The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/111015
scream of exultation, following the long road back. Beilein, meanwhile, pointed right back to staying on the straight and narrow. ���Our goal at Michigan is to be No.�� 1 in the Big Ten,��� Beilein said in a released statement. ���When you achieve that honor, you will have a chance at the national championship. All through the year polls will spark great interest among college basketball fans everywhere and that is always good. ���Our coaches and players, however, will remain focused on our goals of improving daily and competing for the championship within our conference.��� Unselfish Efforts Prevail It didn���t take long, though, for Beilein to slightly amend his shrugging off of the No. 1 mantle. After the Wolverines dismantled Northwestern at home, 68-46, Beilein conceded that getting where his team stood counted for something. ���[Being No. 1] is important, but we want our guys saying, ���That���s not important now,������ Beilein said. ���What���s important is eating right and getting ready for the next game. Down the way, when the season is over, we can talk about that. ���We embrace it more than I give up, this moment of being No. 1, but we���re not focused on, ���We made it.��� We���ve got a long way to go.��� Part of getting there, he stresses every day, involves possessing the type of unselfishness and teammindedness that gets everyone through a long season. That���s why Beilein sounded especially uplifted following the beat-down of Bill Carmody���s outgunned Wildcats. Analysts and opposing coaches have said it all year long ��� for a roster bearing the talent Michigan does, it plays largely without ego. Beilein came away from the preparation for Northwestern with the perfect example. He reveled in recalling the night prior to the game, when he was ruminating over the selection of redshirt sophomore Jon Horford or true freshman Mitch McGary to start in place of injured redshirt junior Jordan Morgan. As it turns out, McGary made it easy. ���You talk about sacrifice,��� Beilein said. ���We were still here at eight o���clock Tuesday night and I said to Mitch, ���What do you feel about tomorrow? I don���t know what to do ��� you���ve both been practicing well.��� He said, ���Coach, I���ve been coming off the bench for two years. I���m cool with coming off the bench.��� That really helped make that decision. ���That���s what we have on this team. Jon was elated by it, obviously, but if was the other way, Jon would have done the same thing. Jon would have said, ���Coach, whatever you want. I���m ready.������ Horford and McGary wound up combining for 16 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks in 25 minutes of action. Beilein, meanwhile, put another entry into the chemistry notebook, and prepped for the biggest challenge to date: a showdown of No.��1 Michigan and No. 3 Indiana, at Assembly Hall.