The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - 3 Rodriguez responds to criticism from banquet JAKE FROMM/Daily Sophomoreguard Darius Morris tallied a double-double against Concordia with 19 points and 12 assists. 'M' struggles mighti in win over' ConCOri'a ByBEN ESTES advantage at the first media Daily Sports Writer timeout. But Concordia (5-5) stayed in it, cutting the score to The pregame release from 27-22 with 7:14 left in the first Concordia University listed the half and entering the break with Michigan men's basketball team's just a 10-point deficit. record at And the Cardinals contin- 6-2, even CONCORDIA 65 ued to fight in the second half. though MICHIGAN 86 When forward Ryan Walton hit the Wol- a jumper with 11:28 remaining, verines had actually won just they once again found them- five games coming into Monday selves down just five points. night's matchup between the two But Michigan eventually pulled schools. away, going on a 9-0 run to take a It appeared, then, that the 75-57 lead with 6:48 remaining to game was already conceded to effectively ice the game. Michigan, the Divison-I institu- The Wolverines were adamant tion with an enrollment more that they weren't overlooking the than 40 times greater than that small-school opponent, and that of its NAIA Division-II counter- it was more just a matter of their part Concordia. own poor play. No one told that to the Cardi- "You have to keep getting bet- nals, though. ter as the game goes on," junior Concordia refused to quit guard Stu Douglass said. "I think Monday night, hanging around the message was there ... We defi- throughout a game expected nitely didn't underestimate them to be more of a blowout before in the second half. We knew what finally falling to the Wolverines they were capable of." 86-65. Michigan couldn't seem to "I'm sure none of us expected find a rhythm defensively. The thattype ofexcitement when they Wolverines had no answer down saw this game on the schedule," low for Concordia's Rocko Hol- Michigan coach John Beilein said mes, who finished with a career- after the game. "Being a former high 29 points. Beilein even Division II coach, which I equate compared the 6-foot-5 Holmes to to an NAIA school (like Concor- former NBA pro Charles Barkley dia) ... whenever we played Divi- in how managed to leverage his sion-I teams, we had a good plan. way to spots in the paint despite We could stay with teams, and his underwhelming size, repeat- that's what Concordia did today." edly calling him "crafty." Michigan (6-2) appeared to Flustered by the Cardinals' be the far superior team both shooting, the Wolverines rarely physically and athletically as doubled Holmes, as they knew soon as both squads came out that 3-pointers could keep Con- for warmups. And when the cordia in the game and didn't Cardinals' first shot turned into want to see him find open shoot- an embarrassing airball, they ers when passing out of the lane. appeared to be in for a long night Holmes consistently got the at Crisler Arena. ball deep in the post and scored The Wolverines held a 17-6 over whoever was guarding him. On top of that, Michigan had trouble calling out switches on Concordia's screen-heavy sets, another issue related to the Wol- verines' youth and something Beilein emphasized as needing improvement. "They scored a lot of points, and we've been very prideful in our defense this year," Doug- lass said. "We just didn't come out and communicate as well we should've. "(With) their motion, I don't think we expected to have to communicate so much on screens and slips and all those sorts of things," he said. "I think we just underestimated how much work we had to do on the defensive end." Redshirt freshman forward Jordan Morgan paced the Wol- verines with 23 points. Sopho- more point guard Darius Morris scored 19 and added 12 assists, while junior guard Zack Novak pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds to lead the team. But Beilein pointed out that Michigan is only getting contri- butions from those players and one or two others right now, as many of the team's young players are struggling to find their way. "But we're going to be young all year long, it's not going to stop," Beilein said. "We'll just get better at being young."(that) our inexperience doesn't show through. They were able to exploit (us) because of that. "But we're going to be young all year long, it's not going to stop. We'll just get better at being young."a show, we're just trying to shut them down. We're going to get pucks deep, hit guys and just get everything to the net." By JOE STAPLETON Daily Sports Editor Michigan coach Rich Rodri- guez must have known the second he lifted his arms into the air dur- ing the Michigan football team's end-of-the-year football banquet that he would be NOTEBOOK questioned about his impassioned speech. And at Monday's football press conference, he was. Repeatedly. "Every coach has his own per- sonality," Rodriguez said. "I've always been emotional at our senior banquets. You feel so close to a team and particularly the senior class and I'm proud of the way they've hung in there." Rodriguez has been tak- ing some extra criticism since Thursday for the events of the banquet. At one point during the evening,.the coach said, "I hope you realize that I truly want to be a Michigan man." Later, he had all the players join hands and became visibly emotional while a recording of Josh Gro- ban's You Raise Me Up played over the loudspeakers. "Everybody's going to have their opinions on things and that's fine," Rodriguez said. "I appreciate everyone's interest in what happened and what went on, and try to sensationalize it. I would rather talk about the bowl game." The antics at the banquet prompted widespread response from Michigan fans, with many decrying what they perceived as Rodriguez essentially begging for his job. . Some have argued that Rodri- guez's hold on his position grows weaker every day that goes by without a vote of confidence from his athletic director, Dave Bran- don. Brandon has steadfastly insisted he will evaluate the coach after the bowl game. So does that make the Gator Bowl a must-win? "I think every head coach at this level goes into every game thinking,'Boy, this is the game,'" Rodriguez said Monday. "I think people will try to put more impor- tance on one than the other and I understand that ... but I think coaches put an enormous amount of pressure on themselves to win every game." BOWL PRACTICES: Through- out the season, a lack of experi- ence on defense has led to many execution issues on a unit loaded with first year seniors, especially in the secondary. That's one of the reasons a bowl game was so celebrated. Sure, Michigan will be playing against Mississippi State in the Wolver- ines' first bowl game since the 2007 season, but Michigan is also drooling over the 15 or so extra practices they'll have to prepare for the Gator Bowl. "The first practice will be Fri- day afternoon and we'll practice Saturday morning, then Sunday we'll be off," Rodriguez said. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez received national attention last Thursday during an emotional speech at the team's end-of-the-year banquet. "Anywhere from 11 to 12 practices here and four.to five at the bowl site." The extra practices will be essential in helping the defense, which finished the season on a sour note, giving up 37 points to Ohio State on Nov.27. Junior nose tackle Mike Mar- tin said any time players spend with coaches is time well spent. "You improve any time you can get your work in," Martin said. "Whenever we get into a practice, we're always sure we're ready to work and get better." The practices will focus on Mississippi State but also on get- ting players healed up and ready to play on Jan. 1. Junior wide receiv- er Darryl Stonum said he thought most of the players with nagging injuries will be as healthy for the Gator Bowl as they've been since week one against Connecticut. Specifically, he said Michigan fans would likely see the most healthy version of sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson since the first week of the season. "He (Rodriguez) told us there wasn't going to be too much beat- ing our bodies up," Stonum said. "It's more individual drills, going over fundamentals. There won't be too much banging and scrim- maging and stuff like that. No need to beat ourselves up, might as well save it to beat up on Mis- sissippi State." PLAYERS STAND BY RODRI- GUEZ: While the players were at the press conference to talk about Mississippi State, the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the Michigan football program and its coach was sure to surface. But the players made one thing clear: they are standing by their coach. "I don't think there's a guy on our team that's not supportive of coach Rodriguez right now," Ryan Van Bergen said. "If anything it just brings us together. We have our wagons circled around coach Rodriguez. Our team counts on him. We rely on him. We all have faith in him. The criticism stuff doesn't pull us apart like it might seem." Added Darryl Stonum: "I'd be pretty devastated if anything happened (to Rodriguez). I'm pretty sure he'll stay here. ... Coach seems pretty confident." Van Bergen took issue with the timing of the decision, which Brandon has stressed would come after the bowl game. "I would appreciate it to be declared I think," Van Bergen said of Rodriguez's job status. "But I have 100 percent faith in Dave Brandon too. ... I think it would be more beneficial to just come out and make a statement just so some of the players have an idea. But obviously there's rea- sons I don't know about that it can't be done at this point." INJURY REPORT: After being banged up for much of the season, Robinson should be fine for the bowl game. "He should be able to do everything when we start practice on Friday." ... Redshirt junior wideout Junior Heming- way should be okay. Rodriguez expects Martin, senior linebacker Jonas Mouton, sophomore wide receiver Je'Ron Stokes, Stonum and redshirt freshman running back Fitzgerald Toussaint all to practice by next week. -Daily Sports Writer Nicole Auerbach contributed to this report. It's time to take Ohio State seriously Before facing off against Ohio State for a pair of games last weekend, Mich- igan coach Red Berenson insisted that STEPHEN J. he didn't NESBITT consider the Buckeyes and On Ice Hockey Wolverines to be rivals on the ice. "I can't sell them a rivalry that really doesn't exist," Berenson said after practice last Wednesday, sug- gesting that to his team, Ohio State is just a regular opponent. When comparing the teams' his- tories, Berenson's point is clear: it's no contest. Michigan has captured nine NCAA championships in its 23 Frozen Four appearances, while Ohio State has never played for a national title. The Wolverines lead the all-time matchup 66-31-11 - a total that includes an eight-year, 34-game undefeated stretch for Michigan that began in 1990. In that span, Ohio State wasn't even competi- tive - just two of its 27 regulation losses were by one goal. Truth be told, Michigan's storied program is a benchmark in college hockey, while Ohio State hasn't con- tended with the nation's best teams in its 49 years of existence. But when the two teams took the ice on Friday and Saturday, the history books remained on the shelf. This time around, Ohio State had a new look. First-year Ohio State coach Mark Osiecki, formerly an assistant coach at Wisconsin, has his team playing fundamen- tal hockey. Although they aren't necessarily near contending for a national title, they are competitive enough to be a roadblock. Fans in Columbus have taken notice of the changes, and though the Buckeyes may not fill their rink - the 20,000-seat Value City Arena - the wheels haven't fallen. off of their bandwagon just yet. Rather, it's gainingspeed. Even though Michigan hadn't swept consecutive games in Columbus since the 1999-2000 season, the 11th-ranked Wolverines expected take the two-game series last weekend with ease. Berenson refused to call the matchup a rivalry, but after the Buckeyes nearly sent Michigan home empty-handed, Michigan (5-3-1-0 CCHA, 9-5-4 overall) should be singing a different tune. Through 59 minutes on Friday, the Wolverines had the advantage both in intensity and on the score- board, butgave up a goal with just under 11 seconds to tie the game, 2-2. The Buckeyes capped off their comeback with the game-winning tally early in the overtime period. As the scarlet and gray jerseys celebrated by the end boards, several dismayed and defeated Wolverines skated off the ice and headed to the dressing room - the absences were noticed during the postgame handshakes at center ice. In the press conference follow- ing the game, Berenson defended his players, as did senior forward Louie Caporusso. "It was such a quick endingthat everyone was celebrating and some of the guys just forgot and came off the ice," Caporusso said. "We don't usually do things like that. It wasn't by any means disrespect, they just forgot." Whether it was a case of for- getfulness or not, avoiding the standard handshakes can stir up plenty of strife on the opposing team --just ask the Detroit Red Wings about their thoughts on Sidney Crosby skipping out on the handshakes after the 2009 Stanley Cup finals. Sometimes, it doesn't take much to ignite a rivalry. Regardless, Ohio State (3-6-1-1, 6-8-1) is no longer getting beat into the ground on a yearly basis by Michigan, and has proven itself an admirable adversary for the Wol- verines. The teams meet in Ann Arbor for another pair of games in early February. And a little advice for Michigan: tread lightly around these Buckeyes. Oh, and don't forget the hand- shake. YouTube music video a hit for red-hot Michigan W vira for Th team durin weeke Barba In f verint becon after spawi with t progr Thi bers d Drake the br Jeff first g day's Mary "I ith key goal and Cal," Quijano said on Monday. ey g "She showed me the video. They i1 video, big week did a wonderful job." Scenes from the video were senior defender shot at various locations, includ- ing the team's charter flight, the Jeff Quijano locker room and Columbia, S.C. - the site of Michigan's third- By MATT SLOVIN round victory. Daily Sports Writer A brief introduction shows the team being honored at the e Michigan men's soccer Big House as conference cham- has kept things interesting pions. g its remarkable run to this Amateur music video produc- nd's College Cup in Santa tion has become a recent trend ra, Calif. on the college soccer scene. fact, the tenth-ranked Wol- The UCSD squad recently es (17-4-3) have recently dropped a cover of "Love Like e YouTube sensations Woe" by The Ready Set. the release of a video The on-field success of ning from a friendly rivalry the Wolverines - who have :he California men's soccer advanced further than any other am. team in the program's history e video shows team mem- - combined with the online lancing and lip-synching to success of the video has led to 's chart-topper "Over." It is speculation that more clips may ainchild of senior defender be on the way. Quijano, who notched his According to senior midfield- toal of the season in Satur- er Alex Wood, "something might 3-2 overtime victory over be in the works". land. For Quijano, who will be play- have a friend (who) goes to ing about an hour away from his hometown of Canoga Park when Michigan faces Akron (20-1-2) on Friday, the video exchange between the two programs is just part of a master plan for future entertainment. "Hopefully it becomes kind of a yearly thing where (Cal) would ... make a video and we'd kind of make one that responds," Qui- jano said. The hardest part for Quijano, the video's producer, whose cre- ation has accumulated well over 6,000 views so far, has been con- vincing his teammates to make the leap from the field to the studio. "I told these guys 'I'm gonna start filming,' " Quijano said. "They were a little sketchy at first, but I think it came out well." When asked about the video, Wolverine head coach Steve Burns couldn't help but laugh. And who could blame him? As long as his team continues its winning ways - the tourna- ment's No. 10 seed has won nine straight games - the fun is okay with him.