The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2012-13 BASKETBALL PREVIEW room. Now it's all about fitting the pieces together and demonstrating the breakthrough Big Ten champions are here to stay. There's little reason to believe oth- erwise. Instead of a freshman Trey Burke running the show, there's a sophomore who guided the Wolver- ines to a league title. Instead of get- ting by with shooting guards filling in at the point, the 6-0 Burke can be spelled by a natural point guard in 5-11 freshman Spike Albrecht. If 6-6 junior Tim Hardaway Jr.'s move to shooting guard proves suc- cessful, it gives the Wolverines a pair of savvy, dangerous perform- ers in the backcourt. If Hardaway slides back to small forward at times, Beilein is certainly not without op- tions. J ohn Beilein has worked and waited to see a roster as deep and talented as the one that presently inhabits his locker BY JOHN BORTON all options. It is where we get people most comfortable." coach LaVall Jordan noted. "Coach Beilein says that all the time. It's maybe akin to football. We'll have lineups for certain things that we're looking for, on the defensive end or the offensive end. We'll be able to move and shake some pieces around, based on what Coach is trying to ex- ploit at that particular moment." Exploiting opponents starts with Burke, last year's Big Ten Freshman "It's a puzzle," U-M backcourt pace," Burke said. "That's what I've worked on more than anything." Burke knows how important that teaching can be. It happened for him and resulted in a Big Ten champion- ship. "We saw this last year with Stu He could slot 6-6 freshman Nik Stauskas in at the two-guard spot, and see if the rookie's Michigan prac- tice-record 78 three-pointers in five minutes translates seamlessly into actual games. He could slip five-star prep Glenn Robinson III — an ex- tremely athletic player who claims comfort at the two, three and four spots — into that position. He could move a third true fresh- man, 6-5 Caris LeVert into that role, and see if the late signee continues to open eyes like he has in Michigan's early practices. Or, he could signal for the veteran, sharpshooting 6-4 senior Matt Vogrich. Most of those players can also op- erate at small forward, and Beilein sees his veteran perimeter perform- ers — 6-2 senior Eso Akunne, 6-3 se- nior Josh Bartelstein and 6-3 Corey Person — unselfishly teaching their rookie teammates the ropes. In short, Beilein has choices, and enviable ones, on Michigan's perim- eter. Hardaway might be the key to how that lineup looks at any given moment. "We like him in both," Beilein noted, regarding Hardaway's ability to operate at either shooting guard or small forward. "He is obviously very natural as the three man, and he knows what he is doing over there. We have choices between Matt and Glenn and Nik and Caris — they are 54 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2012 To The Puzzle Features Talent Backing Up Talent More Pieces Michigan's Perimeter Game Burke exhibited toughness and savvy beyond his class standing in helping the Wolverines to the top of the Big Ten and should be shovel- ready to dig in again. It helps, Beilein noted, that he's gone from around 175 pounds to 190 in a little more than a year at Michigan. "Trey has really worked to make his body stronger," Beilein said. "If you watch the game right now, he is involved in so many ball screens and he has the ball so much. The point guard has to be in a similar type of shape as a middle linebacker or a running back that is running it 40 times a game. That is the type of shape and strength that a point guard needs today." Burke insists he's ready physically, but desires such an intimate level of knowledge regarding Michigan's system that he can serve as instructor as well as director. of the Year and second-team All-Big Ten performer. He led the team in scoring (14.8 points per game), as- sists (156), steals (31), three-pointers (57) and average minutes played (36.1), while connecting on 43.3 per- cent from the field and 34.8 percent from three-point range. "I'm watching a lot of film, trying to get the offensive down to where I can teach the freshmen and help them learn the offense at a faster the fly, because he wanted his senior year to be special. Matt and Blake [McLimans] and Eso and Corey and Josh have taken that same attitude towards teaching these young kids. That's a really cool thing to watch them hand down to the next class. It's to our advantage." "He taught Trey our system, on brecht can potentially knock a hand- ful of minutes off those 36 per game he performed in iron man fashion last season. Beilein loves the rookie's natural feel for passing and how he can give Burke a break. "We have a lot of confidence in those two that we can use those 40 minutes more productively than we have in the past, where we don't have to use a timeout, even if it is a couple minutes rest," Beilein said. "We love what we are seeing from Spike." Albrecht, meanwhile, loves the dis- tribution options when he gets on the floor. The rookie averaged 6.9 assists per game at Northfield Mount Her- mon Prep in Massachusetts last year, and he wasn't feeding the array of It's to Burke's advantage that Al- Point guard Trey Burke led the team in scor- ing (14.8 points per game), assists (156), steals (31), three-pointers (57) and average minutes played (36.1) en route to Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 2011-12. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Douglass," assistant coach Jeff Meyer pointed out. "Stu Douglass took Trey Burke aside, and talked to him about how we run offense, how we defend screens, and was as giving a young man as a senior as I have seen in years and years and years.