r6sum6
that appears WNIT-worthy. In
2002, Michigan made the WNIT
with the exact same record.
Butunlikethatseason,thisyear's
team hasn't won against a top-25
team. Michigan's three ranked
opponents crushed the Wolverines
by an average of 27.7 points. But the
team suffered those losses early in
the season.
Another factor is Illinois's run in
the Big Ten Tournament. Emerg-
ing from the ninth spot, the Fight-
ing Illini convincingly beat a hot
Wisconsin team and notched a
win over No. 22 Ohio State. They
were seconds short of an automatic
NCAA bid but lost to Purdue in the
conference title game. Michigan
finished ahead of Illinois in the
standings and split a pair of regular
season contests.
"I don't know if that has any
bearing on us other than the fact
that Illinois would take our spot,"
Borseth said. "But we can all specu-
late. I'm just worried about us right
now."
Part of that worry is the inability
to plan for the next game. Without
a squad to prepare for, the Wolver-
ines are running 5-on-5 full-court
drills with a focus on their recent
struggles, including blocking out
and the ball screen, rather than
introducing more elements.
Borseth has also made a point to
play the seniors as much as possible
during practice. After taking the
weekend off, Michigan will con-
tinue practice for the remainder of
the week.
And while it can be monotonous,
Clement and fellow seniors are
cherishing every minute.
"Being considered for the NIT,
we get the opportunity to practice
another week," Clement said. "We
get to play basketball for another
week."
IftheWolverinesclaimoneofthe
WNIT's 17 at-large bids, the seniors
will get to play basketball for at
least one more week. But Clement
understands it'll mean much more
than that.
"It's a great opportunity to get
some postseason experience,"
Clement said. "And to have people
on the team, not necessarily for
the seniors but the underclassmen,
understand what it takes to get to
being a team that gets to play in a
tournament every year."
It's a change in routine that no
Wolverine would mind.
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