It's been a long time since Michigan basketball mattered, even on a regional level. They've been on the back-burner locally due to futility, Michigan State basketball, and UM football; among other things. If you wanna talk about national prominence, you have to go all the way back to the "Fab Five" days of Chris Webber and Jalen Rose. In the aftermath of the Steve Fisher era, no progress was made. The Tommy Amaker hiring seemed like a good idea, since he was a Coach K disciple and all. It just didn't pan out, despite the NIT championship in 2004. Enter John Beilein.
We're only five games into his second season, and you can tell this program is on the rise. The national college basketball fans even had to take note last week, when the Wolverines took down mighty UCLA. Sure, the game can be dismissed for a myriad of different reasons, but the tell-tale sign this program is on the rise was the way the team stayed grounded in the aftermath.
Just ask their star player, sophomore Manny Harris:
"We all have to be on the same page knowing that one win isn't good enough," Harris said Monday.Coach Beilein has been preaching to his young team these very things.
"You're not going to be successful unless you can handle the successes you have," Beilein said Monday. "You have to start over every game. That's part of the roller-coaster ride that we'll have here for a while."The roller coaster ride continued, as they lost to Duke in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic. This doesn't mean the program took a step backwards, not in the least. It's still a process, and you aren't going to totally right a ship that only steered itself to a 10-22 record last season. The team is still really young, and their best player is only a sophomore. The key for the Wolverines is to not get too high or too low, and to take care of their inferior opponents with ease.
In that vane, they pasted Norfolk State by 34 last night.
And guess what? They get another shot at Duke on December 6th. Is the next progression a victory in this rematch against a clearly superior foe? We'll see.
I know I'll be watching. It would be nice to see Michigan matter again, and that's coming from an Indiana grad.
