The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/465847
w i l l s e e t h e i r four-year streak of going to the NCAA Tourna- ment snapped c o m e M a r c h . You won't hear that from any Michigan play- ers and coaches, o f c o u r s e . They're focused on improving in the present, and won't concede any game or any big-picture out- come. B u t e v e n B e i l e i n h a s stressed how this h a s b e c o m e a season involving a bit of a rebuild. He has preached i m p r o v e m e n t , a n d w a t c h i n g this team get bet- ter. It has done so, far beyond the actual results on paper, with freshmen such as Doyle, Dawkins and Abdur-Rah- kman forced into crucial roles and making invaluable strides. It has seen a freshman sub sharp- shooter in Irvin suddenly wear the sophomore bull's-eye as the top con- cern on opponents' scouting reports. And it has thrust Albrecht — Ap- palachian State-bound before getting taken late in the recruiting process by Beilein — into 33 or more min- utes a game in nine of Michigan's last 11, including 42 at Illinois. H e ' s l i k e l y bound for post- season surgery, to correct an undis- closed lower-body issue. In other words, it's a sea- son of substantial adjustment, prob- ably too much so to continue what had become the renewed March norm. Big Ten N et- work college bas- k e t b a l l a n a l y s t Shon Morris con- tends that's okay. Morris insists the situation is both t e m p o r a r y a n d understandable, when it comes to Beilein's crew. " Yo u ' v e g o t so many young guys," he said. "Let's be honest — did anyone expect Aubrey Dawkins to have to be playing this much? Probably not. You're playing walk- ons now in meaningful minutes." Morris pointed out Michigan's lay- ers of attrition this season. Not only did the Wolverines lose three 2013-14 Junior guard Spike Albrecht had played 33 or more minutes a game in nine of Michigan's last 11 contests through Feb. 17, including 42 minutes at Illinois. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN