4B - December 1, 2008 z),vortsivioncia) The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 46 . .. A YEAR WITH RODRIGUEZ Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez's artful commentary, littered with allusions to things like The Lion King and elephant dung, have made the past 12 months a bit more interesting 6 DEC. 17, 2007 JAN. 1, 2008 APR. 7, 2008 MAY 20, 2008 JULY 24,2008 "There's an old movie called The Lion King. There's a scene in the movie where a monkey hits the lion over the head, and the lion says, 'What'd you do that for?' and the monkey says, 'It doesn't matter, it's in the past.' " On his hiring from West Virginia at his introductory press conference "Imagine my shock watching the game at the hotel with my family, and it comes across that ticker, getting sued for $4 million. That wasn't a good night." On his lawsuit with West Virginia "If not being a gentleman is recruiting a guy 'til the end, 'til Signing Day, particularly after he visits - guilty as charged. ... I didn't get a memo from the Big Ten or a handbook that says 'This is how you're a gentleman. I feel pretty proud about how we recruit." On Joe Tiller's "snake oil" comment "Not only did it affect me, lie about me, but lie about guys on my staff," Rodriguez said. "And I do take it very personally when someone tries to ruin the reputation of my staff and myself. It's not right, particularly when he's lying. That will be the case from now until the day I'm no longer sitting on this good earth." On his lawsuit with West Virginia "I think there's a lot of big deals made out of things that should be - it's what I call mouse turds. Maybe I shouldn't say that. They're worried about that when there's big elephant doo-doo." On the lack of communication and media drama i 6 SEPT. 6.2008 "It's still like a Clint Eastwood movie - 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.'" On the Wolverines' offense against Miami (Ohio), their first win of the season SEPT.13, 2008 SEPT. 27, 2008 OCT. 4, 2008 OCT. 27, 2008 NOV.1, 2008 "Michigan football will be back. All the naysayers out there, whatever. I'm disappointed but I'm not discouraged. Michigan football will be back." After Michigan's loss at Notre Dame "If you were in the Ann Arbor vicinity, you heard them. I mean, holy cow, anybody would've heard that. I know the fans are frustrated. They want to play at a high level here and that's okay." Discussing the Michigan Stadium crowd booing as the team left the field at halftime of the Wisconsin game, trailing 19-0 "We just tried to make some corrections, but if there was a hole to crawl into, I am sure a bunch of us, including myself, would run and crawl in that hole." Discussing the team's mood at halftime of Michigan's 27-25 win over Wisconsin. The Wolverines trailed 19-0 at halftime "You think I like standing there watching that? You think I want to stand and watch us drop the ball? I mean, you think it hasn't been addressed? I mean, you've got to be kidding me. I've never seen nothing like it. And I don't know if you can work on it more than we're working on it." On Michigan's five fumbles in a loss to Illinois "There were more assumptions made defensively that we're OK at this position or that we'll get this kind of production at this position. "I think there's an assumption that this guy is a returning starter, so he'll be able to pick up the scheme and be able to go just like that. That's not always the case." On the Wolverines' defense after giving up 35 points to Michigan State "What do you want me to say? We're going to get up and do the same routine. We're going to get up and work tomorrow and try to get better. You want to look at the finality of it all? I've been here nine, 10 months. We've had great tradition, we've still got great tradition and we're going to try to do all we can to uphold it. But right now we're not going to a bowl and we're going to get up and go to work tomorrow and get better." After Michigan's was eliminated from bowl contention with a 48-42 loss at Purdue "I've been here for one of them. So that's the only one I can really comment on. They've got one in a row on us, from what I've seen." On Michigan's five-game losing streak to Ohio State "Nothing on that little ESPN ticker, no statements on 'he said, she said,' no drama on lawsuits and accusations. (Last offseason) was absolutely ridiculous. ... As coaches, we're in the public life so we have to realize it. It's a big boy's world, so I understand that." On his hopes for the upcoming offseason 6 6 NOV. 22, 2008 NOV. 24, 2008 a QUOTES COMPILED BY MICHIGAN DAILY FOOTBALL WRITERS PHOTO BY JEREMY CHo/Daily Gong ut of Businef Sale " 20.90%off Store Wide Savings v .* Flying Away f Destination unknown 20-. StateArbor (734) g95.3323 myspace com/flystore « ® flyclothingonline.com young people rise above it all to find true love In oceiydicate bymoecastnatnd prtnion TIGERS From Page 1B wore down the shot clock on several occasions but couldn't stop Savan- nah State's players from hitting almost every basket. The Tigers shot over 70 percent from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first frame. Savannah State shot just 33.5 percent after the break. Although Michigan pulled off the comeback, Beilein was quick to point out that, with a team that's still learning, ups and downs are to be expected. "I know they didn't want to deal with the coaching staff after a loss like this," Beilein said. "I knowthey will be happier going into practice, but it is what it is now. We have to look at that game and say, 'We have a lot of areas we have to improve.' Men's basketball here at U-M, we are growing, we are not the fruiton the tree yet, we are still growing." Those growing pains were never more apparent than in the last five seconds of regulation. With the game tied and the Tigers inbound- ing a pass, freshman Zack Novak intercepted the ball, took it to the rim and went up for an emphatic, game-winning slam-dunk. It would have sent the Cris- REID From Page 1B first half. The Wolverines could not find even a hint of rhythm, turning the ball over 12 times and strug- gling to simply set up the offense, let alone run a coherent system. Fifth-year senior David Mer- ritt said the defense was the big- gest flaw in the first half. If poor defense can explain six total field goals in 20 minutes, the awful ball handling, the inability to crack the Tigers' aggressive full-court press, the 0-for-8 from behind the arc, then Sims's superior defensive skills are clearly needed in the opening minutes of the game. It was, withouta doubt, the worst 20 minutes of basketball I've seen in a long time. It's great that the team ler crowd, which had grown increasingly excited during the Wolverines' comeback bid, into a frenzy. It would have been high- lighted on SportsCenter's Top-10 plays. It would have been the high- light of Novak's six-game career. He missed it, losing control and watching helplessly as the ball clanked off the back of the rim. Time expired. "I saw (sophomore) Manny (Harris) out ahead," Novak said, describing the play. "I was looking to pass it to him, butI saw the clock and went to the hoop strong. It was just instinct. ... If we lost the game, it would have been worse, but we came back to win and that makes it easier to learn from." But Beilein wanted to put the game in perspective - it was, after all, a win against a team that lost to Clemson by more than 30 points. And with Atlantic Coast Confer- ence hotshots Maryland and Duke coming up this week, Michigan has a lot of work to do. "We have to understand that every game we have to come ready to play and deal with whatever is given to you," Beilein said. "Obvi- ously, the Maryland and Duke games are at a different level than the Savannah State game, but we can't worry about that -- just one at atime." can overcome thatkind of sloppy play and win, but guess what? Savannah State ain't Duke - or even Maryland for that matter. Those two teams happen to be Michigan's next two opponents. Michigan coach John Beilein knows it, saying Saturday, "Obvi- ously, the Maryland and Duke games are at a different level than the Savannah State game." But is he doing anything to change it? The Wolverines have had the same starting lineup for all season - sophomore Manny Harris, red- shirt junior Zack Gibson, Merritt, freshman Stu Douglass and red- shirt sophomore Anthony Wright. Sims, clearly the team's second- best player, comes off the bench. Sims is the spark for this squad. He played 23 minutes after half- time against Savannah State, grab- Sophomore Manny Harris scored 22 points and hit key free throws down the stretch to help Michigan defeat Savannah State on Saturday. qrej udice By Jane Austen Adapted for the stage by James Maxwell Directed by Timothy Douglas Dept. of Theatre & Drama December 4 - 7 - Power Center Tickets $24 & $18 " Students $9 w/ID League Ticket Office 734-764-2538 Music,Theatre & Dance www.musk.umich.edu bing four offensive rebounds that were all converted into points, pouring in 15 points (including the game-winner at the overtime buzzer) and committing zero turn- overs after the break. To anyone that's seen a game this year, it's clearthatthe Wolver- ines are a better team when he's on the court. Why not have thatkind of energy from the get-go? Because Arizona transfer Laval Lucas-Perry will become eligible after the semester ends, Beilein has said he doesn't want too change up the lineup too much. "When Laval Lucas-Perry becomes eligible in December that will be another component that you're looking at to how does that affect him?" Beilein said afterthe Norfolk State game. "You know, he's obviously a good player. He's going to be in the rotation.... I think we'll just wait and see. Until itcosts us a game somewhere down the line, we won't make any changes." Beilein thinks that a change to the lineup before Lucas-Perry becomes available might disrupt the flow. The Wolverines will have to "change pregame warmups, change everything." Maybe that's what they need. Maybe the cur- rent starting lineup hasn't been detrimental yet, but t'd be willing to betit willbe against Duke and Maryland. Sims needs to start the next two games to give Michigan a chance of stealing one or both from the Blue Devils and Terrapins. It's as simple as that. - Reid can be reached at andyreid@ umich.edu.