The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MEN'S BASKETBALL "There are some natural things they know and do, just from always being a point guard, that you don't have to cover with them, as opposed to with some of the other guys you're trying to develop point guard skills in. You don't have to tell them to see some of the things you'd like them to see." Jordan witnessed exceptional but when we're off the court, I show them film and show them little tips and things in the offense, so they'll already know it by the time practice comes around." growth in Burke over the course of a Big Ten championship season. The assistant coach is now looking for even more advancement by the soph- omore, including giving others what he was granted a year ago. "He learned so much last year," Jordan said. "It came naturally to him, because the position wasn't new. What we were asking him to do was new, the way we were saying it might have been new, but being a point guard, for him, wasn't a new thing. has proven he'll play big, small — whatever he feels gives his team the best chance to win. They're taking it slow, though, with the freshmen. Beilein and his staff spent the first 10 days of practice getting the young guys acclimated to one position be- fore experimenting with them on a second. A VERY REAL POSSIBILITY Michigan head coach John Beilein GLENN ROBINSON III AT POWER FORWARD IS Jordan Morgan, who is spending time at the power forward position as well as center, and Jon Horford, playing some of his best ball at cen- ter, adapt. Robinson, though, has shown ex- plosiveness as a scorer and is im- proving in the post. "I wouldn't call him aggressive, but very calculated," Alexander said. "In the preseason, through five or six scrimmages, he's taken a low volume of shots, but he is shooting in the 60 or 70 percent range. He's been very efficient and is making the shots he takes. where he doesn't have to hunt his shot. You've got a volume player, ef- ficiency player, where his lack of ag- gressiveness is only attributed to the fact that he's learning on the fly." "Glenn has a poise about himself "He now has to do what Stu Dou- glass did for him for Spike, so now you've got him coaching. A lot of times, I find you learn more by teaching. He's in that position now, where he can do some teaching to the young guy, even though he's only a sophomore. It will help him only be sharper." Burke, meanwhile, is ready to em- brace the challenge of adding teach- ing and greater leadership to his ré- sumé. He likes what he's seen thus far, in terms of the makeup of this year's roster. "I'm definitely impressed with the talent level, the level of athleti- cism they've shown, their eagerness to learn and their will to listen," Burke said. "They're very coachable. They're good kids. That's what I'm most impressed about. "The talent is going to be there, but them wanting to learn the offense as quick as they can, asking questions and being eager to learn is what's impressed me more than anything." Burke assures he knows it's on him to help take control. "A year ago, it was kind of forced," he admitted. "Zack [Novak] and Stu were here, so I didn't really have to step up as much as I have to now. Now, it's more natural. I've been watching a lot of film on our offense. I'm just trying to teach the freshmen at a faster pace. "Obviously, the coaches are trying to teach them the first couple of days, ATHLETICISM ON DISPLAY IN THE EARLY GOING Past Michigan teams — even some of head coach John Beilein's — haven't had the luxury of its players experimenting at different positions too much in the early going. The 2012-13 roster, however, might be the most versatile, talented and athletic in Beilein's tenure as a head coach, giving him and his coaches plenty to work with — and a lot of mixing and matching to do — heading into the last week of October. "We just started tinkering with The 6-6, 210-pound Robinson III has the ver- satility to play shooting guard, small forward and power forward, which could help create matchup problems for opponents. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN trouble picking up just one. Others, like departed captain Zack Novak, were able to grasp two within the first year. The wing comes first for freshman Glenn Robinson III, but power forward could well be in his future, as well. Over the years, some have had "That's a serious thing of consider- ation," big man coach Bacari Alexan- der said. "I'd imagine Coach Beilein will look to experiment with that large lineup in the exhibition games, but as we progress throughout games, that lineup could get smaller. It could end up being a matchup- specific deal for us, ultimately." Much depends on how the young big men adapt to their positions, and how veterans such as redshirt junior combinations Oct. 24, so we'll do that throughout the rest of the week, continue through that weekend," big man coach and assistant Bacari Al- exander said. "We will probably be close to determining what the lineup will look like prior to our first exhibi- tion game." The Wolverines open Nov. 1 with Northern Michigan. It wasn't all glitz and glimmer in the first few weeks, Alexander said, but more working on catching and finishing layups and dunks. The upgrade in athleticism, though, has been obvious. Alexander's work with the bigs comes first, but he al- ways keeps an eye on the guards. He's impressed by what he's seen. "Trey Burke, Spike Albrecht, Ca- ris LeVert and Nik Stauskas are all guys who can really break a defense down, get two feet in the paint which forces opposing big men to come up and help," he said. "Then they're NOVEMBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 75