Hoopsters Off to Uneven Start

by Andrew Golding

Optimistic? How can one not be? The Michigan men's basketball team is ranked 136th by The Sporting News, and 10th of 11 Big Ten (sic) teams by Sports Illustrated. For Head Coach Brian Ellerbe, one year away from a strong recruiting class, the critics are for naught. After all, with expectations so low, the "underachiever" stigma has been lifted; prepare the "overachiever" label.

This year's team lacks scoring punch, depth - they are only seven deep, period - and experienced post play, due to the loss of Robert Traylor (U-M bench support/NBA), Jerod Ward (U-M crowd support/WOLV broadcaster/CCRB scrimmager), Travis Conlan (tanning salon), and Maceo Baston (Cockroach Basketball League), plus Mike Weideman, last year's chief clapper. However, they possess a solid pair of guards in Louis Bullock and Robbie Reid, a versatile forward, Brandon Smith, an X-factor in Leon Jones, and three tall timbers named Chris Young, Josh Asselin, and Peter Vignier. Through three games the Wolverines have looked promising, which really means they have been neither terribly impressive nor discouraging. Versus the Melbourne (Australia) Giants in the opening, albeit exhibition game, Bullock scored 27, hit 8 of 10 treys, and sealed the outcome with nine minutes left to play in the first half. More impressive, though, was the activity of junior center Peter Vignier, formerly known solely for his video game propensity at Pinball Pete's. Vignier collected 16 rebounds, mostly from lingering around in the post area. Upon entering the press room afterwards with an ice bag on his wrist, he was jokingly asked if his "arms were sore from grabbing all those rebounds."

After averaging .3 points and .7 rebounds - "I may have been thinking way too much the last two years," he says now - Vignier can establish himself and post solid numbers this season. But will he do it in the Big Ten as he did against Melbourne, a team with tape on their uniforms? Probably not. Vignier has a limited offensive game, and is shooting 30% through three games, which is horrible for a big man who plays so close to the hoop. He is uncomfortable shooting the ball, and treats it as a hot potato; he cannot wait to get rid of the ball, and seemingly cannot do so fast enough. He, and Ellerbe, attributed his poor shooting to rushing, when asked. Ellerbe also said, "Everything's a first for Pete. We've got to be very very careful about how we bring him along."

At 6'11", Vignier can rebound, which is his greatest attribute. He is always close to the hoop, and keeps the ball alive well. In all likelihood, though, his playing time will be hindered by the development of Chris Young, a 6'9" freshman forward who resembles a young Chris Dudley.

Young has a mature, gangly body, and goes "all out. He's physical, he's tough," says Ellerbe. Like Dudley, and Vignier, he is not a scorer, but crashes the boards well and is always active.

One who can shoot well is Bullock, the solid senior guard. The Crisler crowd seems genuinely surprised when he misses, and after going 5 for 8 on free throws against Athletes in Action (AIA) on November 9th, he apologized for his wayward shooting.

Bullock is a certain NBA draft pick, and the pairing of he with Traylor (the 6th draft pick) this season would have been a great inside/outside pairing to behold. Instead, Traylor is locked out, and sitting on the U-M bench with a large, gold, Mr. T-esque chain around his neck. It is Bullock putting on the show, scoring 27, 28, and 30 points to open his final college campaign.

"Loouis," as a sign behind the bench reads, is the type of player you want shooting the ball with your life on the line. A three-pointer from 19' 9" looks like a free throw for him, and a free throw is the equivalent of a lay-up. He is that good.

Flashiness is not Bullock's style, and he rarely goes behind-the-back, between the legs, or anything similarly fancy. Bullock beats his defenders laterally, usually, and is adept at reading defenses. He does not go past his defender with his quickness, which is average, but with his move. He prefers to go left, it seems, and loves to shoot his jumper, which he steps into and releases perfectly. In a memorable moment from a pre-season pickup game, Bullock had Traylor isolated on a fast break. Instead of taking Traylor to the hoop with his quickness, Bullock angled left, dribbling towards the three-point line with Traylor following. Bullock made sure he was behind the line, set his feet, and arched his shot over Traylor's outstretched arm. Of course, it hit nothing but net, and Bullock and Traylor both chuckled as they made their way up the court. Sitting courtside at the AIA game, Detroit Pistons Coach Alvin Gentry and his assistants had to be thinking about getting Bullock into uniform. After all, he would be a perfect complement to Grant Hill. But for one more season, at his choosing, Bullock is at U-M where he will likely be frustrated by box-and-one and other defenses specifically designed to stop him.

A foreshadowing of that frustration occurred in the AIA contest, when Bullock squared off against Landon Hackim (Miami of Ohio, '96). After Bullock missed a three-pointer late in the first half, he fouled Hackim, hard, after being beaten down the floor. Ellerbe pulled him, and Bullock appeared noticeably frustrated on the bench. He had scored 18 of the team's 34 points in the first half, but had received little help from his teammates.

One player who has stepped up, relatively, is senior guard Robbie Reid, the only player besides Bullock to score in double figures in the November 13th road loss to Florida International. Reid and Bullock were heralded by the Michigan Daily as "one of the top backcourts in the nation," which is not so much indicative of U-M's talent, but of the lack of strong guard play in college basketball. Michigan State, Indiana, and Ohio State all have good guard play, arguably better than U-M's. What exactly does "one of" mean?

Reid holds the Utah high school record for field goal attempts in a game (34), he says, and is trying to "savor" the season. "This is it for me," he states, mastering the obvious. Reid may like to shoot, but is not a pure scorer; on this year's team though, he is forced to be. What the Wolverines really need is what Brandon Smith can provide, if he wants to. Smith is 6'7", agile, and able to play multiple positions. His problem is himself - he is a sophomore and appears not to realize that this UM team needs him to play like a senior.

Smith can handle the ball, run the break, and shoot the jumper, if he is open. But he is generally reluctant to do all three. He prefers to defer to Bullock and Reid, waiting for the senior guards to create something. "I can live off Lou and Robbie this year," he told the Daily. Smith can create, and inevitably cause match-up problems for the opposition. When he will do so, and understand his own talent, is the question.

Smith has a long, galloping stride, and rarely appears to go full throttle when pushing the ball up the court - he is smooth. This was most apparent in the AIA game when Smith crept towards the basket on a fast break. Instead of attacking the rim with ferocity and a vengeance, he approached coolly, as if he did not want to hurt it. In later years, instead of flipping and laying up shots peacefully, Smith will learn to attack the rim and forcefully dunk.

"The Dunk." That's what the Free Press called Josh Asselin's monster jam in the AIA game. Asselin got a step on his man at the free throw line, took one dribble, and raised up and over Dan Kreft (Northwestern, '95), known more for his web page. Ellerbe called it a "fundamental move," one every Division I player should make. Asselin's teammates were more impressed, though Smith said he is still "the best dunker. We'll give him an 8.5."

Asselin has gained 15-20 pounds of pure muscle, and seems to have inherited Traylor's position as the emotional and physical leader of the squad. He makes great facial expressions when calling for the ball in the post, but unlike Traylor, is motionless upon actually receiving the ball. Asselin has not shown any post moves to date, but is especially skilled at finishing off penetration, converting missed shots, and going strong to the hoop.

His problem, though, like Smith's, is a lack of brazenness on the offensive end. Asselin attempted only two shots in the Florida International game in a foul-plagued 26 minutes; Bullock put up 26 shots himself. For whatever reason, the U-M post players are especially reluctant to shoot the ball. It is as if they merely exist to throw the ball out to the guards, where Bullock and Reid can hoist perimeter jumpers. Versus Florida International, Bullock and Reid combined for 70% (40-57) of the field goal attempts, as no one else attempted more than four shots, and thus no one else scored more than five points. Ellerbe said the 69-62 Florida International loss was due to trying to "live by the three-ball (26 treys hoisted, of 57 total shots), which we didn't need to do tonight. It was a 'you live by the jump shot, you die by it' type of game."

That said, when U-M has no legitimate post game, what else are they left to do? Until Asselin, or Smith, or Vignier, or even Young, step up on the offensive end, U-M will continue to have difficulty scoring. Three-point bombs from Bullock and Reid are fun to watch, but are defeats? Without a third scorer, that will likely be the outcome of many Michigan games this season. MR

This article was published in the 18 November 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 17, Number 4).
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