The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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BY JOHN BORTON van Smotrycz loves roller coasters. His idea of a good time involves getting strapped into a seat, inch- ing skyward hundreds of feet in an open-air car connected to a serpen- tine metal track, and feeling the diz- zying rush of a death-defying plum- met into the unknown. His family owns a timeshare in Or- lando, Fla., and he's used to all the thrills theme parks such as Disney and Universal Studios can dish out. Teammate Colton Christian intro- duced him to Ohio's Cedar Point last summer, and Smotrycz thought he'd found paradise. "Unreal," he marveled. "That blows anything I've ever been to out of the water." The Top Thrill Dragster — loom- ing 420 feet above the park's asphalt expanse and featuring speeds of 120 miles an hour — delivered his most lasting memory. The Maverick, with its 400-foot speed launch out of a dark tunnel into more twists than an MSU football defense puts on un- suspecting heads, also grabbed his attention. "You've got to put the Dragster in there," Smotrycz observed. "There is nothing like that. But underrated is the Maverick — there's a point where you're pretty much going upside down. It's a long ride. Cedar Point was unreal. I'm definitely going to make a trip back there." Right now, there's no time to head for Sandusky, Ohio, and Florida re- mains only a dream, while Michigan begins its own ascent into the Big Ten basketball season. And the last thing Smotrycz wants Through 18 starts in 18 games this season, Smotrycz averaged 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Evan Smotrycz Is Flying Through The Sophomore Year Ups And Downs is a roller-coaster ride. The sophomore out of Read- ing, Mass., registered a solid fresh- man campaign for the Wolverines. He started 24 out of Michigan's 35 games, averaging 6.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest, while show- ing considerable promise from three- point range (45-of-118, 38.1 percent). He roared out of the tunnel this season, seemingly better in every way. Through 18 starts in 18 games, Smotrycz averaged 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while heating up the nets from long range (27-of-59, 45.8 percent). But his game remains far from per- fect, and he knows it. He mentally kicks himself over mistakes, and the frustration can't be missed, even from the cheap seats in Crisler Arena. "Don't misread — because I do it, too — his body language," head coach John Beilein stressed. "He's beating up himself. We need to con- tinue to say, 'It is good. You're doing well. You've made some significant improvements.' He's working at it." Beilein emphasizes the "Yes Face," the look that reveals poise, energy and confidence in one's self and teammates. Once in a while, Smotrycz admitted with a grin, the no votes gain the upper hand. "It's had a tendency to affect all areas of my game, where I go off into my own little world if I'm not having the game I wanted to that night," the sophomore explained. "If I'm get- ting to that point, Coach will be like, 'Come back to us. Don't do this to- night.' "I'm really just trying to stay con- sistent in my attitude towards the game." Sometimes, Beilein noted, all of the Wolverines need a better grasp of the big picture. It's not unlike a prospec- tive coaster rider seeing statistics on his chances of returning to the stag- ing platform in one piece. Reminders never hurt. "Evan, for a sophomore right now, has incredible stats," Beilein said. "He's leading us in a couple of cat- egories and just getting better every day. With all our players, we're al- ways trying to show them how sig- nificant their progress is. Sometimes, they don't see it themselves. "You have to continue to show them a stat sheet from last year at this time, show them the stat sheet from some really high-level recruit who would just love to play 25 min- utes a game right now. We're always trying to bring people back to this is a great experience you're having right now. "And, you're playing high-level minutes, by the way, on a team that's winning [14-4]. We've got to keep reminding everybody, not just Evan." Smotrycz, who grew up mere min- utes away from the Boston Garden, not surprisingly loves the Celtics, the Red Sox and the New England Patri- ots. He has yet to meet fellow Wol- verine Tom Brady, but it's definitely on his list. FEBRUARY 2012 THE WOLVERINE 51 W E I L D R I D E