The Victors: Project OSPREY

I had reasons to be on my church's campus on both Tuesday & Wednesday nights, but from the time I returned home to the time I retired to bed my attention was dominated by the Big Ten/A.C.C. Challenge, which ended in a 6-6 tie betwixt the conferences for the second straight year. The graphics rendering the event as the B1G/A.C.C. Challenge were useful, in that they reminded me of how deeply I dislike the "B1G" logo. I was grateful that in other instances the Big Ten's name was written out as "Big Ten."

Friday, 29 November 2013
(№ 22) Michigan 87-45 Coppin State
5-2, Big Ten 0-0

Two notable items gleaned from the Coppin State game. One, the excellent three-point shooting of freshman forward Zak Irvin was most welcome. Irvin was "Mr. Basketball" in the State of Indiana last year, so his recruitment out from under the noses of both the wily Hoosiers & ill-starred Boilermakers (both schools are located in basketball-crazed Indiana & are traditional "roundball" powers) is another major coup for Michigan head coach John Beilein. ("Happy days are here again!") Two, Coppin State's head coach is named "Fang" Mitchell. That is too, too cool.

Tuesday, 3 December 2013
(№ 10) Duke 79-69 Michigan (№ 22)
5-3, Big Ten 0-0

Crumbs! This author certainly hopes that sophomore forward Nik Stauskus was stymied by the lingering effects of an ankle injury he sustained against Charlotte, because otherwise the dominance of the Duke defense over our leading scorer augurs ill for this season's prospects; Stauskus was held without a field goal, scoring all four of his points from the free throw line. The good news for the valiant Wolverines, despite the loss, is that they played the epithetless Blue Devils even in the second half, even without Stauskus's normal offense. Sophomore guard Caris LeVert was far & away the most energetic valiant Wolverine, leading the charge with a career-high twenty-four points. Sophomore forward Mitch McGary scored fifteen, even though he is still getting up to speed after missing time due to a back injury, & freshman guard Derrick Walton Jr.'s development continued ('tis no easy task, filling the shoes of the departed Trey Burke). Irvin fell back to earth, after a stellar showing the week before against Coppin State.

I counsel patience to those who are rending their clothes & gnashing their teeth of this year's squad of valiant Wolverines. Yes, three losses already by this early stage is disappointing, especially in light of last year's school-record winning streak of sixteen games to open the season, but the squad that represents the Maize & Blue is yet very young, boasting only two upperclassmen on the whole roster. Plus, there is no easy way to replace last year's two leading scorers, Burke & Tim Hardaway Jr., now both moved on to the N.B.A. They are still finding their identity, whereas last year's squad was a continuation of the '11-'12 effort. I, too, am concerned that sophomore forward Glenn Robinson III might never live up to his prodigious potential, but let's not give up on him just yet. Big Ten play is still almost a month away, so there is plenty of time for the valiant Wolverines to find their form.

Go Blue!