8 — Friday, January 20, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Behind Enemy Lines: 
Illinois’s John Groce

After 
a 
narrow 
loss 
at 

Wisconsin 
on 
Tuesday, 
the 

Michigan men’s basketball team 
will come home to Ann Arbor to 
face Illinois once again Saturday.

The last time the two teams 

faced off was back on Jan. 
11, when the Wolverines fell 
to the Fighting Illini, 85-69, 
in Champaign. Senior guard 
Derrick Walton Jr. was called for 
a technical foul in the first half, 
which changed the course of the 
game, as Illinois went on a 17-2 
run to end the stanza and never 
looked back.

After 
the 
game, 
Fighting 

Illini forward Maverick Morgan 
called Michigan a “white-collar” 
team, which didn’t sit well with 
the Wolverines, so there will be 
no shortage of motivation for the 
home team.

The Daily sat down with 

Illinois coach John Groce at Big 
Ten Media Day in October to talk 
about dealing with injuries, the 
growth of his team and the next 
steps the Fighting Illini need to 
take to be a Big Ten contender.

The 
Michigan 
Daily: 

Last season, you had a couple 
“almost” wins when you almost 
beat Maryland and you almost 
beat Penn State. In your mind, 
what does your team need to do 
to get over that hump?

John Groce: We need to 

get healthy, and we have. I’m 
glad it happened now, but it 
wasn’t fun going through it 
(last season). But if you took any 
team (in the Big Ten) and took 
away their starting ‘1’, ‘4’ and ‘5’ 
and play the Big Ten schedule, 
that’s a lot. Everybody has an 
injury. Michigan’s had their 
fare share of injuries too, and it 
certainly hampers growth and 
development, and they’ve done 
a great job of thrusting through 
that. I thought our guys had that 
same mindset last year.

TMD: You mentioned that 

you’re glad it happened today. 
Why is that?

JG: I thought we played well 

in the Big Ten Tournament, and 
it showed their character that 
they did want to keep playing. 
I loved how well we played 
overall, and I thought that was 
great heading into this year. 
Some guys got experience when 
they might not have otherwise. 
So now it’s become a blessing 
(to) have all those guys that are 
experienced and seasoned. It 
bodes well for us.

TMD: 
Now 
that 
you’re 

healthy, what’s the next step 
your team needs to take?

JG: The next thing for us is to 

get back to defending the way we 
did the first three years (of my 
tenure). Of course, a lot of things 
like injuries are tied to that last 
year, but our defense was not 
good enough. It was poor, and it 
has to be a lot better.

TMD: What do you think 

about the defense is lacking? Is 
it the general hustle of the team 
or may (it be) tied to X’s and O’s?

JG: I think it’s strength, and 

we’re a lot stronger this season. 
I think it’s experience. I think 
it’s health, execution of the little 
things and valuing the little 
things. It’s a lot of different 
things and we’re at a different 
place in those areas than we 
were a year ago with everything 
we’ve been through.

TMD: When you talk about 

the “little things”, do you mean 
your team lacked grit? What do 
you mean by that?

JG: We weren’t tough for me 

overall. We played a lot of young 
guys. They got knocked around 
a lot and were baptized by fire. 
Now the first three years (of my 
tenure), we were tough dudes. 
But we’ve got to get back to that 
toughness and that grittiness, 
and it’s exemplified certainly 
on the defensive end and on the 
backboard.

‘M’ shows defensive improvement
but happy medium yet to be found

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard 

had five days to prepare his side 
for a Michigan team lucky to be 
stumbling into the Kohl Center 
with a 2-4 Big 
Ten record. In 
the middle of 
a 
conference 

basketball 
season, 
that 

length of time 
is almost an 
eternity. 
But 

five 
days 
is 

especially 
excessive 
considering 
the discipline 
of the Badgers’ 
roster and the 
porousness 
of 
the 

Wolverines’ 
defense coming into the game.

But at the end of the first half 

Tuesday, Wisconsin had just 26 
points on the 
scoreboard.

The Badgers 

didn’t 
have 

any 
offensive 

plays 
worthy 

of making the 
SportsCenter 
highlight 
reel 

for later that 
night.

And 
the 

students, who 
returned to the Kohl Center for 
the first time after their winter 
break, were planted in their 
seats at halftime, too bored to 
jump around after a forgettable 
20 minutes of basketball.

In that half, and for the first 

time in Big Ten play, Michigan’s 
defense showed sustained signs 
of life.

Sophomore 
forward 

Moritz Wagner and redshirt 
sophomore forward DJ Wilson, 
who were both exposed as 
the soft underbelly of the 
Wolverine defense against the 
likes of Maryland and Illinois, 
had firmed up.

Wilson 
established 
his 

physical presence on the first 
play, 
blocking 
Wisconsin 

forward Ethan Happ at the 
hoop, and contained forward 
Nigel Hayes to 2-for-8 shooting. 
Wagner had just as much 
success 
with 
his 
defensive 

assignment 
and 
prevented 

Happ from finding any rhythm 
down low.

If 
the 
physicality 
and 

aggression the pair had shown 
could have been matched for 
another 20 minutes, Michigan 
likely would have left Madison 
reborn with a signature win 
and realistic hopes of finishing 
in the top half of the Big Ten.

But 
in 
the 
second 
half, 

the 
Wolverines 
turned 
the 

aggression dial all the way to 11. 

That proved to be 
a costly mistake.

Within a span 

of three minutes, 
Wilson 
picked 

up three fouls. 
Forty-three 
seconds 
after 

that, 
Wagner 

picked 
up 
his 

third foul. And 
with 8:16 to go, 
Wagner 
was 

called for his fourth.

The team that came into 

Tuesday’s contest committing 
the fewest fouls in the country 
had two of its starters a whistle 
away from disqualification at 
the game’s most crucial stretch.

While the Wolverines left 

the Kohl Center feeling more 
confident in their defense than 
they have been in recent weeks, 

questions still remain on where 
Michigan will move forward 
defensively.

“Having us in foul trouble 

obviously 
doesn’t 
help 
us,” 

Wagner said. “So, we’ve got 
to find a way to be physical 
without fouling, especially in 
the second half. I think that 
four-minute battle where we 
just gave up too many easy foul 
calls to the post and rebounds.”

Tuesday 
night 
was 
an 

overcorrection from the issues 
the Wolverines suffered on 
defense in their past few Big 
Ten games. In their defensive 
calamity 
against 
Illinois, 

Wilson 
and 
Wagner 
barely 

moved 
while 
defending 
at 

times. They let guards heading 
for the basket blow right past 
them, and set themselves too 
early for charges or too far from 
the hoop to grab rebounds.

The 
two 
forwards 
now 

know where the two ends of 
the aggression spectrum are, 
and where they need to be 
defensively 
should 
be 

clearer 
now.

“Our 

maturity 
level has to 
grow 
(so) 

that 
we 

know what 
is 
a 
foul 

and 
what 

(is) 
not,” 

Wagner said. “(We need to) 
practice harder to be able to 
play defense without fouling. 
It’s on us to change that.”

But other defensive issues 

still persist, especially with 
the Wolverines’ options off the 
bench.

Freshman center Jon Teske 

played 
his 
first 
important 

Big Ten minutes, much to the 

delight of many Michigan fans 
yearning for an appearance 
from him. But in the three 
minutes he spent on the court 
in the first half, Teske showed 
exactly why he doesn’t have a 
larger role at the moment.

Though his seven-foot frame 

is unique and not offered by 
Wagner 
or 
senior 
forward 

Mark Donnal, Teske doesn’t 
have the fundamentals to be 
an imposing option down low 
yet. The freshman gave up an 
offensive rebound and an easy 
layup while on the court, and 
was 
quickly 
replaced 
after 

those lapses.

But even more important 

at the moment, Teske doesn’t 
have what makes Wagner and 
Donnal more valuable for the 
Wolverines offensively — a 
3-point shot.

Redshirt 
junior 
guard 

Duncan Robinson, who was 
as 
important 
for 
Michigan 

as he’s ever been offensively 
on Tuesday, still isn’t coming 

off the bench with 
the same level of 
physicality 
as 
his 

teammates. 
At 
a 

point in the second 
half 
against 
the 

Badgers, 
Michigan 

coach John Beilein 
grabbed 
his 
arm 

muscle as Robinson 
passed by the bench 
after 
allowing 
a 

basket, signaling to 

the redshirt junior that using 
his own could have prevented 
the score.

The Wolverines will feel 

some relief knowing the ranges 
in which they have to defend 
physically. Now, Michigan has 
to find the defensive balance 
for a full 40 minutes to reach 
the potential it showed against 
the Badgers.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Sophomore forward Moritz Wagner will need to maintain his new level of physicality in Michigan’s rematch with Illinois.

Wagner, Wilson contained Wisconsin’s big men before foul trouble beset them

BRANDON CARNEY

Daily Sports Writer

Having us in 
foul trouble 
obviously 

doesn’t help us

We’ve got to 
find a way to 
be physical 

without fouling

Illinois at 
Michigan

Matchup: 
Illinois 2-4 
Big Ten, 
12-7 overall; 
Michigan 
2-4, 12-7

When: 
Saturday 
2:15 P.M.

Where: Crisler 
Center

TV/Radio: 
BTN

MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Editor

