8 -- Friday March 21, 2014
The Michigan Daily -- michigandailycom
8 - Friday, March 21, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Redshirt junior Jon Horford goes up for a shot during Michigan's 57-40 win over Wofford in the NCAA Tournament. A Michigan fan holds up a sign in support of sophomore guard Nik Stauskas during Michigan's first-round game Thursday.
After win, limelight shines on assistant coaches
Jordan, Meyer start
prep for Texas
By NEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily Sports Editor
MILWAUKEE - LaVall Jor-
dan and Jeff Meyer walked off
the court after Michigan's 57-40
win over Wofford Thursday night,
spent time with the team in the
locker room and walked right back
on the court, iPads in hand.
The assistant coaches were
delegated as the scouts for the
Wolverines' game on Saturday -
Meyer chosen to study Arizona
State, while Jordan was assigned
Texas.
Much is made of the physical
rigors of the NCAA Tournament,
with teams playing games in
shorter spans than in the regular
season, but it's just as much an
exercise in study. Instead of hav-
ing weeks to get to know a Big Ten
opponent, inside and out, there's
just about 40 hours to get ready for
a team in the Big Dance.
"It's a challenge," Jordan said.
"But that's why we have smart
guys. I think our guys embrace
that challenge. They like trying to
be the smartest team."
It's not that the coaches are try-
ing to formulate offensive sets and
inbounds plays from watching
the games live as much as they're
trying to get a feel for their future
opponent.
Sometimes a player is listed
as 6-foot-11 when he's closer to
6-foot-9. Coaches also pick up
on play calls signaled on the fly,
which are either not audible, not
visible or both in film.
"Our job is to take what we
see, information we gather metri-
cally and then be able to give them
exactly what they can absorb,"
Jordan said. "You've got to give
them a great idea of what they're
going to face."
But while the coaches are
charged to take in all the informa-
tion they can, they need to pick
and choose what to relay to the
players.
"You always try to give them a
Reader's Digest version of prepa-
ration," said assistant coach
Bakari Alexander, who was in
charge of scouting Wofford. "I
think it's anchored in strengths,
weaknesses, top three scorers,
high-minute guys."
Freshman guard Zak Irvin likes
to know the opponent's style of
play, who the key players are and
what theylike to do.
For sophomore guard Nik
Stauskas, it's important to know
how they defend ball screens. He's
had to deal with Big Ten teams
spending weeks concocting game
plans to limit his production, so it's
a relief for him that in the NCAA
Tournament, teams are too wor-
ried with their previous matchup
to spend much time on that.
As Texas opened up a sizable
second-half lead on Arizona
State Thursday night, Jordan
and Meyer sat in the scouting
seats, tapping away at their
Apple devices and exchanging
observations.
The Sun Devils mounted ; a
comeback and led in the final
minutebut itwas tied with 16 sec-
onds left. Longhorn center Cam-
eron Ridley scooped an offensive
rebound off the floor and laid in
a buzzer beater in prime March
Madness dramatic form.
With the Texas win, Jordan
would have the preparation ready
to give to the team Friday. Though
the focus was solely on Wofford in
the preceding five days, he made
sure to know a bit about the Long-
horns beforehand.
"They've got size, a couple big
guys, alot of height," Jordan said.
"If we do end up seeing them,
that'll be something we gotta
adjust."
The coaches enter scouting
with more or less a blank slate.
The first thing they consider when
they know an opponent is connec-
tions on the coaching tree, such
as Wofford assistant coach Dar-
ris Nichols being a former point
guard of Michigan coach John
Beilein's at West Virginia.
Then, they'll look at the team's
last five games and try to pick up
on tendencies.
"Who are their main scorers,
where do shots come from, how do
they exploit other teams' defens-
es?" Alexander said. "All of those
different things are ingredients
that lead into preparation."
More than any other time in
the season, the fate of a team is
in the assistant coaches' hands in
the NCAA Tournament. Much
else about a game has been made
neutral - the teams are physically
tired, they're on a neutral court
and emotional intensity is peak-
ing.
What differs between teams is
how much one knows about the
other, and how they recalibrate in
response.
Michigan players and staff took
the team bus back to the hotel
shortly after the game Thursday,
but Meyer and Jordan remained
on the sidelines. Like synchro-
nized studiers, they watched the
game with their heads perched
atop their right hand.
The players' days were done,
but it was crunch time for Meyer
and Jordan.
SOFTBALL
From Page 7
their own schedule, Hutchins
has to trust her squad to main-
tain that focus up until they
gather three hours before game
time.
Beyond the matter of focus,
Michigan will be getting adjust-
ed to its notably fast outfield
after practicing inside for six
weeks.
"Our goal in practice today
was to not let the ball touch the
fence," Hutchins said Wednes-
day. "We have to make sure we're
taking deep angles on the ball."
The Wolverines' veteran out-
field, anchored by senior center
fielder Lyndsay Doyle and senior
right fielder Nicole Sappingfield,
will be used to the adjustment
period. Sappingfield thinks this
team could be farther along
going into conference play than
in years past, and that bodes well
for a team looking for its seventh
straight Big Ten title.
The other member of the out-
field, sophomore Sierra Law-
rence, hassbeen one of Michigan's
strongest presences at the plate
this spring, hitting .355 with
three home runs and 27 RBI.
In the circle, junior pitchers
Haylie Wagner and Sara Dries-
enga will continue to lead the
Wolverines, though freshman
right-hander Megan Betsa has
gotten significant innings in
recent weeks as Driesenga works
out some control issues. Wagner
has led the pack at 13-0, with a
0.93 ERA in 75 innings pitched.
While Indiana figures to be a
bottom-dwelling Big Ten team,
Hutchins insists that the Wol-
verines' focus remains on their
own performance.
"We've spent a lot of time
seeing what kids are capable
of," Hutchins said. "But the
game hasn't changed. The game
doesn't know we're in Big Ten
season and I don't think we'll do
much differently."
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Junior foward Cyesha Goree is second in program history in rebounds by a junior with 289 this season.
'M'set for WNIT opener at home
By SHANNON LYNCH
Daily Sports Writer
The first round of the WNIT
begins this week, and the Michi-
gan women's basketball team
will kick off its postseason play at
Crisler Arena Friday night against
Stony Brook. The Wolverines
received an at-
large bid Mon- S Brook
day after losing StOny
to No. 19 Michi- at MiChigan
gan State in the M
second round Stosy Brook
of the Big Ten 24-8; Michi-
Tournament. gan 18-13
Michigan (8-8 When: Fri-
Big Ten, 18-13 day 7 P.M.
overall) finished
tied with Min- Where: Crisler
Center
nesota for sixth
place in the Big TV/Radio:
Ten. This is the MGoBlue.com
first time since
2010 that the Big Ten has sent
nine teams to the postseason. For
the Wolverines, this is the fifth
straight year the program has
earned a postseason bid.
Friday, Crisler willhostthe Sea-
wolves forthe programs' first-ever
matchup. Stony Brook (13-3 Amer-
ica East, 24-8) finished second in
its conference, earning a DivisionI
postseason appearance for just the
second time.
Forward Sabre Proctor, who
reached double figures in scoring
26 times during the regular sea-
son, leads the Seawolves, but two
of Stony Brook's guards, Jessica
Ogunnorin and Chikilra Good-
man, could pose the biggest threat
to the Wolverines. Each was
named to the America East All-
Championship Team, and Good-
man was named the conference's
,Defensive Player of the Year.
Junior guard Shannon Smith
is one of the Wolverines' biggest
offensive weapons. She's averag-
ing a team-leading 14.1 points and
recorded five 20-point contests
duringthe regular season.
"Shannon's probably going to
have the other team's best defend-
er on her - they're going to be
denying her the ball," said Michi-
gan coach Kim Barnes Arico.
"They are probably going to be
trying to double team her at times,
so we need to use her sometimes
as a decoy."
In its first-round matchup,
Michigan's focus will be on finish-
ing the full 40 minutes without
faltering and relying on a number
of different people to make critical
plays.
"Every day, we've been spend-
ing time on end-of-game situa-
tions - up a point, down a minute,
a minute left, 30 seconds, three
seconds left in the game - and
really just working on our confi-
dence," Barnes Arico said.
With late-game control in
mind, Michiganwill need astrong
free-throw percentage - this
season, the Wolverines are 13-4
when making more free throws
than their opponents. Other keys
include 3-pointers and rebounds.
Junior forward Cyesha Goree
is second in program history for
rebounds as a junior (289) and
put up 13 per game at the Big Ten
Tournament. Michigan led the
Big Ten in rebounding during the
regular season.
With the goal of opening up
the court and using different rota-
tions, the Wolverines will look to
rely on sophomore guard Madi-
son Ristovski and freshman guard
Siera Thompson for consistent
free throw shooting. Ristovski is
shooting46.2percentfrombeyond
the are, while Thompson, who set
the record for most 3-pointers for
a freshman in a single season, has
increased her total to 69 this year.
"It shows our growth as a
team," Barnes Arico said. "We're
trying to get better at having
everyone be able to make the play
late in the game."
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