The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, October 28, 2011 - 7

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, October 28, 2011 - 7

'M' getting plenty of respect this year

By LUKE PASCH Though Beilein is holding off
Daily Sports Editor on naming his starting point
guard for the upcoming season,
ROSEMONT, Ill. - What a dif- all signs point toward Ohio's2010
ference 365 days makes. Mr. Basketball winner, fresh-
About a year ago at Big Ten man Trey Burke. The Columbus
Media Day, Michigan coach John native is the only "true" point
Beilein sat quietly at a lonely guard on the roster this season,
roundtable as reporters swarmed as his competition for the start-
the tables of Ohio State, Michi- ing job - Douglass and freshman
gan State, Illinois and Wiscon- cohort Carlton Brundidge - are
sin - the big boys of the Big Ten. combo guards better suited for
Co-captains the two position.
Zack Novak and NOTEBOOK Beilein said that he will com-
Stu Douglass plete his final evaluation follow-
did the same, waiting patiently ing the exhibition matchup with
for members of the media to ask Wayne State on Nov. 4, and he'll
them how it felt to be in the base- make his decision within the
ment of the preseason conference week leading up to the season
standings. opener against Ferris State.
This year was entirely differ- "There's a lot that goes on from
ent. At Big Ten Media Day on going from a high school guard
Thursday morning, the Wolver- to a college guard," Beilein said
ines were mentioned with the Thursday. "So after two weeks of
rest of the pack. At points, it was practice, (Burke has) shown a lot
tough to squeeze in at the table for of moxie, some great poise. And
an interview with Beilein. Soph- yesterday, the other day in par-
omore wing Tim Hardaway Jr. ticular, a lot of toughness.
attracted a crowd to the Michi- "Those are three things you'd
gan tables as well - a byproduct like to have a freshman have."
of both his family name and his FILLING A NEW ROLE: The
talent (he was recently named to departure of Morris certainly
the Wooden Award Watch List). affects more than just the point
Indeed, the added attention guard position.
mainly comes from winning. This season, Hardaway Jr. is
Few people, if anyone, expected expected to take on more of a
Michigan to be in the NCAA leadership role in the Michigan
Tournament last season, let offense. In all likelihood, defens-
alone cruise to a 30-point vic- es will key in on him more than
tory in the first round. And thus, anyone else, and some analysts
interesting storylines about the are skeptical that he'll be able to
Wolverines' basketball program handle the ball under that type of
abound. pressure.
COPING WITH LOSS: Darius His coach agrees to disagree.
Morris's departure to the NBA "We had an early answer
this offseason certainly hurts on that the other day," Beilein
for Michigan, and it was a focal said. "We just had a scrimmage
point on Thursday. where he was so unselfish he had
The Wolverines' offense seven assists and no turnovers. If
almost entirely ran through Mor- they're putting extra men on him
ris last season. His 6.7 assists per or guarding him a certain way,
game were good for fifth in the this is a team-first guy now."
nation, and the success of his Midway through the 2010-11
supporting cast was largely due conference schedule, after the
to his ability to see the whole Wolverines stumbled to a 1-6
court from the top of the key. start in Big Ten play, Hardaway

Media Day reveals
new-look Big Ten

By MIKE LAURILA
Daily Sports Writer
ROSEMONT, Ill. - With the
2011 women's basketball season
just around the corner, the Big
Ten will have a new look.
Defending conference cham-
pion Michigan State is hop-
ing for a repeat performance.
Though the Spartans lost three
starters, including four-year
starter Brittney Thomas, they
return redshirt senior Lykendra
Johnson, the reigning Big Ten
Defensive Player of the Year.
The Michigan women's
basketball team, which lost
Veronica Hicks to graduation, is
looking to secure its first NCAA
Tournament berth under head
coach Kevin Borseth. Now in his
fifth year, Borseth is coaching
solely his recruits, as the cur-
rent seniors comprise his first
recruiting class.
"Last year we won 17 games
and were a little short of get-
ting in the NCAA Tournament,"
Borseth said yesterday at Big
Ten Media Day. "And (that is)
something that our players are
very determined to get back to
this year."
One major change in the Big
Ten came with the addition of
Nebraska. Though the Corn-
huskers went just 13-18 last year
and didn't play in a postseason
tournament, they will be one
more team to add to the mix.
Starting this year, there are
two major rule changes. One
change is the location of the
three-point line - it is now the
same distance as the men's col-
lege three-point line at 20-feet
and 9-inches.
"I don't think it's going to
affect the game that much
because you had two lines out

there (before)," said Michigan
State coach Suzy Merchant.
"And to be honest, our kids
(shot) behind the men's line
more times than we didn't."
Added Borseth: "I guess mov-
ing it back really made it easier
on the floor because those two
lines were pretty confusing from
that perspective."
Another rule change is the
addition of the semi-circle under
the basket, which prevents play-
ers from taking charges under
the rim. This is also a men's rule
that has been adopted for the
women's side.
One reason that the NCAA
committee may have added the
semi-circle was for the players'
protection.
"I guess you don't want kids
to take charges underneath the
basket," Borseth said. "(Basket-
ball) already has the ability to
be (a) pretty volatile game any-
way, with all the collisions. We
certainly don't want to add any
more."
After all the changes that have
occurred, from players graduat-
ing, to the addition of Nebraska
to the couple of rule changes, the
Wolverines will have one more
change to deal with. But this
change should help immensely.
With the renovations to
Crisler Arena this past off-
season, there is a new look to
the stadium. Not only did the
arena receive a total overhaul,
but Michigan also built a new
player development center. The
renovation is not completely fin-
ished, and the players have still
yet to see the center.
"I walked in and it's like you
can't even speak because your
mouth is open," said Borseth.
"You look at it and say, 'Wow,
this is absolutely unbelievable."'

Sophomore guard Tim Hardaway Jr. led Michigan's push in the second half of
conference play last season and will be the leader of the offense this season.

Jr. was often criticized for his
somewhat greedy shot selec-
tion on the perimeter. But his
coach continued to give him the
green light, and his turning point
came at Penn State in February,
when Hardaway Jr. notched 13
of Michigan's final 26 points in a
crucial comeback victory.
The freshman silenced his
critics and went on to average
17.5 points per game in the final
12 contests of the season.
DENY, DENY, DENY: Big Ten
commissioner Jim Delany was
present at Media Day, and he
wound up fielding far more ques-
tions about the possibility of Big
Ten expansion (specifically, the
potential of bringing in Notre
Dame) than about the upcoming
basketball season.

Delany vehemently denied any
notion of expansion, repeatedly
claiming he is very happy with
the conference as it stands.
"There's expansion stories all
over the country, but we're not
part of any of them," Delany said.
"What I think about Louisville
or West Virginia or Notre Dame
or BYU is more as a sports fan
than as a conference commis-
sioner, because our conference is
not involved in these issues."
The commissioner said that
he has not had any recent con-
tact with Notre Dame on the
issue of expansion. When asked
if the conference would be will-
ing to expand within the next
few years, Delany said he would
"never say never," but he couldn't
firmly answer hypotheticals.


Join Us for an Admissions Reception
Michigan State University College of Law
Thursday, November 3, 2011
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
University of Michigan
The Michigan League, Vandenberg Room, 911 N. University Ave.
This informative reception will feature remarks by MSU Law administrators, faculty, alumni, and students. Informal
conversation will allow prospective law students and their guests to ask questions and obtain information about the
Law College's academic programs and admission requirements.

There is no cost to attend, but space limitations require that you RSVP
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