The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Friday, December 1, 2017 — 7
A wake-up call in the heart of college basketball
C
HAPEL HILL, NC — In
Chapel Hill, basketball
isn’t so much sport as it
is religion.
The
hardwood
floors
carry a
little more
weight.
The rafters
preach
hymns
more than
they list
numbers.
The sea of
Carolina
blue overwhelms. There’s more
history in the building than in
some museums.
Last Sunday’s loss to
Michigan State and an
embarrassing 45 point total
isn’t so much disappointment
as it is sacrilege.
“It wasn’t very pleasant,”
said North Carolina coach Roy
Williams, in the aftermath of
his team’s performance against
the Spartans. “We got back at
6:30 Monday, I laid down at
7:15 a.m. and got up at 9 o’clock
because it wasn’t doing any
good. Then I got a haircut to
see if that would help me. I was
willing to try anything.”
A bounceback, conversely,
isn’t so much desired as it is
required.
The Wolverines took their
lumps in Wednesday night’s
86-71 defeat, a game that
wasn’t nearly as close the
score indicates. They proved
incapable of competing with a
team fueled by vengeance and
its own home crowd. Like an
elite program does, the Tar
Heels responded.
In what is becoming an
annual occurrence, the
Wolverines got beat down by a
superior team. But here’s the
thing: That’s OK.
In the Big Ten/ACC
Challenge a year ago, Michigan
lost at home to Virginia Tech
only one week after losing by
15 to South Carolina. Ten days
later, it fell to Lonzo Ball and
UCLA by 18.
Few even batted an eyelash
— and for good reason. You
play these games to win, sure.
But above all, you play these
games to dig deep and learn
something about your team.
Which is why, when Michigan
coach John Beilein said he
just hoped Michigan “would
hang around” against North
Carolina, he truly meant it.
With much of his team in flux,
he likely didn’t expect it to go
into Chapel Hill and beat a top-
15 team on the road.
They didn’t “hang around,”
of course. Michigan got run out
of the gym by a team that was
not only better but hungrier.
Early on, Michigan held
its own. With the Tar Heels
grasping a slim 34-32 lead,
fifth-year senior forward
Duncan Robinson grabbed an
outlet pass and attacked the
fast break. He elevated and
laid the ball up, and when the
easy layup fell off the front of
the rim, the Michigan offense
fell off a cliff. For the next
30 minutes, North Carolina’s
pace and relentlessness
overwhelmed a lackadaisical
Michigan team. North Carolina
went on a 36-9 run to open up
a 29-point lead, and leave no
doubt about the result.
“I don’t think we were ready
for the quickness, speed and
the precision they run with,
and we weren’t locked in
defensively, we just weren’t
locked in,” Beilein said. “We
laid an egg for most of the first
half defensively, half the first
half offensively, and I gotta
find out really the reasons
behind that.”
Certainly, there are real
reasons for concern.
The Tar Heels played
with energy, the Wolverines
looked sloppy. The Tar Heels
executed with precision, the
Wolverines were stagnant. The
Tar Heels fed off the crowd,
the Wolverines looked like they
wanted to be anywhere else.
Michigan lacked a
competitive “grit,” as Beilein
described. That’s what
disappointed him most.
“They came out with a
real vengeance towards us or
towards the Big Ten,” Beilein
said. “We did not answer, we
couldn’t answer.”
While the Tar Heels — the
defending national champions
— are not afforded the same
patience the Wolverines are
fortunate to have. In Ann
Arbor, the expectations are
high, but basketball isn’t a
religion.
Each of the past five seasons,
Michigan has lost at least
twice before conference play,
but it has still made the NCAA
Tournament in four of those
five seasons, and the Sweet
Sixteen in three of those
five. This early-season play
is always exploratory, and
with two transfers and three
freshmen playing prominent
roles, this season was never
going to be an exception.
Beilein played 11 players
in the first 15 minutes of the
game, and hopes to eventually
cut down to eight or nine. All
three point guards — freshman
Eli Brooks, sophomore Zavier
Simpson and fifth-year senior
Jaaron Simmons — played at
least nine minutes. Beilein
hopes a clear leader emerges,
and that he can reduce that
rotation from three to two. And
he’s still waiting for a player to
step up and get a bucket when
the offense bogs down. For
Derrick Walton Jr. last season,
it didn’t happen until February,
aligning closely with when the
team took off.
None of these changes,
though, will happen until
Beilein is good and ready.
“I don’t know who those
next guys are. If you know, you
guys can let me know. … Just
watch this team grow, you’ll
like what they do.”
For some fans, his patience
is frustrating when it comes at
the expense of blowout losses
and underachievement. Yet
given his track record, Beilein
has earned the benefit of the
doubt.
That’s the big picture. Here’s
the immediate reality.
This was their first major
test, and there’s no escaping
the fact that they failed it.
For better or worse, the
Wolverines have no time to
sulk. They return home to play
a feisty Indiana team Saturday,
hit the road again to play Ohio
State on Monday, then return
back home for UCLA the
following Saturday — all before
capping the gauntlet in Austin
the next Tuesday against
Texas. It is a slate of games
that Beilein has regularly
referred to as “the toughest
stretch.”
Like North Carolina a few
days ago, Michigan got a wake-
up call of its own Wednesday
night. Now it’s time for a
response.
Marcovitch can be reached by
email at maxmarco@umich.edu
or on Twitter @Max_Marcovitch.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
John Beilein and the Michigan men’s basketball team traveled to Chapel Hill, NC, on Wednesday night, only to come home with a 15-point loss to the Tar Heels.
Wolverines heading to Plymouth for exhibition with USNTDP
While
preparing
for
Saturday’s
exhibition
game
against
the
U.S.
National
Team Development Program,
three Michigan hockey players
eagerly await a package with
championship rings.
Prior to arriving in Ann
Arbor,
defenseman
Quinn
Hughes
and
forwards
Josh
Norris and Michael Pastujov
spent the past two seasons as
teammates in the USNTDP. The
now-freshmen skated for the
U-17 and U-18 teams, the latter
of which finished with a gold
medal — and rings — from the
2017 U-18 World Championship
in Slovakia. And in both 2016
and 2017, all three won goal
medals at the U-18 Five Nations
Tournaments.
Last year, Norris led the U-18
team with 51 points in 52 games
and Hughes followed closely
with 47 points — on nine goals
and 38 assists — in 56 games.
Their stellar résumés turned
the pair into two of the highest-
touted prospects to join the
Wolverines this season.
And Saturday, they will lace
up against the team that taught
them to improve their skills,
form lifelong friendships and
gave them an opportunity to
represent their country.
“It’s
kind
of
like
a
homecoming,” Norris said.
Michigan
will
head
20
minutes east to Plymouth for
the first time in its 18 years
of annual meetings against
the USNTDP, but this contest
wasn’t supposed to happen in
the first place.
Not originally on the regular
season
calendar,
Michigan
coach Mel Pearson decided to
add the matchup to the open
weekend between series against
Ohio State and Michigan State.
And it couldn’t have come at a
better time.
The Wolverines are coming
off a two-game weekend in
which they were outscored
eight to three and swept for
the first time all season at the
hands of the then-15th-ranked
Buckeyes. In its last six games
— all against conference foes
— Michigan has posted a 1-3-2
record.
Pearson cites a need to face
the right opponent to get back
on track, and he believes he
picked the perfect one.
“I’m very happy that we
scheduled it because we need a
game to get that bitter taste out
of our mouth and just to play,”
Pearson said. “They’re a good
partner. I enjoy the program,
it’s a good game for us.”
Throughout what Pearson
refers to as a “work week,” his
icemen have taken that motto
in full stride, displaying an
intensity in practice that was
lacking in Saturday’s 5-1 loss.
“They’ve worked hard and
the energy level’s been up,
especially when we don’t have
much to look forward to this
week,” Pearson said.
Added Hughes: “Back to the
basics and work hard. Obviously,
last weekend was unacceptable,
so we have to start over. A new
start, a fresh start, whatever
you want to call it. We’re going
to have a good five days of hard
work here and then against the
U.S. team. It’s just a good week
for us to focus and get all our
priorities straight.”
Though already focusing on
the looming Spartan home-
and-home series Dec. 7 and 8
— and a hopeful return to the
win column in Big Ten play —
the Wolverines can’t overlook
the task at hand against the
USNTDP, especially following
disappointing results against
Ohio State.
The developmental program
targets and trains elite youth
hockey players under the age
of 18 for USA Hockey. Over
the years, it has produced 47
Michigan
players,
including
10 current skaters — some of
whom have played with present
members of the U-18 team,
making the game that much
more personal.
“I think they look forward
to it,” Pearson said. “Most of
the guys that come out of that
program really appreciate what
it’s done for them and they really
have a sense of nationalism.
They really play up the ‘USA.’
“I think they have a huge
appreciation for the program
and what they’ve done. We’ve
got to convince them ‘Wow,
you’ve got to play hard and
we’ve got to beat them.’ You’re
friends until the puck drops and
then it’s business.”
Hughes notes the impact on
player growth and attention
to detail as the main aspects
that lead to players excelling
in
college
and,
eventually,
professional leagues.
“I owe a lot to the program,”
Hughes said. “The development
there, you don’t get anywhere
else. It’s the best in the world.
You see how they pump out
players
every
year
—
it’s
ridiculous. It’s a business there
and they treat it like a job.
It’s kind of like pro hockey,
so it’s really good for you to
experience as young kids, so
when you come to (college),
you’re ready.”
Both
Norris
and
Hughes
believe there was a bigger
adjustment from youth hockey
to the USNTDP than from the
junior league to the collegiate
level — a true testament to the
development team steering its
players in the right direction.
And
after
playing
20
games against older and more
experienced college opponents
last season, the freshmen say
the program helped them make
an immediate impact in the
Michigan lineup.
“I feel like that was my
freshman year,” Hughes said. “I
feel like this is my sophomore
year right now and I didn’t
notice a transition at all. They
made it really hard for us there,
so when I came here — not that
they don’t make it hard here — it
was a little bit easier.”
Added Norris: “Learning how
to play with different players
and becoming mentally tougher.
It’s not the easiest the first year.
You’re 16 and playing against
18-, 19- and 20-year-olds, so I
think just finding ways to get
through adversity and stuff like
that. It’s a big deal to learn from
that stuff and grow.”
Because
of
the
team’s
familiarity with the opponent,
it would be easy to have a
different-than-usual mentality
in the locker room leading
up to the game. But after
recent setbacks, the team is
approaching this weekend no
different than any other.
“I’ve been involved in a lot
of them over the years when
I was here at Michigan and
some years it was hard to play
in them because you’re playing
the high school kids,” Pearson
said. “It’s a no-lose for them,
but you’re expected to beat
them. Sometimes you’d look
past it, but not this year. I think
because of the way things went
last weekend and because of
who we have the weekend after,
it’s an opportunity for us to get
our stuff together.”
Skating on the USA Hockey
Arena rink in Plymouth for
the first time since donning
the USNTDP’s trademark red,
white and blue sweaters —
and mere days before Norris,
Hughes and Pastujov receive
their championship rings in the
mail — will certainly be special
for the three freshmen as well
as the seven other players
returning to their roots.
But even that — and the fact
the exhibition doesn’t count
toward
Michigan’s
overall
record — doesn’t mean the
Wolverines will take the game
against the youngsters lightly.
“I played against Michigan
last year,” Hughes said. “I
thought it was a pretty big deal
for me. I kind of know what
those guys are thinking right
now. I loved it last year, this
year it’s probably not as cool,
but it’s a game and we’re going
to try 100 percent. It doesn’t
really matter who we’re playing.
“I know all those guys and
obviously I had a lot of good
memories in that rink, so it’s
going to be cool and I’m looking
forward to it.”
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Freshman forward Josh Norris spent last year with the U.S. National Team Development Program, where he led the U-18 team with 51 points in 52 games.
MAX
MARCOVITCH
BENJAMIN KATZ
Daily Sports Writer