Recreating the two-headed monster
T
he 1991-92 season was a
good year for Michigan
athletics.
In the fall, the football team,
led by eventual
Heisman
Award-winning
wide receiver
Desmond
Howard,
marched
through the
regular season,
losing just
once to No. 1
Florida State.
The 10-1 regular season earned
the Wolverines a bid to the Rose
Bowl, where they lost to eventual
national champion Washington.
As the football team was
wrapping up a successful season
under Gary Moeller, five freshmen
were getting ready to change the
landscape of college basketball.
The Fab Five arrived in 1991 and
electrified college basketball with
their high-flying dunks, baggy
shorts and trash talk. Their rough
style of play startled the rest of
the sport’s realm and led them to
a National Championship game
appearance, where they lost to
Duke, 71-51.
That was the last time both the
football and basketball teams had
an insurmountable amount of hype
around their respective programs
at the same time, creating a two-
headed monster of Michigan
athletics. Since then, the two
teams have teetered back and forth
in their successes.
And that has been especially
true for myself as a near-sighted
observer.
As an out-of-state student
from California, Michigan sports
haven’t always piqued my interest.
While I watched the occasional
Michigan football game, I can’t say
I ever put time aside to invest in
Michigan athletics.
But I really started to pay
attention around October of 2012
— my senior year of high school —
when I decided that I would apply
to the University.
I vividly remember following
the Michigan men’s basketball
team that year. From watching
the top-ranked Wolverines
narrowly lose to No. 3 Indiana
in Bloomington, to watching
Wisconsin’s Ben Brust drain
a near-half-court shot to
force overtime in Madison on
SportsCenter and, of course, to
watching Michigan make it to the
NCAA Championship game, which
culminated in an 82-76 loss to
Louisville in Atlanta.
On the flip side, while the
football team had gone to the Sugar
Bowl the year prior, the squad had
just wrapped up an average 8-5
season in Brady Hoke’s second year.
And the trend followed me to
Ann Arbor. The basketball team
won the regular-season Big Ten title
my freshman year and was an Aaron
Harrison 3-pointer away from
another Final Four appearance,
while the football team slugged its
way to a 7-6 season.
But situations change — and
pretty quickly.
Just two years later, all the
talk around campus is about Jim
Harbaugh and the football team
— and for good measure, the team
has executed a perfect season thus
far — while the basketball team,
albeit having some success, has
taken a back seat.
That can change, though. While
the basketball team might not be
able to overtake the football team
in Ann Arbor, where the gridiron
has always been king, it might be
able to at least reach the same level.
Though it’s never a guarantee
how a team might perform, the
Michigan basketball team has
some of the ingredients necessary
for a great season. This is what will
factor most into this season’s hype:
After finishing the 2015-16
season ranked a putrid No. 322 in
the NCAA in average rebounds per
game, Michigan will need to assert
more authority in the paint on
both ends of the court. Last season,
senior guard Derrick Walton Jr.,
standing at just 6-foot-1, led the
Wolverines in rebounds. That stat
won’t fly this season, and Michigan
will need to see more paint presence
from its bigs in sophomore forward
Moritz Wagner and redshirt junior
Mark Donnal.
Speaking of Walton, he and
senior guard Zak Irvin have been
key contributors throughout their
three years of college so far.
This year, however, is a little
different. Not only will Walton
and Irvin be looked upon to
perform well on the court, the
two are also now the oldest
members on the team and the last
players remaining from the last
time Michigan won the Big Ten
regular-season title in 2014. How
well the two handle high-pressure
situations on the court could
indicate the outcome of the season.
While the Wolverines fared a
bit better in team defense, ending
the season at No. 67 in the NCAA,
there’s still room to improve. Last
season, there was a clear gap in
defensive prowess between Walton
and Irvin and the rest of the team.
And even then, the duo’s defense
was not up to par.
But after the departures of
assistant coaches LaVall Jordan and
Bacari Alexander, who both left
Michigan to pursue head coaching
careers at Milwaukee and Detroit-
Mercy, respectively, Beilein brought
in assistant coach Billy Donlon.
Donlon last coached at Wright
State and is known for his defensive
tactics, which at one point put
the Rowdy Raiders in the top 20
in the NCAA in scoring defense.
Beilein has repeated multiple times
already that he is giving Donlon a
great deal of responsibility with the
defense, a strategy that should pay
off almost immediately.
And last, while the starting
lineup seems to be set, team depth
is still a big question mark after
the departure of five players over
the summer.
Beilein has said that, ideally, he
would run an eight-man rotation.
This means that players like
Donnal, freshman guards Xavier
Simpson and Ibi Watson and
redshirt sophomore forward DJ
Wilson will be relied on heavily
to give the starters a breather. If
they can spot the starters for 12 to
15 minutes a night, it could prove
vital down the stretch come NCAA
Tournament time.
And to not only reach the NCAA
Tournament, but also do well in it,
would go a long way to recreating
the scene from 1991. While it may
be a stretch, the fact of the matter
is that the Wolverines have the
pieces in place to make it possible.
Now Michigan just has to go
and do it.
Doan can be reached at
minhdoan@umich.edu and
on Twitter @_minhdoan.
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein’s team has the talent and experience to take a big step forward and return to prominence on campus.
MINH
DOAN
Friday, November 11, 2016 // Tip Off 2016
3B