The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
January 14, 2008 - 3B
CRASHING THE BOARDS
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
"He's 6-1, but we're probably ly-
ing. 6-2. He'll say he's 6-3."
- Michigan coach John Beilein on Pete Burak, a
sophomore student manager from Ann Arbor, who
dressed for Saturday's game against Northwestern
because of the Wolverines' lack of personnel at the
small forward spot.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ekpe Udoh
CENTER
The Edmond, Okla., native earned his first-
career double-double, pouring in 14 points
and a career-best 11 rebounds in Saturday's
78-68 win at Northwestern. The Big Ten
shot block leader also swatted four Wild-
cat attempts..
WILDCATS
From page 1B
good chance if they can maintain
their hot shooting. Before Satur-
day's game, nobody would have
been talking about hot shooting
or confidence - except to discuss
Michigan's lack thereof. The team
entered the game with a Big Ten-
worst shooting percentage.
The Michigan players and coach-
es said there was no secret what
they needed to do to break out of
the slump and restore confidence:
Make shots.
At Northwestern, that's exactly
what happened.
Behind 56-percent shooting
from the field in the first half, the
Wolverines restored their swag-
ger and built a 21-point lead at the
break.
GIANNOTTO
From page 1B
conference triumph.
And it's that "swagger" that
makes me believe this team is
capable of more than just beating
the dregs of the Big Ten, which is
exactly what the Wildcats are just
about every year.
In defeating Northwestern, the
Wolverines finally showed the abil-
ity to knock down open shots and
thoroughly dominate an opponent.
Michigan's 10-point margin of vic-
tory is misleading, considering the
Wolverines led by 26 with less than
six minutes remaining.
But unlike past games, when the
team came in expecting to lose,
Saturday I saw a Michigan team
confident it belonged in the Big
Ten. From joking around at the
pregame shootaround to shooting
about 57 percent from the field in
the first half, it was clear this was
a different group than the one that
Indiana physically dominated last
Tuesday.
"We came in expecting to win,"
sophomore DeShawn Sims said.
"That was something that was
missing in the past. That attitude
will be emphasized every day in
practice, the winning attitude, not
BRONCOS
From page 1B
Nathan Ansell point shot during a
power play late in the first period.
Still, Michigan (20-2, 13-1)
couldn't be too upset with any of
the weekend's small annoyances.
With the sweep, the Wolverines
achieved their second best start
In recent games, it wasn't that
Michigan (1-3 Big Ten, 5-11 over-
all) was taking bad shots. They just
weren't going in.
But Michigan's shots fell on Sat-
urday.
Harris called it the team's best
shooting game of the year.
In each of their last three games,
the Wolverines have suffered first-
half field-goal droughts of at least
six minutes. That was not the case
against Northwestern.
In the final six minutes of the
first stanza on Saturday, Michi-
gan used a 22-5 run to extend a
four-point lead to a dominating
21 points. During that stretch, the
Wolverines knocked down their
first six shots while Northwestern
missed its first three and commit-
ted two turnovers.
The Wildcats (0-4, 5-8) played a
matchup zone that Michigan had
not seen since the first week of the
from the coaching staff, but from
amongst us players."
Like the saying goes: If you come
in thinking you're going to lose,
you will. That's what happened in
recent weeks to Michigan.
Faced with one of the toughest
schedules in the country, featur-
ing top-10 teams like Georgetown,
Duke and UCLA, the Wolverines'
confidence suffered. The result-
ing doubt led to losses to the few
inferior teams Michigan actually
played, like Harvard and Central
Michigan.
Michigan coach John Beilein
has spent much of the season
downplaying the defeats, saying the
learning process is more important
to him with such a young squad.
The media has bought into that.
They've given Beilein a free pass
because of all the parts that are
missing with this team - specifi-
cally, quality shooters.
But I'm ready to focus on what
the Wolverines do have, because
thinking about what you want is
just a waste of time.
With Manny Harris averaging
about 17 points per game, they do
have the best freshman in the Big
Ten not named Eric Gordon. In
Sims, who has upped his scoring
by 10 points from a year ago, they
do have the most improved player
ever. The 1993-94 team went 20-1-1
in its first 22 games.
"It's a great start," Sauer said.
"We have tough games coming up,
and that's going to be the biggest
test for us this season when we
have to play the toughest teams in
our league."
In three of the next four week-
ends, Michigan takes on Notre
Dame, Michigan State and Miami
season. But the Wolverines spent
more time preparing for North-
western than previous opponents.
Michigan attacked the Wild-
cats' defense, driving the ball to the
hoop with regularity.
Northwestern sophomore Kevin
Coble scored 20 of his game-high
34 points in the second half, help-
ing the Wildcats to cut the deficit to
eight with 47 seconds remaining,
but the Wolverines hit their next
five free throws to ice the game.
Beilein warned reporters not to
read too much into the Wildcats'
late-game run because his team
has not faced an end-of-game free
throw situation in a long time.
The players said they would
learn from Northwestern's run but
that it would not detract from the
excitement of winning a confer-
ence road game.
Or, for that matter, the relief of
winning their first game in amonth.
in the conference. And thanks to
sophomore Ekpe Udoh, the Big
Ten's leading shot blocker, they
do have a legitimate contender for
defensive player of the year.
All three are pieces that won't
just be successful in the future
- they can be successful now.
Don't get me wrong. This team
doesn't have the bodies to compete
with the conference's upper eche-
lon - teams like Indiana, Michigan
State and Wisconsin. But there's no
reason this young group can't score
some victories over the rest of the
Big Ten. They just have to realize
it first.
Maybe the newfound confidence
Saturday was just a product of
playing Northwestern - a team
that is likely to finish last in the
conference. But the eternal opti-
mist in me thinks this team has
turned a corner, and it's starting
to believe in itself and in Beilein's
system.
With a winnable game at Illi-
nois Wednesday, let's just hope
Michigan didn't leave its swagger
in Evanston.
-Giannotto has newfound
respect for the Maize Rage after
seeing the dismal Northwestern
student section. He can be
reached at mgiann@umich.edu.
(Ohio). All three squads were
ranked in the Top 10 going into the
weekend.
The Wolverines haven't faced
any of those teams yet this season,
but Michigan sits atop the confer-
ence with 26 points.
Even with difficult tests ahead,
at least now Michigan knows how
to get past any pregame discomfort:
Get lit up. Stand up. Score.
Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez announced the hiring of Scott Shafer as Michigan's new defensive coordinator over
the weekend. Shafer was previously defensive coordinator at Stanford, western Michigan and Northern Illinois.
Rodriguez finalizes staff
With hiring of Shafer
as 'D' coordinator,
Michigan fills final
coaching vacancy
By DAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
In 2003, Michigan football
coach Rich Rodriguez was scout-
ing Maryland
for West Vir- NOTEBOOK
ginia's annual
game against the Terrapins when
something else caught his eye.
One of the games he watched
was Maryland's opener, where
Northern Illinois upset the No. 13
Terrapins 20-13 in overtime. He
was particularly impressed with
Northern Illinois' defensive coor-
dinator Scott Shafer.
More than four years passed.
The two coaches had never
worked together, but Rodriguez
hired Shafer Thursday night as
Michigan's new defensive coor-
dinator. Shafer was defensive
coordinator at Stanford last year
after filling the same role at West-
ern Michigan for the two seasons
before that.
Once Rodriguez started watch-
ing Shafer, he saw plenty of rea-
sons to be impressed. Northern
Illinois went 10-2 and beat Mary-
land in 2003. West Virginia, which
won the Big East, lost to Maryland
twice, allowing 75 points over the
course of two games.
Shafer said he focuses on stop-
ping the run, producing sacks and
getting interceptions.
The son of a high school foot-
ball coach, Shafer grew up in
Ohio as his dad took different
jobs around the state. He was
a Big Ten fan, rooting for both
Michigan and Ohio State.
Now his leanings are decidedly
one sided in the storied rivalry.
"More important than any
opponent, we're going to control
the controllables," Shafer said.
"And we'll always have Ohio State
on our mind when we do that.So if
we have issue with a young man's
effort, we're going to remind him
that Ohio State's coming up, every
chance we get."
All four or Rodriguez's defen-
sive assistants have been defen-
sive coordinators: Tony Gibson,
assistant head coach and second-
ary coach, at West Virginia Tech
from 1999-00; linebackers coach
Jay Hopson at Southern Mis-
sissippi the last three years and
defensive line coach Bruce Tall
at Harvard from 1998-2001 and at
Northeastern from 1993-97.
MICHIGAN'S STRENGTH:
Rodriguez brought Mike Barwis
with him from West Virginia as
director of strength and condi-
tioning.
Barwis said West Virginia
offered to make him the highest-
paid strength and conditioning
coach ever.
But he said he was committed
to Rodriguez above all else.
Barwis's program system dif-
fers from most football condi-
tioning programs because of its
holistic approach. He stresses
lifting weights to become a bet-
ter football player, not a better
weightlifter. Weightlifting may
be just 20 percent of a typical
workout, which includes more
than 30 other exercises. Creating
the appropriate environment is
also key for Barwis.
"If everybody around you is
morbid and head hanging and
tired and looking weak and soft,
you'll eventually become that
type of person," Barwis said. "If
the people around you are ener-
getic and explosive and have
an explosive personality and
demanding, then you tend to rise
to that environment."
KEEPING TRADITION ALIVE:
After Rodriguez introduced his
coaching staff, he opened the
floor to questions. When nobody
immediately asked one, he joked
about endingthe press conference
- a gagcommonlyusedby former
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr.
Thatjokemightnotproveit,but
Rodriguez seems tobe making an
effort to learn the Michigan way.
He plans to hold an event for for-
mer players in February.
"It's not something that's a big
concern of mine, because the tra-
dition that's been here is always
going to be here," Rodriguez
said. "I'm going to try to learn it,
embrace it, enhance it. We're also
going to do our thing."
Former Michigan defensive
end LaMarr Woodley, who now
plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers,
w.as present at the media lun-
cheon Friday.
He said it felt just as welcom-
ing as when he came back to visit
Carr and his staff.
"It's still going to be the same,"
Woodley said. "Jersey's still going
to be the same. Still the Big House.
The winged helmet -that'll never
change. Coaches - that'll always
change here and there."
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Blue rebounds after first loss in seven weeks
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ment, the Wolverines came back
nt lead Michigan in furious fashion against a highly
ranked conference foe to tie their
to solid outing highest-ever finish in the annual
gauntlet.
By GJON JUNCAJ After losing their first meet in
Daily Sports Writer seven weeks to No. 2 Iowa Sunday
afternoon, Michigan rebounded
higan wrestling coach Joe in the consolation match to erase
land arrived in Cedar Falls, an early 10-0 Minnesota lead. The
this weekend, full of antici- Wolverines took six of the last
. His seventh-ranked Wol- eight matches against the sixth-
s were about to take their ranked Golden Gophers, winning
st test yet. 23-16 and earning third place.
higan entered the 16-team Last weekend, McFarland pre-
k/Cliff Keen National Duals dicted the NWCA Tournament
our wrestlers ranked in the would serve as a good barometer
tr of their weight class. Two for his team with Big Ten play
m, fifth-year senior captain two weeks away. After the meet,
annenbaum and true fresh- he was pleased with how quickly
Kellen Russell, had yet to Michigan shook off the Iowa loss
and with the determination his
sell suffered his first and freshman showed in taking con-
I career defeats on the tour- trol of Minnesota after the Wol-
t's first day. And on the final verines went down in the opening
annenbaum lost his first dual two matches.
since the 2005-06 regular- Facing No. 4 Manuel River at
finale. Michigan's streak of 141 pounds, Russell built a nice
ecutive dual-meet victories lead after the opening two peri-
apped. ods before Rivera notched two
takedowns in the third frame to
put the match in jeopardy. Russell
rebounded, escaping twice and
rackingup 2:17 of riding time over-
all in a 10-7 victory.
"Kellen turned it around for
us and got us back in the win col-
umn," McFarland said.
All-American fifth-year senior
Josh Churella followed with a pin
the next match. After fifth-year
senior Jeff Marsh lost narrowly,
Tannenbaum started a new win-
ning streak, beating Jeremy Lar-
son 6-3. All-American redshirt
juniors Steve Luke and Tyrell
Todd won their bouts and both
improved to 4-0 on the weekend.
Once redshirt freshman Anthony
Biondo shut out Mitch Kuhlman
10-0, Michigan had amassed a 10-
point lead with one match remain-
ing, clinching their highest finish
in the tournament since placing
third in 2004.
"I think finishing third in a
tournament like this has got to be
a good thing for the team going
into the Big Ten season," McFar-
land said.
McFarland praised the Hawk-
eyes' focus coming into Sunday's
semifinal. With a sizeable crowd
donning black and gold behind
them, Iowa won six of the first
seven matches, racing to a 20-6
lead. Todd stopped the bleeding
with a 3-2 decision over No. 11
Phil Keddy, but it was too late. The
Wolverines fell 23-13.
Nine of the 10 Hawkeyes who
competed against Michigan Sun-
day are ranked in the top 20 of
their respective weight classes.
"To be honest, I thought all
those guys wrestled well," McFar-
land said.
The marquee matchup pit-
ted Tannebaum against second-
ranked Mark Perry at 165 lbs.
Perry scored midway through the
first period on a single-leg take-
down near the edge of the mat. It
was all the margin Perry needed,
allowing him to defeat the previ-
ously perfect Tannenbaum, 4-1.
Iowa rode their momentum into
the finals, dominating10th-ranked
Nebraska 24-6. Michigan will get
their second chance against the
Hawkeyes February 17th in Iowa
City.
MAX COLLINS/Daily
Fifth-year senior Eric Tannenbaum and the Wolverines bounced back to have a
solid showing at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals last weekend,