For its most important series
yet this season, the Michigan
hockey team will be without
five of its key players against
Minnesota next week.
Monday
afternoon,
USA
Hockey
released
its
preliminary roster for the
2021
IIHF
World
Junior
Championship.
It
includes
three
Wolverine
freshman
forwards — Matty Beniers,
Thomas
Bordeleau,
and
Brendan Brisson — as well as
sophomore forward Johnny
Beecher
and
sophomore
defenseman Cam York. All
five will be unavailable for
Michigan’s Dec. 8 and 9 home
series
against
Minnesota,
which will be missing three of
its own players.
The tournament will take
place from Dec. 25 through Jan.
5 in Edmonton. Though teams
were initially told that players
would not have to report until
Dec. 13 — a factor that played
into
the
Wolverines’
and
Gophers’ decision to compete
on the preceding Tuesday
and Wednesday, according to
Michigan coach Mel Pearson
—
USA
Hockey
recently
mandated that players enter
its bubble in Plymouth on Dec.
6 to comply with IIHF rules.
The decision coincided with a
pair of positive tests at Team
Canada’s selection camp in
Red Deer, Alberta.
Without its key players, who
have combined for 21 points
in six games this season,
Michigan
will
need
more
production
from
elsewhere
on the team. Much of that
production should come from
players already in the lineup —
players like freshman forward
Kent Johnson, who leads the
team with eight points.
Johnson
might
have
to
step up even more, but there’s
plenty of room for others in
the lineup to make their mark
as well. Sophomore forward
Eric
Ciccolini
has
shown
flashes in four appearances,
scoring two goals and earning
a plus-minus of +3. The series
against the Gophers will be an
opportunity for him to prove
he deserves more time on the
ice.
“There’s
some
guys
in
the lineup that you’re just
expecting to do more,” Pearson
said. “Eric Ciccolini has been
in and out. He’s proven he’s
ready to have a really good
sophomore season. We expect
more out of him on a daily
basis.”
But
with
five
players
missing, the Wolverines will
need to dig deeper into the
roster and rely on players who
haven’t yet seen much of the
ice. In Michigan’s loss to Notre
Dame on Saturday, sophomore
defenseman
Jay
Keranen
appeared in his second game
this season after not playing
his freshman year. There’s a
good chance he’ll fill in for
York in the Minnesota series.
Things
will
be
even
thinner at forward, where
the Wolverines will lose four
players to World Juniors. And
with just 16 forwards on the
roster, Michigan will have to
rely on every player at that
position. As of now, only two
— freshmen Josh Groll and
Philippe Lapointe — have yet
to see ice time this year. Groll
tallied 42 points in 41 games
with the USHL Lincoln Stars
last season, while Lapointe
notched 55 points in 36 games
with the BCHL Trail Smoke
Eaters.
“(Groll) has looked really
good in practice,” Pearson
said. “He had a bit of a setback
(a couple of weeks ago), that’s
why he hasn’t played at this
point … but he’s ready. Phil
Lapointe’s
an
outstanding
player. He’s gonna be a really
good player for us here. We’ll
look for him to come in the
lineup.”
In any situation, depth is a
necessity for a hockey team
to be successful. It’s normal
to lose a few players to injury
throughout the season. Teams
can plan around that.
Less predictable is losing
five players at the same time.
The Wolverines have a deep
roster; such a deep hit in a
series against the No. 5 team in
the country will put that depth
to the test.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 — 15
Turnovers plague Michigan in narrow
win over Oakland
With just over seven minutes
remaining in the first half, the
Michigan men’s basketball team
held an eight-point lead over
winless Oakland. Just two-
and-a-half minutes later, the
Wolverines’ advantage had been
cut to just two points, leading
to arguments on Michigan’s
sideline and enthusiastic cheers
from
the
Golden
Grizzlies’
bench.
During that span, senior
guard Chaundee Brown missed
a 3-pointer — one of nine missed
threes from the Wake Forest
transfer on the day — and the
Wolverines committed three
turnovers
on
consecutive
possessions.
What had been billed as
an easy, early-season win for
Michigan was quickly turning
into anything but. Oakland led
by two going into halftime, in
large part due to the Wolverines’
15 first-half turnovers — five
more than they had in the entire
Bowling Green game.
“Oakland
(was)
active
defensively, being active with
their hands, playing in passing
lanes and getting deflections,”
Michigan coach Juwan Howard
said afterwards. “I’m not gonna
just sit here and say, ‘Hey, we
didn’t do well because of’ — We
made mistakes on our own.
“There were plays where
we were catching it in the
two blocks or in the paint and
putting it down on the floor.
That’s something you can’t do
when we’re playing against a
smaller group with active hands.
What they did was they got
deflections or got steals.”
The Golden Grizzlies’ tallest
starter
was
6-foot-7
Daniel
Oladapo. To compensate for
its lack of size, Oakland came
out in a 1-3-1 matchup zone,
which
stumped
Michigan’s
ball-handlers early on. The
Wolverines tried to penetrate
the defense — with either passes
to the high post or on drives off
the dribble — but the Golden
Grizzlies flocked to the ball,
stripping it or picking off cross-
court looks.
“We watched film on their
zone and from watching film we
didn’t see it as that aggressive,”
senior
wing
Isaiah
Livers
said.
“…
Everybody
makes
adjustments and they came out
and made adjustments to their
zone. We weren’t ready at first
and even for part of the second
half.”
Michigan
fared
slightly
better holding onto the ball in
the second half, only turning
it over five times. Instead, it
was the Wolverines’ inability
to make shots on the perimeter
that kept the Golden Grizzlies
in
the
game.
Either
way,
Oakland’s
unconventional
scheme was making Michigan
uncomfortable offensively.
Without
Zavier
Simpson
leading
the
offense,
point
guard responsibilities fall on
graduate student Mike Smith
and senior guard Eli Brooks.
After combining for just two
turnovers in the season opener,
the duo accounted for eight on
Sunday night. Whether their
performances were indicative
of Smith and Brooks settling
into a new offense and a new
role respectively or it was an
aberration, the Wolverines need
a steady hand at that position.
Thanks to a dominant display
in overtime, Michigan overcame
its
turnover
problems
and
narrowly avoided a catastrophic
loss. Early in the season though,
a win is a win.
“1,000
percent
just
the
zone, outlier,” Livers said. “We
actually, all preseason, we take
care of the ball. We get after
each other in practice. Our scout
team does a great job of getting
into us as well. When we’re
scrimmaging, we don’t allow
easy catches, we make it tough
for the guy handling the ball as
well so I think it was just a good
learning curve.
“Everybody was watching
that game and say ‘Oh, they
can’t play great against a 1-3-1
matchup zone or anything like
that.’ I’m glad it happened now.
Chaundee made a comment,
‘Rather now than the Final Four
or Sweet 16,’ so that’s what I’m
happy about and we can learn
from it.”
CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer
With five players leaving for World Juniors,
Wolverines need depth players to step up
BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Editor
MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson allowed five of his top players to join the US
World Juniors team.
‘Disability is not inability’: Michigan’s Adaptive Sports and
Fitness Program strives to assert itself
Cathryn
Gray
isn’t
used
to being around people like
her. She’s a 4.0 student, an
internationally
decorated
athlete, the first female member
of Michigan’s Adaptive Sports
and Fitness Program — and she
has Cerebral Palsy.
Cerebral Palsy is a mobility
disorder caused by abnormal
brain development or damage to
the developing brain. Often, it
imparts a very distinct gait.
So when Gray saw Maddy
Gustafson walking through her
residence hall on move-in day,
she immediately knew that she
had found someone like her.
“I knew right away that she
probably
had
CP
(Cerebral
Palsy) too,” Gray said.
Trying not to be too intrusive,
Gray
introduced
herself
to
Gustafson and confirmed their
similarities.
In
the
course
of
their
conversation,
Gray
revealed to Gustafson that she
was at Michigan on an Adaptive
Track and Field scholarship.
Gustafson had no idea these
sorts of opportunities existed
at Michigan. The absence of
attention
to
disability
paid
by her hometown community
had meant that for Gustafson,
the expectation that she could
participate
in
sports
had
evaporated. Despite her love
of running, Gustafson had last
been able to be as active as
she’d hoped to be during her
middle school years. Eagerly,
Gustafson
accepted
Gray’s
invitation to accompany her to
the next adaptive Track and
Field practice.
Fast forward four months,
Gustafson and Gray are best
friends and teammates, looking
forward to competing alongside
one another for the first time
once it’s safe.
“I
know
from
my
own
experience how isolating CP can
be,” Gray said. “Being a woman
with a disability, it can be really
hard to find other people like
you. I don’t think anyone would
turn down the opportunity
to be a part of a community. It
changed my life, so I’m going to
take any opportunity I can to
help the program grow.”
Sadly, Gustafson’s example
is
a
common
one.
Most
communities are woefully far
from
recognizing
adaptive
sports as a necessary facet of
the sporting experience. In
place of making the necessary
accommodations
so
that
individuals with disability can
participate in sports alongside
those with able bodies, many
schools instead elect to offer
individuals
with
disability
special
positions
like
team
manager, or token gestures like
two minutes of playing time
during the last game of the
season.
This
lackluster
effort
at
inclusivity
is
exactly
what
the University of Michigan’s
Adaptive Sports and Fitness
program
aims
to
address.
During a time in which public
health
measures
necessarily
disincentivize
neighborliness,
Gray’s efforts to befriend and
include Gustafson embody the
vision of the program according
to its founder and director,
Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami,
affectionately known around
campus as “Dr. O.”
“We have to create equal
access to physical and emotional
health
and
wellness
for
students
with
disabilities,”
Okanlami said. “As a physician,
recognizing the importance of
physical fitness for everyone, let
alone those with disabilities, is
something that we’re trying to
close the disparity gap on and
make sure that marginalized,
underrepresented
minority
groups like individuals with
disabilities
have
access
to
physical fitness and therefore a
more healthy life.”
When
individuals
with
physical
disabilities
aren’t
physically active, their muscles
often begin to atrophy, or
degenerate.
As
a
result,
it
becomes increasingly difficult
to move around. Thus, as both
Okanlami and Gray underscore,
ready access to adaptive sports
for individuals with disabilities
is crucial.
Importantly,
however,
Okanlami stresses that this
access should take shape in the
form of a program which both
individuals with and without
disabilities can participate in.
“This
is
diversity,
equity
and inclusion,” Okanlami said.
“If we have a way that we can
create the parameters to allow
everyone to participate while
not limiting the opportunities
for
the
individuals
with
disabilities, we’re going to do
that.”
Establishing and growing this
program hasn’t come without
obstacles, Okanlami explained.
“Major hurdle number one
is awareness,” Okanlami said.
“We’re trying to get people
to recognize that disability is
not inability – that disability
does not make them any less
of an athlete and that it does
not lessen their desire, drive,
or need for physical activity in
sport.”
Gray
echoed
Okanlami’s
sentiment. “I don’t see a lot of
people with disabilities in the
media, so sometimes having a
disability like CP can be a little
bit lonely.”
For Okanlami, the Michigan
community has a long way to
go in order to catch up to other
established programs around
the nation.
“If we want to be the leaders
and the best in this arena, we
could be,” Okanlami said. “But
we have to acknowledge that
right now, not only are we not
the best, we are not leading,
and we are not even in the
conversation.”
Okanlami
laid
out
how
schools like Alabama, which has
a $10 million facility dedicated
exclusively
to
adaptive
athletics, and Illinois, a widely-
recognized
powerhouse
in
wheelchair racing, are “blowing
Michigan out of the water.”
He stressed that in addition
to expanding programs like this
one, introducing adaptive sports
to younger people is even more
important. As such, one of the
program’s main objectives is to
integrate adaptive sports into
the state of Michigan’s K-12
curriculum.
“We’re
trying
to
change
that
misperception,
that
stigma,” Okanlami said, “and
we’re
starting
that
around
the elementary school level so
that kids don’t see disability as
a negative, they just see it as
another aspect of the things that
make us different.”
Okanlami
spoke
of
this
process
of
“mainstreaming”
adaptive sports as a sort of
Gestalt switch. Wheelchairs,
traditionally
seen
as
impediments
to
sports
like
basketball or tennis, should
instead be seen as necessary
equipment
for
playing
wheelchair
basketball
or
wheelchair tennis, just as ice-
skates are seen as necessary for
playing ice hockey.
“This doesn’t mean you have
to use a chair in your real life, but
when you’re playing (wheelchair
basketball), that’s how you play
this sport,” Okanlami said.
Currently,
the
Adaptive
Sports and Fitness program
houses
wheelchair
tennis,
wheelchair basketball, and track
and field, and is incorporating
para-equestrian activities. In
the future, Okanlami would like
to see the program expand into
other sports, such as golf and
wheelchair racing.
Gray, among others, seeks
to expand the influence of the
program in other ways.
“What I really want to do is
to use competing as a vehicle for
positive change,” Gray said. “I
want to grow the program and
speak about disability issues
like my mom did for me growing
up. I want to do that for other
people.”
GRAYSON BUNING
For The Daily
PHOTO COURTESY OF GRAYSON BUNING
The University of Michigan’s Adaptive Sports and Fitness Program strives to be an elite program for athletes with disabilities.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan’s turnovers nearly let a win out of its grasp against Oakland.