8 - Tuesday, February 18, 2014

S )OI I

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Goree stands out in season of ups and downs

By MAX COHEN
Daily Sports Editor
At the top of each locker in
Michigan's locker room, a lami-
nated block 'M' rests right under
each player's name plate. All of
the 'M's are maize, but on two
lockers, the maize is completely
overshadowed by orange basket-
ball stickers.
The stickers represent a
reward system used by the Wol-
verine coaching staff. To those
outside the program, the stickers
may seem akin to a system used in
an elementary-school classroom,
but to the women's basketball
team, they mean the difference
between wins and losses.
The stickers aren't rewarded
for the obvious things needed to
win games - points, rebounds
and assists. Instead, they repre-
sent the things Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico finds most
important, the things that aren't
found in a box score. Each time
a player takes a charge or dives
on the floor for a loose ball, she
is awarded a sticker. Michigan
assistant coach Joy McCorvey
determines the allocation of the
stickers, with Barnes Arico hav-
ing the final say.
"It's kind of really what we
pride ourselves on and what
we stand for

JAMtrnCOLLER/Daly
Junior forward Cyosha Goreo went from playine a totalI of 24 inuates last season to startine every earns this year for he Michigan women's basketball learn

or senior guard Jenny Ryan won
every week. Toward the end of
the season, Goree's name started
to creep toward the top of the list.
"She would win the day,"
Barnes Arico said. "And then she
won a couple of weeks. And I'm
like, golly, Cyesha, what hap-
pened? She's really starting to
make a difference in practice."
When the seniors graduated
and left behind a depleted ros-
ter, Goree knew that the time to
step up was upon her. Her dedi-
cation to her fitness continued
into the offseason as she contin-
ued to trim weight and get into
her best playing shape.
By the time summer workouts
rolled around, Goree finally had
her opportunity to prove her-
self among a new cast of play-
ers. Goree thought she would
likely receive playing time out of
necessity, but she wanted more.
"It was time to show all the
hard work I did and everything
I did to prepare myself for this
moment so that (Barnes Arico)
could believe in me and actually
want to play me, instead of hav-
ing to play me," Goree said.
Goree earned a spot in the
starting lineup by the season
opener. In the team's second
game, she proved she belonged,
hitting a buzzer beater to send
the game against Arizona to
overtime. She hasn't left the
starting lineup since, starting
all 26 games along with her co-
sticker leader Elmblad.
Sunday, Goree put forth her
best effort of the season, record-
ing career highs of 30 points
and 19 rebounds. The little-
used sophomore turned often-
relied on junior earned the Big
Ten Player of the Week award
for her effort. Barnes Arico is
impressed, but not satisfied.
"I still feel as if there's another
part of her game which she has to
improve, and that's on the defen-
sive end," Barnes Arico said.
After all, Goree has improved
before. She has the stickers to
prove it.

other player wouldn't have been
so obvious at this time last year,
Junior forward Cyesha Goree
was a non-factor last season, but
now she has an abundance of
stickers to her

as a team," name.
Barnes Arico The stickers
said. "That we "It was time are the source
want to be the of a friendly
hardest-work- to show all the rivalry among
ing team in the teammates.
America, that hard work I did Goree says she
we want to do hasn't counted
the intangibles, and everything how many
that we want stickers she
to do the little I did to prepare has, but breaks
things like take 1 into a grin
charges and get mfyseil. when asked
on the floor." who currently
Junior guard holds the lead.
Nicole Elmblad "It's pretty
is one of thettwo players with an close, but I think I'm in the lead,"
'M' covered in basketballs. She is Goree said.
the captain, the only returning She's correct. Though the
starter on a youthful team. The coaches haven't added stickers

after Sunday's game at Illinois, 35
stickers sit on Goree's 'M', while
Elmblad's currently holds 31.
Goree's fearless style of play
has allowed her to accumulate so
many stickers that Barnes Arico
estimates she may need a second
'H'shortly.
Last season, she didn't have
the opportunity. On a winning
team with established veterans,
Goree toiled on the bench com-
ing off knee surgery. The forward
appeared in just nine games, reg-
istering 24 minutes of playing
time. Goree hadn't mastered the
consistency both on and off the
court that Barnes Arico desired of
her players. This year, Goree runs
toward the scene of loose balls,
diving for possession without a
second thought.
"She had to really try on being
the basketball player she could be
100 percent of the time," Barnes
Arico said. "She had to try to be

the best student that she could be
100 percent of the time and be the
best person that she could be all
the time."
Goree's up-and-down days
infringed upon her ability to
make an impact on the court. She
showed flashes of success both on
the court in practice and in the
classroom, but there were also
days where Goree didn't show
the effort it takes to be successful.
Goree credits conversations with
Barnes Arico as critical to helping
her realize her full potential.
Because of her prior knee sur-
geries, Goree's fitness wasn't
where Barnes Arico wanted it
to be. Goree made that her first
mission, to improve her physical
fitness, a difficult challenge for a
player who struggled with consis-
tency. Each day, Goree worked to
improve physically, even on game
days, a time some bench players
take to relax.

"If you don't play, that's kind
of like a day off for you," Goree
said. "But I didn't use it as a day
off. I got on the treadmill and ran
a couple miles to try to stay in
shape."
The new, difficult commitment
to fitness didn't result in imme-
diate playing time. Goree main-
tained her role on the practice
team, trying to help prepare the
starters and key players each day
in practice.
In her two years as Michigan's
coach, Barnes Arico has used
another method of competition
to quantify success in practice by
adding up the statistics each play-
er accumulates in practice. The
statistics are updated each day, so
each practice hasa winner. At the
end of the week, the statistics are
totaled, and the team has a week-
ly winner.
For most of last season, either
senior forward Rachel Sheffer


ICE HOCKEY
In Big Ten, uncertainty,
upsets remain abundant

Can Robinson III step up?

By ERIN L
Daily Sport
Less than twi
Saturday's series
neapolis, junior
Andrew Sinelli to
junior forward Za
ing a puck past U
tender Adam Wil
For the rest of t
it looked as if the
gan hockey team
victory from the
Golden Gophers
its second-place1
BigTen.
But 58 minute:
first tally of the
as the only one t
could manage fo
they fell 4-1. Desl
Michigan remain
nation according
poll, while Minne
ond behind Bosto
So, for now, it
the good with the
"I think we ca
team like that,":
coach Red Berens
"We didn't play,
played harder t4
We need to
continue to
grow the
work ethic of
our team ... it
wasn't like we
were totally
outskilled."
Certainly,
there is plenty
straight losses -
to a first-year
hadn't earned a p
Ten - a 4-7-1 reco
to the Great Lak
and a .500 recor
compared to oneI
Arena.
Right now,I
dark cloud on th
rebound season.
tives, the lessonsI
games against th
team, those repre

ENNON Michigan will need to hang its
s Writer hat on as it seeks a Big Ten cham-
pionship.
D minutes into "We have to take the positives
finale in Min- and bring them into next week-
defenseman end," Sinelli said Saturday. "It's
ok a pass from only going to get harder from
ach Hyman, fir- here. I didn't think we were that
tinnesota goal- badtonight, but we just didn'tget
Cox. the bounces."
the first period, One positive might be Michi-
No. 10 Michi- gan's penalty kill, which looked
would steal a as strong as it did at the begin-
second-ranked ning of the season, too, and con-
and hold on to tinued to find success in blocking
position in the shots. The unit finished 10-for-
12 on the series, and sophomore
s later, Sinelli's goalie Steve Racine stood on his
season stood head to prevent an early blowout
he Wolverines twice.
r the night as And though the power play
pite the sweep, could not score, its two goals
s No. 10 in the Friday and strong puck move-
to the USCHO ment were an improvement from
sota is still sec- recent struggles.
n College. But perhaps the biggest take-
's time to take away from the sweep can't be
bad. found in the box score - the fact
an play with a that the Wolverines didn't win,
said Michigan but that they could have won.
.on on Monday. With the exception of the first
our best, they period Friday, there was no glar-
an we played. ing disparity between two of
the most suc-
cessful hockey
programs in
"It's only going the nation.
On a bigger
to get harder." ice surface
they've seen
this season,
the Wolver-
of bad. Three ines skated with No. 2 Minne-
including one sota, garnering just as many
program that scoring chances and constantly
.oint in the Big threatening to come back or take
trd dating back a lead.
es Invitational "I thought it would be good for
d on the road our team, but I didn't think we'd
loss at Yost Ice get schooled as much as we did in
the first period," Berenson said
losses are a Saturday. "Once we got going, I
he Wolverines' thought we held up pretty well."
But the posi- February has also proven that,
learned in two in terms of a Big Ten champi-
e nation's best onship, Michigan isn't the only
rsent the good ranked team sliding into March.

Like Michigan, Wisconsin -
which remains at No. 8 in the
polls after splitting a series with
Ohio State - has recorded just
three wins in its last six contests,
and the Badgers have struggled
on the road.
And having embarrassed the
Wolverines last week, Penn State
proved that its first points in the
Big Ten would not be the only
ones it would earn this season.
Friday, the Nittany Lions took
Michigan State into a shoot-
out, securing a tie and its fourth
conference point. And though
it lost the following night, 2-1,
Penn State held the Spartans to
a single goal for 55 minutes and
just 13 shots on the night - a
performance the team will look
to build upon when it returns to
Michigan.
Like Penn State, Ohio State
stumbled out of the gates in the
Big Ten, dropping five straight to
the conference's top three teams
before stealing a contest from
Wisconsin in Madison. But since
then, the Buckeyes were unbeat-
en for six straight games before
splitting a home series with the
Badgers - a team that swept the
seemingly indomitable Gophers
one week prior.
At this point, Minnesota
represents the exception. The
Gophers now lead the confer-
ence by seven points - a gap that
won't likely be closed before the
Big Ten Tournament.
"I don't know who the top
half is," Berenson said. "It keeps
changing every weekend. These
are all good teams. On a given
night they can beat anyone."
NOTE: Both Sinelli and fresh-
man defenseman Michael Down-
ing have been suspended for one
game, in accordance with the Big
Ten's supplemental discipline
policy. Downing and Sinelli are
ineligible to play in Michigan's
Feb. 21 game against Penn State.
-Daily Sports Editor Greg
Garno contributed reporting.

n April 18 last year, for-
wards Glenn Robinson
III and Mitch McGary
had everyone's attention. The
duo announced that they'd
forgo the NBA Draft and return
for their sophomore seasons at
Michigan.
Robinson
in particu-
lar felt that
there was
more to his
game than
what he'd
shown last SIMON
year, and he KAUFMAN
planned on
revealing the
full package in a second season.
This year was supposed to be
his year. He'd come back, lead the
team to another impressive run
in March and then, theoretically,
after having put all his talents on
display, head off to the NBA.
Nearing the end of the Big Ten
season now, that certainly has
not been the case for Robinson.
He's struggled to find a rhythm,
find consistency and on many
nights, find the basket.
In Michigan's 72-70 loss
against then-No. 1 Arizona on
Dec. 14, Robinson played a game
that has epitomized his season.
He shot 7-for-7 from the field
in the first half, including two
3-pointers for 16 points. In the
second half, though, with more
pressure on him from the Wild-
cat defense, he was practically
nonexistent. He took just two
shots in 19 minutes.
It's been the story for him
all season. Save for a stretch of
games during the Big Ten season
when he scored 14 or more points
in each, he hasn't been able to
carry success from one game
to the next. After putting up 23
points in the Wolverines' rout of
Nebraska at home, Robinson fol-
lowed the game with a pathetic
two-point effort in a loss at Iowa,
then just nine points on 30-per-
cent shooting at Ohio State and
10 points in Michigan's loss to
Wisconsin at home.
The struggle has been the
result of poor shooting, particu-
larly from deep. Robinson shot

31 percent from beyond the arc
in conference games last season
- in this year's BigTen contests,
he's shooting just 22 percent
from 3-point range. He's averag-
ing 12.8 points per game on the
season - not a bad figure, but
certainly not what the Wolver-
ines, or Robinson expected when
he announced his return.
Michigan coach John Beilein
felt Robinson was the right man
to lead. The coach selected the
sophomore to serve as one of
Michigan's three captains in
November. Beilein felt that as long
as this was going to be Robinson's
team, the forward should share
the responsibility of leading it.
But ask anyone whose team
this has been this season, and
you'll get a different answer. It's
been Nik Stauskas' team, and
perhaps when Stauskas has had
trouble carrying all the weight,
it's been Caris LeVert's team,
too. When Mitch McGary went
down, upperclassmen Jon Hor-
ford and Jordan Morgan stepped
up, and it was their team as well.
But Robinson's team?
Certainly not.
Despite not living up to the
hype surrounding his return, one
thing is certain, Robinson still
has the potential to be great. His

6-foot-6 frame and raw athleti-
cism give him a higher ceiling
than a Stauskas or LeVert.
Even if he hasn't proven it
consistently yet, Robinson has
shown flashes of what he could
be when everything is work-
ing in sync. It's the reason that
despite Stauskas having betting
numbers, many experts still pre-
dict Robinson could be selected
earlier in the NBA Draft - he has
more of an upside.
That upside will need to show
itself though, if Michigan wants
to make any sort of run in March.
It won't be enough for Robinson
to have one highlight-reel dunk
and then go quieton offense, or
one breakout half and then get
shut down. He'll need to be a
consistent weapon to take some
of the burden off of Stauskas and
LeVert.
For the Wolverines to compete
come tournament time, the real
Glenn Robinson - the one that
said he still has more to prove,
the one that stepped up with
21 points to lead Michigan past
South Dakota State in the first
round of the tournament last
year, the one that makes defend-
ers look silly when he goes past
them for monster dunks - will
need to stand up.

Sophomore forward Glenn Robnison Ill hasn't lived up to expectations yet.

a