MIAMI - Josh Asselin slithered off the court, shoulders drooped, head down, as 4,638 voices gave him a hearty sendoff in the final seconds of Michigan's 69-62 season-opening defeat to Florida International on Friday.
Asselin, the sophomore forward who just four days earlier electrified Crisler Arena with his thunderous dunks and aggressive play in a come-from-behind exhibition victory, led Michigan's frontcourt with its new-look, "excuse me" style of play. His line for the day? Five points, eight rebounds, two shots, two turnovers, five fouls.
"We took a step backwards tonight," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "Maybe we thought we were better than we were."
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| MARGARET MYERS/Daily Dunks like this were rare for Brandon Smith and the Michigan frontcourt, as they were shut down by Darius Cook (42) and the rest of the Florida International post game. |
The Wolverines did not box out effectively. The foursome was out-rebounded, 36-34, by a team that had no one taller than 6-foot-9.
The Golden Panthers set the tone early when Darius Cook, a 6-9 center, easily hit a 4-foot jumper over the 6-11 Asselin just a minute and a half into the game.
The Wolverines' inside defense was nearly not existent, particularly in the second half, when the Panthers scored 20 points down low on layups, dunks or short jumpers. Vignier in particular appeared too slow to handle the penetration of Florida International's speedy guards.
But Ellerbe was quick to point out that Vignier wasn't the only Wolverine struggling.
"It's easy for people to say Peter," Ellerbe said. "Peter, Josh and Chris. Brandon too. It was all four of them.
"We were very disappointed in our front line. It's easy to say we need scoring, but that's not what I was looking for. I was looking to those guys for post defense, to screen and to rebound the basketball. We didn't do that."
But the Wolverines didn't give Ellerbe any scoring, either. The big men were hesitant to take shots, letting fly a mere 13, compared to the backcourt's 44.
When they did shoot, their attempts were frequently rushed and off the mark. Asselin was the frontcourt's leading scorer with just five points.
"Michigan, obviously, is young on the inside," Florida International coach Marcos "Shakey" Rodriguez said. "They're going to need to develop an inside game a little more. Most of their offense was 3-point shooting."
But the 3-point shooting was part of the problem, too. When the inside game failed, Ellerbe said his guards, Louis Bullock and Robbie Reid, tried to overcompensate and got away from the Wolverines' game plan.
"Our post guys were very tentative," Ellerbe said. "And then our guards were overly aggressive, trying to make plays that weren't there. It was a double-edged sword."
Bullock scored a career-high 30 points, but it was on 26 shots, much more than Ellerbe envisioned him taking. The guards made poor decisions, contributing to Michigan's failure to execute routine plays.
The Wolverines turned the ball over 19 times, including 10 by Bullock and Reid.
11-16-98
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