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Posted on Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 2:02 p.m.

Michigan basketball players and coaches eager to see Paris while in Europe

By Michael Rothstein

If one thing was abundantly clear in the lead-up to the Michigan basketball team's departure to Europe, it is that few of them have traveled overseas.

The Wolverines flew to Amsterdam today and will play four games in Belgium. Some players and Michigan head coach John Beilein discussed what they hope to see while they aren't playing basketball.

Novak, Zack (2009-10).jpg

Zack Novak

Zack Novak, junior guard/forward:: "The Louvre. It’s supposed to be the best museum in the world so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing that. That’s where the Mona Lisa is. That’s a pretty solid picture. Might be fun to see that."

Tim Hardaway Jr., freshman swingman: "The Eiffel Tower. I’ve only seen it on postcards and 'Rush Hour 3.' "

Matt Vogrich, sophomore guard: "I don’t know. I’ve never been to Europe before. I just want to see how the people act, just the differences in cultures and how much different it is than America. I just kind of want to see, I know wer’e going to get stared at a little bit because we’re taller. We’re going to look a little interesting. So I want to see how people are going to act and how we’re going to get treated and just how regular conversation goes with someone from Europe."

John Beilein, head coach: "This is a huge history lesson, a huge history lesson for everybody. What I’d like to do in the future is have this be an actual course where the guys, went and studied Western European history and went over and wrote a paper. Because it was thrown together so fast, we could never get that in the curriculum, but it would be a great way to end the course, with an extended field trip. But there will be a large part of the culture of Europe because we’ll be in three countries and three pretty nice cities, Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris, for a day."

Blake McLimans, redshirt freshman forward: "Paris. Just being over there. I’ve never been over to Europe. The only place I’ve been outside the United States is Canada, so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I’m not a big, I don’t like flying much but I’m definitely excited about going over there." Do you need an aisle? "Honestly, I'll fall asleep in the first five minutes (of the flight), but I'm looking forward to it."

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein

Comments

chimarathon

Sat, Aug 21, 2010 : 4:54 a.m.

Stay out of the "coffee" shops guys

48104

Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 4:24 p.m.

Don't get your hopes up, guys -- both the Mona Lisa and the Eiffel Tower are smaller than you imagined.

Michael Rothstein

Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 3:24 p.m.

Yelmonian, That would be hilarious. And, if they did, I'd hope they'd get video of it.

Yelmonian

Fri, Aug 20, 2010 : 3:13 p.m.

Do you think they can play wiffle ball in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower?