Often, in the bouts of writers block and droughts of creativity that can plague us while we struggle to write something a few times a week, we search for stories or fresh, novel angles to write about the same thing. We’ve certainly been guilty – we’ve written about the 2008/2009 Wolverine basketball teams as a growth lesson for DeShawn Sims, we’ve written about the first and second Fab Fives, and relentlessly praised the walk-ons and gritty true freshmen. All of this ignores the obvious story – the one blatantly in our face – the one so obvious that we resisted writing it. In the desperations of finding new things to write about, we’ve ignored the obvious one – Manny Harris.
Lets be honest. Sims has occassionally carried this team, the walk-on seniors have proven inspirational, and the two freshmen have been unexpected suprises. CJ Lee may be this team’s beating heart, but Manny Harris is the corporal body – and at no time has this been more obvious than leading this unlikely succesful basketball team to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
In the first half, Harris kept the team in the game, and then asserted a small lead through his scoring. Never a phenomenal three-point shooter, Harris bombed contested three-point shots that found nothing but the bottom of the net. At the start of the game, as it seemed like Michigan wouldn’t grab a defensive rebound for the entire game, Harris swooped in from the wing to close Clemson’s five-shot possessions. As Clemson’s athletic post players closed in on the room, Manny swatted their shots away.
In the second half, Michigan made it’s run – but Harris largely didn’t score. Harris facilitated the scoring by driving into the lane and finding open three-point looks for Stu Douglass, Zach Novak, and CJ Lee. Through the first thirty minutes of the game, there was hardly a successful possession that couldn’t be traced to Manny. As the offense exerted itself, the defense intensified, and Clemson grew frustrated.
The momentum wouldn’t last, and Michigan, living on the margins all year, began to wilt. A sixteen point lead was whittled to a slim two-point margin under an avalance of turnovers and poor shot selection.
With a minute to play, Michigan struggled to break Clemson’s press – seemingly edging the ball over the half-court line with milliseconds to spare. Michigan quickly swung the ball to Harris, who found himself on the wing without a defender. Harris drove to the hoop and was met by a Clemson defender who gave every effort to prevent Harris from even releasing the ball in the direction of the hoop. Recent Michigan basketball history had been plagued by stars spitting the bit in moments such as this. As Manny lept into the air, flashes of Courtney Sims flubbing a game-winning dunk flashed through the conciousness. Harris, however, muscled through the foul, and his shot found the bottom of the hoop – leading to a five point advantage that Michigan wouldn’t relinquish.
Harris is the obvious star of this team – and as such, has frequently been looked over for more “gritty” or “inspirational” stories. However, on the biggest stage on which Michigan has found itself for ten years, Harris single-handedly pulled the budding Michigan program to an NCAA tournament win and earned us the right to display the following picture.
Popularity: 1%
Loading ...