Talk about getting off on the wrong foot.
Michigan forward Maurice Taylor missed practice yesterday because of a strained peroneal tendon in his left foot.
Michigan coach Steve Fisher said the training staff originally suspected that the foot was broken, but an X-ray of the extremity in question revealed that the injury was merely a strain.
"He's OK," Fisher said. "It's not broken."
The injury is not expected to keep Taylor - a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore last season - out for long.
Sophomore guard Louis Bullock left practice early as a precaution after reporting he was "feeling woozy."
Bullock's fellow sophomore, forward Robert Traylor, was limping a little toward the end of practice and had his right foot looked at by the training staff.
"Everybody gets nicked up," Fisher said. "That's just the cost of doing business."
"Every day somebody's limping around."
Back in the saddle: Junior swingman Jerod Ward is back practicing with the team after sitting out the second half of last season following knee surgery.
With Taylor, Traylor and junior Maceo Baston - in addition to freshman Peter Vignier - expected to occupy the low post areas, the 6-foot-9 Ward is being called upon to play closer to the perimeter, including beyond the three-point line.
Ward looked tentative during full-court drills yesterday, prompting both the coaching staff and teammates to urge him to dunk the ball instead of laying it in.
"(Ward) misses too many lay-ups, as big as he is," Fisher said. "We want him to get in there and finish in traffic."
Fisher speculated that Ward may still be affected by the knee injuries that cut short his first two seasons as a Wolverine.
"I think maybe a little subconsciously (he may be affected)," Fisher said.
New kid in town: At least Vignier doesn't have to play against Taylor, Baston and Traylor during the season. Playing against them in practice is hard enough for the 6-foot-11 freshman, Fisher said.
"(Vignier's) behind the other three big guys, without question," Fisher said. "But on occasion, you see a glimmer of 'Boy oh boy, I like that.'"
"He's going to have a baptism of fire," Fisher said.
Charity stripe: At the end of last season, Traylor needed to work on three things - his broken arm, his weight and his foul shooting.
Since then, his arm healed and he dropped some weight, but the foul shots - well, that's still up in the air. No pun intended.
Last season, Traylor shot only 54.8 percent from the line, connecting on just 34 of 62 free throw attempts.
So far in practice this season, the trimmer Traylor has looked about the same from the line.
"He had one day where he was five of 24," Fisher said. "He was 57 percent the first week, which is not very good."
But on the other side of the equation, the Wolverines have one of the best free throw shooters in the nation in sophomore guard Bullock.
Bullock leads all returning Wolverines in free throw percentage. He finished the 1995-96 season with a 84.5 percent clip.
Bullock finished third overall last season behind Neal Morton (85.7) and Dugan Fife (84.6), who both graduated.
Theme week: Poor defense, poor foul shooting down the stretch and poor shot selection usually result from a lack of fundamentals. And at times, the Wolverines have been guilty of lacking such fundamentals.
In order to prevent such maladies this season, Fisher has decided to devote each week to working on a specific team problem.
"We have a theme each week, and this week it's execution," Fisher said. "We want them to do that when they get tired, and that's when you slip, when you get tired."
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Robert Traylor has shed a few pounds, hoping to see more of the hoop this year.