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2B - Tipoff - Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 - Tipoff - 7B

TIPOFF 2008

2008-2009
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Site Date Opponent Site
2K Sports Classic 1/31 at Purdue West Lafayette
11/11 Michigan Tech Ann Arbor 2/5 Penn State Ann Arbor
11/12 Northeastern or IUPUI Ann Arbor 2/7 at Connecticut Storrs, Conn.
11/20 C vs. C Semifinal New York City 2/10 Michigan State Ann Arbor
11/21 3rd Place or Finals New York City 2/15 at Northwestern Evanston
2/19 Minnesota Ann Arbor
11/25 Norfolk State Ann Arbor 2/22 at Iowa Iowa City
11/29 Savannah State Ann Arbor 2/26 Purdue Ann Arbor
12/3 at Maryland College Park, Md. 3/1 at Wisconsin Madison
12/6 Duke Ann Arbor 3/7-8 at Minnesota Minneapolis
12/13 Eastern Michigan Ann Arbor Big Ten Tournament
12/20 at Oakland Auburn Hills 3/12 First Round Indianapolis
12/22 Florida Gulf Coast Ann Arbor 3/13 Quarterfinals Indianapolis
12/29 North Carolina Central Ann Arbor 3/14 Semifinals Indianapolis
12/31 Wisconsin Ann Arbor 3/15 Championship Game Indianapolis

It's been a longtime since anyone's seen a college basketball
game. Bone up on your Big Ten knowledge with our confer-
ence preview.
Confused by Michigan coach John Beilein's compli-
cated offensive scheme? We've broken down his base
offense so you can follow along as it happens.
You know Manny Harris can put up a lot of points. But can
he become the leader of the Wolverines' offense? See page
six to find out whether he's up for the challenge.

1/4

Illinois

Ann Arbor

1/7 atIndiana Bloomington
1/11 Iowa Ann Arbor
1/14 at Illinois Champaign
1/17 Ohio State Ann Arbor
1/20 at Penn State State College

RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
Junior DeShawn Sims
:'<.

HARRIS
From Page 6B
The coach made Harris run
sprints during the Wolverines'
first week of official practice last
month. With an open look at the
basket, Harris dished the ball
inside without taking the shot.
Beilein knows that, even with
opposing defenses keying on him,
there will be times when the game
will have to be in Harris's hands.
"You're trying to teach him the
sweet spot between being run-
ning a play and being a player,"
Beilein said. "If you call a play
and they jump it, then you gotta
option out and be a player. That's
the part that the good players get
while they're in college."
No matter how much Harris
develops the other aspects of his
game, he can't forget the skill that
earned him second-team All-Big
Ten honors as a freshman:
Pure scoring.
"Ithinkprobablyrightnow, that
he's trying to assist his teammates
so much that he's more hesitant to
shoot the outside ball," Beilein
said. "We're going to make sure
that he can shoot it, drive it, and
if he can do those two things, he
can assist it more."
Harris began the difficult task
of growing from a pure scorer to
an all-around player early last
summer, when he attended the
LeBron James Skill Camp in
Akron, Ohio with junior team-
mate DeShawn Sims.
James actually worked with
Manny and his position group,
both on the court and in the
weight room.
"He would take you aside,
talk to you," Harris said. "He
was telling everyone, basically,
it's not how fast you do a move.
It's being patient and taking
your time with it."
It's been a slow process, and
in last Thursday's exhibition
games against Saginaw Valley
State, Harris proved he hasn't
quite found the balance between
knowing when to shoot and
when to distribute.
He shot just four times in the
first half, often looking timid
with the ball.
Midway through the first
frame, Harris powered through
the Cardinal defense in transi-
tion, and where he would have
easily taken the ball to the rim
last year, he dished a pass down
low to junior center Zack Gib-
son.
Though Gibson finished the

play with a dunk, Manny passed
on too many shots that he would
have taken without hesitation last
year.
But the second half was a dif-
ferent story.
"(The coaches) told me to just
go (at halftime)," Harris said.
"Not to blow up the play, but just
go if I feel like I can take the per-
son in front of me."
He came out much more aggres-
sive and found a good balance
between shooting and distribut-
ing. On consecutive possessions
early in the second stanza, Harris
drove to the basket. On the first,
he finished with a floater, and on
the second, he kicked the ball out
to Sims for a wide-open 3-point-
er.
But only time will tell if Harris
can find that balance on a consis-
tent basis this season.
Is MANNY UP FOR IT?
He can shoot. He can drive. He
can take over a game. But evolv-
ing into the player that can do
everything for Michigan will be

the big
young.
Can
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Playing with a hyperextended
knee, Michigan's eventual Mr.
Basketball took the court in the
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1gest challenge of Harris's 2007 Michigan high school state
career. championship game for Detroit
he handle that type of Redford. Nobody would have
re? blamed Manny for sitting out or
on't know that - I don't turning in a less-than-stellar per-
nybody knows that," Mich- formance - he sustained the inju-
ry in the semifinals, just a game
before.
Harris scored a game-high 31
'ou're trying to points, helping his team coast to a
each him the 79-57 victory over Saginaw.
"Manny was the only guy out
'et spot between there (not overwhelmed)," his
r . . high school coach, Ken Flowers,
ining a play and told the Detroit Free Press after
a that game. "That's why I know
*phe will be a hell of a player at the
next level."
No one questions that Manny is
dedicated to winning.
ssociate head coach Jerry "He's a competitor," Dunn said.
said. "That's something "He wants to win, and he wants to
anny will have to deal with be successful. And those are the
rsonal basis." things that drive him."
if it's up to Harris, he's Harris is starting to get it now:
to succeed this year - in a The way to win, the path to suc-
y. He's never backed down cess, does not necessarily mean
challenge before.

he has to score 20 points a game.
He openly says that eight or 10
points is fine, if he took the shots
he needed to take and dished the
ball to open teammates.
It's the sign of a more mature
Manny - exactly what the Wol-
verines need.
"The whole time I worked out
this summer, I just thought about
Michigan basketball and putting
Michigan basketball where it
needed to be," Harris said.
He may not have the specif-
ics down yet, but Manny Harris
has the tools, the talent and he's
developing the mentality to take
the step from a good college play-
er to a great one.
The game has already started
to slow down for him. If he can
make the decision to pass or shoot
on instinct rather than thought
process, no one is going to stop
him.
Not even himself.

1/24 Northwestern

Ann Arbor