8A — Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Slow starts are fixable
for young Wolverines
Though 2-0, the Michigan
basketball team hasn’t had the
start it anticipated.
Against
less-talented
and
undersized
teams
in
North
Florida and Central Michigan, the
Wolverines were expected to roll.
But that wasn’t the case.
Michigan came out flat against
both
opponents,
leading
to
closer-than-anticipated contests.
Saturday, North Florida trailed by
just two at the half and remained
within single digits until roughly
seven minutes remained.
Central Michigan, meanwhile,
led by as many as 8 points during
a first half it largely controlled
Monday night.
“We thought the other day that
(our players) warmed up really
slow, and we weren’t as into it,”
said Michigan coach John Beilein.
“We were fired up to come out
and play today. Assistant coaches
did a great job in the locker room.
We were fired up – didn’t make a
difference.”
Conventionally, this wouldn’t
be an encouraging trend for a
team looking to make back-to-back
Sweet 16 appearances. But the
Wolverines’ slow starts shouldn’t
be a cause for concern and – to an
extent – are understandable.
For one, both the Ospreys and
Chippewas play zone defenses –
a strategy that just a few college
basketball teams utilize. Adjusting
is a challenge, even for Beilein.
“First of all, this is a first,”
Beilein said. “In 1,200 games as
a head coach, I think you add up
high school, it’s probably 1,200 —
80 minutes of zone in two games.
What they’re doing is they’re
trying to negate a lot of what we
can do man-to-man.”
Added junior forward Moritz
Wagner: “They played zone, so
that kind of trumps everything a
little bit because you’ve got to think
completely differently. You’ve got
to think differently than you’re
naturally supposed to.”
It takes time to feel out a zone
defense, and Michigan’s offensive
attack proved that.
Michigan committed four of its
six total turnovers against Central
Michigan within the contest’s first
seven minutes. And through nearly
10 minutes of action Saturday, the
Wolverines tallied just nine points.
Simply, in the early parts of
games, Michigan’s offense has
looked out of rhythm – an issue
Beilein hopes will be fixed with
more aggressive basketball.
“We’re passing, we’re passing,
we’re
passing,”
Beilein
said.
“We’ve got to drive the ball. We’ve
got to get two feet in the paint.”
Inexperience also has its part,
too.
With three new starters, the
Wolverines’ offense won’t be
prominent immediately.
“It’s going to take a little time
to gel,” Robinson said. “We gotta
get used to each other. We’ve got
young guys, obviously, but we’ve
got to be a little bit better out of the
gate.”
Michigan fans should also take
solace in the fact that Monday’s
shooting
numbers
are
not
representative of a normal game.
Few
opponents
will
shoot
as well as the Chippewas did
from deep – 10 3-pointers on 42
percent shooting. The Wolverines,
meanwhile, shot just 29 percent
outside the perimeter. Fifth-year
senior forward Duncan Robinson
– a consistent marksman – went an
ugly 2-for-8.
But
to
start
strongly
in
Michigan’s next game Thursday
against
Southern
Mississippi,
Robinson knows the other end of
the floor takes precedent.
“Probably defensive, first and
foremost,” Robinson said. “The
ability to get stops. I think shots
will fall some games more than
others. Tonight, especially that
first half, they weren’t. You count
on them, but you’ve got to (be able
to) count on defense.
“Those first four minutes –
those ‘four-minute wars’ we call
them – we’ve got to come out and
try to swing first. That’s going to be
a priority for us.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
For Metellus, blocked punt eases earlier stress
Josh Metellus relieved some
stress this past Saturday.
The sophomore safety said
Tuesday night that he’s been
practicing blocking punts all
year and worried about whether
he would ever do it in a game.
He finally did in the second
quarter of Michigan’s 35-10 win
over Maryland. It “felt soothing,”
according to Metellus.
That relief may not have
compared to what he felt early last
week, when Metellus discovered
he was eligible to play in the first
half against the Terrapins.
In the third quarter of the
Wolverines’
33-10
win
over
Minnesota on Nov. 4, Metellus
found himself in a scrum after
the whistle. Golden Gopher
lineman Donnell Greene threw
a punch at junior safety Tyree
Kinnel. Metellus walked over,
stood in front of Greene and
promptly found himself ejected
for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The call didn’t sit well with
Jim Harbaugh, who said last
week that “it didn’t really have a
lot of logic to it.”
“It didn’t seem like he threw
a punch,” Harbaugh later said
of the incident. “There was a
scrum, the official said there was
a scrum and they weren’t going
to lose control of the game, so
there were off-setting penalties.”
Metellus
didn’t
think
he
did anything wrong. He said
Tuesday that he was “just trying
to protect his teammate.”
“Coach told me next time, just
don’t go over there,” Metellus
said. “Just stay back. We already
got the flag. There’s no reason to
go over there to start something.”
He
understood
why
the
officials threw him out of the
game, though, and was more
worried about whether he’d be
available for the first half of the
Maryland game. But that wasn’t
immediately made clear.
The rules state that any player
ejected for targeting in the
second half of a game must sit
out the first half of the following
contest. Metellus wasn’t called
for
targeting.
But
he
was
worried nonetheless whether a
suspension would carry over.
In fact, he was so worried that
was the first thing he checked
once he returned to the locker
room.
“I didn’t even take a shower,”
Metellus said. “I just grabbed my
phone and started Googling. I
couldn’t find an answer.”
He found company in the
training
room
in
freshman
receiver Nico Collins, who had
injured his ankle during the
game. Collins asked Metellus if
he was suspended for Maryland.
Metellus told Collins he had
actually meant to ask him the
same question.
The next day, people started
calling Metellus, asking him
about the incident and what it
meant for Maryland. Metellus
didn’t know the answer.
The
whole
situation
was
“funny” to teammate and close
friend Devin Bush Jr.
“We were just joking about it,”
Bush said. “Making fun of him —
that he got kicked out the game.”
The
mystery
continued
through the weekend. Metellus
went
to
Schembechler
Hall
on Sunday, hoping to find the
coaching staff. They weren’t
around, and no one else he asked
knew the answer either. The
next day, he asked Harbaugh.
Harbaugh didn’t know. And at
that point, Metellus got pretty
worried.
“I was just sitting there like,
‘Damn, I probably am kicked
out,’ ” Metellus said. “ ‘If they
don’t know by now, I’m probably
not going to play the first half.’ ”
But it didn’t take much longer
for the situation to be resolved.
After
Monday’s
practice,
Harbaugh pulled Metellus aside
and told him he wouldn’t miss
any time.
So his burden was lifted — and
luckily so for Metellus. After all,
his blocked punt came in the
second quarter. Had he been
suspended, he would’ve still
been worrying about blocking
his first.
“Yeah, it just calmed me
down,” Metellus said of the
play. “I was stressing about
getting one this whole season
and I finally got it, so I just let
everything go.”
Evans now avoiding ‘sophomore slump’
Chris Evans had never heard
the term ‘sophomore slump’
before Tuesday night.
But Jim Harbaugh was still
worried the sophomore running
back would have one.
After a freshman campaign
that
Harbaugh
called
“outstanding,” it wouldn’t be
easy for Evans to top it his
second time around. In 2016,
Evans ran for 617 yards and four
touchdowns. Over the offseason,
fans and media speculated that
he’d be Michigan’s top running
back this year.
But as the first few games
of the season came around,
Evans lost the starting role. He
rushed for just 123 yards in the
first three games and fumbled
during that stretch against Air
Force.
Fifth-year
senior
Ty
Isaac surged, and junior Karan
Higdon seemed to get the right
blocks every time he had a play
called for him.
“The plays weren’t blocked
as well, and the assignments
weren’t on point when (Evans)
was in the game,” Harbaugh said
Monday. “Then Karan would get
in, and it was kind of the luck of
the draw with the hand that he
was dealt.”
Evans
was
just
getting
unlucky. He’d get a turn in the
rotation to run, but the offensive
line didn’t develop the blocks he
needed.
It was frustrating, but he
couldn’t predict how the blocks
would pan out, so he didn’t let it
get to him. It took more than a
few games for Evans’ impact to
really show.
“About game seven, eight,
nine it started evening out,”
Harbaugh said.
That it did. Evans began
getting more carries, and the
results began to show. Against
Rutgers — game seven — he
caught
redshirt
freshman
quarterback
Brandon
Peters’
first
touchdown.
Against
Minnesota, he rushed for two
touchdowns
and
191
yards.
And this last weekend versus
Maryland, he tallied another
pair of rushing touchdowns in
the Wolverines’ third straight
win.
The
running
back’s
production,
as
Harbaugh
realized, was really just a
matter of time. Harbaugh had
watched the tape of Evans’ first
few games, and the running
back hadn’t really been doing
anything wrong.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating, but as a
running back, you can’t predict
how (the blocks) are going to
be,” Evans said. “You just got to
go in there and trust it and go
hard at the end.”
Evans gained momentum over
the last couple of weeks, earning
praise
from
Harbaugh
for
making plays out of situations
where the blocks didn’t come
together. Harbaugh said that he
likes the way Evans is running,
catching out of the backfield,
getting yards after contact and
blocking as well.
“I just went into the season
giving everything I got,” Evans
said.
Earning playing time on a
running back rotation with
three key players — and a
fourth emerging with redshirt
freshman Kareem Walker —
would be no easy task.
Evans, who splits carries
evenly with Isaac and Higdon,
said that he can’t have a selfish
mindset. He understands that he
might not rush for a 1,000-yard
season when he only gets a third
of the carries.
His counterpart this weekend,
though, can’t say the same.
Wisconsin
running
back
Jonathon Taylor is having the
freshman season a running back
can only dream about.
With 1,525 yards through
the first 10 games, Taylor leads
the Big Ten. He has run for 12
touchdowns and averages seven
yards per carry, and plays a
critical part of the fifth-ranked
Badgers’ offense.
He’s
responsible
for
46
percent of Wisconsin’s rushing
attempts, and the other 54
percent is split between 14
different players. As the lead
rusher, and a solid rusher at
that, Taylor was bound to have a
stellar season.
Evans admits that Taylor “is a
great player,” but knows that his
situation is different here in Ann
Arbor than Taylor’s in Madison.
“We can’t be selfish,” Evans
said of his teammates. “Like,
‘Man, I wish I got all the carries,
and I wish I rushed for 1,500 just
like (Taylor).’ ”
He
doesn’t
have
the
opportunity Taylor does. Evans
has never been and probably
won’t ever be the only running
back that Michigan relies on.
He’ll keep sharing carries, and
there will undoubtedly be plays
he takes where the blocks don’t
arrive.
But on the plays where the
blocks do arrive, it’s up to Evans
to make the most of them.
Munger continues
thriving in her role
Always involved and always
doing her job — Nicole Munger
has a key role on the Michigan
women’s basketball team, but
is often in the shadows of her
teammates.
After all, it can be quite
challenging to stand out when
sharing the backcourt with senior
guard Katelynn Flaherty — the
program’s
soon-to-be
all-time
leading scorer. Some would take
the easy way out by relying on
the stars, while others would be
discouraged and would throw in
the towel.
But not Munger.
The junior guard plays a
crucial role for the team and
is an important piece to the
Wolverines’
puzzle.
She
has
received substantial playing time
ever since joining the squad, and
she found her spot in the starting
lineup this season. Yet Munger is
seldom in the spotlight.
Flaherty is a talented scorer
who has keys to the offense.
Junior
center
Hallie
Thome
controls the paint and often gets
big blocks. Both have started for
the majority of their careers and
the fans and critics regularly take
notice. But Munger shines too
— she just doesn’t get the same
glamour.
Munger is a reliable player who
is always ready when the team
needs her. She’s played an integral
role in Michigan’s first two games
this season against George Mason
and Liberty, and has tallied 27
points, seven rebounds and four
steals so far, all while proving to
be effective beyond the arc as well.
She put her hustle on display
against Liberty. Early in the
third quarter, an opposing player
held the ball near the top of the
key when, suddenly, Munger
lunged forward, stripping the
ball and causing havoc. The
opposing player partially regained
possession but Munger wasn’t
done yet. She dove to the ground
and fought to force a jump ball,
switching the possession to the
Wolverines.
There was no need for Munger
to put herself on the line given the
scenario at that time. Michigan
was returning from a dominant
first half and led 46-26. She
could have gotten comfortable,
but
gritty
basketball
players
like Munger never do the bare
minimum.
She was a difference maker in
the WNIT championship game
last spring too. The Wolverines
went into triple overtime against
Georgia Tech when she stepped
up, scoring seven points in the
final overtime to help her team
win its first banner.
She was clutch then and
could be clutch this season too,
as Michigan dreams of making
it to the NCAA Tournament in
March. She is exactly the type of
hardworking, reliable player who
could make the team’s dreams
come true, and it’d be a lie if the
tournament wasn’t on her mind
too.
“There’s a lot that goes into a
season, but I definitely think the
tournament is what our eyes are
set on,” Munger said at the team’s
Media Day in October.
But Munger is more focused
on the next game and the next
possession, and will continue
to provide the Wolverines the
foundation they need.
“ … We have — I don’t even
know — 25 games before that, so
we have to execute from today, to
tomorrow, to every day,” Munger
said. “And hopefully we can
just take it one day at a time and
hopefully by the end of the season
our name will be called.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore safety Josh Metellus finally blocked a punt against Maryland, only a week after he anxiously awaited a ruling on his potential suspension.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore running back Chris Evans had a slow start to the year, but has scored four touchdowns in the last two games.
TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer