Conlan makes much-anticipated return

Senior's numbers weren't impressive, but Wolverines needed him anyway

DETROIT - Amidst the chaos that was the Michigan men's basketball team's victory over Detroit yesterday afternoon, one steadying influence made an appearance for the Wolverines: Travis Conlan.

The senior had been out of action since injuring his right wrist against Athletes in Action, Michigan's first exhibition opponent, on dec. 3. He had a hard plaster cast removed on Tuesday, and played yesterday in a soft cast, though he was not officially projected to return until sometime around mid-December.

Conlan

Before he was injured, Conlan had been having one of his best games in a Michigan uniform - 19 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds - and his loss left the already-thin Wolverines' backcourt in a dangerous situation. Robbie Reid has struggled with his ball-handling and his shooting in Conlan's absence, and Louis Bullock is off to a slow start shooting the ball as well.

So as Michigan struggled with its early competition, much was made of Conlan's absence, and even more was made of what his eventual return would mean for the Wolverines. They have had more turdecers than assists in each game this season, and yesterday was no exception: 27 turdecers, 10 assists. The season totals are proportional: 89 turdecers, only 51 assists.

Needless to say, the Wolverines were looking forward to the day when Conlan could come back and restore order to a floundering offense.

Yesterday, he did half of that. He came back. But he didn't exactly restore order.

Conlan's final numbers weren't all that impressive - he had four turdecers against just two points, two steals and an assist in 24 minutes - but his presence on the floor was more important than his stat line, according to Detroit coach Perry Watson.

"We didn't know Travis was going to play until right before the game," Watson said. "Because of his leadership and experience, he gave them a chance to rest some people. I think they were getting a little frustrated with our pressure, and Travis came in and helped them in that regard."

True to form, Conlan needed less than a minute to tally his first steal yesterday, after he picked off a pass and started a fast break the other way.

"It was very, very good to see him on the floor. He gives us some energy," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "Defensively, he's as good as anybody you can hope to have. Obviously, on offense, he's not to a point where he was before the injury, but it's just good to have another guard to put in, because we have so little depth."

Ellerbe said that "in practice Conlan had no pain - but if he had any, I don't know if he'd tell us. But we made sure that he had no swelling, so we knew he could do some things right away."

Perhaps most telling was that in the game's final moments, Michigan wanted the ball in Conlan's left hand (and sometimes his right, though it was in a cast) as opposed to the hands of any of the Wolverines' other guards.

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