Michigan Wolverines

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After a season in which the Michigan basketball team won a share of the Big Ten title, the Wolverines' end-of-season banquet entitled a "celebration" seemed just that. It was jovial and lighthearted, jokes were made and shots were taken at teammates.

Even Michigan basketball coach John Beilein got in on the action.

While introducing each class he picked on juniors Matt Vogrich and Blake McLimans, telling the crowd both needed to get a hair cut. Later, he looked over at Vogrich and asked, "Have I really never started you? I must not know what I'm doing."

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Question of the week is a weekly feature at WolverineNation where we ask Michigan athletes and coaches all the same questions and publish their best answers each Monday.

This week's question: If you could have any super power, which would it be and why?

MATT VOGRICH, Michigan basketball player: “I would want to be able to fly, because everyone knows I can’t jump that high and it would be really cool to be able to jump really high and fly, basketball-wise. I think that’d be really helpful. Everyone knows I’m not the most athletic person on the team, so that comes to mind. I would also take being a mind reader because I’m always wondering what people are thinking and it’d be cool to know that at all times.”

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- He had hoped the pain would disappear. That it would stop. That the tendinitis plaguing Max Bielfeldt and his knees in high school would no longer be an issue when he came to college.

Then he arrived at Michigan this summer as a freshman. He tried running and jumping and playing basketball. And the pain that started after his junior year in high school wouldn’t go away.

If anything, as Michigan basketball coach John Beilein began instructing him on how to properly land and jump off of two feet, that pain intensified.

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Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and ate his or her fair share of chocolate and candy. Whether you enjoyed that day or not, I have a perfect way for you to celebrate the day after Valentine’s Day … Wednesday’s mailbag. This will help you get over your chocolate-induced coma or cry fest.

We love hearing from our readers. If you have any questions for next week’s mailbag send them on to michaelrothsteinespn@gmail.com.

Carol, DC alum: We’ve seen the pregame rituals with David Molk/Jack Miller and Taylor Lewan/Denard Robinson. Any thoughts on what we might see next year?

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Michigan basketball coach John Beilein, senior guard Stu Douglass and redshirt sophomore Jordan Morgan met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the 25^th-ranked Wolverines' game with Nebraska on Wednesday.

Beilein:

• ON VISITING NEBRASKA FOR THE FIRST TIME: Beilein said he has never been to the state, hasn't faced Nebraska coach Doc Sadler, nor has he seen any of the Nebraska players play AAU. "When you play Michigan State, you have to be careful -- you know all their players, you know their coaches, you have to be careful you don't take things for granted," Beilein said. "This one's fresh. … There's no comfort in that."
• ON SOPHOMORE GUARD TIM HARDAWAY JR.'S PREPARATION: Beilein said they watch film and talk about everything from body language to his stat line. Beilein said Hardaway Jr. has been very receptive. "He has to continue to work at, 'What is the right play at the right time,' and let the game come to him a bit more," Beilein said. "I hate to see him turn down an open shot."

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Michigan coach John Beilein and Nebraska coach Doc Sadler called in to the Big Ten teleconference on Monday. Here are some of the points they touched on in bullet-point form.



Beilein:

• ON IN-CONFERENCE BYE WEEKS: The Wolverines will have a bye week after their matchup with Illinois on Sunday. Beilein has voiced his unhappiness with bye weeks before. "I don’t know if we should have any byes now that we have 12 teams," Beilein said. "Let's just play every Wednesday, Saturday or whatever it is." He said he doesn't like clusters when the team plays every three days, for a few weeks, but he also said he thinks the conference shouldn’t start until January. This season the Wolverines' Big Ten play started Dec. 29.
• ON THE LAST SIX GAMES: The Wolverines went 3-3 while playing four games away from Crisler Arena. Two of their wins were against ranked opponents and two of their losses came against ranked opponents. "It could've been better, but it could've been worse too," Beilein said. "We were very fortunate to win some away games. The challenge as they come up, winning on the road in this league with anybody, let alone the top teams in this league is very difficult."

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