The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/465847
MICHIGAN BASKETBALL you think of the possibilities of what could occur. "There are still goals in front of us, that we had set forth, that are still attain- able. To get there is going to be a tremendous challenge, but I think it's a chal- lenge we're up for." The Wolverine: When you look at freshmen like Ricky Doyle, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Aubrey Dawkins, can you take a step back and assess how far they've come in this first season? Alexander: "The opportunity has definitely presented itself through injury, circumstances and attrition for young guys like the ones you mentioned to come in and do the things they're doing, all at different points in time. It gives you a sense of excitement, knowing that at some point, they're all going to be clicking on the same night." The Wolverine: What does this team need to get over the hump in one of these overtime or extremely close games? Alexander: "A 'next-possession' mindset. The ability to stay in the moment and not carry any attitudes or emotions from the previous possession, that may have worked out in your favor or not worked out in your favor. "For our guys to be able to handle the in-the-moment successes or failures would be the key in closing out games. You make a great play, for example, and you celebrate for that couple of milliseconds that compromise your floor balance in transition defense. Or, you made that errant pass, and you maybe sulked at the sight of making that error at a key time, versus getting back on defense and making it tough on the opponent to score. "All of those small things become big things, when you talk about closing out games and winning." The Wolverine: What's the excitement level for the future, even beyond this season? Alexander: "I shared this with Coach [John] Beilein the other day. We're pour- ing cement into the basement of this house called Michigan basketball. It's one of those things where, each week, we try to ask ourselves the question: 'Are we better this week than last week?' "If you break that down into specifics, are we better at passing? Are we bet- ter at our defense? Are we better at our recognition? Are we better in our rebounding? Are we better in terms of our focus? It's all of the ingredients that contribute to a championship mindset. "While the regular-season title may seem out of reach, the momentum you're trying to build in the postseason lends to those things. Our hope moving forward is that we can grab some positive momentum, like a two-, three-, four- game win streak going into the Big Ten Tournament. Then who knows what can happen when you're in single-elimination season?" — John Borton