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4B - January 25, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
rady likely to rejoin basketball team-
Beilein says Grady
will remain on foot-
ball team, practice
with basketball
By NICOLE AUERBACH
Daily Sports Editor
WEST LAFAYETTE - Current
Michigan football player and for-
mer Michigan basketball player
Kelvin Grady has met with coach
John Beilein
about the possi- NOTEBOOK
bility of return-
ing to basketball, Beilein said in a
press conference after the team's
69-59 loss to Purdue on Saturday.
"Kelvin contacted us, asked if
he could help us out," Beilein said.
"We're having trouble on scout
teams, guarding quickness. Kel-
vin's volunteered to help us as a
scout team guy. That's probably all
it will be."
Beileinsaid Grady would remain
on the football team, and that they
would have to work around sched-
uling conflicts with spring football
practicen.
"He'n not giving up football,"
Beilein naid. "He known our nys-
tem. He's asked us to do it. We
talked with him. We love Kelvin,
and we said, 'You know what, we
can use that.'"
A short bench and inexperience
at point guard mean Grady's see-
ing playing time this season isn't
entirely out of the question, espe-
cially considering the Wolverines
have had three recent departures.
Walk-on Eric Puls left the team
in December to focus on his engi-
neering degree while redshirt
sophomore Ben Cronin's playing
career is likely over - the 7-footer
left the team due to complications
from a surgery he had on his hip
last season.
And most recently, freshman
the reserves took plenty of shots,
especially with junior guard
Manny Harris suspended.
But they had essentially the
same effect, going a combined
5-for-13 for the game, with most
of those made shots coming when
the game's outcome was all but
decided. They also went 0-for-4
from beyond the arc.
Senior forward DeShawn Sims
took all of Michigan's shots for the
first seven minutes of the game.
He made most of them, but it
meant a lot of standing around for
the rest of the Wolverine offense,
which struggled once called upon
to shoot.
"I think that pressure that
they put on us in the first half, we
weren't used to it and that's hard
to substitute in practice for the
new guys like me and Matt," Mor-
ris said. "But at halftime, we made
adjustments. ... I think we just
learned a little too late."
EARLY GLASS TROUBLES: It's
no secret that the Wolverines have
struggled to grab rebounds all sea-
son. They've been outrebounded
in nearly every game.
But during Saturday's game
against Purdue, it became painful-
ly obvious how offennive rebounds
can be game-changern.
In the first half, Michigan shot
55 percent from the field, compa-
rable to Purdue's 58 percent.
But the Boilermakers' seven
offensive rebounds gave Purdue
a multitude of chances to build a
16-point lead by the half. In fact,
in the first half, the Boilermakers
had more offensive rebounds than
the Wolverines had total rebounds
with six, all defensive.
Even though the second half
brought better results on the
boards, Michigan's first-half
struggles had already given Pur-
due complete control of the game.
The stat sheet might have looked
better by game's end, but the dam-
age had been done early.
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(LEFT) CLIF RttDE/Da y (RIGHT) SAM WOLSON/Daily
Redshirt Junior Kelvin Grady started 33 of 64 games in his career on the basketball team. This year for the football team, Grady contributed as a slot receiver.
guard Eso Akunne was ruled aca-
demically ineligible to play this
semester.
Sure, those three players
weren't exactly seeing the major-
ity of the team's minutes, but
their absence leaves the Michigan
bench thin.
In a handful of games this sea-
son, the five Wolverine starters
logged over 35 minutes of play.
Beilein has said he wants to go to
his bench more, but he wants more
production from his bench players
if they're on the court.
Grady, who started 33 of 64
career games and averaged 4.9 the role of Michigan's point guard.
points per game, could fit right in. That's another area where
Grady can help. His knowledge of
the position, Beilein's offense and
gg other Big Ten teams could be valu-
"We love Kelvin, al.
and When Grady played the posi-
vvWe can tion for the Wolverines last year,
use that." he distributed the ball well and
controlled the offense, but last
year's seniors at the position, C.J.
Lee and David Merritt took away a
Two young and inexperienced great deal of his playing time.
guards, freshman Darius Morris Grady would be quicker and
and sophomore sharpshooter Stu tougher to guard than the current
Douglass, have been struggling in scout team guards, Beilein said,
and more likely to prepare the
Wolverines for the talented Big
Ten point guards they will face.
If Grady does end up playing in
games, he would have one year left
of basketball eligibility. His two
years of eligibility left for football
would remain.
BENCH IMPACT: In last
Wednesday's loss to Wisconsin,
Michigan's bench didn't attempt
a single field goal. Morris made a
free throw, and that was the only
point the bench accounted for in
the entire game.
On Saturday against Purdue,
With Harris out, Blue
struggles to find scorers
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Editor
WEST LAFAYETTE - It's never
good to go into a key matchup on
the road missing any players. But
without the Big Ten's leading scor-
er - junior forward Manny Harris
- Michigan's chances to upset No.
15 Purdue seemed handcuffed from
the get-go.
Citing "an act of unsportsman-
like conduct," Michigan coach John
Beilein announced that he had sus-
pended Harris before Saturday's
game at Purdue. Harris had started
in 85 straight contests.
"Manny has made great strides
both on and off the court over the
last three years," Beilein said in
a statement through the athletic
department. "Unfortunately he
used poor judgment on Friday. We
will meet with Manny and the team
again when we return to determine
if he has learned enough from this
suspension to rejoin the team for
Tuesday's game. I am confident
that this learning experience will
be valuable in the future to both
Manny and our basketball pro-
gram."
But it was clear that without
their .star in action, it would be a
long day for the Wolverines.
Michigan struggled without
Harris, particularly in the first
half. With redshirt junior Anthony
Wright starting, the Wolverines
couldn't find a scorer to comple-
ment senior forward DeShawn
Sims.
In fact, Sims scored the team's
first 13 points. And it wasn't until
sophomore Zack Novak hit a
3-pointer with 7:28 to play in the
first half that someone other than
Sims had even registered a point.
"I think early on we were pret-
ty darn good getting the ball to
DeShawn Sims," Beilein said. "I
mean really good getting the ball
to DeShawn, then they shut some-
thing down that we were doing and
for usnto adapt, it was difficult."
Perhaps the biggest challenge
for Michigan was being forced to
adapt to Harris's absence just one
STAPLETON
From page 1B
to at least get a good shot. With-
out his security blanket-like pres-
ence, the Wolverines looked lost
at times near the end of the shot
clock.
Harris is the only player on
the team (I'm excluding fresh-
man Darius Morris, who certainly
seems to have the skills to be a
playmaker, because he still seems
about a year away) who can consis-
tently take his man off the dribble
and create open shots with the ball
in his hands.
He is an invaluable asset - a
player who can create his own
shot - particularly so for Michi-
gan, which doesn't have a wealth
of those kinds of players.
So does this mean Michigan,
which will in all likelihood lose
Harris to the NBA in the summer,
is doomed next season?
No, no, no.
It means Michigan, as it should,
struggled without one of its stars.
Does it mean Michigan relies on
Manny a little too much?
Probably, but that's normal for
a team with a player of Manny's
caliber.
Son
as a g
future
Her
smart
when
would
couldr
and w
its las
little t
M
sho
V
game.
best
player
Nex
had an
his te
ne may look at this game without its two superstars from
limpse into a Manny-less the year before.
. ,The players, too, will have had
e's why that's not very an entire offseason to prepare not
we're not entirely sure only physically but mentally for a
the team knew Manny season in which their roles will be
not be playing, but it larger.
n't have been for very long I'm not a coach, so I don't know
as probably near the end of exactly what the changes in the
t practice.That's woefully offense will entail, but my best
ime to prepare for an away guess is that Darius Morris will
start, the scoring will be more
evenly distributed, and the offense
will move in an even more guard-
ichigan, as it oriented direction.
Clearly, the Wolverines are
uld, struggled unlikely to find a hugely effective
post player in the offseason to fill
Without one Sims' void.
The rest will depend on the
S S recruits Beilein brings in and
what he sees when school starts.
Predictions for next year are
for another day.
against one of the Big Ten's But I can tell you this much
teams without your star for certain: While the Wolver-
r. ines struggled in a big way with-
:t year, Beilein will have out Manny against Purdue, next
entire offseason to prepare year's team will look nothing like
am for life without Manny the one fans saw on Saturday.
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or DeShawn.
Yes, this is a bad year so far, but
John Beilein is still one of the best
coaches around and he will have
next year's team prepared to play
Stapleton hopes Manny is
back for Michigan vs. Michigan
State on Tuesday. Email him your
thoughts at istaple@umich.edu
Junior Manny Harris was suspended from Saturday's game against Purdue.
day after the incident at practice
took place. As the Big Ten's lead-
ing scorer, any gameplan is going to
involve Harris, but with little time
to adjust their strategy, Michigan
really struggled keeping pace.
"Outside of guarding DeShawn
Sims for the first 20 minutes, we
did a really good job guarding
everyone else," Purdue coach Matt
Painter said. "They obviously took a
huge blow with Manny not playing
this game, and that's 20 points just
ripped off your lines. It's a difficult
thing to count on somebody and
they're not there."
And in many cases it seemed that
Michigan's only option was to force
it to Sims, even when he wasn't
there.
"I think I was really looking to
get the ball to DeShawn," Wright
said. "That was pretty much my
first option."
It wasn't until the second half
that Michigan finally found that
alternate scorer, but by then Purdue
was firmly in control of the game,
stretching their lead to as many as
27 points.
Novak contributed 16 points for
the Wolverines on 6-for-11 shoot-
ing, but scored 13 of those in the
second half when Michigan was
already out of the game. Perhaps
more important, without Harris in
the lineup, the Wolverines forced
their offense, committing 15 turn-
overs, and losing the rebound battle
to Purdue 16-6 in the first half.
It wasn't the first time Harris
has created mid-season contro-
versy. Last year, Beilein benched
his star in a key overtime game
against Iowa - which Michigan
lost - down the stretch when the
Wolverines were chasing an NCAA
Tournament berth.
Beilein has not announced
whether Harris will play against
the Spartans. He said it would be a
team decision.
PURDUE
From page 1B
juniors Robbie Hummel,
E'Twuan Moore and Johnson
combined for 37 points on 16-of-
25 shooting in the first frame. The
Boilermakers tallied 13 assists in
that span, easily working around
the Wolverines' defensive pack-
ages and cutting to the rim for
layups.
"We just had trouble with how
efficient they are on offense,"
Beilein said of Purdue's 22-5 run
in the first half that blew the
game open. "There's not a whole
lot of people that can even come
here and get 60 points (to keep
up)."
And with Purdue throwing
extra defenders at Sims to disrupt
him in the post, Michigan's four-
guard lineup - without Harris -
looked helpless. The Wolverines
turned the ball over nine times
in the first half, which helped
Purdue generate 10 more shot
attempts.
"They're so stingy," Beilein
said. "You can call whatever you
want in the huddle, and they're
going to make you run something
else. So countering and reading
it and doing things like that very
quickly. Very experienced play-
ers can do it, and we had trouble
with it.
"You really have to have great
experience to be able to handle
that."
Novak said the Wolverines'
TOREHAN SHARMAN/Daily
Senior DeShawn Sims goes up for a shot against No. 15 Purdue in West Lafayette
on Saturday. Sims scored the Wolverines' first 13 points in the loss.
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6
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first-half turnovers were the dif-
ference in the game, and that the
team had a lot of problems against
a defense so fiercely dedicated to
"pass denial." Even simple fun-
damentals like reversing the ball
around the perimeter looked at
times like a chore.
Purdue's lead swelled to as
many as 27 points in the second
half before Michigan took advan-
tage of the Boilermakers' reserves
and closed the gap to 10 in the final
score.
The team saw some silver lin-
ing in the fact that role players like
redshirt-junior Anthony Wright
and freshman Matt Vogrich saw
extended time.
In the context of a puzzling
season growing dimmer for the
Wolverines with each loss, the
team tried to muster up some
shreds of optimism after its latest
setback.
"This is definitely a game we
can grow from, because it gives
people a lot of valuable time,"
Novak said. "Give them credit.
Guys from the bench fought back,
and we didn't just roll over and
die."
But in the end, the post-game
focus was on Harris, who had
played in all 85 career games
before staying behind when the
team traveled to Purdue. With no
one to slash to the basket or snag
an offensive rebound, the Wolver-
ines were overmatched.
Asked about the incident that
led to Harris's suspension, Beilein
told reporters to refer to his Ath-
letic Depertment statement.
i Daily sports?
rkartje@umich.edu