Learning curve
remains steep for
Michigan on 1-3-1,
2-3 zones
By LEV FACHER
Managing Editor
More than halfway through
its season, the Michigan men’s
basketball team is still gaining
a clearer understanding of its
strengths and weaknesses.
Unfortunately
for
the
Wolverines,
after
suffering
a 71-52 blowout at the hands
of Ohio State on Tuesday, the
weaknesses certainly seem to
outnumber the strengths.
One of the trouble spots
is
Michigan’s
man-to-man
defense, which has led to
recent foul trouble for multiple
Wolverines, including freshman
forward
Kameron
Chatman
and sophomore guard Derrick
Walton Jr.
As a result of the foul
trouble and his team’s lack
of size, Michigan coach John
Beilein has been forced to
turn to alternative defensive
alignments increasingly often.
The Wolverines have shown
off two zone looks in the past
several games — a 2-3 and a 1-3-1
— and the formations have seen
varying degrees of success.
“Their
2-3
zone
wasn’t
effective,” said Minnesota coach
Richard Pitino following his
team’s 62-57 loss to Michigan
on Saturday. “We got an open
look on it.”
Michigan’s 1-3-1 look seemed
slightly more potent, especially
on plays following timeouts
and during its late-second half
comeback, but Pitino attributed
the Golden Gophers’ frequent
turnovers and offensive miscues
to a simple lack of execution,
not an elevated defensive effort
from the Wolverines.
“They went all 1-3-1,” Pitino
said. “I thought we were getting
some good looks. I thought Joey
(King) had a couple open looks
in the corner, (Maurice Walker)
had an open one he dropped,
so, you know … you can’t beat
anybody playing like that.”
Beilein’s take, though, varied
substantially. In his Wednesday
appearance on WTKA radio’s
“The Michigan Insider,” he
said that the switch to the zone
formations was an attempt
to keep his players out of foul
trouble and to prevent his
team from gifting the Golden
Gophers points.
“You can’t just go toe to toe
sometimes,” Beilein said. “You
could be at the foul line all day.”
The switch paid immediate
dividends, as Michigan climbed
out of a nine-point hole to earn
its third Big Ten win in four tries
and keep Minnesota winless in
the conference. The Wolverines
outscored the Golden Gophers
22-8 in the game’s final 11
minutes.
“It
wasn’t
that
shrewd,”
Beilein said. “It was out of
desperation at that point, and it
certainly worked.”
Many of Michigan’s players,
as the results have shown, feel
more comfortable in the 1-3-1
zone than in the 2-3.
“I really like the 3-zone,” said
sophomore guard Zak Irvin
following the Minnesota game.
“I think that had a big impact on
the game today. Because once
we went to that, it seemed to
rattle them a little bit, and that’s
when we made our run.”
The Wolverines didn’t just
use the zone to their advantage
against the Golden Gophers —
against Illinois on Dec. 30, they
used their 1-3-1 look to come
back from a late-game deficit
and force overtime, eventually
coming away with a 73-65
victory.
Irvin,
a
relative
veteran
on a team with just three
upperclassmen,
might
be
comfortable in the 1-3-1. But
for Michigan’s freshmen, the
learning curve remains steep.
“It takes a while to learn it,”
Beilein told WTKA. “It’s just
difficult for some guys to just
grasp all the things that you
have to do, because the angles
are very different than man-
to-man angles, so you go back
to your man-to-man tendencies
and it would kill you.”
Not much could have saved
the Wolverines on Tuesday.
The
19-point
final
deficit
undersold the degree to which
the Buckeyes dominated, as
evidenced by their 36 points in
the paint. And while Michigan’s
31-percent shooting from the
field was most harmful on the
offensive end, it also stopped
the Wolverines from being able
to use the zone looks even in
situations where they might
have wanted to.
“It
depends
on
the
personnel,” Beilein said. “It’s
hard to get into it after you miss
a shot, it’s easier to get into after
you make a shot. So you’ve got to
make shots in order to get into it
very well.”
The bottom line, according
to
Michigan’s
eighth-year
coach, is that the Wolverines
will use zone looks whenever
their personnel and the game
situation allow them to.
“It’s not as easy as people
think,” Beilein said. “We try to
use it when it’s ready to be used,
and it takes time.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Friday, January 16, 2015 — 7
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Sophomore forward Zak Irvin and Michigan are working on their 1-3-1 zone to compensate for a lack of size inside.
Zone defense still developing
Wolverines set
for last tune-up
By MATTHEW KIPNIS
Daily Sports Writer
More than eight months
have passed since the Michigan
women’s tennis team played
a match at home. When the
Wolverines last left the Varsity
Tennis Center, they looked as
if they could finally win the Big
Ten Tournament and make it
to their fifth straight Sweet 16
appearance.
Ultimately, though, neither
goal came to fruition. Michigan
was ousted by Northwestern in
the Big Ten Tournament and
by Southern California in the
NCAA Tournament last year.
That
was
eight
months
ago, though, and now the
16th-ranked Wolverines aren’t
looking in the rear-view mirror.
“The girls are very excited
about this weekend, not only
to get the season started but to
just be at home,” said Michigan
coach Ronnie Bernstein. “We
haven’t been at home at all this
year, which is unusual.”
After a fall season spent
entirely on the road with
tournaments
in
California,
Arizona and New York, the
Wolverines finally return to
Ann Arbor on Saturday to
conclude tournament action at
the Michigan Invitational.
Michigan
faces
tough
competition
against
three
teams that rank in the top
40 nationally — No. 23 South
Carolina, Texas Tech and South
Florida. All three reached the
NCAA Tournament last season.
The non-scoring event will
serve as the Wolverines’ final
practice before the regular
season begins next week.
“Every year, I invite teams
and try to make it as tough as I
can to start off,” Bernstein said.
“We need to get started quickly
with some good competition.
We don’t know them that well,
so it is going to be tough.”
The
Wolverines
haven’t
played any of the visiting teams
since
January
2013,
when
they defeated the Gamecocks
to advance to the finals of
the
ITA
National
Indoor
Championship.
The trip to the finals was
aided
by
this
year’s
team
leaders,
despite
the
youth.
Senior Emina Bektas hadn’t
been named Big Ten Player of
the Year, senior Sarah Lee had
57 fewer wins under her belt
and junior Ronit Yurovsky was
just getting her footing on the
collegiate level.
Now,
along
with
senior
captain Kristen Dodge, the
three anchor Michigan, with
No. 18 Bektas, No. 23 Yurovsky
and No. 38 Lee all ranked in the
top 40 in the country.
“I can’t really believe the
season is starting again,” Bektas
said. “It feels like I just came
in for my freshman year, but I
know it is my senior year.”
This match will be the
first dual match for freshmen
Kara
Hall,
Alex
Najarian
and Mira Ruder-Hook, who
came to Michigan with high
expectations as the nation’s
10th-ranked recruiting class,
highest in the Big Ten. But the
seniors have proven they can
help ease the transition for the
freshmen class, as evidenced by
Bektas teaming with Najarian
to win the doubles title at the
ITA Regionals.
This weekend’s matches will
be the Wolverines’ last tune-up
before the five-month season
begins, and Michigan looks not
to dwell on the broken streak
but rather the start of what
could be a new streak of Sweet
16 appearances in a few months.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Red-hot Wolverines take
on Ohio State after sweep
By ZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Writer
Red Berenson isn’t buying the
hype. Not yet, at least.
The Michigan hockey coach
has guided his team to the
nation’s third-best record (10-
2) since Nov. 1, and it now sits
alone alone atop the Big Ten after
sweeping then-No. 9 Minnesota
last weekend.
But
as
the
19th-ranked
Wolverines (4-1 Big Ten, 12-7
overall) travel to Columbus to
take on Ohio State (2-3, 7-10-1)
Friday, Berenson knows that his
team is only as good as its latest
practice.
“I
think
they
got
some
confidence,”
Berenson
said.
“But I don’t want us to be
overconfident. We still have to do
a lot of things better than we did
last week. We’re in a good place.
We looked a lot better today than
we did yesterday, which we’ll
need for Friday.”
The reason for Berenson’s
hesitation,
in
part,
is
that
Michigan has struggled mightily
on the road, where it is 1-5. Its
last four losses have come by a
combined 18-6.
Michigan
has
a
golden
opportunity to buck that trend,
however, against an Ohio State
team that is a paltry 2-6 at home.
“We’ve got to play better
than we have on the road,”
Berenson said. “It’s confidence,
it’s preparation and then there’s
a level of mental toughness that
has to be there. There’s going
to be guys that have a chance to
make a difference and they have
to be ready to do that.
“It might be me on a blocked
shot, it might be you with an
opportunity to score or take a
hit, it might be a second effort
backcheck, but we have to play
with that second-effort attitude.
If we do that, then we’ll give
ourselves a chance.”
On paper, the Wolverines
have a clear advantage over the
Buckeyes. With the nation’s No. 2
scoring offense, Michigan should
find the back of the net against
Ohio State, which has allowed
16 goals in its last three Big Ten
games.
The Wolverines are scoring
5.8 goals per game in conference
play, including eight goals in
their previous matchup with
the Buckeyes and 11 goals in two
games against a Minnesota team
that touts eight NHL draftees on
the blue line.
Still, Berenson would much
rather see a defensive struggle
from his team.
“We’ve only played a handful
of games,” Berenson said of the
success in conference games.
“You aren’t going to be able to
keep that scoring going the rest of
the way. You might get that when
everything’s going your way, but
mostly not. I’m expecting this
will be a one-goal game.”
A one-goal game would be
a stark contrast to the teams’
previous meeting Dec. 5, in
which Michigan came back from
an early deficit to win 8-3. The
Wolverines were clicking on all
cylinders then, too, but Berenson
doesn’t read too much into it.
“It was a game where the puck
went in for us and the power play
took over for us,” Berenson said.
“We scored four power-play
goals in that game, so that’s not
something you can count on very
often.”
Michigan has been among the
nation’s best the past 10 weeks.
Now it has an opportunity to take
its show on the road.
‘M’ takes on No. 4 OSU
After road split last
weekend, Michigan
continues tough
conference stretch
By BEN FIDELMAN
Daily Sports Writer
After splitting the first two
matches of a grueling Big Ten
slate, the No. 16 Michigan
wrestling
team
heads
into
Sunday’s home-opening dual
meet against No. 4 Ohio State in
search of a statement win.
“When you get into the Big
Ten grind, it’s important that
you’re prepared weekend-to-
weekend,” said Michigan coach
Joe McFarland. “This is a big
dual for us. The Michigan versus
Ohio State rivalry bodes true in
all sports. We’re excited to have
them here in Cliff Keen Arena.”
The Wolverines head in as
underdogs against the Buckeyes
(1-1 Big Ten, 5-3 overall), who
have given Michigan (1-1, 3-2)
a tough time over the last three
years, winning handily twice.
Although both teams have
played
challenging
non-
conference
schedules,
Ohio
State has taken on three of the
top five teams in the nation
in the last month. That swing
featured losses to No. 1 Iowa
and No. 3 Missouri, along with a
win over No. 5 Penn State.
Somewhat of an oddity for
the Wolverines is that they face
their toughest rivals on back-
to-back weekends, competing
against Michigan State last
Sunday and this week hosting
the Buckeyes.
“It’s very important to keep
the momentum going,” said
sophomore heavyweight Adam
Coon. “We’re on a good roll here
with that close dual against
Minnesota and a good turnout
at Michigan State. We’re just
going to keep trying to ride the
roller coaster up, and having
a rivalry match is, of course,
going to add a little more hype
to the dual.”
Michigan is looking to turn
heads in the nation’s best
wrestling conference for the
second consecutive season. The
team lost by
a single point
against
No.
2
Minnesota
on
Jan.
9,
broadcasting
to other teams
toward
the
top
of
the
conference
that a match
against
this
Wolverine squad isn’t another
win to check off on the
schedule.
Michigan
feels
the
importance of preparing with
a sense of urgency for these
Big Ten duals. To do this, the
team decided to hold simulation
matches
—
essentially
an
intra-squad scrimmage — on
the competition mats at Cliff
Keen Arena for Wednesday’s
practice. Usually all practices
are held at the Bahna Wrestling
Center, which is about a mile
down State Street.
“It’s a different atmosphere,”
McFarland said. “I was telling
the guys in the locker room to
take advantage of this, and try
to visualize and get ready for
Ohio State. I told them to give
the kind of intensity you want
in your warm-ups and matches.
We haven’t done this in a few
years, so it’s a good change of
pace for the guys.”
Not only was there a different
location for the practice, but
the competition surface was
new, too. With Sunday’s dual
being the first home event of the
year for the
Wolverines,
it will be the
first time their
new mats have
been
used.
New mats can
have
much
more
spring
than
older
ones, so both
the
coaches
and players thought it would be
a good idea to roll them out for
practice once during the week
so they could get a feel for the
surface.
While the Wolverines are
going out with the old and in
with the new mats, they will
still be bringing an old familiar
sight: a sold-out Cliff Keen
Arena, after an 11-month hiatus.
WRESTLING
“It’s very
important to keep
the momentum
going.”
DO YOU HAVE ENTHUSIASM
UNKNOWN TO MANKIND?
THEN COME TO ONE OF OUR MASS MEETINGS:
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22
SUNDAY, JANUARY 25
MONDAY, JANUARY 26
ALL MEETINGS AT 7:30 P.M. AT 420 MAYNARD
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Junior forward Andrew Copp leads the Michigan hockey team into Columbus on Friday for a road tilt against Ohio State.