Nov. 9, 2009
Every Monday, 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 Anthony Wright to talk about his performance in last year's NCAA Tournament, Coach Beilein's practice drills, and his favorite Ann Arbor food joint.
Check back every Monday all season-long for more installments!
It has been well-documented that with the departure of C.J. Lee and David Merritt this team needs to find new leadership. As a player with a lot of experience, do you see yourself filling this role?
10. "Most definitely. We're a young team still with six freshmen. It's a difficult offense at times and I see myself taking more of a leadership role. There's been a few times where I've had to pull someone to the side to go over plays and make sure they know the basics."
What did you learn during your redshirt year?
9. "The whole atmosphere of college basketball. You have to bring it everyday because every team is good, no matter if it's a powerhouse or a mid-major. Those are probably the most dangerous schools because they have a whole bunch of solid players and really work well as a team."
Who is your favorite athlete at U-M that is not a member of the men's basketball team?
8. "I've got two. Zoltan Mesko (football)... man, he can punt that ball a mile. And Dorian Shaw (softball). I'm a big-time softball fan. It's the weirdest thing. She's lives about 20 minutes from my house in Virginia and I've seen her hit during the spring a couple times."
When you want to grab some grub around Ann Arbor, where do you go?
7. "Man, I'm on a diet right now, but if I were to choose, I'd say it's either Pizza House or Grizzly Peak. Calamari is my favorite non-entrée, and while Pizza House is good, Grizzly Peak's may be the best up here. They dust it with some onions or something. It's crazy."
Second round of the NCAA Tournament last year, you had 14 points, went 5-for-7 from the field. Flashback to that moment... how did it feel to play on a stage like that?
6. "I've played in lot of clutch games but being able to do that on the college level was big. The whole transition from high school to here helped out a lot."
Who has been the most important or influential person in your life?
5. "My mother, by far. I have a tattoo of my mom's name. She's probably the strongest person I know. She's very supportive, but she's probably harder on me than I am. And that's almost impossible."
When Manny and DeShawn announced they were coming back to Michigan, what was going through your head?
4. "I think it was more of a media circus, to be honest, but it's great having those guys back. We've got a lot of firepower back, as well as Laval [Lucas-Perry], [Zack] Novak and [Stu] Douglass. And a great freshmen class coming in... we have so many pieces on this team. I pretty much knew they were coming back. DeShawn was like, 'Man, I don't know what's going on. They're asking me if I'm going or leaving... I'm just Peedi'."
What is the hardest but most-rewarding drill that Coach Beilein runs the team through at practice?
3. "Around the Horn. I hate it because going eight minutes in a one-on-one setting is tough, and it's in the middle of practice after all the shooting and running we do. But I love it because it gives me a chance to work on my individual game, defensively and offensively. I can be a little selfish there."
How did playing for an elite program like Oak Hill Academy prepare you for Division I basketball differently than other high school recruits?
2. "Traveling, traveling and traveling. It's an elite group of players. Like, I have five or six teammates in the NBA now with several more overseas. Not only basketball-wise, but mentally, just growing up with those guys and learning to change my game on the court to where the team needs me the most."
Any significance to your jersey number, No. 12?
1. "To be honest, I wanted No. 21, but Kendric Price had it. I wore No. 44 during middle school and it gave me good luck, but that was taken. My childhood friend Amanda wore No. 12, so I told her I was going to use hers. It's worked out well so far."
THE DOUBLE BONUS
You were teammates with some future pros at Oak Hill, guys like Josh Smith, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Durant, and Ty Lawson. Any distinct memories in practice with those guys? Did you dunk on one of them or reject a shot?
"I didn't dunk on them, but when I was a sophomore, I was playing two-guard in a two-three zone with (Atlanta Hawks forward) Josh Smith lining up across from me. Now, coach had really been ripping into Josh that day, so he was pretty mad. One of the guys said something smart and sarcastic to me, so I decided to let Josh get by me and I'm not even kidding here, he jumped off a foot from the free-throw line with two feet and threw one down on both of them. Coach started laughing and told us to get some water. I guarded him all the time. He didn't dunk on me that day, but the help-side defender got it pretty good."
