The Wolverine

December 2012

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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I when guards C.J. Lee and David Mer- ritt were helping lead the Wolverines to the 2009 NCAA Tournament. While Lee and Merritt's contributions will never be discounted, the days of non- scholarship players in key roles ap- pear to be over. t wasn't long ago that Michigan head coach John Beilein was playing walk-ons in key roles — only a few years ago, in fact, BY CHRIS BALAS Freshmen Are Key In Michigan's Quick Start Quick Learners the first team. Robinson III is the only frosh in the starting lineup, averaging 12.2 points and 7.5 rebounds through six games after a Nov. 27 matchup with North Carolina State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. He was the Wolverines' fourth leading scorer as of Nov. 27, while Stauskas (13.0 points per game) and McGary (5.5 points) were third and fifth, respectively. On any given day, one of the fresh- men might emerge as the leading man freshman class would be the one that helped U-M get to the next level in terms of deep runs in the NCAA Tournament and potential Final Fours. There's a long way to go, but if a 6-0 start and No. 3 national ranking isn't enough to impress Beilein — and it's not, he insisted Nov. 27, noting "it's only November" — what he sees on the floor every day just might be. Freshmen Glenn Robinson III Many predicted Michigan's five- (wing), Mitch McGary (forward), Nik Stauskas (shooting guard) and Spike Albrecht (point guard) have all con- tributed significant minutes. Even shooting guard Caris LeVert, though he has yet to play in a non-exhibition game, is showing signs of potential future stardom. "Every day it's a war out there, figuring it all out [can be tough]. … We can play big or small," Beilein said. "When we went five or six deep maybe we'd have to play some zone, do different things. Now we can get different rotations, different players." scorer ahead of starters Tim Hard- away Jr. (17.8 points per game), Trey Burke (16.7), Jordan Morgan (5.3) or Matt Vogrich (2.0). "It's a good problem to have, but whether we're going against the scout team or the second team," Beilein said. "Having Caris at the point, Eso Akunne at the two … Corey Person is an excellent defender who really un- derstands what we're doing. Then you have Max Bielfeldt and Blake McLi- mans — that's a pretty good scout team. "Even when we go Maize versus Blue, the first five against the second, that's inspired, too. It doesn't bring up the confidence a great deal, because we're not blowing anybody out in practice." That's due in part to the fact that the scorers aren't exactly stacked on Wing Glenn Robinson III started every game, ranked fourth in scoring (12.2 points per game) and led the team in rebounding (7.5 caroms per contest) during the Wolverines' 6-0 start. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL likely be freshmen for the remainder of the season, with Robinson the head- liner. The reserved, almost shy 6-6 standout lacks ego and could afford to be more assertive, but his knowledge of the game — on both ends of the floor — is one of the reasons the Wol- verines have stepped up their game ROBINSON III, STAUSKAS PROVIDE SCORING PUNCH Four of those in the rotation will he's just patient." Beilein had seen enough of Robin- son in high school to know he was get- ting a special athlete. Still, there were a few pleasant surprises when he first got to see him play. "His speed is the biggest thing," Beilein said. "If he makes mistakes, he can make up for it. Everybody talks about his athleticism, and you see his vertical jump, but his speed is amaz- ing. He can make up for mistakes by others and himself. His ability to play without fouling, too, has been huge. That's atypical of a lot of freshmen." So, too, is the confidence and swag- ger to take the big shot regardless of the setting. Burke proved last year he was special in that respect, carrying the offense in many games in earning team MVP honors. Stauskas is this year's version of Burke, albeit in a different (lanky, 6-6) Head coach John Beilein on U-M's newfound depth thanks to the freshmen "It's a good problem to have, but figuring it all out [can be tough]. … We can play big or small. When we went five or six deep maybe we'd have to play some zone, do different things. Now we can get different rotations, different players." another notch after a 2011-12 Big Ten championship season. Robinson has had most of his suc- cess finishing in transition and scor- ing outside on offense, still learn- ing in putting the ball on the floor. He'd turned it over only seven times through six games, however, and led the team with 16 offensive rebounds in 32.3 minutes per game. "Trey [Burke] was this way last year," Beilein said in November. "They body and at a different position. He was shooting 70.0 percent from three- point range (7 of 10) after three games and hasn't cooled much since. He was scoring at a clip of 13.0 points per game with 3.2 rebounds per contest, while shooting 59.5 percent from the field (22 of 37), 58.3 percent (14 of 24) from three-point range and 95.2 per- cent from the free throw line (20 of 21) through six games. "He sees a zone, and he certainly DECEMBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 47 just pick up things easily. It comes eas- ily to him; he learns it. There's another gear that I think he's got — not on defense, because he's got all the gears he needs on defense, but on offense, getting him to be more assertive and put more pressure on the rim. "But Glenn's just really good. He's out there playing now, defensively. Offensively he lets the game come to him. He's got a good mix where he's so intense on defense, and offensively

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