The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 7A
- No longer just a shooter, Sims
begins transition to post play
Why this offense
can't adapt
Junior likely to play
in the four or five
spot for Michigan
this season
By RUTH LINCOLN
Daily Sports Writer
Junior DeShawn Sims is ready
for a new role.
Last May, forward Ekpe Udoh
transferredtoBay-
lor after spending NOTEBOOK
two seasons as a
key forward, leaving Michigan with
an opening down low.
While playing on the perimeter
most of last season, Sims strug-
gled finishing drives and making
layups. This year, he will likely
replace Udoh filling the four or five
spot.
"As soon as the season ended
last year, I knew I was going to
have to pick my game up a level to
be successful," Sims said yesterday
at Michigan Media Day.
Sims, the Wolverines' second-
leading scorer last season behind
Manny Harris (12.3 points per
game), led Michigan in 3-point
attempts(142).Buthis new role will
allowhim to alternatebetweenthe
two spots.
"I'll keep shooting the ball at the
convenience that the team needs
me, or if we need a big shot," Sims
said. "If I hit 10 threes in a row, I'm
not going to say I wish I had shot10
jumpers in a row."
Playing as an outside shooter in
past seasons allowed him to devel-
op a different skill set that typical
post players don't often learn.
"If we really wanted to play
small ball, we can do that, because
he can really shoot," Michigan
coach John Beilein said.
At 6-foot-8, 225 pounds, Sims's
size is a concern. He will need to
improve his leverage to effectively
shoot, rebound and block shots in
the Big Ten.
"We've been working on getting
into positions where he can hold
up off ofbigger players," director of
basketball strength and condition-
ing Mike Curtis said. "That doesn't
necessarily mean he's picked up a
lot of weight, but he's gotten stron-
ger relative to his body weight."
The Wolverines officially begin
practice Oct.17, a few weeks before
their first exhibition game against
Saginaw Valley State on Nov. 6.
During those three weeks, Beilein
will evaluate the play of his other
big men - redshirt junior Zack
Gibson, redshirt freshman Eric
Puls and freshman Ben Cronin -
before setting his starting five.
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Editor
S hotgun formations. Wide
receiver screens. Four- and
five-receiver_
sets.
Sounds like thisI
year's Michigan
offense, right?
Not exactly.
That's how Michi-
gan came out in the
Capital One Bowl IAN
against Florida on ROBINSON
New Year's Day, for
former Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr's last game.
In the month between the Ohio
State and Florida games, Michi-
gan installed a version of the spread
offensethatplayed to the strengths of
its skill players and took advantage of
the Gators' inexperienced defense.
The veteran Michigan squad
had been accustomed to a pro-style
offense and surprised the college
football world by changing offenses.
On the first drive, the ABC commen-
tator compared it with the spread
offense Michigan coach Rich Rodri-
guez would implement.
Against Toledo, Michigan fell
victim to a similar type of offensive
adjustment.
With rollouts, two-tight-end sets
and quick screens to the outside,
Toledo essentially took Michigan's
defensive line out of the game.
The Wolverines had practiced
all week to face a different style
of offense, senior nose tackle Ter-
rance Taylor said. And the Rock-
ets surprised them. Toledo coach
Tom Amstutz adjusted his offensive
scheme to play to the defense's weak-
ness - open-field tackling and line-
backer speed.
The Wolverines have adjusted
offensive schemes in the past and
have learned how it feels when it hap-
pens to them. So why can't they make
similar changes?
It's something Michigan coach
Rich Rodriguez said he would do.
"I think we have the ability to
adapt our schemes to our personnel,"
Rodriguez said when he was hired in
December.
The problem is that Michigan
doesn't have the players it had when
Rodriguez accepted the job. And the
remaining talent would have trouble
adjusting to any offensive system,
whether it be the spread or a pro-set.
The Wolverines have nine new start-
ers on offense.
When Rodriguez was hired, can-
non-toting Ryan Mallett was project-
ed to be the starting quarterback. He
didn't have the mobility Rodriguez
looks for in a spread quarterback. But
he could have adjusted the scheme to
put more emphasis on Mallett's arm.
Mallett transferred to Arkansas.
When Terrelle Pryor spurned
the Wolverines for Ohio State, red-
shirt freshman Steven Threet and
redshirt sophomore Nick Sheri-
dan were the top two options at
quarterback. Neither of them have
the ideal foot speed for the spread
offense. And neither has an excep-
tionally strong arm. They don't have
strengths Rodrgiuez can modify an
offense to. It's the same situation on
the offensive line.
A strong line can make every-
player on the offense look better,
and a bad one can make good play-
ers look terrible, making it the most
,important unit on an offense.
When Rodriguez signed, it looked
as if the unit would return three start-
ers - Stephen Schilling, Justin Boren
and Alex Mitchell.
By summer, three became one -
Schilling.
It's impossible to cover for the
inexperience of four new starters.
The consistency hasn't been there
either, with four different lineups in
six games. Defenses have exploited
this by putting more pressure on the
ever-changing left side of the line.
On the outside, Rodriguez hasn't
had adaptable talent, either. First,
there were Adrian Arrington and
Mario Manningham's early depar-
tures for the NFL. Other than junior
Greg Mathews, Rodriguez was left.2
with a bunch of inexperienced receiv-
ers.
During recruiting, Rodriguez
stocked up on guys who could play
the slot in the spread. There were
Terrence Robinson, Roy Round-
tree, Michael Shaw and Martavious
Odoms.
Injuries have prevented two of
them from even seeing game time.
Health issues have limited Shaw, who2
was considered on par with freshman
running back Sam McGuffie before
the season. Odoms has been the only
regular contributor and relatively
healthy player from that group, and
even he has missed a game, against
Toledo last weekend.
If Rodriguez had Arrington or
Manningham, he would be able to
take advantage of their strengths on
the outside and their ability to make
plays in open space.
But he doesn't have them.
This isn't to say he should've gone
out of his way to convince these guys
to stay, but Michigan's current offen-
sive struggles aren't because of who
they have - they're because of who
they don't.
- Robinson can be reached
at irobidumich.edu.
CLIF REEDER/Daisy
Junior DeShawn Sims handles the ball ina game against Wisconsin last season. Primarily a perimeter player the last two
years, Sims will probably play forward or center for Michigan this fall.
FIND YOUR BALANCE: In his
first season at Michigan, Curtis
has implemented a strength and
conditioning program that places
less emphasis on weight training.
Instead, his exercises target the
muscles that are used in basket-
ball's fundamentals, like shooting,
pivots and cuts.
"You want to look at a game and
kind of analyze movement and
break it down... that's what I do,"
Curtis said. "Then, I implement it
into the training."
Curtis spent six seasons with
the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies
before coming to Ann Arbor in
September.
He tailors workouts to player's
individual needs, bases on posi-
tion, strength or injury status. His
program involves flexibility and
concentrated motions.
"The first day he had us do some
balancing exercises, and I never
knew my balance was so off,"
senior guard Jevohn Shepard said.
"I always thought I was flexible,
I could balance, but nope. Every-
body was falling over, helping each
other, but it was fun."
BIG MAN ON CAMPUS: Cronin
stands at 7-foot and will surely be
a large presence on the floor this
season, buthe'llneed togethealthy
first. After sustaining a hip injury
in his senior year of high school,
Cronin said he is nearly 100 per-
cent. Special workouts with Curtis
have allowed him to support his
hip.
"Now that I've had some of the
best trainers here to help me out,
I've been a lot stronger," Cronin
said. "At this point, my hip has
been feeling great."
Cronin said he continued to play
basketball during the injury, even
while limping. In high school, the
Syracuse, N.Y. native averaged 7.2
blocks per game over his three-
year varsity career.
TAKE IT BACK: This season,
the 3-point line will move back a
full foot to 20 feet, 9 inches. The
Wolverines were the worst 3-point
shooting team in the Big Ten last
season (.312), even though Beilein's
offense emphasizes points from
behind the arc.
'M' gains confidence in win over Central Michigan
Strong second round
can't save Wolverines
in California tourney
Sophomore Lion
Kim has best
finish for Blue
By KEVIN RAFTERY
For the Daily.
It felt like the Michigan men's
golf team was on a rollercoaster.
The Wolverines traveled to La
Quinta, Calif., on Monday and
Tuesday for The Prestige golf
tournament. After a discouraging
start in the first round, Michigan
responded with a strong showing
in the second. But on Tuesday, the
Wolverines struggled once again
and finished a disappointing 12th
place out of 16 teams.
Michigan's first day at the tour-
nament featured everything from
eagles to quadruple bogeys. On a
course that leaves little room for
error, the Wolverines came out
slow.
"In the first round, we weren't
able to commit to shots," Michi-
gan coach Andrew Sapp said.
"We played a little bit tentative,
and once we started making bad
swings, those escalated into more
bad swings."
As a team, Michigan had nine
holes with either a double bogey
or worse. The blustery conditions
didn't help either, as the Wolver-
ines tallied a team total of 310, leav-
ing them tied for 12th after the first
round.
Sophomore Lion Kim was the
lone bright spot, leading Michigan
with a one-over 73.
"(Kim) played steady," Sapp said.
"He has definitely improved since
his freshman campaign."
Freshman Matt Thompson made
his first career start for Michigan,
and his inexperience showed in the
first 18 holes. He shot a 10-over par
82, and it seemed highly unlikely
that he would rebound and lead the
Wolverines in the latter part of the
day.
Battling against the odds,
Thompson did just that. He fired a
two-under par 70 to lead the Wol-
verines to a score of 292 for the
middle round, which put them in,
sixth place going into Tuesday's
final 18.
"Matt played a great second
round," Sapp said. "We needed him
to come out and shoot right around
70, and he did."
Tuesday began with high hopes
for Michigan, but those hopes
quickly faded as the teamwas again
plagued with double and triple
bogeys. The Wolverines struggled
to get anything going, finishing
with a team total of 306. That left
them with a three-day total of 908
- 47 strokes behind tournament
champion Texas Christian Univer-
sity.
Senior captain Nick Pumford
was the only Michigan player to
finish under par in the final round,
shooting a one-under 71. Kim led
the Wolverines in total scoring in
the tournament, finishing at nine-
over par and tying for 25th place
overall.
"We had to start over after a bad
start," Sapp said. "Our guys have
been really good at doing that. They
responded well and came back and
played better in the second round.
Hopefully, we will be able to learn
from our mistakes."
By JOE STAPLETON
Daily Sports Writer
After a disappointing loss at
Indiana on Sunday, the Michigan
field hockey team desperately
needed
an ego- MICHIGAN 5
boost CENTRAL MICH. 2
before
its game against No. 4 Michigan
State on Friday.
And yesterday afternoon,
Central Michigan was the
unwilling supplier of some much-
needed confidence. Michigan
beat the Chippewas 5-2 in a game
sandwiched between the two cru-
cial Big Ten matchups.
For most teams, it would have
been easy to look past Central and
ahead to the Spartans.
"This group knows they have to
focus on the next 35 minutes and
we can't look beyond that," Michi-
gan coach Nancy Cox said. "Who-
ever we're competing against,
that's who these guys are focused
on."
The Wolverines tried not to
waste any time in the first half.
Sophomore Meredith Way added
to her team-leading goal total
when she scored on a penalty
stroke at the 18:25 mark in the
first period. Way finished with
two goals, giving her 12 on the
year.
Junior Kelly Fitzpatrick also
netted a pair of goals.
"We've been working on taking
shots when we get in the circle,"
Way said. "A lot of times, we used
to mess around with the ball and
lose it."
The Chippewas kept it close in
the first half, keeping the ball on
Michigan's end of the field and not
letting the Wolverines get bytheir
defense.
But as the game progressed, the
Wolverines gained momentum
and began to dominate Central
Michigan, taking 16 shots on goal
J-1ar
1Junior Kelly Fitzpatrick tallied two goals yesterday as Michigan knocked off Central Michigan 5-2 at Phyllis Ocker Field.
in the second half alone.
Though Michigan missed some
excellent scoring opportunities,
Central Michigan goalie Melinda
Curran made even more impres-
sive saves under intense pressure.
She made a terrific jumping glove
save on a lofted shot from the
right side of the circle in the sec-
ond period.
Eventually, the relentless Wol-
verine attack overpowered Curran
with 27 total shots on goal.
Though a junior and a sopho-
more accounted for every goal
but one, Cox credited the win to
senior leadership.
"All 20 of the young women in
our program contributed to the
victory today, and it was senior-,
led," Cox said.
Senior Michaela McDermott
said she tried to get her team-
mates' minds off Indiana, its first
Big Ten loss of the season.
"What better way to make a
statement than to come out and
have a game on Tuesday," McDer-
mott said. "We wanted to change
things around and go out on a
high note."
The team stressed the impor-
tance of bouncing back after the
disappointing loss against the
Hoosiers.
"We needed a good win, a solid
win, just to get our confidence
back up," Way said. "Losing to
Indiana was rough on us."
The team knows it can't spend
too much time celebrating this
win with the Spartans knocking
on the door.
"They said in the huddle after
the game, enjoy the evening, get a
good meal, and we'll focus tomor-
row when we get to practice," Cox
said.