The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 5A
Threet likely out with concussion
'M' seeks early
success this year
By JASON KOHLER
Daily Sports Writer
None of the current Michigan
basketball players have ever expe-
rienced March Madness. The clos-
est they've ever gotten is watching
CBS in their liv-
ing room. Saginaw
"I never want '
togo and click on Valley State
the TV in March at Michigan
and watch the
tournament Matchup:
again," sopho- Saginaw Val-
more guard Kel- My Slate 0-0;
vin Grady said.
"I want to be in When:
it. I want to play. Tonight, 7 PM.
I want to moti- Where:
vate these guys Crisler Arena
like I'm motivat- TV/Radio:
ed, and I believe BTN
that they already
are."
The Wolverines haven't been in
the NCAA tournament since 1998.
Since then, their only postseason
play has been four appearances in
the National Invitation Tourna-
ment, which they won in 2004.
Last season, Michigan struggled
to a 10-22 record - its lowest win
total in 26 years - and finished
ninth in the Big Ten.
The Wolverines will get their
first chance to put last season
M behind them in tonight's exhibi-
tion contest against Saginaw Val-
ley State.
Michigan learned last year not
to take any team for granted with
early losses to Central Michigan
and Harvard.
"Right now we're worried about
Saginaw Valley, the first game
coming in," Grady said at Michi-
gan Media Day last month. "We're
going to prepare for a couple weeks
and we're going to get ready to
jump into it."
Although Michigan coach John
Beilien expects to win more games
this season, winning isn't his main
focus.
"If you just think about win-
ning, winning, winning and you
don't think about improvement,
improvement, improvement, you'll
never get to that winning part,"
Beilein said. "Now, it's going to be
about let's get better, let's improve
everyday we're out there."
At this point it's difficult to judge
Michigan's improvement from last
year, but the Wolverines are using
last season's failures to fuel this
season's success.
"For someone to be able to tell
you, 'No, you can't, stop, give up,'
you know those are words that
motivate us," Grady said. "We're
fighting. It'slike us against the
world."
For Michigan to shock college
basketball, it willhave to cope with
the loss of Ekpe Udoh, an All-Big
Ten Defensive Team selection who
transferred to Baylor this summer.
"We just have to mix the game
up so that there really is no weak-
nesses," senior Jevohn Shepherd
said. "We still have the bigger pres-
ence, regardless of (Udoh) leaving
or anything like that. So we just
mix it up, and we believe in our
players, so we don't really feel that
our inside's weakest right now."
Seven-foot freshman Ben
Cronin could help fill up space in
the paint that Udoh occupied. He
has been out all offseason with a
hip injury, but scrimmaged with
the team Sunday and will likely
play tonight.
If Cronin and the Wolverines
want to end Michigan's 10-year
drought of NCAA tournament
appearances, Saginaw Valley State
is just the first step toward the rest
of the season - the team's first step
this season toward bringing the
program back into the limelight of
college basketball.
"We as players in this program
have a lot of pride in the Michi-
gan name," fifth-year senior C.J.
Lee said. "It's our job and our duty
tQ get that back to where it's sup-
posed to be."
By DAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Editor
At a press conference yester-
day, Michigan football coach Rich
Rodriguez said the Wolverines will
probably play two quarterbacks at
Minnesota on Saturday, and neither
of them is redshirt freshman quar-
terback Steven Threet.
Redshirt sophomore Nick Sheri-
dan - a former walk-on who didn't
even have Division-II scholarship
offers out of high school.
And freshman Justin Feagin - a
slot receiver who played his first col-
lege snaps on special teams in the
Wolverines' loss at Purdue last Sat-
urday.
Threet hasn't practiced this week
after suffering a concussion in the
fourth quarter of Saturday's game.
But Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez
wouldn't go as far as to describe
Threet as doubtful.
"He would be definitely question-
able," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said he couldn't recall
having a quarterback who didn't
practice Wednesday but started Sat-
urday. If Threet can't go, Rodriguez
said Sheridan will start and that he
expects Feagin will play, too.
Sheridan started the Wolverines'
opener against Utah. He went 11-of-
19 for 98 yards, throwing a touch-
down and an interception in just a
little longer than a half. In backup
Redshirt freshman Steven Threet will probably sit out against Minnesota after suffering a concussion last weekend at Purdue.
duty since then, he has gone 18-of-35
for 164 yards with no touchdowns
and four interceptions.
Sheridan averages 4.9 yards per
pass attempt and has a 1-to-5 touch-
down-to-interception ratio. Threet
averages 5.6hyards per throw and has
a 9-to-6 ratio.
Rodriguez said Threet might
undergo more tests for the concus-
sion after Wednesday's practice.
Michigan was one of the few
teams that recruited Feagin to play
quarterback, but the Deerfield, Fla.
native has also worked atslot receiv-
er in practice because he has had
trouble grasping schemes at quar-
terback.
"Justin is not even close to being
ready at quarterback," Rodriguez
said Oct. 27. "In fact, his move to
slot receiver is probably permanent.
... He's probably closer to being able
to play at slot receiver than he ever
was at quarterback. But for him to be
ready at quarterback, ie's not close."
Rodriguez was reminded about
that comment Wednesday.
"Did I say that?" Rodriguez asked
with agrin. "He's closerthan he was
before. He's a great young man. He is
extremely competitive."
Rodriguez said the offense would
be limited for Feagin, who won't see
as much action on special teams this
week.
New ticket plan a surpri~sing success-
ICE . C. EY
,Puck luck sparks quick
start for Caporusso
You think it's tough being a
Michigan football fan this
year?
At least there's only seven home
games. Men's basketball fans had to
suffer through more than twice as
many games in Ann Arbor last sea-
son, during which the Wolverines
adjusted to new Michigan coach
John Beilein by:
Losing by 11
points to Cen-
tral Michigan.
Trailing by,
21 in the closing n
minutes of a loss;
to Minnesota w
on the night cel-
ebrating Crisler DAN
Arena's 40th FELDMAN
anniversary.
Falling
behind 16-2 to Northwestern,
which entered the game 0-14 in
Big Ten play, on the way to another
loss.
Beilein sat back and watched
attendance in the Maize Rage, the
team's student section, dwindle as
the Wolverines stumbled their way
to a program-record 22 losses.
So, entering his second year at
the helm in Ann Arbor, Beilein did
something about student atten-
dance. To develop more support
this year, he and his staff collabo-
rated with Athletic Department
officials and student groups like
the Interfraternity Council.
In the process, Beilein and his
staff have drastically shifted the
culture of the program.
Nothingreally inspiringhas hap-
pened to men's basketball since the
team won the NIT five years ago.
But the new student-ticket pro-
gram unveiled this weeks gives life
to a stale program, even if the team
hasn't won a game yet this year.
The Athletic Department's plan
rewards die-hard fans and also
makes it easy for casual fans to sup-
port the team, which are both cru-
cial to the future of this program.
Widespread fan support will
come when the team becomes a
consistent winner, but improving
fan attendance in the short run will
help the team get there. Recruits
will see a program on the rise, and
the current players will feed off the
energy.
Students can now get free tick-
ets to Michigan's 12 games when
school is in session, except for
Duke, Ohio State and Michigan
State, which must be bought indi-
vidually. This will give the team
exposure to fans who otherwise
wouldn't pay to trek through the
snow to Crisler Arena.
And all the extra students will
go a long way toward creating an
exciting atmosphere, especially
since it won't be hard for them to
find their way into the bleachers if
they arrive early enough.
And those students who pur-
chased season tickets will get a
package with far greater value than
those with free tickets will receive.
Duke ticket: $15
Ohio State ticket: $15
Michigan State ticket: $20
Maize Rage T-shirt: $15
Long-sleeve Maize Rage T-shirt:
$22
M-Den gift card for attending all
non-conference games: $20
M-Den gift card for attending
all Big Ten games: $10
Food for 11 home games: $55
Adidas hooded sweatshirt with
"Maize Rage" stitched under the
block M for attending all home'
games: $60
That's 232 dollars worth of free
swag for buying a 99-dollar ticket
package. And these incentives
should be easily achieved, consid-
ering you can give your ticket to a
friend to get scanned if you miss a
game.
The only drawback to this plan
is it wasn't implemented in time.
It's too late now to sell more sea-
son tickets and fill the bleachers.
But it's almost a minor miracle this
great plan emerged, considering
the deep flaws of some of the ear-
lier plans discussed:
Offer free tickets to freshmen
The unfairness of rewarding
thosewhohaveneverbeentogames
as students instead of the seniors
who have supported this team for
the last three years is obvious.
Give students the option to pay
for bleacher tickets or take free tick-
ets in the upper deck
Why pay 99 dollars for tickets
when you can get them for free and
sneak into the bleachers anyway?
Fill the empty space in the
bleachers with the Blue Rage
The Blue Rage, a group of post-
undergrad-aged fans who want to
stand and cheer while watching
games, was created last year and is
an excellent concept.
But there's something special
about sitting in a student section.
Being mixed in with adults takes
away from that.
The new plan to give the remain-
ingbleacher seats to campus groups
such as fraternities, sororities and
dorms keeps the student spirit
intact. And bringing the Blue Rage
into the bleachers for break games
is a perfect compromise.
None of those plans actually
came to fruition. The initial plan
announced for this year only
offered students a 99-dollar sea-
son-ticket package (down from 125
dollars last, year) - even though
Beilein had publicly talked about a
free ticket plan before tickets went
on sale.
"I can't be disappointed," Bei-
lein said before the current plan
was determined.-"I've just got to
find other ways to make this thing
work."
Credit Beilein and Marty Bod-
nar, associate athletic director of
ticketing and marketing, for doing
just that.
This plan was a big win for the
basketball team and the Athletic
Department, the first in a long
time.
"The next step is to continue to
look at opportunities, take chances
- just like my team," Beilein said
before the new ticket plan was
determined.
If Beilein's success with his team
is as extreme as the improvement
of the student-ticket plan from last
year, the Wolverines are looking at
a Sweet 16 run.
-Feldman can be reached
at danfeld oumich.edu.
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Editor
After lighting the lamp eight
times in eight games, sophomore
Louie Caporusso is the No. 2 goal
scorer in the country.
He had three scores after
eight contests last year. And in 33
games last season, the sophomore
netted just 12.
Naturally, the question is
how Caporusso made the major
improvement to his game, but his
coaches couldn't pinpoint any-
thing.
"I don't know if I've seen a lot
of improvement," Michigan asso-
ciate head coach Mel Pearson
said.
Wolverine coach Red Berenson
reacted similarly, adding, "you
expect players to improve from
one year to the next."
This year, the centerman is just
finding the net, plain and simple.
"He's scoring goals on some
shots that aren't great shots or
scoring chances even," Berenson
said. "The puck is going in for
him right now. It could go the
other way just as quick, so you
don't want to get too excited."
But while puck luck is cer-
tainly helping Caporusso, there's
more to it than that. When he had
to step up as the top-line center
last weekend against Ohio State,
Caporusso posted three goals
and three assists.
Coaches and players have long
described Caporusso as having
a certain offensive instinct for
being in the right place at the
right time. But that's always been
a part of his skill set.
So what's caused this big jump
in productivity this year?
"I just figured out that you
need to shoot the puck in order to
score," Caporusso said.
Caporusso said he would "try
to make the perfect play" or
"force plays that weren't there,"
last season. But watching game
tape of former Wolverine Chad
Kolarik, who scored 30 goals
as a senior last year, drastically
changed his approach.
"I saw he just shot the puck
from everywhere," Caporusso
said. "I mean, the kid would just
shoot the puck. He was putting
up like hundreds of shots in a
season, so I figured those got to
be connected some way."
Caporusso has 25 shots this
year, six more than any other
Wolverine. Sophomore Carl
Hagelin and freshman Robbie
Czarnik each have 19.
"Louie shoots to score, a lot
like (former Wolverine Kevin)
Porter and Kolarik," Pearson
said. "Those were guys when
they shot the puck they're really
shooting to score, and other guys
are just shooting it."
Butithat's not all his teammates
are noticing on the ice.
Senior forward Travis Turn-
bull, who played with Caporusso
lastseasonand earlythisyear, has
seen his mental focus improve
significantly.
"The main thing he's doing is
he's competing harder," Turn-
bull said. "He's really jumping
into holes, moving his feet, and
that's why he's having so much
success."
And that's the other part of
Caporusso's game that he says
is finally meshing. The Ontario
native has always relied on his
father for psychological advice,
which often comes during their
long drives between Ann Arbor
and Toronto. Caporusso's dad
never played hockey beyond the
pond, but he's helped Caporusso
learn how to break out of a first-
period slump or stay hungry after
a strong opening frame.
On their drives, they'll discuss
best- and worst- case scenarios
for the upcoming season, and
how Caporusso should handle
both. As a result, Caporusso now
reorganizes his thoughts after
every intermission.
"He's helped me a lot over my
career and I think I'm starting
to get old enough to understand
everything he's been telling me
my whole life," Caporusso said.
That, along with a bit of puck
luck, has put Caporusso near the
top of the nation statistically, and
certainly in a much bigger spot-
light.
"I played with a lot of great
players here at the University of
Michigan," Turnbull said, "and
he's certainly at the top of that
list."
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