The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/614487
[Xavier's] Jalen Reynolds and Tolbert were athletic, but they've also got the want to and the desire. Michigan has got to find a way to match that." It's being taught, he added. "I'll see them in the pregame and watch those coaches spend so much time on game planning, watch the fast facts and the keys, and you're in pretty good shape if you do them," he said. "They told these guys before the SMU game that every single one of them loves to rebound, and they expect everyone to do his part. "Big men don't always have to grab the rebounds, but they do have to create rebounds, and I don't think Michigan is efficient enough at doing that. You can spend all the time in the weight room you want, but you need to have the desire, too." There's still plenty of time to fig- ure it out, though, and Beilein wasn't about to panic. "Knowing these guys, they'll say, 'All right, that's how far we have to go — we'd better get to work,'" Beilein said. "That's what we can take from it. We have no choice. We're still young in this season. If you're going to get beat, get beat early." Several of Michigan's other teams have, and they're not alone. The Elite Eight squad lost to Charlotte in Puerto Rico after mounting a furious rally to get by Florida State. If you want to write this year 's team off, Novak said, do so at your own peril. "There are people who want to do that with a young team, but they'll figure out what it takes," Novak said. "I'm confident they're going to be right there." ❏ Scouting Michigan's Newcomers Michigan coaches continue to work on their lineups in search of the best com- binations, having incorporated three newcomers into the equation in freshman forward Moritz Wagner, redshirt freshman forward D.J. Wilson and redshirt sophomore wing Duncan Robinson. All three have contributed at different levels so far, with Williams College transfer Robinson having the biggest impact. The former Division III standout was averaging 11.9 points in 22.0 minutes per game. He'd made 30 of 51 triples (58.8 percent) while shooting 56.5 percent overall. "As a shooter, he's unbelievable," Michigan radio play-by-play man Matt Shepard said. "Every time he shoots it, you think it's going in. I never thought I'd see a better shooter than Nik Stauskas, but he might be. "The coaches told him last year he needed to get his shot off faster, so he learned. It's incredible. At SMU, [former President] George Bush was grabbing his program after a couple of Duncan's threes to see who he was." Now he's got to learn to do it on both ends of the floor, Shepard said. "Like baseball, for example, it's about offense and defense," he said. "As much as he's a plus offensively, he's got to make sure he's bringing it on the other end of the floor, too."