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John Leroi Out of Bounds |
It took almost the entire first half, but that was hardly a long time to wait. Not for Louis Bullock.
Michigan's career 3-point mark was his for the taking. After only 1 1/2 seasons, he needed just one three to claim a school record as his own.
Everyone - including Bullock - knew it was going to happen Saturday. It was just a matter of time.
The Crisler crowd was already standing when his first attempt glanced harmlessly off the rim. It took him almost 12 minutes to wriggle free for another shot at history.
And when that one fell, just like the 135 before it, Louis Bullock was content to jog back down the floor and play defense. No raised hands. No Reggie Miller impersonations. Nothing to indicate that this slim 19-year-old, in only 55 games, had just broken Glen Rice's career 3-point record at Michigan.
If the referees hadn't stopped the game, Bullock would have gone about his business. His teammates hugged him, but he hardly hugged them back.
"I feel I sell myself short and sell my teammates short if I start thinking about breaking records," Bullock said. "I'm just glad to get it over with."
This wasn't just another athlete trying to act modest. Bullock meant it.
The record was his. It's not as if he doesn't want it, he just doesn't care as much as you might think.
Though Bullock snagged himself a piece of the record books Saturday, his place in Michigan history was earned long ago.
In actuality, the record means little. Rice, though he played just three seasons with the 3-point line, could have had far more than 135.
He sank just 36 threes during his sophomore and junior seasons when then-Michigan coach Bill Frieder needed him down low more than he did behind the arc.
Rice exploded in his senior year, netting 99 threes - a Michigan single-season record Bullock will have trouble matching this year. He finished his career having hit 48 percent of his shots from 3-point range - another school record. If Frieder had let him bomb away the previous two seasons, Rice would have likely doubled his career mark.
One hundred thirty-five threes is not a lot.
Still, Bullock should be applauded - but not for breaking Rice's record in such a short amount of time.
He should be appreciated beacuse he is Michigan's best player, though everyone sang the praises of Maurice Taylor when the season began.
He should be praised beacuse he is a terrific basketball player and a phenomonal shooter. And unlike some other Wolverines, he'll only get better.
He's on his way to being one of the conference's best outside shooters ever. He even has a shot at breaking Shawn Resperts' Big Ten record of 331 triples in a career - a much more meanigful mark than the one he acheived Saturday.
What makes Bullock special is this: he's the best pure shooter the Wolverines have had since Rice. When Bullock came to Ann Arbor in 1995, he was expected to be Michigan's savior, what Bobby Crawford and Jimmy King were not: a long-range wizzard.
Before his freshman season, sports writers actually wanted to see Bullock shoot at media day - an event usually reserved for player introductions and interviews - just to make sure Fisher had actually landed a shooter with a Midas touch.
Bullock was as quiet and stoic that day as he was Saturday. He didn't look or act like a basketball player. But he was one.
As for 3-point records, Bullock could care less. He kept the basketball he shot the record-breaking three with. But he couldn't even find it after the game.
It'll go home with his parents when they visit next week, but not before each one of his teammates - walk-ons and all - sign it.
"I owe it all to them," Bullock says. He meant that, too.
- John Leroi can be reached over e-mail at jrleroi@umich.edu