TheWolverine.com - Beilein talks Harris injury, rotation

November 5, 2009

Chris Balas
TheWolverine.com Senior Editor

Michigan faces Wayne State in its first game of the season Friday night, only an exhibition but a good opportunity to see where the team stands. Head coach John Beilein will continue to tinker with his lineups while going slow with injured wing Manny Harris.

"Being a guy that coached at Division II level for nine years, if anybody followed what my former Dolphins [LeMoyne] did the other night [beating Syracuse], these guys can play, too," said Beilein, a former coach at LeMoyne. "It will be great for us to get out there on the court to play against someone who cares about winning as much as we do."

Beilein and his staff continue to experiment with different lineups in practice.

"We talk about it all the time ? trying to get people in positions where they can be successful is an ongoing process," he said. "We're certainly better off than two years ago when we were trying to do all these things, but we spent a lot of time today looking at the options in a bigger lineup ? what are the options if Manny's hurt, different things.

"We're exploratory still and it will be that way for the full semester, and probably in the Big Ten. Last year we made changes ? when Penn State came here it was February when we made a big change."

Those expected to be in the rotation tomorrow night are Laval Lucas-Perry, Darius Morris and Stu Douglass at the guard spots, Matt Vogrich and Manny Harris on the wing, Anthony Wright, Zack Novak, Zack Gibson and DeShawn Sims playing the forward spots and Ben Cronin the 10th guy providing some minutes inside.

"The point guard is the big one right now. That's the one where we're going to experiment with what's the best way to go about the rotations," said Beilein. "How does Matt Vogrich go in the whole equation?

"If Manny is injured or can't go 100 percent, who is the guy that gives us closest to what Manny does? Is it Anthony Wright. Matt Vogrich? There are different people. We have to have a backup plan there, as well."

Harris is healing, but not at his best just yet. His biggest limitation is being cautious so he doesn't injure it again.

"We pull him out of things and don't encourage some things. In a game he's going to move around, but he's doing a lot of therapy because it's a high hamstring. The higher hamstring, they tell me, takes longer to heal than a regular mid-level hamstring.

"He's been okay. Hopefully he'll be able to go full today. He went full yesterday the whole time and was back to his old self, and we need that. That was probably the best he looked yesterday."

Michigan and Wayne State tip off at 7:00 Friday night in Crisler Arena.

"We do not want to lose this game now," said Beilein. "But we will be trying to get nine or 10 guys ready for our first game, which is in a week. We'll be treating this as a game like situation, as will Wayne State. You want to make this as close to the real thing, and the real thing is that you don't play 15 in a game."

Notebook

? Michigan held a closed scrimmage with Eastern Michigan over the weekend, featuring some good and some bad. Senior DeShawn Sims played extremely well in leading the way, some teammates said, while junior Manny Harris didn't play much due to his hamstring injury.

"It was normal," said Beilein. "There were some very good things, and then some things we have to work at. We're still going to experiment with the rotation. We're going to try something else this time, and everything is experimental. I wouldn't be surprised if there were changes as the year went on.

"You try to do that. You try to figure out, if this doesn't work, what is the effect on the change? We're trying to mix it all together, but we're still experimenting."

? Redshirt freshman Ben Cronin is coming around following offseason hip surgery.

"He's been doing okay. He's got good points," said Beilein. "He's productive when he gets in there, and I said the other day we think he might be a gamer ? a guy who is good in practice but might have a feel in games how to get things done. But you don't know until the lights are on over and over and over again. He's running better, bouncing better, but still not 70 percent of what he will be at one point, so be patient with him."

Cronin has been showing off his passing skills in recent practices.

"When we throw the ball into the post, he has a couple of things with a nice little shot, but also you can throw him the ball at the high post in the 2-3 zones, you can't virtually keep it from him," said Beilein. "You just throw it over the guards, and he's an excellent passer. There are things we can do with post entries when he's in the game."

? Freshman Darius Morris has an inherent advantage at the point, though he's in a battle for the starting job.

"One of the biggest things he's done hasn't been [accomplished] here in the two weeks he's practiced," Beilein said. "It's just his history of running a team. We don't have a guy out there right now, with the exception of maybe Josh Bartelstein, who has ever run a team.

"Like C.J. [Lee] was for us, David [Merritt], Kelvin [Grady] ? they have to be the coach on the floor, a little bit. We see that leadership or mentality in him right now. His head is still swimming, like any other freshman. It would be what you go through when it's a quarterback that's a freshman. Boy, that's really hard. It's really hard for them to make adjustments as the year goes on.

"But after they're done with it - after many games or a couple of years - all of a sudden through those hard times, it's much easier to understand what he has to do."

Morris has made an impact with his speed, said Beilein.

"If you look at his body, his length and his speed, I'm really impressed with his speed so far," he said. "I think people will really like his quickness. He wants to play it, has got great length to play it, plays it very hard, so he's going to have to learn to stay out of foul trouble ? playing hard and playing smart. He likes it."

? Freshman big man Blake McLimans continues to adjust to the college game.

"He's okay," said Beilein. "He hasn't been able to get the reps that the other guys get. You only get 10 guys ready, so he's trying to learn from that 10th, 11th, 12th position ? it's hard to do. But we'll try to get him in there."

? Vogrich is adjusting well to shooting over bigger bodies, teammates say, but it's a different ball game now.

"They realize in our practices and scrimmages we've had that being open in high school is different that being open in college. When a guy is 6-6 and closing out on you, long arms who can jump out of the gym, it's a whole lot different," said Beilein. "But I'm really anxious to see what he does in these situations and as he grows, because he and Darius already have showed us an intelligence for picking up things that is rare for freshmen."

? Freshman big man Jordan Morgan is still recovering from his knee injury and has yet to enter the practice fray.

"He just moved back a little bit right now that he is not gong to be going full court for another couple weeks. We thought he'd be going full court by now, but not yet," said Beilein.

"We have windows still, and you can always ? if there's any question in our mind, we will choose redshirt until you have to burn it. This exhibition game doesn't affect the redshirt."

? Sophomore Zack Novak sprained his ankle last weekend but has recovered, Beilein reported.

"He's been shut down a little the last week. You won't see a dramatic difference, but a difference in his speed [when he's healthy]."

Michigan NEWS

[More]

Latest Headlines:

Resources:

FEATURED PRODUCT