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.