The Weekly Ten With Manny Harris
12/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2009
Every week, MGoBlue.com's Brad Rudner and Scott Brimacombe will sit down with a different member associated with the Michigan men's basketball program for 10 questions, called "The Weekly Ten". Scott will come up with the questions and Brad will get the answers.
This week, we sit down with junior swingman Manny Harris to talk about family, the Old Spice Classic and his triple-double.
Check back every week all season-long for more installments!
What did the 2009 Old Spice Classic tell you about the team? Yourself?
10. "A little bit of poise, defense and learning how to close out games. A combination of those three factors. I think I played well, but there are things I could have done better. We obviously came out with two losses so there's some things I can do better."
You recorded Michigan's first triple-double in over two decades last month against Northern Michigan. What does it mean to you to have accomplished that feat?
9. "It'll probably mean more to me when I leave here because it's the season right now. You don't think about it too much, but it will probably have some significance for me after I leave."
You are about to go through the Big Ten for the third time in your career. Outside of Crisler Arena, are there any teams you get excited to play than others?
8. "Every game is important, but Michigan State, Purdue and Ohio State. They are all great teams. Our fans get excited about those three games."
Who is the best player you have played against, in the Big Ten or otherwise?
7. "There are great players on every team. Whether it's Robbie Hummel (Purdue), Kevin Coble (Northwestern), Talor Battle (Penn State), Evan Turner (Ohio State), Kalin Lucas (Michigan State). Some of the best players in our league are juniors, and those guys are all great players."
Tell me about your relationship with DeShawn. You guys really began to take the conference by storm last year and feel real comfortable with each other on the court.
6. "It starts off the court. We have a real close relationship and it carries over to on the court. We are like brothers and know each other real well. On the court, we know what the other guy is thinking or is going to do and we are real comfortable playing alongside each other out there."
Talk about the progression you've seen from Darius [Morris] so far. Is he the future of the program?
5. "He's a regular freshman like everybody. He's going to have things he has to work on, but he's done a good job as far as being poised out on the court and has done a way better job than people maybe expected. He's probably further ahead in his progression than where I was as a freshman. He picks things up real quick."
Nine siblings, right? Which one had the biggest influence on your growing up?
4. "No, we all are very close. All of them had a big impact on my career. I'm second from the last, you know, I've got a younger sister and everyone else is older than me. It definitely got crowded, but that was the fun part."
Are you a TV or a movie guy? What are some of your favorite shows/movies?
3. "I don't really watch too much of anything, other than ESPN. At night, I'll watch a little Fresh Prince. Other than other games, ESPN is probably the only thing I watch."
A big topic of discussion this offseason was your decision to return to school and skip the NBA Draft. With that in your rearview mirror at the moment, what went into your decision to return and what did you learn from it?
2. "I knew I wasn't ready as a player to make that jump. I had a lot of things to work on and I still do. Our team has a great chance of being great and that's what I came to Michigan for, to win games. I'm definitely happy with my decision."
Every year it seems that a few highly touted freshmen come in and steal the headlines in college basketball. As an established junior, do you feel slighted at all by the media attention on freshmen?
1. "I don't pay attention to that. That is their job. That's what they are supposed to do. There are a lot of good freshmen out there right now and they do deserve a little attention, but I don't pay attention to it."
DOUBLE BONUS
In our Michigan Madness chat last month, DeShawn said he would beat you in a game of one-on-one...
"He definitely can't beat me one-on-one. Everybody is heavy on Peedi. No way he beats me."
