4B - January 24, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
ANNA SCHIL
Sophomore point guard Darius Morris has struggled during Big Ten play this season after a stellar non-conference start.
The question or opposing
Big Ten coacheS has changed
In loss, four post
players fail to
record rebound
By ZAK PYZIK Smotrycz - who is found much
Daily Sports Editor more on the perimeter than in
the paint - had one rebound.
Michigan men's basketball After the Wolverines shot
coach John Beilein walked out 12-for-35 from beyond the arc, it
of the locker room afterthe Wol- wasn't as though they had noth-
verines' 69-64 loss to Minnesota ing to rebound. Michigan shot a 0
on Saturday earlier than normal. measly 34 percent from 3-point
Assistant coach LaVall Jordan range and 43 percent from the
stayed with field.
the players, NOTEBOOK "we had some kids that
holding his stepped up and rallied for
own team meeting - one that the team and did some good
didn't involve Beilein. things," Minnesota coach Tubby
Media waited outside the Smith said. "The good things -
locker room longer than usual rebounding the ball. I thought
for this meeting to end, and we dominated the boards."
when the doors finally opened LINEUP LIMBO: As the season
every Michigan player was has progressed and as Michigan
stone-faced. has continued to lose games,
"He didn'tgonegative,"junior Beilein has been experimenting
guard Stu Douglass said of Jor- with his rotations more often.
dan's locker room speech. "He Regardless of whether the
did not go overboard. Coaches reason for the lineup changes
are telling it how it is. They are is foul trouble or experimen-
not going to sugarcoat anything. tation, in Michigan's contest
They said we really have to take against Minnesota, the Wol-
pride in the jersey andtcome verines fiddled with some new
together as a team ... He said looks.
were just not playing together." At one point during the first
The Wolverine offense has half, Michigan had just one
most recently struggled to play starter - freshman Tim Hard-
consistently. Missing shots and away Jr. - on the floor. Hard-
making mistakes in transition away Jr. was accompanied by
have haunted them. Douglass, McLimans, Christian
"I don't think we're playing and sophomore Matt Vogrich,
entirely selfish, but I do think who had only seen the floor as
sometimes we are not playing Hardaway Jr.'s substitute.
for the team," Douglass said. "We see everything in prac-
"That's what we talked about." tice," Vogrich said: "At practice
With the loss to the Golden we mess around with all types
Gophers, Michigan (1-6 Big Ten, of lineups, it doesn't matter. You
11-9 overall) has dropped its last never know what we'll have to
six games. Its next contest will do if we get in foul trouble, or
come against Michigan State on maybe just something else is
Thursday in East Lansing. working against what they're
BIG MEN BLUNDERS: doing."
Despite the fact that at least But seeing Vogrich and Hard-
one of the Wolverines' four away Jr. on the floor simul-
post players - redshirt fresh- taneously was not the only
men Jordan Morgan and Blake oddity. Against the Golden
McLimans and freshmen Jon Gophers, McLimans and Chris-
Horford and Colton Christian tian were in the paint together,
- was on the floor at all times, also.
each of them failed to collect a "We had foul trouble," Beilein
single rebound. said after the game. "Blake
"(The Gophers are) just a big, (McLimans) had played pretty
physical team, and they just well in practice, so we wanted
asserted themselves," Morgan to give him a shot in there. We
said. "It's a whole team effort. had some guys in foul trouble
It's not just down low. That's and Zack (Novak) needed a rest
a large part of it, but we need at that time. We couldn't go with
everyone tryingtheir best to just Evan (Smotrycz) because Evan
clean up on rebounds." (Smotrycz) was already in foul
Minnesota outrebounded trouble, so Colton (Christian)
Michigan, 38-13, which marked played. (I) thought he did a good
the firsttime all season that none job. What he could do, only three
of the Wolverine forwards had a or four minutes, couldn't really
single rebound. Freshman Evan have a big impact."
All the hype at the begin-
ning of this year was
about how good of a sum-
mer sopho-
more point
guard Darius
Morris had.
Everyone
said he was
going to be the
glue to bind
the Michigan
men's bas- CHANTEL
ketball team JENNINGS
together -
which was
fine, because that's what a point
guard should be. He should be
the coach on the floor, the guy
that makes everyone around lPnh
better.
And at the beginning of the
season, that's how it looked.
Then he was left off the Cousy
Award Watchlist - an award
given to the top point guard in the
country - and everyone inAnn
Arbor was up in arms.
But Morris didn't pay attention.
He said he didn't care aboutthe
personal accolades as long as the
team was winning.
Then the team stopped win-
ning and that little nugget of
doubt began to creep up in every-
one's minds - maybe he's not
as good as we thought, maybe
he only plays well againstlesser
competition, maybe his summer
wasn'tthatgreat.
Once the Big Ten schedule
started, his numbers took a hit -
he didn't appear to be the same
player on the floor, he looked
more reckless and less effective.
In the open court he appeared to
be as good as any point guard in
the conference, but once the Wol-
verines slowed down and tried
to run an offense, Morris wasn't
Morris anymore.
Yes, Morris was still scoring
and distributing the ball, but he
didn't do it with the same flair
evenly throughout the game. I
began looking back at my game
notes that once praised the player,
but now the scribbles read: Dar-
ius, turnover. Darius, bad pass.
Darius, missed shot. Darius, wtf.
And that's kind of how his first
half performances went. Morris
has averaged just two points and
two assists in each firsthalf since
conference play began, but in the
second halves he has put up13
points and dished out four assists.
His shooting percentage jumps
nearly double from the first to the
second half But it's not just that.
Forty-three percent of his scor-
ing comes in his final five minutes
on the floor. And when you have a
guy thatplays more than 30 min-
utes a game, it's not productive
to have his scoring burst come at
the end - especially in games that
have already been decided before
the final five minutes.
It's important to have your best
players produce in the final min-
utes. It just can't be the only min-
utes they're productive, especially
when you're playing quality com-
petition. Because unless you're
Steve Nash's coach, normally it's
a bad thing for your pointguard
to lead the team in points and
assists.
Unless that point guard is sur-
rounded by an immense amount
of talent, other teams can key in
on a single player - whetherthat
means double teaming or forcing
him into early foul trouble - and
essentially debunk the catalyst of
the team.
And those surrounding Morris
have the potential to be incredibly
talented, butthey haven't pro-
duced as consistently as would be
necessary for a winning record.
Because time and time again (six
times straight, to be exact) Mor-
ris has been contained by other
teams and not enough players
have stepped up enough to win.
Big Ten coaches have realized
the proper question is not, "How
do we stop the Wolverines?" but
"How do we stop Morris so the
Wolverines stop themselves?"
Essentially, get rid of the gen-
eral and see how the troops do on
their own.
This weekend against Minne-
sota, they fared decently. Junior
guard Stu Douglass stepped up
and led the team with six assists
and attacked the Gophers' 2-3
zone with precision and court
vision.
Morris, on the other end,
looked lost. His one shot of the
first half was a drive against three
Minnesota players. Then when
senior Al Nolen suffered an ankle
injury and it was time to attack,
time to be a pointguard, Morris
didn't react and only passed the
ball around the perimeter.
In the time the Wolverines
need him the most, Morris has
been forced to retreat and Michi-
gan has found itself ina precari-
ous position asking itself, "How
do we stop beating ourselves?"
-Jennings can be reached
at chanjen@umich.edu.
MEN'S TENNIS
'M' drops heartbreaker to
fifth-ranked Longhorns
WRESTLING
Blue tops Northwestern
By MATT RUDNITSKY
Daily Sports Writer
Every eye in the record-set-
ting 687-person crowd focused
intently on Michigan freshman
Shaun Bernstein, who had just
recovered from a first set loss to
take the second.
Sophomore Evan King had
just won his match at No. 1 sin-
gles in the Michigan men's ten-
nis team's match against No. 5
Texas, leaving the Wolverines
in a 3-3 tie with the Longhorns.
The fate of the match rested
solely on Bernstein's 18-year old
shoulders.
This was no ordinary, polite-
ly-clapping tennis crowd, either.
The audience cheered on Ber-
nstein with constant "Go Blue"
cries and rousing choruses of
claps, reminiscent of those heard
in the Big House.
After being shut out by Texas
just a couple of weeks ago at the
Key Biscayne Invitational, No.
25 Michigan put up a fight in
Saturday's dual-match against
the Longhorns, with the match
coming down to a decisive third
set at No. 5 singles.
But Bernstein just wasn't at
his best, as he was broken in the
first game and never recovered.
He battled throughout and
the crowd cheered him on until
he walked off the court, but it
wasn't enough - he lost to No.
100 nationally-ranked Ben Chen,
6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Chen's win gave Texas (3-0) as Michigan lost the doubles
the 4-3 dual-match victory. point with three straight, con-
"I really didn't play my best," vincing losses to the Longhorns.
Bernstein said. "I missed a few "In doubles, I thought they
opportunities and didn't execute were better than us today,"
very well. Michigan coach Bruce Berque
"ButI don't think the pressure said.
got to me, it was just a couple of "I wish we had played a bit
bad mistakes here and there that better, but we would have had
decided the match. When it's to play great to win in doubles.
that big of a match against that I think they're just a little better
good of a player, you just can't than us there."
make those types of mistakes. But then in singles play, the
But it was a great atmosphere. Wolverines made an impressive
comeback, with King winning at
No. 1, senior captain Jason Jung
at No. 2 and freshman Barrett
"I couldn't Franks dominating his opponent
at No. 6.
believe it, how "We definitely fought back,"
Berque said. "Everyone fought
great the really hard, but it just didn't go
our way in that end.
crowd was." "To have three freshman, two
sophomores and one senior play-
ing, with our team MVP from
the last two years out of the line-
"I couldn't believe it, how up, and come that close to beat-
great the crowd was. I can't ing Texas is an indication of the
thank them enough. They really things we can do this year if we
got behind me every point I won, continue to improve."
even when I was down. That The team MVP Berque is
really helped me keep my com- referring to is senior Chris Mad-
posure and stay excited even den, who made a name for him-
when I was losing. That was self last year by clinching five
unbelievable." matches for the Wolverines.
The match's attendance shat- He's been sidelined all year with
tered the previous Varsity Ten- a wrist injury and is nearing a
nis Center attendance record by return to the court.
136 fans. Michigan could have benefit-
But the crowd didn't have an ed from his experience in such a
impact at the start of the match, tightly contested match.
By DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Writer
The crowd in Cliff Keen Arena
sat in angst, waiting for some-
thing to cheer for. And for the
second time in two weeks, it was
freshman Eric Grajales who ignit-
ed them.
In the end, Northwestern was
no longer undefeated.
Michigan's wrestlers had
already dropped their first two
matches, and despite a win from
junior Kellen Russell - albeit in
boring fashion - the Wildcats
seemed to have control of both the
crowd and the match.
Northwestern's 11th-ranked
Andrew Nadhir stepped to the
mats to face Grajales with the
chance to give the Wildcats a
commanding lead. But by the time
the clock struck zero, the young
Wolverinehad capturedthe upset
- and the momentum - propel-
ling No. 11 Michigan (2-0 Big Ten,
7-2 overall) to an eventual victory
Friday night, 22-12.
"We knew we were going to
have some struggles," Michigan
coach Joe McFarland said after
the match. "But I'm pleased with
our effort, because I knew, com-
ing into this match, those guys
were undefeated, they're 14-0,
they were feeling good abouttheir
wrestling and they had a lot of
confidence. So Iknew it was going
to take a great effort to get a big
victory here tonight."
McFarland also took note of
the difference between this year's
match with the 19th-ranked
Wildcats (2-1,14-1), and last year's
match in Evanston, when Michi-
gan let an early deficit take them
mentallyout of it.
"No question about it, these
guys are alittlescrappier,"McFar-
land said. "It's a whole different
team, whole different chemistry
from last year. And I think we're
getting better week-to-week and
the guys are working hard, excit-
ed. We've got some challenges
ahead of us, so we've got to keep
building off this."
Russell - ranked No. 1 in the
141-pound weight class - got the
Wolverines on the board after
they'd fallen behind early, 7-0.
With the win, he improved to
23-0 on the year to extend his win
streak to 24.
Next came Grajales. The
youngster fell behind early in the
match to his highly ranked foe,
but went on the offensive to spark
a furious rally - angering North-
western coach Drew Pariano to
the point of kicking over his chair.
"That kid can just wrestle,"
McFarland said. "He's coming
along. His mat sense is a lot better
and he's feeling a lot better when
he's out there. Everything's com-
ing together for him and we're
starting to see what kind of wres-
tler this kid really is."
And Grajales - now with back-
to-back impressive weekends
- can feel the momentum on his
side.
"My confidence is huge,"
Grajales said. "I think in the
beginning I was hoping I'd just
scramble my way out of any posi-
tion, so I was letting people in my
legs too much.
"Now, when I put people on
their heels and when I'm going
after people, attacking, it'sputting
people in positions I want to be in,
rather than what they want to
be in. I've just got to keep things
going, keep the ball rolling."
The Wildcats took the next
match to extend their leadto 12-6,
but that would be their last vic-
tory.
Sophomore Dan Yates con-
trolled the final half of his match
to earn a victory, and then junior
Justin Zeerip returned in style
from a knee injury, which had
held him out the previous two
weeks.
Zeerip's 10-1 win was the Wol-
verines' biggest of the night and
also gave them one bonus point,
pushing Michigan into a lead it
hung onto for the remainder of
the match.
"It was killing me the last two
weeks not being able to wrestle,"
Zeerip said. "It makes you feel
left out not being able to practice.
It definitely felt great getting out
there and wrestling tonight. And
I was happy with the way my knee
felt outthere today, too."
Senior captainAnthonyBiondo
and sophomores Hunter Collins
and Ben Apland closed the dual
out for the Wolverines. The five-
match win streak to close the
meet sent the Cliff Keen Arena
crowd home happy.
But next week the atmosphere
won't be as supportive, as Michi-
gan heads south for two confer-
ence matchups. The Wolverines
first head to Columbus for an
eagerly awaited dual with rival
Ohio State on Friday, before head-
ing to Bloomington for a Sunday
dual with Indiana.