2B - Monday, January 27, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
What do you think of Michigan basketball now?
wo dramas played out
Saturday night, both
varying degrees of
enthralling. There was the
game, of
course, a
meeting
between the
Big Ten's
best, Michi-
gan and
Michigan
State. Then
there was ZACH
the perfor- HELFAND
mance of the
Michigan
men's basketball team's sideline,
which, as time wound down,
boiled into an excited mess each
time play stopped.
The two routines were
wonderfully mismatched,
as if the team was under a
trance, each whistle snapping
the Wolverines from peace
to rage, coolness to madness,
poetry to absurdity, until,
after approximately forever,
the final two minutes of play
ended, at which point all that
gave way to rapture.
Disclaimer: The 80-75
Michigan victory came over a
significantly hobbled Michi-
gan State team. But this was a
deeply satisfying victory for the
Wolverines, the capstone to a
deeply impressive three-game
stretch, and about as fun as reg-
ular-season college basketball
gets. Teams are supposed to
get a chance to breathe during
timeouts. But Michigan was so
wound up it looked more com-
fortable on the floor.
The fervor began with 4:01
remaining in the game. John
Beilein had said on Friday that
he just wanted his players to
keep it close, then maybe they'd
have a chance to steal the game
late. Well, now it was close, and
they had a chance to steal the
game late, and Beilein was yell-
ing like a maniac. Nik Stauskas
had to hold his coach back to
the starting lineup by the end of
last year, would probably be the
Big Ten Player of the Year if the
season ended today. Albrecht,
the Justin Bieber lookalike
(who has just four inches on
the 5-foot-7 pop star), always
seems to be at the right place at
the right time and has just one
turnover in Big Ten play.
Beilein's best coaching gift
may be his eye for undervalued
talent and his trust in that
talent. When the players start
to understand what Beilein
saw in them in the first place,
that's when the Wolverines
become dangerous.
Take Derrick Walton Jr.,
the freshman point guard.
Beilein was under pressure to
replace him with Albrecht in
the starting lineup, but Beilein
stayed the course.
So it was fitting that the
dagger came from Walton. With
2:29 remaining, he slashed to
the basket on a fast break, drew
a foul and flicked up a graceful.
spinning finger roll. It stayed
there right above the net for a
moment, bouncing off the front
rim, rolling around to the back,
ricocheting once more between
the front and back...
If Michigan could hold on, it
would mean three straight wins
against top-1O teams. This was
a March-like slate of games,
if slightly out of order. North-
western, Nebraska and Penn
State compare well to low seeds
in the opening rounds. Minne-
sota was the Sweet 16 and Iowa
the Elite Eight. Wisconsin and
Michigan State on the road?
Final Four caliber. There had
been anxiety in the Michigan
fan base after McGary's injury,
but on the court, Michigan had
already started its second act.
The ball dropped in.
The sideline erupted.
Helfand can be reached
at zhelfand@umich.edu and
on Twitter: @zhelfand.
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Freshman guard Derrick Walton Jr. and the Michigan men's basketball team stayed cool under pressure, making 14 of 16 late free throws to top Michigan State.
prevent a technical, first with Stauskas's turn to fume. A
an arm on Beilein's shoulder, moment ago, he had attempted
then with his palm in Beilein's a layup and appeared to get
chest. The fouled. The
assistant officials called
coaches hur- it clean. Jor-
ried to calm Beilein's best dan Morgan
him down. and McGary
On the bench, coaching gift and assistant
the injured coach LaVall
Mitch McGary may be his eye Jordan calmed
rubbed his Stauskas
eyes and for undervalued down with an
looked as if he impromptu
might yawn. talent. group therapy
Whistle, session.
timeout Whistle.
over. Glenn Two
Robinson III sank two free possessions later, Stauskas
throws to tie the game, 60-60. splashed a 3-pointer on a
At the next timeout, it was behind-the-back toss from
Caris LeVert to break the tie. It
was the decisive basket. Michigan won the game.
The Spartans extended the For the Wolverines in 2014, all
game with a spate of fouls, but the worry, all the anxiety, all
Michigan didn't blink. The the questions have been on the
Wolverines made 10 foul shots sidelines.
in a row, and 14 of 16 overall. This shouldn't surprise
Each stoppage, the team anyone anymore. Beilein has
returned to the sideline, which always shown an ability to
had begun to compose itself, adapt. His teams are always
but Spike Albrecht still grew among the Big Ten's most-
animated talking over the dry improved.
erase board with Beilein. On a And look at what he's done
different board, on the outside it with. LeVert has gone from
of the team huddle, McGary a lanky, braces-wearing, deer-
scribbled something down. in-the-headlights freshman
He raised his hand to offer his to a lanky, braces-wearing
thoughts, written in black ink: sophomore capable of putting
WIN THE GAMEt up 17 points and eight rebounds
against Michigan State.
*** Stauskas, the fifth-best player in
The anatomy, implications and effects of a goal
AST LANSING - A
winning streak starts
with
one game.
And a win
starts with
one goal.
To call the
Michigan
hockey
team's series d
against A ALEJANDRO
Michigan ZUNIGA
State last
weekend
crucial would be an
understatement. Once
ranked No. 3 in the nation,
the Wolverines had lost four
straight games and compiled
the program's longest winless
streak since 2011 before
Thursday's matchup in Detroit.
Anything less than a sweep
of the Spartans would've been
devastating. A split would put
Michigan on the wrong side of
the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Two more losses to a rival with
few quality wins would've been
nothingshort of embarrassing.
The week before the series,
sophomore forward Andrew
Copp said the Wolverines were
"confident that we can beat
those guys every night."
But it's one thing to talk
bravado and another to play
with it. For the greater part
of two months, Michigan had
been playing on its heels, and
because of the sparse schedule,
it had little opportunity to
break the freefall.
"We had all this time to think
about our last four games," said
Michigan coach Red Berenson.
Each of those was a loss,
increasingly worrisome results
from a team with Frozen
Four aspirations. Against
the Spartans, the Wolverines
needed a win. They needed a
spark. They needed a goal.
Thursday, Michigan had
what appeared to be the
elusive tally when junior
forward Phil Di Giuseppe
received a pass in the slot
and rocketed a shot just over
goaltender Jake Hildebrand's
left shoulder. It was sure
to pull at the twine, except
Hildebrand reached up with
his glove and snagged the puck
while falling backward, and
the goal that was, wasn't. at the puck just outside the
That shot goes in, unless crease.
you're on a team that's winless Di Giuseppe finally managed
in 52 days. It's a shot that gave to make contact with his stick.
Di Giuseppe and the Wolverines Like all the shots Michigan
that much longer to consider had so desperately needed to
their continuing futility. pull itself out of freefall in the
"We haven't played many previous month and a half, it
games, so it's hard to get out of was blocked.
a slump once you get in it," Di But the puck skittered
Giuseppe said. "I thought it was back to Di Giuseppe, and his
going to go post-in for sure." next effort lifted the puck
With 2:18 treacherously
remaining close to the
in a 1-1 game crossbar but
and Michigan "W e can beat low enough
needing a to enter the
positive result, those guys goal.
freshman e y h"I thought
defender every night. it was going
Nolan De Jong over the net,"
did exactly he said.
what coaches But when
preach when their teams can't the final horn blew 138
score: throwa shot at the net. seconds later, the junior's
It didn't even reach Hildebrand goal had ended 1,248 hours of
because sophomore forward futility. And the celebration
Andrew Copp deflected it, but was 52 days in the making.
then Di Giuseppe and linemate "You saw me jump out there
Boo Nieves took turns slicing like an idiot," Giuseppe said.
The following night in East
Lansing, Michigan showcased
the dominance it's displayed for
much of the season, combining
skill with grit and a couple
of lucky bounces to blow out
Michigan State, 5-2.
It was a win reminiscent
of the Wolverines' 5-1 and 5-3
victories at Munn Ice Arena in
the 2010 CCHA Tournament,
which were so convincing that
Michigan fans drowned out
their counterparts with cheers
by the end of the series.
Friday, there weren't as
many supporters in maize and
blue. But after the Wolverines
asserted their will and the
arena had emptied, the team
gathered in the locker room and
belted a euphoric rendition of
'The Victors" that echoed down
the hallway.
And that doesn't happen
without a goal.
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Sophomore forward Andrew Copp backed up his confident talk by helping the Michigan hockey team sweep the Spartans.