Manciel-less Chips will be OK
With reigning Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year Mike Manciel still sidelined following offseason foot surgery, many thought the Chips themselves would be slowed down.
Somebody forgot to tell that to Jay Smith's team.
Smith and company had hoped to have the 6-foot-5 forward back in the fold in time for the regular season.
But with Manciel still out, Smith and his staff have had to change their plan on the fly and the team has also had to adapt.
Both have succeeded.
Leading the way for the team has been Manciel's high school teammate on three state high school basketball champions while at Detroit Country Day, sophomore guard David Webber.
The 6-2, 190-pounder had his first career double-double in the win over Wright State with 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. He then came back at Illinois-Chicago with a career-best 26 points.
Webber, who averaged 9.4 points per game as a freshman, is scoring at a 20.7 clip to lead Central. He's also tops in rebounds with 6.0 an outing.
But Webber is far from being the only Chippewa stepping up in Manciel's abscence.
Junior guard Tim Kisner has 12 assists to just six turnovers this season, while Jon Borovich has 123 assists with just four turnovers.
Freshman guard J.R. Wallace has expanded off the energy he showed at this year's Moon Jam and could turn into this year's Manciel. The Muskegon-Reeths Puffer grad tallied a career-high 12 points at UIC, including nine in the second stanza.
The 6-0 first year standout also grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists and had two blocks.
Hometown product Dan Schell has continued his strong play for the Chippewas, providing the defensive toughness mixed in with a more-than-you'd-think offense repertoire. Schell's greatest asset though may be his leadership.
The 6-5 center, the smallest starting pivot in the MAC last season, is also part of a larger group.
Schell, along with fellow seniors Todd Simmons, Ted Baggett and juniors Luke Johnson, Borovich and Kisner have played for Smith all three years he has been at CMU. They have really started to emulate the characteristic defense, toughness and energy which Smith has championed since being named Head Coach in April 1997.
These intangibles has helped the team overcome the loss of Manciel. In a way, the team is able to overcome the loss of any one player due to a belief that no one player is bigger than the team, ring a bell Lions' fans?
So eventually the team will get Manciel back, perhaps as early as the game against national powerhouse Xavier on Dec. 11, and they will be better for it.
They will be better because the MAC Freshman of the Year, Manciel will be back. But they'll also be better because they realize they can be good without him.
