8A - Thursday, January 15, 2009
MITERA:
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 6
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Captain returns O' "lue LkL4L1 k)
to ice for first time doom Blue at Illinois
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since Oct. injury
From page 5A
Friday when he returned to the ice
- exactly two months after he had
his ACL surgery and one month
before doctors expected.
He said he was so excited about
getting back on the ice that he
could hardly sleep last Thursday
night.
Mitera is currently limited to
skating about 20 minutes three
times a week. In his three skating
sessions since last week, he has
worked on building endurance,
skating backwards and pivoting.
"I have a long way to go with
the skating, the stamina," he said.
"There's nothing you can simulate
off the ice to keep your body in that
kind of shape.
"But it's definitely a mental
booster to get back on the ice, to
see the past two months of surgery
and work actually starting to come
together where you're able to skate
again."
Mitera thinks it will take three
to four weeks for him to get his
legs and lungs in shape, and at that
time, he will evaluate where he
stands with coaches, trainers and
his family. With Kampfer's return,
the Wolverines now have a great
deal of depth at defense, with seven
blueliners battling for six spots on
the bench.
For Berenson, deciding whether
to put Mitera back into the lineup
will undoubtedly be a tough deci-
sion.
"It might go a long way for the
team, seeing me back on the ice,"
Mitera said. "But I don't know if
that would be the right thing to
do at the time, to try to come back
too early and to take that position
away from another defenseman
who could be dressing and playing
at 100 percent."
A NEW CAPTAIN, A NEW COACH
Soon after the injury, alternate
captain Summers began wearing
the 'C' and Mitera began roaming
the bleachers during games.
Summers acted as the on-ice
captain, leading pregame stretches
and being a vocal leader.
"The team needs some tangible
leader day-to-day to be out there,"
Mitera said. "Chris has done a
great job doingthat."
And off the ice, Summers has
respected Mitera's captaincy and
advice. Mitera attends team meet-
ings and is often found in the
locker room before and during
games. Thanks to his view from
the stands, he can analyze play like
an assistant coach.
"I usually come in between
every period if I see something
that needs to be said," he said. "If
everything's going smoothly, I like
to let them take care of themselves
in the locker room. But if it looks
like guys are getting frustrated out
there or things aren't going well
or we're down a little bit, I'll go in
there and get them re-focused."
THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE
There's a reason why Mitera
stayed for his senior season when
so many expected him to go pro:
He wanted be a Wolverine for four
years.
And most of all right now, he
wants to end his collegiate career
in maize and blue. -
"Personally, I think I should be
able to play (by the end of the sea-
son)," Mitera said. "I need to make
sure everything heals properly. I
don't want to take any risks at this
point, but that's my goal, to get
back for one more game at Yost."
ByJASON KOHLER
Daily Sports Writer
CHAMPAIGN - The Michigan
men's basketball team went to the
locker room nursing a one-point
lead over Illinois.
But it knew from experience that
the game MICHIGAN 51
was far ILLINOIS 66
from over.
When the two teams squared off
on Jan. 4 in Ann Arbor, the Wolver-
ines overcame a one-point halftime
deficit to defeat the Fighting Illini
74-64.
Lastnight,thetableswereturned
when Illinois dominated Michigan
down the stretch in a 66-51 win.
"Almost an exact game as up
there, but reversed," Illinois coach
Bruce Weber said.
The difference between the
games was one man: Illinois center
Mike Tisdale.
At halftime, Illini guard Demetri
McCamey told Tisdale he had bet-
ter be ready to shoot the ball in the
paint.
The big man responded by scor-
ing the Illini's first nine points of
the second half. The 7-foot-1 Tis-
dale dominated a small Michigan
lineup, which featured 6-foot-8
junior forward DeShawn Sims
and 6-foot-5 sophomore forward
Manny Harris as its tallest players
on the floor for most of the night.
"He's hard for us (to handle),"
Michigan coach John Beilein said.
"We're playing small. We're not
very big in the center and he's tough
to stop."
Tisdale was held in check in the
opening half but exploded for 18 of
his game-high 24 points after the
break.
The big man even made a
3-pointer - his first attempt of the
season - with less than five min-
utes remainingthat killed any hope
of a Wolverine comeback. Beilein
4
CLIF REEDER/Daily 0
Sophomore Manny Harris was 7-of-13 for 20 points in Michigan's loss last night.
said Tisdale "pulled a Pittsnogle"
by nailing the deep ball, comparing
the center to the sharp-shooting
former West Virginia star Kevin
Pittsnogle.
While the Illini shot an effective
52.4 percent from the field in the
second half, Michigan couldn'tbuy
abasket. Despite havingthe confer-
ence's second-best scoring offense,
the Wolverines shot a season-low
32.2 field-goal percentage on the
night and were held to a season-low
51 points.
Michigan (3-2 Big Ten, 13-4
overall) has often relied on 3-point-
ers this season as a primary source
of scoring, but that wasn't the case
last night. The Wolverines shot a
poor 26.9 percent from behind the
arc. Illinois defended Michigan
high on the perimeter, which made
it difficult for the Wolverines to run
their offense. And when Michigan
did get open looks late in the game,
it failed to convert.
"We just weren't able to knock
down the shots we're usually ablecto
knock down," Harris said. "Games
like that are going to happen, but
you just got to fight through and do
the things that are going to make us
win the game."
In the first half, the Wolverines
were a different team. Michigan
and Illinois (3-1, 13-4) traded blows
the opening 20 minutes, resulting
in 11 lead changes.
The Wolverines scored by
spreading the ball around early and
four players tied for a team-leading
five points at the half, but Harris
was the only player to reach double
figures. He finished with 20 points.
Michigan held close for the first
10 minutes of the second half but
fell behind for good after a five-
minute scoreless stretch midway
through the stanza.
"They played harder than us for
the whole 40 minutes and that's
how they got the win," Harris said.
And after completing their
home-and-home series, the Illini
and Wolverines have both proven
that aone-point lead on the road is
never safe.
6
40
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Event
Monday, January 19, 2009
I 1
6
2:30 P.M.
The Jackie Robinson Story
The Jackie Robinson Story is a
1950 biographical film starring
baseball legend Jackie Robinson
as himself. Robinson became
the first African American Major
League Baseball player of the
modern era in 1947.
Anthony Pratkanis
Professor of Psychology
Univeristy of California, Santa Cruz
"Mr. Branch Rickey, Mr. Jackie
Robinson, and the Tntergration of
Baseball: Nine Principles of Successful
Affirmative Action."
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