8A -- Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
We really don't know anything
gnorance is bliss.
It's one of the most cliche
sayings in the English lan-
guage, so my apologies. I'm only
using it because
it's applicable to
the mysterious
odyssey that
was Athletic
Director Dave
Brandon's S
search for
Michigan's next JOE
head coach. STAPLETON
There was
speculation
about the locations, at various
times, of certain wing-helmeted
planes and Domino's jets. Jim Har-
baugh was as good as signed, then
he wasn't, then he was again after
he didn't sign anywhere for a day
or two, and then he was the coach
of the 49ers. Les Miles was a done
deal as late as two nights ago (I'm
looking at you, Joe Schad).
When the Big Lead "broke" the
story that Harbaugh-to-Michigan
had fallen apart, the incessant
bragging about the scoop was
annoying but understandable: It
was the one time throughoutthe
whole thingthat someone got
something undeniably right about
the whole mad tragicomedy.
Through all the unnamed sourc-
es and flight trackers, through the
baseless speculation by reporters
and yahoos alike, we all learned
one thing:
We don't know anything.
And you know what? I'm OK
with it. And I hope, for your sake,
that you are too.
A common takeaway from the
search: "Michigan isn't the job we
think it is." I was one of the loud-
est supporters of this theory. And
maybe it's true. But afterthinking
about it, that's not something you
can infer from this search.
- Sure, it appeared that Harbaugh
spurned Michigan. He was the
obvious first choice, right? But how
much do we know about the talks
between Brandon and Harbaugh?
Not much. In fact, nothing. We
don't know freaking anything
about them.
And Les Miles? We're still
unsure about who spurned
whom in that situation, but it's
really impossible to say. ESPN's Joe
Schad reported Miles turned down
an offer. Brandon claims he didn't
offer Harbaugh or Miles. And on
and on.
What if Brady Hoke was Bran-
don's guy the whole time? What if
Brandon was simply humoring the
fan base bytalking to Harbaugh
and Miles? It's certainly a pos-
sibility. In fact, that was one of the
early reports at the beginning of
the search (from FOX2, but still).
if that's true, doesn't it mean that
Michigan was the picky one in this
situation?
But once again, we have no idea.
So now it's Hoke. And guess
what? We don't know anything
about him, either.
We know he turned around a
Ball State program that was in
shambles - and it took him five
years (four, if you count 7-6 - but
our head coach was just fired for
that record, so...). He went 9-4 his
second year at San Diego State
and 4-8 his first year. He coached
under former Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr, who went 1-5 against
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. So
what can we reasonably expect?
Again, who knows.
Here's my humble plea to Wol-
verine nation: You don't know any-
thing, so just accept that and throw
your supportbehind this guy.
Try to forget about how botched
you believe this search was, how
close Michigan was to landing
Harbaugh - who suddenly became
the greatest coach in football over
the past two weeks - and how
underwhelmed you are with Brady
Hoke's name.
Michigan fans focused on all
the negatives once already and
look what that yielded. Embrace
the unknown instead of fearing it.
After all, you know whatthey say.
Ignorance is bliss.
Stapleton can be reached
at jstaple@umich.edu
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Brady Hoke is the 19th Michigan football coach in the program's history.
CHRIS RYBA/Daily
Junior guard Zak Novak, Michigan's leading rebounder this season, will look to help Michigan continue its solid play defensively against No. 2 Ohio State.
Michigan gets.i opportunity
for revenge againstOS
Merrill displays
durability, talent
in first season
By MARK BURNS weeks, whereas we only played
Daily Sports Editor two games," Berenson said. "I
wasn't surprised because he played
Jon Merrill had the opportunity a high level of hockey, and then he
to catch his breath, but only after got right back here and stepped
another solid all-around perfor- back into his regular game."
mance. While he's played just 21 games
After playing for the U.S. as a Division I athlete, it's clear
National Junior team in the 2011 that Merrill plays with a relative
IIHF World Junior Champion- smoothness and style that isn't
ships over the holidays break, the characteristic of an 18-year-old.
freshman defenseman could have In the Wolverines' 4-0 win over
had the luxury of taking this past Michigan State on Saturday, Mer-
weekend off, according to Michi- rill had three Spartans scratching
gan hockey coach Red Berenson. their heads and wondering why
But the Ann Arbor native they couldn't steal the puck from
declined, saying it wouldn'tbe "too him.
tough" to lace up the skates against With a loose puck lying in front
Michigan State. of the Michigan bench in the mid-
"I get to play hockey. I love to do die of the first period, Merrill cor-
it," Merrill saidbefore practice last ralled it and dangled it through
Thursday, two hours after arriving and around the defenders from
at Detroit Metro Airport. "I know I practically a standstill, before head
wanted to play, so there's no doubt manning the puck to a fellow Wol-
in my mind that I was going to verine.
play." "He's one of those exceptional
Berenson added: "He couldn't players ... He knows what to do at
wait to get back here. He was only this level," Berenson said of Mer-
gone a few weeks, but he was excit- rill, who is tied for fourth in CCHA
ed just to come back to Michigan." defensive scoring. "He came in as
Merrill then proceeded to tally a high, blue-chip recruit, and he's
two assists, block six shots and log lived up to it. That's the hardest
his usual significant minutes in the thingto do."
Wolverines' weekend split with But despite his maturity on the
Michigan State, picking up right ice and his ability to keep oppos-
where he left off in The Big Chill - ing teams guessing with how he
he notched two goals in the team's outmaneuvers them, there are still
5-0 rout of the Spartans at the Big areas to improve on such as putting
House. on some weight and getting quick-
Only after the split Merrill final- er, according to Berenson - even
ly decided, along with Berenson's for a player who has drawn com-
wishes, to take a break from prac- parisons by teammates to eventual
tice on Monday and let his body Hall of Famer Nick Lidstrom.
recover from the past three weeks. And being such a highly touted
During that stretch, Merrill and recruit and property of the New
sophomore forward Chris Brown Jersey Devils, which drafted Mer-
represented their country in Buf- rill with the 38th pick in the 2010
falo, N.Y., playing nine games NHL Entry Draft, there's always
(including exhibitions) in 18 days the slight possibility he could sign
against some of the world's best an entry-level contract at anytime
competition. during his collegiate career.
Merrill - who didn't seem to Just look at ex-Wolverine defen-
miss a beat against the Spartans seman Jack Johnson who left after
after missing the Great Lakes Invi- his sophomore campaign, signing
tational - hasn't missed a game with the Los Angeles Kings, as an
all season. Ironically, his defen- example.
sive partner, senior Chad Langlais, But for now, Berenson can
never missed a game during his breathe a sigh of relief and know
first year in Ann Arbor as well, and that he'll have the highly-touted
is a model of consistency in the recruit in Ann Arbor for the time
lineup. being.
"He had the advantage of play- "Right now, Jonny's really in a
ing nine games in the last three good place," Berenson said.
By ZAK PYZIK t thoughts. Really that's the only
Daily Sports Editor thing that I thought about. Now
that you brought it up, I think
Michigan men's basketball about it."
sophomore guard Darius Morris The last time that the Buckeyes
seems to have totally forgotten came to Ann Arbor, Michigan
about the Wolverines' buzzer- pulled off a 73-64 upset, though
beater loss to Ohio State in the Big Ohio State captain and last sea-
Ten tournament last season. son's National Player of the Year
When asked if last year's 69-68 Evan Turner was out of the game
season-ending because of injury.
defeat to the The Buckeyes are led by a dif-
then fifth-ranked OhiO State ferent national star this year in
Buckeyes moti- at Michigan freshman forward Jared Sull-
vated any sort inger. The 280-pound rookie has
of revenge for Manu: claimed eight o h ieBgTn
Ohio Stat ftenn i e
Wednesday's 16-0; Michi- Freshman of the Week awards this
rematch against gan 11-5 season - the one being claimed by
Ohio State at When: teammate Deshaun Thomas.
Crisler Arena, Wednesday Leading the conference in
Morris was non- 6:30 P.M. defensive rebounds and second in
chalant. Where- offensive rebounding, Sullinger
"Oh, honestly Criser Arena tallies a team-high 18 points per
the thing that I game. Michigan dealt with Kan-
thought about TV/Radio: sas's Markieff and Marcus Morris
when you said BTN in the post on Sunday by showing
(that was when) different looks on defense and
we had Ohio State at home," Mor- sometimes double-teaming them
ris said on Tuesday afternoon. in the paint. That type of team
"I just really went back to when mentality will be necessary to
we had Ohio State here at home stop Sullinger as well.
and had a victory, just positive "We've played some good post
players already," redshirt fresh-
man forward Jordan Morgan
said. "We need to approach it the
same way, as a team. Not just one-
on-one matchups. We just have to
shift our whole defense towards
some of their better players."
The Wolverines intend to alter-
nate between 1-3-1 zone and a
man-to-man defensive schemes
throughout the game. By dealing
out different looks on defense,
Michigan coach John Beilein
plans to limit what the Buckeyes
can do with their size advantage.
"Whatever (defense) is getting
stops, works," junior guard Zack
Novak said. "I think mixing it
up is good because it doesn't let
teams get into rhythm. I know
that when teams mix it up against
us, I guess it just messes with you
a little bit. You can't really get into
(a) flow mentally."
But slowing down Ohio State's
post game isn't the Wolverines'
only concern. The Buckeyes boast
some of the best perimeter play
in the conference. Senior guards
Jon Diebler and David Lighty are
shooting a combined 49 percent
from 3-point range.
"Lighty has improved every
year because he is an athlete,"
Beilein said. "He is a football play-
er, a two sport athlete. He is phys-
ical, he gets to the basket. They'll
isolate him a lot on our guys and
just try to get him to the foul line.
And when you coach against a kid
for four years, you just see that
3-pointer climb ... He had a huge
one against Minnesota (on Sun-
day). He can do so many different
things."
Though there are new players
on the rise for the Buckeyes, they
are a similar team to the one the
Wolverines contested three times
last year. Michigan's experience
in previous games with Ohio State
will serve as a blueprint for what
needs to be done on Wednesday.
"If you look at them last year
we played them in six halves,"
Beilein said. "I think we won four
of the six halves but we lost two
of the three games. So we need to
make sure that we put two halves
together ... We have to keep it con-
sistent so that we have a chance
to win. We can't continue to get
these double digit deficits and
come back to win, it's really hard."
6
Freshman phenom Sullinger will be a handful for Blue
By CHANTEL JENNINGS
DailySportsEditor
Don't let his number fool you.
He may wear No. 0, but fresh-
man Jared Sullinger is anything
but nil for the undefeated Ohio
State men's basketball team.
The 6-foot-9 forward has
quickly made a name for himself,
not only on the Buckeye roster,
but nationally. Last week, Sull-
inger was named to the John R.
Wooden Award Midseason Top-
30 list - just one of two freshmen
mentioned.
But recently, his efforts have
been focused on the Big Ten,
where he has led the Buckeyes
to a 3-0 start in conference play.
Coaches and players around the
conference knew about Sull-
inger's dominance before the sea-
son began - he has been named
the Big Ten Player of the week, or
Freshman of the week, in eight of
the nine weeks so far this season.
"He's above his age level as far
as strength," Wisconsin coach Bo
Ryan said in a teleconference on
Monday. "Sullinger, physically,
was ready. He obviously listens,
he obviously does what's best for
the team. You can see that he posi-
tions well. You can see he's not
just a talented player, but he's a
skilled, talented player. He's a dif-
ference maker."
Entering the Buckeyes' match-
up with the Wolverines, he
remains the dominant force for
Ohio State. He leads the team in
points (17.9) and rebounds (10.3)
per game. All the while shooting
nearly 59 percent from the floor,
second on the team only to senior
forward Dallas Lauderdale.
But in three Big Ten games for
the Buckeyes, Sullinger's numbers
have improved to 19 points and 11
rebounds per game. He has eight
double-doubles on the season and
is a brute force on the glass. His
shear size makes him a force to be
reckoned with, but he has surpris-
ingly light hands for a post player.
His impressive numbers as a
first-year player under Ohio State
coach Thad Matta shouldn't sur-
prise anyone.
As a senior at Northland High
School in Columbus, Sullinger
averaged 24.5 points and 12.3
rebounds a game. But even more
impressively, he shot 78 percent
from the floor.
That same year he was named a
McDonald's All-American, a high
school Naismith Award winner
and Parade Magazine's Player of
the Year.
"He had signs in preseason
workouts where he was very dom-
inant," Matta said. "I remember
watching him in the quarterfinals
of the National AAU Tournament
in Orlando and he had 28 (points)
and 19 (rebounds). And I'm like,
'No, he can't play any better in
the semifinals.' Then he got 32
(points) and 20 (rebounds) and
I'm like, 'He can't play any bet-
ter.' And then he went into the
Championship game and had like
36 (points) and 22 (rebounds) or
something."
In a video posted by the Ohio
State Athletic Department on
Tuesday, Sullinger expressed
his excitement to play in his first
rivalry game as a Buckeye.
Having grown up in Columbus
he said he experienced it, but he's
looking forward to doing so as a
player.
"It's always going to be a rival-
ry," Sullinger said. "It's always
going to be bad blood between
Ohio State and Michigan and
you've just gotta enjoy it ... Some
sports, like us, you get (to play
Michigan) six or seven or eight
times in your four years here. So
you've just got to enjoy playing
against Michigan."
It remains unseen whether or
not Sullinger will see more rivalry
games outside of this season. Ohio
State is notorious for sending
freshmen to the NBA - with five
in the past four years.
But for this season, Michigan
has about 280 pounds of No. 0 on
its hands.
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