The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, December 9, 2010 - 7A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, Decemher 9, 2010 - 7A

Back in his old position,
Novak making strides

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JAKE FROMM/Daily
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Chris Blais will play a huge part if the Wolverines want to upset No. 2 seed Akron on Friday.
Breakdown: Akron
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two-guard spot, igan State's Draymond Green
- and he struggled mightily at
rak leads team in times playing in the post.
.And though the occasional hus-
bounds with 7.6 tle plays and highlight-reel blocks
rds - along with his ability to dunk
)ards per game with more authority than any of
his teammates - have made him a
By LUKE PASCH fan favorite in Ann Arbor, he was
Daily Sports Writer still wholly undersized as a for-
-- -- ward in Division-I hoops.
k Novak vividly remembers Luckily for the Chesterton,
ific play from the Michigan Ind. native, Michigan coach John
basketball team's signature Beilein had something different
y over Connecticut last sea- in store for the 2010-11 season.
With the addition of freshman
d at 47 well into the second forwards Evan Smotrycz, Tim
tusky guard Donnell Bev- Hardaway Jr. and Colton Chris-
fted an alley-oop pass from tian, he told Novak over the
of the key, trying to set up summer that he'd finally get his
's man with a flashy finish. chance to play at his natural posi-
e Wolverine forward saw it tion - shooting guard.
hole way. Novak timed his "We can always put the small-
better than his Connecti- est four-man in Division-I back
unterpart and slapped the there - Zack Novak - because he
ray from the rim and into battls, and he gets some things
nds Michigan guard Darius done," Beilein said at Michigan
s. media day last month. "But he's
transition, Morris passed been playing out of position for
former Wolverine guard two years, so we pretty much
Lucas-Perry, who took a said, 'Colton and Evan, you go
om behind the arc that just after that position, and may the
I off the front rim. Seem- best man win.'"
out of nowhere, a streak- Now, eight games into the sea-
vak came rushing into the son, that change has become a
or the offensive board and blessing for the Wolverines (6-2).
the put-back with three Matched up against men his
cticut defenders breathing own size, Novak has cleaned up
his neck. the glass like never before, and he
tsequencemayhave topped leads the Wolverines in rebound-
matchup's highlight reel, ing with 61 boards --7.6 per game.
ovak admitted after the He's now on pace to finish this
:hat when he thwarted the season with over 100 rebounds
op attempt, he was simply more than he had last year.
to avoid being dunked on And in his last two games,
third time that game. Novak registered the first and
h was life for the 6-foot-4 second double-doubles of his
d last season. Then a soph- career.
Novak was matched up "I was thinking the whole time
t some of the nation's pre- going into this year it was goingto
frontcourt talent - from be easier to get rebounds," Novak
s's Marcus Morris to Mich- said after his 14-rebound perfor-

mance against Concordia last Fri-
day. "I'm not having to go against
guys that are waybigger than me.
But my teammates are doing a
great job blocking out - I'm just
getting easy rebounds."
Easy rebounds or not, his
increased output as the two-man
has helped in more ways than
one.
Now that Novak has replaced
junior guard Stu Douglass play-
ing at the top of the key with
Morris, Douglass has seemingly
found his niche coming off the
bench. His new role as the sixth
man has added depth to the
young Wolverine roster, provid-
ing a much-needed spark from
that spot late in a number of
games this season.
Against Harvard last Thursday,
the sharpshooter single-hand-
edly kept the stalling Michigan
offense in the game with his 16
second-half points, en route to a
65-62 victory. And to top it off,
Novak had a double-double in
that game as well - 12 points and
11 rebounds.
"This young man right now - I
think he scored 18 or 20 against
Ohio State as a starter - and
now he's coming off the bench,"
Beilein said. "That's the team-
work; that's the unity that we're
looking for. With Stu being able to
do that, now other people believe
(in our depth)."
And even with Novak and Dou-
glass thriving from their respec-
tive position changes, the switch
hasn't been perfect.
So far this season, Novak has
shot at a woeful 31-percent clip
from the field, which is signifi-
cantly less successful than in
each of his previous two sea-
sons. But if he can turn it on
from 3-point range like he has in
the past, expect more good from
these changes to come.

By BRIAN MECHANICK
Daily Sports Writer
If you were standing on the side-
lines ofAkron's Lee R. Jackson Field
on Oct. 19, you would have laughed
at the idea that the visiting team
would eventually earn a College
Cup berth six weeks later. The Zips
trounced Michigan 7-1 that night -
Akron's biggest margin of victory
all season - as the visitors traveled
back home with their confidence
and direction in doubt.
But Friday, the Wolverines will
stand across the field from the Zips
in Santa Barbara, Calif., with a trip
to the NCAA final on the line. Mich-
igan is the clear underdog.
But with a nine-game winning
streak since the loss to Akron,
which includes road upsets of
No. 10 South Carolina and No.
2 Maryland, the Wolverines are
undoubtedly a stronger team than
they were in Akron. But how much
stronger?
MICHIGAN'S FORWARDS VS.
AKRON'S CENTER BACKS
Akron has been buoyed all year
by one of the nation's best defens-
es, boasting the nation's sixth best
goals-against-average. The defense
is organized around its two U-20
U.S. National Team center backs,
sophomores Zarek Valentin and
Chad Barson. Both players are
quick, have great composure and
positioning and have a special talent
for distributing balls forward to the
Zips' forwards.
Michigan freshman Soony Saad
and senior Justin Meram are the
attacking force for the Wolverines.
They have combined for 35 goals
this season and have accounted for
75 percent of Michigan's scoring
prodcution.Merampossesses afear-
lessness in beating defenders and a
poacher's mindset while Saad has
garnered attention as the nation's
second-leading goal scorer with his
howitzer shot from anywhere in the
attacking half.
Akron's pair both stand at under
six feet, which could open up
the aerial game for 6-foot-i-inch
Meram. Michigan's forwards will
have to get the better of the match-
up in order to win.
EDGE: Push
MICHIGAN'S WINGERS VS.
AKRON'S FULLBACKS
Perhaps the best player on
Akron's team, star junior right back
Kofi Sarkodie, is a dynamic force
attacking down the wing, as his
hat trick against the Wolverines
in October showed. Akron's whole
formation is based around Sar-
kodie's bombing runs, so the Wol-
verine left winger (likely senior
Alex Wood or freshman Fabio Per-
reria) will have to double down in
tracking back on defense.
The Michigan right wingers
matched up against Akron left back
Chad Korb should be a much more
quiet affair. The more defensive
left back should swallow up red-
shirt junior Adam Shaw's attacks
down the wing.
Michigan will likely try to play
 the ball in the middle of the park
to avoid the intimidating Zip full-
backs, but expect Sarkodie to
wreak havoc again.
EDGE: Akron

MICHIGAN'S CENT
VS. AKRON'S CENTE
TThis matchup w
by Michigan sophom
midfielder Hamoody
freshman Akron de
fielder Perry Kitchen.
the USyouthnational
is an expert ball wir
tributor - the lynchp
defense and devasta
attack.
Saad is the quartr
Michigan attack, dist
to the forwards and
great precision. If I
him down and disrup
expect the Michiganc
ter.
Not to be outdone,
Anthony Ampaipit
Kitchen's dynamic pa
quickness and passi
be difficult for theN
handle. Michigan sop
Alashe will have to m
he avoids turnovers in
the park lest he unle
the counter-attack.
In Alashe and Sa
verines have two tale
helped lead the offens
not ready for the two p
round MLS players th
goingup against.
MICHIGAN'S FUL
AKRON'S WIN
Akron sports an
out in redshirt junio
Michael Nanchoff. I
scorer who provides
and electrifies with
runs down the field.
partnered with soph
Caldwell who has be
son dynamo for Akro
four of his career goa
son games.
Chase Tennant ar
jano are the two sen
for the Wolverines. S
the Akron wings is a t
veterans have steppec
ing improve the Wolv
during the winning st
are facing a major cha
with the quicknessc
wide midfielders.

ER MIDFIELD
ER MIDFIELD
ill be defined
ore attacking
Saad against
fensive mid-
A standout of
team, Kitchen
nner and dis-
rin of Akron's
ting counter-
erback of the
ributing balls

MICHIGAN'S CENTER BACKS
VS. AKRON'S FORWARDS
TThis is where it gets rough for
the Wolverines. Leading the line
for the Zips are two of the nation's
best college players, junior Darling-
ton Nagbe and freshman Darren
Mattocks. Mattocks has been the
phenom to replace recently called-
up U.S. national team member Teal
Bunbury, (now of MLS's Sporting
Kansas City), while Nagbe has the
speed and skill that have experts
projecting him to be the first MLS

I

wings with draft pick this January.
Kitchen shuts Michigan sophomores Kofi
ts his passing, Opare and Brian Klemczak will
offense to fal- have to do better than they did in
the last meeting with the Zips. A
Akron senior failure to close down the attackers
akwong is and clear effectively helped lead to
rtner. He has theWolverines' demise.
ng that will Experience from the first
Wolverines to matchup should benefit Michigan
rhomore Latif more than Akron on this area of the
lake sure that field. But there is no bigger dispar-
the center of ity in talent than there is between
ash Akron on the Michigan defenders and the
Akron attack.
ad, the Wol- EDGE: Akron
nts who have
e. But they're GOALKEEPING
'rojected first- Redshirt junior goalkeeper
at they will be Chris Blais has been an unques-
tioned leader of the Michigan
EDGE: Akron defense, making seven saves in the
quarterfinals to outplay the Terra-
LBACKS VS. pins' top-prospect goalkeeper Zac
IGERS MacMath.
other stand- Akron has a strong goalie itself
r left-winger in sophomore David Meves, but his
He is a goal errors in the quarterfinals almost
great crosses knocked Akron out of the tourna-
his darting ment. Meves might be the flashier
Nanchoff is name in soccer circles, but Blais is
romore Scott definitely the steadier goalkeeper.
en a postsea- EDGE: Michigan
n, tallying all
ils in postsea- INTANGIBLES
Both teams enter the game riding
nd Jeff Qui- long winning streaks and are full of
nior fullbacks confidence. Akron has the intimi-
hutting down dation factor after its destruction
all order. The of the Wolverines, but Michigan's
d up in help- resiliency and comeback-kid men-
erine defense tality should keep it in the game
reak, but they closer than the teams' 7-1. Still,
llenge to deal expect talent to win out in the end.
of the Akron EDGE: Push
EDGE:Akron FINAL SCORE: Akron 3, Michigan2
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