'101
2B - November 14, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
2B - November14, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Hoke's secret is leading with his seniors
One week before the big-
gest game of his life, Rick
Kelly broke his leg. The
senior defensive end's Yorktown
Tiger football career was cut
short before
he had the
chance to
finally beat
crosstown
rival Delta, , .
who had'
dominated
the series in
recent years. TIM
The year ROHAN
was 1983 and
Brady Hoke
was just starting his coaching
career at the small Indiana high
school as the Tigers' linebackers'
coach.
Thatyear,in what could be con-
sidered a minor miracle, the farm
boys from Yorktown beat the city
slickers from Delta, 13-12. After
the game, Hoke was charged with
handing out the game ball, which
could've gone to the star running
back or Hoke's star pupil line-
backer - and both deservedly so.
"I know we're happy," Hoke
began as he stood in front of the
whole team. "But we've got one
person in the hospital who didn't
get to enjoy this. He's going to
enjoy it.
"This is his!" Hoke shouted,
holding the game ball high.
The Tigers erupted. They
thought Kelly would eventu-
ally get the ball, but once they
all boarded the team bus Hoke
directed it immediately toward
the hospital, the players still
sporting their jerseys and pads.
Hoke and a few players
marched up the hospital stairs
and handed the ball to Kelly.
Nearly 30 years later, Michigan
coach Brady Hoke still coaches for
his seniors.
His unwavering message:
"We're always going to play and
coach for our seniors."
You heard it after Michigan lost
against Michigan State. And after
the Wolverines disappointed and
tripped against Iowa. And after
each game, as the season culmi-
nates. Each time the message is
strong because it plays on the
heartstrings - time is precious.
It's all about the seniors. And it
makes sense.
Hoke's belief is a program is
only as strong as the seniors who
lead it. Your best players should be
the upperclassmen who are older,
stronger and more mature. They
know how to handle themselves
and prepare off the field. They
know the traditions. Then, when
the time comes, they can share
their knowledge of work ethic
and tradition with the freshmen.
The cycle continues. A winning
tradition breeds more winning.
But what do you do when you
inherit a senior class that has
known nothing but late-season
disappointment since it stepped
on campus? With this Michigan
team, Hoke had to win them over
first, which wasn't too hard. With
their clock ticking, the seniors
MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily
Seniors Ryan Van Bergen (left) and Mike Martin are two of the leaders who have taken charge this season.
didn't waste time buying into a State loss, their talks have focused after a 6-0 start - to make sure
coach who wanted to help them on staying strong as leaders. their senior year was special
change their legacy. "It's just about not being a flash - the leaders of each position
So he let them take charge. in the pan," Van Bergen said. "As group took charge to do that little
Some are leaders in the tradi- far as, the seniors have given so "extra" Van Bergen was talk-
tional sense. Ryan Van Bergen much of themselves, everyone ing about. All season long. That
gets vocal during practice. David included, through January all the means extra film, extra lifts, extra
Molk rallied the offense before way to now. And it's draining, it workouts - extra everything.
the fourth quarter Saturday. really is. It's hard to do because (Don't worry. It's not breaking
Then there's the quiet type, you have to go outside your compliance rules. It's all player-
who'd rather show you how to expectations and do extra things. led.)
act. Like Martavious Odoms, So you kind of hit a wall during Mike Martin and Van Ber-
whose once-promising career the season a little bit. gen had the defensive linemen
became littered with injuries, and "I think (Hoke) sensed that. come in three extra days a week
who rebounded from a broken He kind of said, 'You guys could to work on their hands. Junior
arm this year to catch the game- be the best senior class to play quarterback and offensive leader
icing touchdown pass against the at Michigan. Not because you Denard Robinson called in the
FightingIllini. guys inherited a great bunch of wide receivers. Defensive backs
Hoke meets with his seniors guys, but because you made them worked on seven-on-seven drills.
twice a week to gauge the pulse great.' " Through the sweat, a bond was
of the team. Since the Michigan To avoid the second-half slide built.
"I like how they like each
other," Hoke said two weeks
ago, after his team beat Purdue.
"Maybe that's corny or whatever,
but from where I sit, I've liked
that they respect each other and
they want to play for each other,
in my opinion. It shows."
The system is set up for suc-
cess - the underclassmen want
to prove themselves; the upper-
classmen want to leave a mark.
Accountability matters.
These seniors decided to go
the extra mile to change the sta-
tus quo of recent years, and they
were rewarded Saturday with
their eighth win this season -
the most for a Michigan team
since 2007.
Maybe they'll finish with eight
wins. Maybe nine. Maybe 10.
Maybe they'll get a chance at 11,
if they're lucky. But what should
make Hoke smile is how Martin
and Van Bergen took over the Illi-
nois game on defense. His seniors
led and everyone else followed.
"It shows that what you've been
doing, this is how it pays off," Van
Bergen said. "This is how things
will happen for you if this is how
hard you work.
"I think that's a great message
to the younger guys too. I'm gone
next year but the legacy - if you
do this in the offseason and you
work this hard, this will be how
successful you are."
-ohan can be reached
at trohan@umich.edu oron
Twitter @TimRohan.
19-0 run fuels'M'in season opener Michigan looks
By NEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily Sports Editor
TI hfor answers after
cyp ULo~i av gnve
the Michigan basketball team's
season opener against Ferris
State.
The Wol- FERRIS STATE 33
verines MICHIGAN 59
were hot
and cold throughout the contest
on Friday evening. But luckily for
Michigan, it ended on a 19-0 run
to relax away the pain of a shaky
first 30 minutes of play in a 59-33
victory.
"It started on defense, first
of all," said redshirt sophomore
center Jordan Morgan about the
spurt. "We got a lot of steals and
got some easy shots and when we
started getting those easy lay-
ups, whether it be in the full court
or the half court, we got a rhythm
and then shots started to fall for
us - the same shots we couldn't
get to fall in the first half."
The 18th-ranked Wolverines
(1-0) were led by the two players
who went scoreless in last week's
exhibition game against Wayne
State. Sophomore forward Evan
Smotrycz and senior guard Stu
Douglass both scored 14 points
and were on the mark from
3-point range to help seal the win.
In addition to shooting 3-for-4 on
3-pointers, Smotrycz also demon-
strated his strength by finishing
two lay-ups while getting fouled.
A day after Michigan coach
John Beilein announced that
freshman Trey Burke would
start over Douglass, Burke was
benched at the start of the game
because he was late to the team's
walkthrough on Friday. The
move to start Douglass had oppo-
site effects on the two guards.
two-game sweep
S r - n s ts -hl-sots30-4 o 4e t a
Sophomore forward Evan Smotrycz scored 14 points while shooting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Douglass was quick in transi-
tion and shot the ball with con-
fidence, finishing 5-for-10 from
the floor with a team-high four
assists. Meanwhile, Burke strug-
gled to get into the flow of the
game, making just one of seven
shots and failing to record an
assist in 18 minutes.
"One of the things that I really
want Stu to do is think like a two-
guard instead of always running
the team," Beilein said. "You can
see we need to score points, and
I have not been comfortable with
Stu not scoring points. So we're
trying to create opportunities
for them and if that means he's in
with Trey or that he comes off the
bench, it gives him more opportu-
nities to score some points."
Beilein said that while he
believes Burke's tardiness was a
one-time incident, he has yet to
decide who will start Monday's
game against Towson.
Much like last week's exhibi-
tion, Michigan struggled to find
offense throughout much of the
game. The Wolverines relied on
3-point shooting to keep them out
of the Bulldogs' reach, but failed
to score from in close. While
Michigan was effective in getting
into the lane in the early going, it
converted on just three shots in
the paint in the first half - the big
men were largely uninvolved. The
result of penetration was mainly a
kick-out for a 3-point attempt.
"I think we went 1-for-12 after
we went 3-for-3," Beilein said.
"That's when you've got to take it
to the basket, you've got to throw
the ball inside. You can't be afraid
to back-cut, and you've got to get
to the foul line."
Sophomore center Jon Horford
started but didn't even attempt
a shot and pulled down three
rebounds in 18 minutes. Morgan,
who replaced him, was also a
non-factor in Michigan's attack
until the spurt late in the game
when he scored back-to-back field
goals.
"They're just having trouble
right now finishing in crowds,
and we've got to get that part of
our offense really going," Beilein
said. "Both of them are playing a
little tentative, and that's some-
thing that we have to work on as
coaches."
With 8:50 remaining in the
game, the Wolverines held a 38-32
lead and Ferris State had the
momentum with a 9-3 run. But
Smotrycz's 3-pointer, followed by
a second-chance basket by junior
Matt Vogrich put the Wolverines
on a streak which culminated
in Douglass's 3-pointer to give
Michigan a 25-point advantage
with three minutes to play.
"We didn't want to win by 10,"
Smotrycz said. "We wanted to
get everyone in the game. We felt
like we should be winning by a lot
more and shots weren't dropping,.
but we stuck with it."
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Writer
OXFORD - In reality, the
shootout didn't really matter.
The weekend was going to be a
disappointment even if Miami
(Ohio)'s
Byron MICHIGAN 1
Paulazzo MIAMI (OH) 3
didn't turn
his sud- MICHIGAN 3
den death MIAMI (OH) 3
shootout
attempt into a spinning whirl-
wind of a shot that sealed the loss
for the Michigan hockey team.
Getting the two-point shoot-
out win wouldn't have changed
much because even that extra
point couldn't have saved the
weekend for the Wolverines.
No. 5 Michigan (3-3-2 CCHA,
7-3-2 overall) traveled to Oxford
and played its worst series of the
year, dropping both games to
a Miami team that hadn't won
a CCHA game until last week.
The most concerning thing for
the Wolverines wasn't the loss-
es, but rather not knowing what
caused them.
"I don't know (what we are
missing)," said junior forward
A.J. Treais. "We just needto find
it. We are struggling right now."
That search for "it" wasn't
much of a question on Friday
night because the Wolverines
continued their season-long,
Friday-nightstruggles.
The RedHawks (3-4-1, 5-6-
1) scored less than two minutes
into the first period, putting
Michigan in a hole it could not
climb out of. The Wolverines
were dominated physically from
the moment the puck dropped.
"I don't know if it was a lack of
focus todayor what,but we didn't
come out like we needed to," said
senior forwardLuke Glendening.
"We struggled because of it."
All weekend the Wolverines
had serious troubles hanging
onto the puck in Miami's zone,
which led to a lot of turnovers
and missed opportunities. They
were able to erase a two-goal
deficit in the final period when
Glendening dug a puck out of the
corner and finished on a great
feed fromjuniordefenseman Lee
Moffie to give his team a fighting
chance with 13 minutes left.
But Michigan couldn't get a
second goal. The team finally
showed signs of life late, but that
slow start was too much to over-
come.
The answers after Saturday
were a lot harder to come by.
This time it wasn't a slow start,
as junior forward Chris Brown
gave Michigan an early 1-0 lead.
It also wasn't a lack of hustle.
The first tally was set up by a
great effort play from Treais,
who disrupted the setup of a
RedHawk play deep in their
zone to give Brown a great look
at the net. It also wasn't for a lack
of bounces. Michigan tied the
game with four minutes left on a
spectacular goal from freshman
forward Zach Hyman. Hyman
took a pass behind Miami's net
and sent off an odd lookingshot/
pass to the crease. The puck then
bounced off the skate of Miami
goaltender Cody Reichard and
just barely made it in the net.
The RedHawks also had two
goals called back on Saturday,
and a shot in the first overtime
period missed ending the game
by a couple inches.
"We just need *
to find it. We
are struggling
right now."
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"TheseteamsintheCCHAare
really good teams," said Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson. "We
are no better than anyone we
play. We have proven that."
But opinions as to Michigan's
struggles differ throughout the
locker room. Senior goaltender
Shawn Hunwick cited the team's
lack of experience and also ques-
tionedthe Wolverines' mentality.
"Maybe you go through the
week, you might think, 'Hey
we're Michigan, we're just going
to come out and play, and it's
going to be easy', but it's not,' "
Hunwicksaid. "It's alessonwe're
learning real soon. You can say
whatever you want, guys can talk
in the locker room, but unless
you go out and do it, it's all talk."
Whatever the true issue is,
after a disappointing week-
end, Michigan returns home
with many more questions than
answers.
"One point out of six on the
road is not acceptable," Berenson
said. "No way, no matter how you
twist it."
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