8 - Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Berenson: TV timeouts, ice
problems stifle momentum
By MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Editor
Television timeouts at any level
of hockey can be a coach's best
friend or his worst nightmare.
They fit the latter category
on Saturday night for coach Red
Berenson and a Michigan hock-
ey team try-
ing to preserve NOTEBOOK
momentum in
the Camp Randall Classic. And
problems with the crease occupied
by goalie Bryan Hogan for two
periods added further sterilzing
stoppages.
"The ice started off being
great," Berenson said. "Then we
had chunks of ice breaking out in
the crease.... It probably did affect
the game, because the delays were
coming at bad times. It was like
having an extra 10 TV timeouts. It
didn't help our team, because we
had the momentum."
That was the case especially
late in the third period, with the
Wolverines leading the Badgers
2-1, as the outdoor rink's ice prob-
lem reared its ugly head. Hogan's
crease was significantly worse
than the one at the opposite end,
with maintenance crews having
to repair the ice every few min-
utes.
This constant stop-and-start
play made it very difficult for
Michigan to string together any
consistency or momentum late in
the game.
Berenson and other Wolver-
ine officials who made the trek to
Madison took note of the overall
gameday atmosphere. Michigan
will be hosting The Big Chill at the
Big House in early December and
Berenson hopes there will be some
significant differences, specifi-
cally dealing with the nightmarish
SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Wisconsin guard Jason Bohannon hita halfcourt shotajust before halftime Saturday.
'M' can't touch
Badgers' snipers
Michigan coach Red Berenson looks on at the Camp Randall Classic in Madison.
delays.
Berenson said he made some
suggestions to Executive Associate
Athletic Director Michael Steven-
son after the game.
"One thing I would do is take
the TV timeouts right out of an
outdoor game," Berenson said.
"In fairness to the fans, I would
even advertise that there will
be no TV timeouts - this game
is going to be played the way it
should be."
NOTHING IS GUARANTEED:
Take no CCHA teams for granted.
That will be the mentality of
the Wolverines as they face Bowl-
ing Green tonight in a must-win
matchup at Yost Ice Arena.
Last weekend, last-place West-
ern Michigan stole two games
from visiting Notre Dame while
Northern Michigan swept third-
place Ferris State in Big Rapids -
two tell-tale signs that anyone can
beat anybody in this conference.
"We're in a good hunt now,"
Berenson said. "This will come
down to the wire. We need to take
this one step at a time, and (Bowl-
ing Green) is our first step."
Currently, the Wolverines sit in
sixth place. There are six points
separating them from Ferris State.
If Michigan can win against the
Falcons tonight and then sweep
the next series or two in the wan-
ing weeks of the regular season, it
could finish as high as second in
the standings.
"I was looking at the stats today,
and if we can win these next three
games, then we have a chance of
being in second place," junior for-
ward Louie Caporusso said. "We
are not out of it at all. ... We are
going to be fine if we play up to our
potential."
SWITCHING 'EM UP: In Michi-
gan's 2-1 win over the Falcons last
Thursday, freshman defenseman
Lee Moffie landed himself in the
penalty box, and consequently, on
the bench.
Moffie was whistled for two
penalties in the final 10 minutes of
regulation, with the second infrac-
tion coming with just three min-
utes left in the game.
So against the Badgers this
weekend, junior Tristin Llewellyn
replaced Moffie on the blue line,
with Berenson hoping to gain some
veteran leadership and steady,
defensive play from the Ann Arbor
native.
For Borseth, a disciplined route to success
Michigan coach Kevin Borseth
jumped and yelled angrily on the
sideline of the women's basketball
team's 74-40 stomping of Minne-
sota on Sunday.
He erupted as an overthrown
pass caused his team to turn the
ball over as Michigan led the
Golden Gophers 50-27 with less
than 12 min-
utes remain- ZAK PYZIK
ing.
Why was On Women's
Borseth so Basketball
upset over
something so inconsequential?
After all, he wound up playing
freshmen Kate Thompson and
Sam Arnold in garbage time after
Michigan took such a comfortable
lead.
He even played senior Kayln
McPherson and sophomore Jamil-
lya Hardley, who together have
only played for a total of 56 min-
utes this season. (Their combined
total is less than that of Thomp-
son, who has played the third-
fewest minutes with 77.)
It's odd that Borseth was so
irritated bythe Wolverines' mis-
takes, especially since players
that haven't seen much game time
were the ones making them.
But this outburst proves that
Borseth is a good coach who is
capable of making decisions that
account for the future of the pro-
gram down the road.
Borseth completely understood
the implications of the mistakes
his players made. Errors like
those can make the opponent's
score look like it was much more
of a competitive contest than it
was. And Borseth knows the sig-
nificance of style points - they
can be an answer to the nebulous
formula for an NCAA tournament
berth.
So the next question: Why is
Borseth the cherry Michigan
needed on top of its sundae? How
is he effectively solidifying his
legacy in Crisler Arena?
For starters, he has united a
team that lacked chemistry less
than one year ago.
Last February, against the same
Golden Gophers at home, Michi-
gan lost 60-59. Even though the
Wolverines started four seniors,
Michigan's roster lacked the juice
it needed to overcome that one-
point mountain.
But this year is different. Bors-
eth has established a family-type
of environment at practice which
has translated to the hardwood
quite visibly.
Borseth is winning the games
that matter.
The Wolverines have beaten
No. 7 Xavier and No. 23 Penn
State. And Michigan kept two
games against No. 5 Ohio State
within three points.
That winning - in part - has
resulted from Borseth making
aggressive strategic decisions all
season.
One instance was in the Wol-
verines' first conference game, a
54-51 win over Iowa. The unique
part about the win was Borseth's
decision to institute a full-court
press in the last three minutes of
the game, even though Michigan
had been leading by eight points.
"We had to try to slow them
down," Borseth said after the vic-
tory. "We were trying to get the
ball out of their hands a little bit.
Trying to up the tempo a little
bit instead of just getting to half
court and laying the punches like
Muhammad Ali. It's better tobe a
little more aggressive."
Executing a tiring strategy like
a press requires well conditioned
players with the necessary stam-
ina. And though that execution is
seen on the court, it starts in the
offseason.
In the offseason, Borseth has
made magic happen not only with
his current players but by recruit-
ing players who are ready to fit
and work in his system.
Two years ago, he signed now-
sophomores Courtney Boylan and
Carmen Reynolds. And Borseth
truly recognized a lot of potential
in Reynolds. She's turned out to
be a keeper, and is leading the Big
Ten in 3-pointers with 52.
Then, Borseth signed six play-
ers before his third season, two
of whom, Dayeesha Hollins and
Jenny Ryan, have been on the
starting roster all year. Ryan ranks
second on the team in rebounds,
snatching 140 boards, and leads
the team with 45 steals. And Hol-
lins sits at first on the team for
assists with 80.
So Borseth may look a little silly
jumping around in frustration
after small, seemingly meaning-
less mistakes.
But as long as he continues to
win the big games and win the
little games by big margins, his
persona will put the Wolverines
in a good position by season's
end.
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Editor
In a half that was dominated by
Wisconsin on Saturday, the Bad-
gers' Jason Bohannon added the
exclamation
point when he NOTEBOOK
launched a shot
just beyond halfcourt right before
the buzzer sounded which - to the
shock and frustration of the Michi-
gan men's basketball team - some-
how found the bottom of the net.
It was just another blow to Mich-
igan in Wisconsin's thorough beat-
down of the Wolverines this past
weekend. Not only did Wisconsin
shoot almost 70 percent in the first
half, but the Badgers had plenty of
luck on their side too.
Wisconsin made 9-of-13 from
behind the arc in the first stanza,
many of which were contested. But
the halfcourt shot, which came on
the coattails of a late Michigan run
to cut the Badger lead to 11, was the
proverbial nail in the coffin.
"It was just one of those days,"
junior guard Manny Harris said.
"Still, we were only down 14 at
halftime and we've come back from
leads like that before. We've just got
to keep working."
After falling to a 15-point defi-
cit with five minutes to play in the
first half, Michigan started to rally
back, led by its two stars - Harris
and senior forward DeShawn Sims.
Right before halftime and with the
shot clock turned off, Michigan
dribbled out most of the remaining
time, then the Wolverines found
Sims in the post who connected on
a layup with two seconds left.
Instead of running out the last
two ticks, the Badgers inbounded
the ball to Bohannon, who crossed
halfcourt and launched a prayer
from the right sideline that inexpli-
cably went in.
It was enough to drain the con-
fidence of the Wolverines and end
the half on an even more sour note.
"The last-second shot there at
the end of the half was a perfect
example of what was happening,"
Michigan coach John Beilein said.
"Nobody scores over 50 points on
(Wisconsin), so when you see (them
score) 40 points at halftime, you
know you're in trouble."
While the Wolverines could have
recovered from their bad luck, a 14
point lead against the best defen-
sive team in the conference was a
tough task from the onset of the
second half. Michigan scored just
18 points after halftime, when Wis-
consin completely shut down the
three point shot and held Sims and
Harris to a combined seven points
in the half.
"That was really frustrating, but
a shot like that can do either two
things," freshman guard Darius
Morris said. "It can either just real-
ly demoralize you or it can give you
aspark and I think itwas alittlehalf
and half for us."
REBOUNDING WOES: While
rebounding is often a struggle for
an undersized team like Michigan,
it was even more obvious Saturday.
Not only did the Badgers dominate
on the offensive glass, they extend-
ed multiple possessions to more
than 60 seconds, tiring the Wol-
verine defense and opening up the
opportunity to exploit a tired team.
Late in the second half, Wiscon-
sin drew down the shot clock until
it nearly expired. Even though they
missed two consecutive shots, the
Badgers picked up both offensive
rebounds and held onto the ball for
nearly a minute and ahalf. The Bad-
gers were unable to convert on that
possession, they did an effective job
of running out the clock and quickly
putting the game away.
"It could have been a two- or
three-point game at halftime very
very easily because we forced them
into so many shot clock situations,"
Beilein said. "But they missed
seven shots they got five offensive
rebounds, that takes your heart
away. Now you're guarding them
for 60 seconds. We guarded them a
couple of times for 60 or 70 seconds.
That's really hard to do."
ANOTHER LETDOWN: While
Michigan runs much of its offense
from behind the arc, attempting
almost 25 3-pointers per game, the
Wolverines attempted less than
half that amount on Saturday, tak-
ing just 11 shots from downtown.
The Wolverines made both of
their two 3-point attempts in the
first half, but their number of looks
were limitedby the aggressive Wis-
consin defense. Every time Michi-
gan tried to get open off the screen,
the Badgers' man-to-man defense
was up to the task. The problem
was even more pronounced in the
second half, when Michigan missed
all nine of its 3-point attempts.
"They chase you off every screen,
and they were going to take that
part away from us," Beilein said.
"We weren't trying to not shoot
(threes). We were trying to get open
ones; we just couldn't get any. They
are just a very good defensive team,
both individually and as a team."
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Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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