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.”

