4 8 - Friday, January 23, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wolverines can't handle Braun, drop fourth straight 4 Junior DeShawn Sims has scored 17 points in the last two games. ~ Blue's post-play woes begin and end with Sims Junior forward could be the difference tomorrow against Northwestern By JASONKOHLER Daily Sports Writer Before the Michigan men's bas- ketball team's game against Ohio State last Saturday, junior forward DeShawn Sims hung a hand-writ- ten sign over his nameplate in the locker room. It read, "I.M. Work." After hitting just 4-of-13 shots for 10 points in his team's 65-58 loss to the Buck- eyes, Sims tore Northwestem the sign off the locker in frus- at MIChigan tration. Matchup: "I was sup- Northwestern posed to work 10-6; Michi- hard, but I ain't gan 13-6 do no work, so When: Satur- I have to take day 8 P.M. it down," Sims Where: Cris- said. ler Arena The loss was TV/Radio: BTN the second in the Wolverines' cur- Live Blog: rent three-game http://thegame. losing streak. dablcs.ohigan- During the skid, Michigan has been dominated by physical opponents. The Wolverines start a four-guard lineup, with 6-foot-5 freshman guard Zack Novak often playing the four position. Big Ten teanms know Michigan lacks hig men and have effectively pushed the ball into the paint. "They're bigger than I am, but I just have to find a way to get it done," Novak said. "Hopefully on offense they got to guard me too and they have to come out and step up. I just have to do a better job." In their last three games, the Wolverines have been outscored in the paint by 9.3 points per game. Their lack of physical presence down low has also led to seven fewer free-throw attempts than their opponents per game in the stretch. Prior to that, Michigan averaged 4.1 more attempts per game than its opponents. "What do you do? It's just really tough," Michigan coach John Beil- ein said. "Hopefully down the road we'll continue to recruit and get guys that are a little bigger there, but now it is what it is, and we have to find other ways - double teams, different things. Alot ofstuff today, you just can't stop." The Wolverines' small lineup has put more pressure on Sims, who is often the tallest Michigan player on the court at 6-foot-8. In losses to Illinois and Ohio State, Sims com- bined to shoot 7-of-27 for 17 points. Illinois center Mike Tisdale and Ohio State center B.J. Mullins eas- ily handled Michigan in the paint, combining to shoot 17-of-21 for 39 points. Against Penn State on Tuesday, Sims found his offensive rhythm, hitting 10-of-14 shots for 21 points. But the Wolverines still failed to stop the Nittany Lions in the post, giving up 36 points in the paint. "We have so many guys under 200 pounds," Beilein said. "I mean, we get in there and we get nudged a little bit and it bothers us." Beilein hopes that, despite giving up size defensively, his small lineup will create mismatches onthe other end of the floor. But opponents have adjusted their defense to keep the quick Wolverine guards out of the paint. Ohio State employed a 1-2-2 zone that prevented any of their big men from defending Michigan's guards on the wings. Defensively, opponents have exploited the Wolverines' 1-3-1 zone, lofting passes into the paint to create mismatches as Michigan's guards attempt to clamp down on the ball. "We're trying to do everything we can to make up this lack of size," Beilein said. "We're trying. We're trying." But Michigan has also failed to knock down opetn shots. In the last three games, the Wolverines are shooting 35.6 percent, well below their average of 42.8 percentbefore the losing streak. Tomorrow, Michigan faces Northwestern, the Big Ten's hot- test team. The Wildcats have upset both No. 21 Minnesota and No. 7 Michigan State in the last week. If the Wolverines are to end their los- ing streak, they will need to over- come their shortcomings in the paint. Back in the locker room fol- lowing the Ohio State game, for- mer Michigan standout Glen Rice approached Sims. Rice gave Sims a hug and whispered, "Dominate, dominate." And with such a guard-oriented team, Sims is the Wolverines' best hope to establish a dominant post game, to defensively clamp down on opposing big men and to break them out of the slump. Sluggish start plagues Michigan in upset bid of Big Ten leader Indiana By RYAN KARTJE Daily Sports Writer It didn't matter if Michigan women's basketball coach Kevin Borseth had the brains against Big Ten-leading Indiana last night. Because Indiana had the Braun - Jamie Braun, that is. The junior point guard's play- making ability helped the Hoosiers hand Michigan a 60-50 loss at Cris- ler Arena. She notched 16 points and registered four assists as the Wolver- ines (2-6 INDIANA 60 Big Ten, MICHIGAN 50 9-10 over- all) dropped their fourth straight game. "She's a WNBA player," Borseth said. "She can just make plays on her own. You put the best point guardinthe conference on thefloor (with their post players), and that's a pretty doggone good team." But it wasn't just Braun and her athleticism thatcemented the Wol- verines' four-game losing streak, the longest for Borseth since December 2003 when he coached at Wisconsin-Green Bay. After six of its first seven home games, Michigan has dropped its last two games at home, disman- tling a hometown confidence that was a huge push in early season victories against ranked teams like Vanderbilt and Notre Dame. And with six straight losses away from Ann Arbor, upcoming road games against middle-of-the- road Big Ten teams like Iowa and Northwestern could mean the dif- ference between an NIT berth and a long offseason. Offensively, the Wolverines' reliance on the 3-point shot looked like it was working in their favor as they shot 40 percent from behind the arc. But the Wolverines' 14 first-half turnovers gave the Hoo- siers (7-1, 14-3) all the momentum 4 4 4 Indiana point guard Jamie Braun (left) gave the Wolverines fits last night, pouring in 16 points and dishing out foutassists. they needed to secure the lead for the game's entirety. Michigan didn't die by the 3-pointer, but it couldn't live by it either. Borseth attributed the impres- sive downtown shooting to their attempted inside presence, which had been invisible in the team's last three losses. "That's what it's supposed to look like," Borseth said. "That's what it needs to looklike: Whenwe got it inside (in the second half), we were able to score points." Although Michigan did manage to get the ball inside, it made just seven baskets in the paint. Earlier in the season, senior forward Stephany Skrba provided Michigan with the scoring it need- ed down low. The Wolverines are 5-1 when the Toronto native fin- ishes in double digits. Skrba was held scoreless against the Hoosiers. The rest of the Wolverine post players were outmatched in the paint, even with their height advantage. The Hoosiers dominat- ed the offensive boards 17-6. Indiana coach Felisha Legette- Jack set a double-team on the Wolverines' biggest post pres- ence, junior center Krista Phillips, who came off the bench in hopes of exploiting the Hoosiers lack of size. But Indiana muscled up the Wolverines down low, using the same aggressiveness that Borseth has been preaching to his team all season. "These people rebound," Borseth said. "You have no idea how good these kids are on the glass. Have they lost any games? Who beat them?" Similar to many of its recent losses, Michigan registered just one solid half. But despite the slow start to the game, Borseth said he was proud of the way his team played in the second frame. "The first half, we just looked lethargic," Borseth said. "It just builds in a hurry, and when we did stop it, we were too late." 4 4 Icers hope to find consistency at the Joe Wolverines have beaten Spartans four straight times By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN Daily Sports Editor Nobody in the country has scored more goals than Michigan top-line center Louie Caporusso, who has netted 18, including two natural hat tricks. Yet the sophomore hasn't scored in nearly half of the Michi- gan hockey team's 24 games - an inconsistency that has plagued not just Caporusso but the entire team. This year, the Wolverines have scored four more goals per game in wins than they have in losses, in which they've posted less than a goal on average. Michigan's four CCHA series splits reflect its volatile offense night to night, but this weekend's series against Michigan State couldn't seemingly be any more predictable. Tonight's game will be played at Joe Louis Arena, where No. 8 Michigan has won seven straight. And the Wol- verines have MSU VS. defeated the Michan Spartans four straight times Matchup: - including in Michigan the Great Lakes State 7-14-3; Invitational Michigan 16-8 championship When: Friday game at the Joe 7:35 P.M. in December - Where: Joe for their longest Louis Arena streak against TV/Radio: Michigan State FSN Plus in 13 seasons. Live Blog: Michigan has http://the- won the three game.blogs. games this sea- michigandaily. son by a com- com/ bined score of 16-5. Which leads to tonight. "I definitely expect something different," said Caporusso, who has two goals and three assists against the Spartans this year. "Any time this rivalry is so won by one team, obviously you make the other team really want to get back at you." As if the Spartans needed any more motivation, they have a chance to play spoiler for the Wol- verines this weekend. Michigan, in sixth place in the conference standings, is essentially in a must- sweep situation if itwants to finish in the top four of the CCHA. Two wins would give the Wolverines a first-round bye in the conference tournament and practically assure an NCAA Tournament bid. Any- thing but a sweep would add even more pressure to next weekend's matchup with No. 1 Notre Dame, which hasn't lost in 20 games. "It's going to be a hard-hitting game," senior forward Tim Miller said. "It's going tobe a close game. Both teams have a lot to play for right now." And Miller, in particular, is excited to return to the Joe. In last year's February game against the Spartans in Detroit, Miller scored his first two goals of the year. His other two scores came in the CCHA playoffs, which were also played at the Joe. "I can't wait to go," Miller said. "I'm kind of sad that it might be one of my last games." But Michigan coach Red Beren- son isn't looking for Miller to spark the offense alone. At the start of practice this week, Berenson shuffled the team's lines a bit more and even changed up the top line, which had been very successful in the season's first half. Senior right- winger Travis Turnbull (15 points) is moving up from the third line to replace sophomore Aaron Palushaj (27 points) and rejoin Caporusso, his linemate from lastyear. "I don't know if (Berenson's) sending a message, (or) more just trying to get some going offensive- ly," Caporusso said. 4 4 4 LaPlante brings hurdles expertise to head job By ROGER SAUERHAFT Daily Sports Writer At the University, it's quite com- mon for a scholar to produce work meriting translation in other lan- guages. Even for the men's track and field coach. First-year Wolverine coach Fred LaPlante's hurdling techniques have been used across the globe in places like Germany and Russia. "His technical eye is incredible," former Michigan head coach and current associate head coach Ron Warhurst said. "I can watch a guy and say he looks pretty good, and he'll be like, 'His toe was down.' It's like he's got a slow-motion camera in his head." Warhurst said LaPlante's frame- by-frame vision for sprints and hurdles is a unique talent that sepa- rates him from other coaches. When LaPlanteshareshisexpert knowledge ofshort-distance events, he speaks from wisdom accumulat- ed outside of his mid-distance run- ning career. A 1972 graduate of Eastern Michigan, one of LaPlante's Eagle teammates was the national high school hurdles record holder. His teammate's talent sparked him to write a biochemical analysis paper on the act of hurdling. After graduating, LaPlante began dating female hurdler Debby Lansky, who later became his first wife. LaPlante said he feltnvery self- conscious about his lack of knowl- edge in her event, so he hit the books again. "I delved into this, and within five years of that, I was the wom- en's national coach," LaPlante said. "I read a lot. I watched tapes, and I went around interviewing coaches. I wanted to get top people in the world." Before his stint as the women's national hurdles coach, he was the women's track and field coach at San Diego State from 1979 to 1983. LaPlante also used his research to help Lansky reach the Olympics. But LaPlante mentions none of thistorecruits.Hedoubtsthatmany of his players even know about this part of his coaching career. He said all that matters is what you've done very recently. And the Toledo native's lessons don't end there. Redshirt sophomore hurdler Nick McCampbell likes LaPlante's style because he has no specific prototype of what he wants to see - he just wants results. "Ever since I started hurdling, t've had issues with my lead arm going wide," McCampbell said. "He taught me to really empha- size bringing the arm straight back instead of other motions and I've been usingthat since last year. "He took a very pragmatic motion and just took the arm back. Not technically sound, but it hap- pens to work for me so we contin- ued to work with it." LaPlante's recent accomplish- ments include coaching 2007 individual national champion Jeff Porter in hurdles. A Midwest hur- dling champion is a rarity, since champions are typically from the South and the West Coast. His overall record speaks for itself - so he doesn't have to. After coaching 17 Olympians and 25 national champions, few can match his 32-season track record. "You never get cocky," LaPlante said. "You never feel like you know it all. There's always thingsto learn. I feel like there could be a 20-year- old coach that could still teach me something." 4 r