"Sour optimism"

You could tell Thursday night that University of Michigan men's basketball coach Tommy Amaker might be hearing some of the whispers going around about him getting fired at season's end if it concludes with another NIT appearance.

Amaker appeared desperate, as the Wolverines took on Army in their second-to-last non-conference game before Big Ten play starts next Wednesday. For the first time all year he switched up his starting lineup... completely.

Amaker benched his five starters for three freshmen and two sophomores. It turned out to be a great decision. Jerret Smith, Reed Baker, DeShawn Sims, Jevohn Shepherd and Ekpe Udoh didn't just start the game and then let the regular starters take over. They played most of the contest, and may have gotten themselves permanent starting jobs with their play.

Credit Amaker for finding five guys who were enthused about playing, played with passion and energy and were thankful for the opportunity.

It wasn't pretty at times, to the tune of 22 turnovers, but the new starters carried Michigan to a 62-50 victory. Baker, who's listed as 6-foot-1, but doesn't looking taller than 5-11 (and appears maybe 16 years old), scored a career-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Regular starter Dion Harris, who is supposed to be Michigan's top 3-point threat, didn't score until the final minutes and finished with three points. That gives him five for the past two games.

Udoh was all over the court on both ends. For the first time since Hakeem Olajuwon retired, I thought a player had a chance at recording a triple-double that included blocks. Udoh finished with eight points, seven rebounds and nine blocks. Yes, nine.

And, hopefully for Michigan fans, they can forget about Mr. Passive, Courtney Sims, because there's a new Sims in town, a Sims who can play. DeShawn Sims is raw. He still makes careless mistakes. But he always brings a plethora of energy to the court, something that can't be said of the elder Sims.

D. Sims also wears No. 4. Chris Webber's heroics might be erased from the history books, but no one from Ann Arbor will ever forget the impact he had on the program. Sims isn't as developed as Webber was as a freshman, but he's got the talent to be something special here.

So what did a mediocre victory over an Army team that had one scoring threat (Jarell Brown - 22 points) prove about this team?

It clearly showed that the players who want to be on the court the most are the young guns. Not the guys who have been here three-plus years and suffered through NIT appearance after NIT appearance. No, the guys who haven't had to witness Michigan's recent history.

In a month, when the Wolverines are taking on the likes of Ohio State and Wisconsin, playing hard won't be enough. They'll still get fed to the cows. But on Thursday it was a start. Michigan's second team (or first team on this night) was clearly better than its regular first team.

Maybe (but probably not) Courtney Sims and company will get the message and start playing like they care. Maybe fifth-year senior Lester Abram will step up and be a vocal leader that this team so desperately needs. Maybe Harris will finally free himself of this shooting slump.

But don't count on these things.

The only thing you can count on from the Wolverines right now is that those second five will play their hearts out every game.

And maybe (but probably not) save Amaker his job.