The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/201975
four-star point guard out of Harper Woods (Mich.) Chandler Park Academy and runner-up for Michigan's Mr. Basketball Award last year. He's outstanding handling the ball with both hands and has great range on his jump shot. There are differences, though, starting with mindset. Burke quickly developed into a scoring point guard who was also an outstanding passer, arguably the most well-rounded — and best — point guard Michigan has ever seen. Walton is a pass-first point guard with court vision Beilein once said rivaled anyone he'd seen at that age. "By instinct, his nature is a little different," assistant coach LaVall Jordan said. "But he's got the ability, now. Spike is the same way. He can really see. "Derrick is figuring it out. He can find some things you might not see, which is fun. Now we're showing him how to see within the framework of what we do. That's where Spike comes in having played it, telling him what to look for and when to look for it. Those things come with experience in this system and the way we play. Then there are instinctual things we enjoy, like with Trey." Like seeing a lane open and taking it, or realizing when the numbers are in his favor on the break. Walton has those same great instincts like his predecessor. When he gets the timing of the offense down — and he's off to a good start — he'll have a chance to become one of the Big Ten's top freshmen. Yahoo! Sports recently listed him as the No. 7 potential freshman of impact in the country. "A lot of it is doing things when we want them to happen," Jordan said. "There will be some miscues due to timing, but it's not like he's a reckless guy. When guys have a high care level, if you emphasize it, you don't have to worry as much. Each week you have a lot of information coming at you, so running a readbased system, you've got to live with a couple errors early for guys to be able to talk about what happened and figure it out." The 5-11, 175-pound Albrecht was a quick learner in that area, and he's only gotten better since his breakout performance in last year's title game loss to Louisville. Albrecht's 17-point, first-half outburst in place of Burke (on the bench with foul trouble) was one of the most impressive postseason halves in Michigan's history. Until then, Albrecht was considered a five- to 10-minute role player. Recent scrimmages, though, proved he could be more. He racked up 20 assists against two turnovers, Beilein reported, in proving he can run the show when called upon. The tournament scoring surprise wasn't a shock to the team, however. "He's trying to win first," Jordan said. "If you play back the tape in terms of history, [Michigan forward] Mitch McGary's team lost to one team at Brewster Academy — Spike's team — and Spike had 23 points. That showed you when it's competitive, he'll do whatever is necessary. That was what was necessary at that time, for Spike to step up and score