Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 — 7
Following airport woes,
‘M’ travels to N.C. State
By LEV FACHER
Managing Editor
Anybody who has ever been
on an airplane knows how much
of a drag flying commercial can
be. That’s why
the Michigan
men’s
basketball
team typically
charters
flights to and
from faraway
destinations —
for
example,
the Bahamas.
But
the
Wolverines’
supposedly
cushy
travel
arrangements
backfired in a big way on
Saturday as they flew back from
the Battle 4 Atlantis. Mechanical
issues with Michigan’s charter
flight left the team stranded
at Nassau’s Lynden Pindling
International
Airport
for
almost 11 hours.
Such
delays
are never fun,
but
they’re
worse
when
they come on
the heels of a
three-game,
three-day
tournament
and a 5:30 a.m.
wakeup. To rub salt in the
wound, the Wolverines (4-2) had
less than 48 hours to recover
before their next long-distance
trip — a Monday-evening flight
to Raleigh, N.C., for Tuesday’s
Big Ten/ACC Challenge contest
at North Carolina State (4-2).
“We
try
to
keep
it
in
perspective,”
said
Michigan
coach John Beilein. “To tell you
who we are, we never heard a
complaint one time.”
The Wolverines were lucky,
Beilein said, that the airport had
bench seating, which allowed
players to catch a few hours of
sleep. That, in turn, resulted
in senior guard Spike Albrecht
victimizing his dozing traveling
companions via Instagram — he
posted a compilation of selfies
with sleeping teammates on
Instagram, set to Marvin Gaye’s
“Ain’t
No
Mountain
High
Enough,” during the delay.
Once
Michigan
landed,
however, it was time to get
serious. Saturday was supposed
to be a day off, but given the day’s
adventures,
the
Wolverines’
practice on Sunday ended up
being a lighter workout than
planned. That’s far from ideal in
the leadup to one of Michigan’s
final opportunities to notch a
quality non-conference win.
“We talk about that all the
time,” Beilein said. “You’re
going to have to have an
incredible Big Ten season if you
don’t have some success against
other high-level teams that
you’re going to play. You have
to win some
of those, or
you have to
go be 14-4 in
your league,
which
is
really going
to be hard to
do.”
The
Wolverines,
as
senior
guard Caris
LeVert noted Monday, already
have one of those résumé-
building victories — Friday’s
78-72 win over Texas in the
Battle 4 Atlantis fifth-place
game.
To pick up another, they’ll
have to get past a team facing
a problem opposite Michigan’s.
While Beilein has struggled to
whittle the Wolverines’ rotation
to single digits in the season’s
first six games, the Wolfpack
have struggled with depth.
Seven North Carolina State
players are averaging more
than 20 minutes per game, but
nobody else on the roster is
averaging more than seven.
“I see a seven-man rotation
that is really tight right now,”
Beilein said. “Do they have
depth? No. But do they have
chemistry
and
symmetry?
Absolutely.”
Lack of depth was likely a
secondary reason behind the
Wolfpack’s 17-point home loss
to William & Mary on opening
night. But North Carolina State
rebounded for an overtime win
against No. 22 Louisiana State a
week later, and still has plenty
of weapons to be weary of.
In particular, the Wolverines
will have to keep a close eye
on junior guard Anthony “Cat”
Barber, who is averaging 21
points and 6.7 assists per game
this season.
He’s
not
the
only
one.
Beilein has spoken repeatedly
of the way Xavier exploited
its size advantage around the
perimeter in its 86-70 win Nov.
20. North Carolina State poses
a similar threat outside the
low post, with 6-foot-7 Caleb
Martin, 6-foot-8 Abdul-Malik
Abu and 6-foot-7 Maverick
Rowan all averaging double-
digit scoring totals, collectively
accounting for 42.2 points per
game.
Rowan
and
Martin
are
the only two players on the
Wolfpack roster to have made a
3-pointer this season, meaning
the game will likely be won
or lost down low. The post is
where Michigan was beaten and
bruised the most in its losses to
Xavier (now ranked No. 12 in
the AP Top 25) and to then-No.
18 Connecticut.
Then again, Michigan shot
a combined 26-for-48 from
3-point range in its subsequent
wins over Charlotte and Texas.
If that trend continues, the
Wolverines can likely get away
with allowing a few points in
the paint.
Ristovski, Williams
hope to be coaches
By CHRIS CROWDER
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan women’s basketball
coach Kim Barnes Arico is
no stranger to seeing former
players continue their basketball
careers after leaving her tutelage.
Some have moved on to play
professionally, or, like her former
player Linda Cimino, become
coaches themselves.
A few weeks ago, Barnes Arico
coached against Cimino, who is
now at the helm of Binghamton.
Barnes Arico knew Cimino would
become a coach years ago, saying
that she was an outstanding
leader and teammate in college.
When asked if she could see
any players on her current roster
leading a team someday, two
names stuck out to Barnes Arico:
senior guard Madison Ristovski
and
junior
guard
Danielle
Williams.
“Sometimes
you
have
underdogs on your team that
maybe aren’t the most skilled
players,
but
have
a
great
understanding and make people
around them better,” Barnes
Arico said. “Sometimes those
are the best coaches, because
they really understand what each
person’s role is, and it’s not really
just the superstar on your team.”
Ristovski
and
Williams
aren’t leading scorers, but are
important for the Wolverines’
success with their leadership at
the guard positions. Both have
invaluable experience that helps
their teammates in practice, in
games and in off-court situations.
Thompson,
a
team
captain,
racked up 20 starts last season,
while Ristovski has appeared in
every game in her four years in
Ann Arbor.
Both Ristovski and Williams
hope the lessons they’ve learned
at Michigan can bolster them
toward a career in coaching
basketball someday.
Basketball has always been
important to the Ristovski family.
Both of her sisters play basketball
at the University of Detroit. She
said basketball is in her blood and
hopes to fulfill one of her dreams
of becoming a college coach
in the future. Her uncle, Dean
Ristovski, was an assistant coach
for the Titans.
“I hope after my career is over
playing, I can continue and keep
coaching,” Ristovski said. “I told
(Barnes Arico) that I want to get
my teaching certificate after this
year, be a (graduate assistant)
somewhere to really understand
the coaching lifestyle as well as get
my degree, and hopefully go from
there.”
Williams, meanwhile, would
also like to take the path of
becoming a graduate assistant
after her playing days as a
Wolverine
are
through.
She
expressed interest in working
with Barnes Arico and her staff at
Michigan, admiring their passion
and knowledge of the game.
Coaching isn’t a set-in-stone
option for Williams, but it is
something she has thought about
doing before. Either way, she is
certain basketball will be in her
life forever.
If Williams does decide to
become a coach, she might start
with players younger than those
at the collegiate level. Two of
her coaches before she came
to Michigan started off with
younger kids and grew with
them. Williams could see herself
doing the same. The most exciting
part of coaching for Williams is
seeing everyone on her team and
staff grow together.
“Just seeing teammates and
coaches work and get better
is so exciting,” Williams said.
“Especially after people have put
the time and the work in. You see
them struggle and then you see
them come out on the other side.
It’s exciting for me as a player, and
it’s exciting to see my teammates
do that as well.”
As for her coaching philosophy,
Williams
would
like
her
prospective team to emphasize
defense and the fundamentals of
shooting and passing the ball. She
wants to keep it simple, nothing
too flashy. Those goals don’t sound
too different from the building
blocks of Williams’ current coach.
Cimino is proof that Barnes
Arico has spotted players who had
the potential to become coaches
and did later on. It wouldn’t be
a surprise if she was right again
about Ristovski and Williams.
Maybe they’ll be coaching
against Barnes Arico someday.
Michigan at
NC State
Matchup:
Michigan 4-2;
N.C. State 4-2
When:
Tuesday 7 P.M.
Where: PNC
Arena
TV/Radio:
ESPN2
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Danielle Williams wants to coach after her playing career ends.
Berenson finally gets standout defensive showing
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Writer
So far this season, the Michigan
hockey team has consistently
left coach Red Berenson with
something to be desired: a stout
defensive performance.
But this past weekend, the
Wolverines finally gave their
coach what he wanted.
In six periods and an overtime
frame
against
Dartmouth,
Michigan allowed only one goal
— compared to the average of 3.1
goals per game it was allowing
prior to the homestand against
the Big Green.
Even more impressive is that
Dartmouth’s only goal came
just as junior defenseman Zach
Werenski left the penalty box, so
Michigan conceded while playing
a man down.
Granted, the Big Green aren’t
even in the top 20 for scoring
offense, but the performance is
still promising for a team that was
beginning to look eerily similar
to the 2014 Wolverines, who fell
short of the NCAA Tournament
because of their own defensive
woes.
“(Dartmouth is) not up there
statistically like a lot of other
schools are,” Berenson said. “So
we have to take that with a grain
of salt. But any time you give up
one goal-against on the weekend,
that’s pretty good.”
Added
Werenski:
“Our
goaltending
played
extremely
well. For (Nagelvoort) to come
in after (Racine) got hurt on
Saturday and do the job he did
— it was definitely a confidence-
booster for probably him and our
whole team.”
Now that Michigan is back in
the swing of things — and given
that the freshmen defensemen
have adjusted well to the college
level
—
Berenson
is
trying
different
defensive
pairs
in
practice.
Depending
on
how
the
experiments go this week, the
Wolverines may give Wisconsin
a different look in the defensive
zone Friday.
BRING ON THE BIG TEN:
The Michigan hockey team has
had 11 games to prepare for its
Big Ten season opener, and the
enthusiasm for the conference
schedule has grown with each of
those contests.
“The Big Ten is fun,” Werenski
said. “It’s nice to start conference
play knowing that every game
means something. I know they all
mean something for Pairwise and
your ranking and stuff like that,
but going into your conference
and playing Wisconsin for the
first weekend, it’s huge to get off
to a good start.”
The state of the Big Ten is
unimpressive as conference play
begins, as just Michigan and Penn
State boast winning records, but
Berenson is confident that the
Wolverines’ opponents’ records
are far from representative of
their ability.
“Minnesota is better than
their record,” Berenson said.
“Wisconsin is better than their
record. Michigan State is a pretty
doggone good team. They’re
much better than they were last
year, that’s the word anyway. And
Ohio State usually starts slow.
That’s why you have the games.
Now everyone’s getting pumped
up for the Big Ten, and this will
start sorting everybody out.”
PRAISING
PIAZZA:
Sophomore defenseman Cutler
Martin was scratched from the
lineup Saturday night, but not for
health-related reasons.
Instead,
sophomore
defenseman Sam Piazza has
been impressing the coaching
staff in practice as of late. With
the Big Ten season on the
horizon, Berenson felt the need
to give the sophomore blueliner
more experience so that he felt
comfortable integrating him into
the seven-man rotation.
“Sam is one of our healthy
defensemen right now — we’ve
got seven healthy defensemen,”
Berenson said. “He probably
hasn’t had a chance to play as
much as some
other guys, but
he’s right there.
I thought he
held his own
on
Saturday,
and
whether
we play him
or
not
this
weekend,
we
know
he’s
ready to play and help our team.”
Piazza was efficient when
given his opportunity Saturday,
effectively moving the puck out of
the defensive zone — something
that earned the praise of fellow
defenseman Zach Werenski.
“The first thing I noticed on
Saturday night was (that) his
passes to the forwards were
on the tape,” Werenski said.
“That’s what you want out of a
defenseman, is just to get the
puck up to the forwards and get it
in their hands. It’s always a bonus
when you can make the little
seam plays like (Piazza) makes.”
INJURY UPDATE: Fourteen
minutes into the first period
Saturday, senior goaltender Steve
Racine suffered a lower-body
injury after saving Darmouth
forward Tim O’Brien’s shot. The
veteran netminder fell to the ice
before being helped to the locker
room.
Racine didn’t return against
the
Big
Green
and
didn’t
participate in practice Monday.
Berenson labeled the recovery
process
as
a
week-to-week
evaluation and said he had no
expectation that Racine would
take the ice at all this week.
The Wolverines are facing
other injuries on the defensive
end as well.
Though Berenson originally
expected
junior
defenseman
Kevin Lohan to be available
for the matchup with Boston
University, the blueliner couldn’t
suit up against the Terriers due to
a lower-body injury.
“When
(Lohan) started
skating
and
practicing,
there
was
a
setback,”
Berenson said.
“So now we’ve
taken him off
the
ice,
and
we’re
going
to let it hopefully heal and get
better.”
Lohan is expected to start light
skating on Thursday or Friday of
this week, but it’s unlikely that
he will make a full return before
Christmas.
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Sam Piazza joined Michigan’s defensive rotation Saturday night and impressed his teammates and Michigan coach Red Berenson.
“I thought he
held his own on
Saturday.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
“I see a seven-
man rotation
that is really
tight right now.”