The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/201975
Locked And Loaded Michigan's 2013-14 Backcourt Will Be Young, But Dangerous O By Chris Balas nce upon a time, experienced teams comprised almost all of the spots in the preseason top 10. Squads with three or four returning upperclassmen in the starting lineup were thought to have a distinct advantage over their younger, less experienced foes, having played together for a few years to develop chemistry. Several programs have turned that theory on its head in recent years. Kentucky under head coach John Calipari churns out one-and-dones. Michigan's 2012-13 team featured three freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup during its run to the NCAA championship game. The Wolverines start the 2013-14 campaign No. 9 in the polls, but it's not because everyone came back. Gone is the starting backcourt of Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., both first-round picks in the NBA Draft. And yes, two freshmen will be called upon to help replace them in an effort to get Michigan back to the top of the Big Ten standings and primed for another deep tourney run. Point guard Derrick Walton Jr. will battle sophomore Spike Albrecht for the starting job, while wing Zak Irvin will be asked to provide some of what Hardaway Jr. accomplished. Both have the mental makeup, Michigan head coach John Beilein said days before U-M kicked off its exhibition season against Concordia College. "There are some similarities," Beilein said. "Tim was a shooter who learned to drive and handle. Zak is doing a lot of those things. Derrick is 100 percent right now, missed four or five days [with a foot injury], but we made sure his foot was fine. There is great decision making by Derrick, which is really good. Very few freshmen can — you don't see that type of thing. "But both Tim and Trey had a different air about them. One had a quiet confidence, one was more pronounced. I see both of those qualities." Some have seen plenty of Burke in Walton Jr. (6-1, 185), a former