8 — Friday, December 1, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Big Ten beckons as Wolverines are looking to rebound
It’s the season of giving, and
boy could the Big Ten use some
luck after this week.
The Big Ten/ACC Challenge
came and went,
and it was an
unsightly scene
for the former.
The
Big
Ten
posted a 2-11
record against
its
fellow
Power
Five
conference
foes, unveiling
harsh
signs
of
the
down
year that many
expected.
Now
for
the
Michigan
men’s
basketball team, with a newly-
designed Big Ten schedule,
the first of two December
conference
matchups
begins
Saturday against Indiana and
both teams desperately need a
pick-me-up victory.
The
Hoosiers
(4-3)
have
essentially been a captainless
ship thus far, with seven players
averaging seven or more points.
Guard Robert Johnson is the
closest qualifier to be recognized
as Indiana’s leader, ranking first
on the team in scoring with 14.1
points per game. The bulky, 195-
pound senior is the only Hoosier
averaging more than 25 minutes
per
game
and
could
pose
the greatest challenge to the
Wolverines (6-2), who remain
in limbo over who will take over
the point guard reins.
Johnson
was
especially
impressive in Indiana’s narrow
91-81 loss to No. 1 Duke on
Wednesday,
showcasing
an
expansive
range
while
contributing
tough
defense
on the Blue Devils’ backcourt
amidst an otherwise porous
defensive effort by his team.
On Saturday, the direction
of the contest may ultimately
depend
on
which
Indiana
shows up — the one that lost to
Indiana State at home by 21, or
the one that was neck-and-neck
with Duke for almost a full 40
minutes.
This volatility, though, is all
too familiar to Michigan. After
a nearly flawless performance
against
UC
Riverside
last
Sunday, the Wolverines looked
like
they
somehow
picked
up more momentum against
No. 13 North
Carolina
with
an astonishing
8-for-8
start
from
the
field.
The
incredulous
shooting
was
short-lived,
as
Michigan
followed
that
start
with
a
more
typical
20-for-58 finish en route to an
86-71 defeat.
“I
think
North
Carolina
might be that good, and we’re
definitely not that bad. But we
certainly played poorly,” said
Michigan coach John Beilein
after the loss. “... We (shot
well), too. But we all of a sudden
went out of that and got a little
uncharacteristic of ourselves
and we got what we deserved.”
Added junior forward Moritz
Wagner: “I don’t like to say
that
(we’re
young)
because
that sounds like an excuse. …
We can’t allow that stuff. That
just can’t happen. We’re a great
group and we always talk about
how great our chemistry is.
We’ve gotta show that on the
floor.”
A
15-point
defeat
to
a
college basketball
powerhouse isn’t a
cause for concern,
of
course.
The
Wolverines’
torrid
scoring
pace
initially
illustrated
their
potential to attack
from all spots on
the floor. Wagner waltzed freely
in the paint, Charles Matthews
continued creating space for his
shots and Michigan was passing
well and finding open looks
from beyond the arc — they just
weren’t falling like they should
have.
An
obvious
weak
point
the matchup against the Tar
Heels
revealed,
however,
is
inconsistent
frontcourt
defense from Wagner and fifth-
year senior forward Duncan
Robinson.
North
Carolina’s
Luke Maye had a field day
overpowering Robinson, and
Wagner struggled to corral
defensive rebounds over the
more-athletic Theo Pinson and
the towering Garrison Brooks
and Sterling Manley. Indiana’s
De’Ron
Davis
and
Juwan
Morgan may not carry the same
finesse as the Tar Heels big
men, but they will be the biggest
front court duo the Wolverines
have faced so far.
“We weren’t ready for the
quickness, the speed and the
precision that they run with,”
Beilein said. “We weren’t locked
in defensively, we just weren’t
locked in. I can’t tell you why.
We’ve seen it before, we’ve gotta
shore it up.”
Eight games into the season,
Beilein is yet to solidify an
eight- or nine-player rotation
that would put the cynical fan at
ease, even against a rebuilding
team like the Hoosiers. With
Big Ten season starting early,
having that decided quickly is
becoming the fine line between
winning and losing.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior forward Moritz Wagner finished with 20 points, but it wasn’t enough to lead the Wolverines past North Carolina.
Michigan must extend its rotation
or risk running out of gas
A
mong the problems
exposed in the Michigan
women‘s basketball
team‘s loss to No. 3 Notre Dame
on Wednesday: depth, or lack
thereof.
The
Wolverines
scored all
of six bench
points, four
of them
coming
after coach
Kim Barnes
Arico
emptied the
bench once
the Fighting
Irish stretched their lead to 20.
When the game was still
within reach, Michigan was
locked into a seven-woman
rotation. Freshman guard Deja
Church and sophomore forward
Kayla Robbins were the only
players coming off the bench for
any sustained time.
All five Wolverine starters
played at least 30 minutes.
Senior guard Katelynn Flaherty
played 39, senior forward Jillian
Dunston totaled 38, and junior
center Hallie Thome notched
34. Church was the only bench
player with over five minutes.
Given that no Notre Dame
player went over 35 minutes, it
may not be a coincidence that
Michigan expired at the start of
the fourth quarter.
“I think that (our strength
coach) Jamie (Preiss) has
conditioned us very well so
I think that we’re prepared
for anything,” Thome said
after the game. “It wasn’t like
fatigue physically, I think it was
mentally just always having to
locate Arike (Ogunbowale) and
just be aware of where everyone
is.”
There’s no doubt that trying
to stop Ogunbowale — who
finished with 32 points for the
Fighting Irish — took a mental
toll on Michigan. But the notion
that there was no physical
fatigue at all, well, that’s a
tough sell.
The Wolverines were
scrambling on defense all
night, not just to keep up
with Ogunbowale, but to stay
competitive on the boards.
They were outrebounded by
a 42-28 margin, but given
that Notre Dame had a clear
size advantage, it could have
been worse. To stay that close,
Michigan bracketed the 6-foot-
4 Jessica Shepard off the ball
for the early part of the game.
That left the Wolverines
scrambling for rotations
on nearly every defensive
possession.
They scrapped that strategy
before the first half was over,
but sprinting around the floor
like their lives depended on
it had to have some effect —
especially when nobody had a
chance to catch their breath.
Right now, Michigan doesn’t
seem to have the depth to
compete with the nation’s best.
Even Robbins, who has flashed
the ability to play Dunston’s
role as a defensive grinder and
off-ball catalyst, was trusted
with all of five minutes on
Wednesday.
As for the rest of the bench,
the Wolverines are still waiting
for someone to emerge.
Freshman point guard
Priscilla Smeenge got two
minutes of playing time on
Wednesday when the game was
still attainable, but that was a
flash in the pan. She’s had just
five minutes of playing time this
season.
As for sophomore guard
Akienreh Johnson, Barnes
Arico has yet to trust her
for more than a few minutes
each game and didn’t play
her against the Fighting
Irish until garbage time.
Ditto for sophomore forward
KeAsja Peace. Junior forward
Samantha Trammel has gotten
on the floor for only three
minutes all year. One of these
players has to emerge as a
reliable rotation option for
the team to compete against
tougher competition.
They can’t depend on
Flaherty to play 39 minutes a
night — that’s an unreasonable
ask for anyone, even the
team‘s cornerstone. She‘s
averaging 37.3 minutes per
game right now and four of
Michigan’s games have been
against pushovers. What‘s that
number going to look like once
conference play picks up?
This can’t continue, or the
Wolverines will be out of gas
by Christmas. Lucky for them,
there’s still nearly a month
left before Big Ten play starts
and Michigan should breeze
through teams like North
Florida, Fort Wayne and
Delaware State.
Barnes Arico has to use that
time to figure out an eighth
spot in the rotation and balance
out the minutes distribution
a little more. If she doesn’t,
it will come back to bite the
Wolverines.
Sears can be reached on
Twitter @ethan_sears.
Season in Review: Wide receivers
With the Michigan football
team’s 2017 regular season in
the books, the Daily looks back
at the performance of each unit
this year and looks ahead to the
future in 2018. In this edition:
wide receivers.
This season, the Wolverines
had to absorb the loss of their
two leading receivers from
2016 — Amara Darboh and
Jehu Chesson.
Quite
simply,
their
departures showed.
The duo of fifth-year seniors
combined for 1,362 yards and
nine touchdowns to finish off
their Michigan careers. This
year, the Wolverines had five
main receiving targets — junior
Grant Perry, sophomores Kekoa
Crawford and Eddie McDoom
and
freshmen
Donovan
Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black
(the latter of whom fell victim
to injury in September) —
but managed just 938 yards
and
three
touchdowns
in
comparison.
Perry, the veteran of the
group, led the way with 25
catches for 307 yards and a
touchdown, but even as the
primary option, he faced a drop
in production from a season
ago. As the third receiver in
2016, he collected 183 yards and
a touchdown on just 13 targets.
Crawford had a bright start
to the season, hauling in a
career-high four receptions for
a career-best 83 yards with one
touchdown against Cincinnati.
But an increased role in the
passing game didn’t last long
for the sophomore, who didn’t
catch more than two passes in
a game for the rest of the year.
His
counterpart,
McDoom,
faced his own struggles in his
second season, garnering just
81 yards all year.
Peoples-Jones, though he
didn’t begin the season as a
starter, turned into Michigan’s
second-best receiver in his first
year as a Wolverine, catching 16
passes for 219 yards. While he
didn’t reach the end zone as a
receiver, he did have a 79-yard
punt return touchdown against
Air Force. His classmate, Black,
opened the year as a starter and
looked poised to have a stellar
campaign before a foot injury
against Air Force derailed his
season.
To
be
fair,
Michigan’s
receiving unit had to deal with
a carousel of quarterbacks
throughout the year. Redshirt
junior Wilton Speight, redshirt
freshman Brandon Peters and
fifth-year senior John O’Korn
all spent time under center
for
the
Wolverines
during
various points of the season,
which could have factored
significantly
in
Michigan’s
struggles through the air in
2017.
HIGH POINT: In a season
with
few
options
in
this
category,
the
Wolverines’
second
game
of
the
year
against Cincinnati sticks out as
the best performance from the
unit.
All
three
of
Michigan’s
starting wideouts — Perry,
Crawford and Black — caught
four
passes
on
the
day,
amassing a total of 160 yards.
Crawford and Perry also
each found the end zone with
43- and 33-yard touchdowns,
respectively — the only time
that multiple receivers scored
in the same game all year.
Granted,
the
Wolverines’
passing game did have a few
other strong outings, but much
of the credit for that belongs to
tight ends Sean McKeon and
Zach Gentry.
The pair combined for 561
yards and five touchdowns
this year, and they connected
especially well with Peters
during his stint at the helm of
Michigan’s offense.
LOW POINT: If his stellar
start hadn’t reached an abrupt
conclusion, Black might be in
the above category. But just
three weeks into his freshman
season, the 6-foot-3 wideout
had to be carted off the field
late in the fourth quarter. He
wouldn’t return for the rest of
the year.
The day after the game,
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh
said that Black would need
to undergo surgery to repair
a crack on the outside of his
foot. Though no announcement
has yet to be made, Harbaugh
said in mid-November that he
will explore the possibility of
pursuing a medical redshirt
for Black, which would allow
him to preserve four years of
eligibility.
Through three weeks, Black
was the Wolverines’ leading
receiver with 11 catches for 149
yards and a touchdown.
Michigan
certainly
could
have
used
his
dynamic
presence to breathe life into its
passing offense in 2017.
THE
FUTURE:
The
Wolverines won’t be losing
anyone this time around.
All five receivers will be back
to man the rotation next year,
assuming Black’s recovery is
smooth and he remains healthy
over the course of the fall.
While seniors Drake Harris
and Maurice Ways announced
this week that they will pursue
graduate transfers elsewhere,
neither receiver made an impact
on the field for Michigan. The
most notable transfer news
came from Speight, whose
departure
should
stabilize
the relationship between the
Wolverines’
throwers
and
catchers next season.
With a full offseason as the
presumed starter, Peters and
his receivers will have plenty of
time to develop their chemistry
in order to turn the passing
game around in 2018.
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Editor
Indiana at
Michigan
Matchup:
Michigan 6-2;
Indiana 4-3
When:
Saturday
12:30 P.M. ET
Where: Crisler
Center
TV/Radio:
CBS
Man, it’s college
basketball, I’m
not gonna say
we’re young.
BETELHEM ASHAME
Managing Sports Editor
FOOTBALL
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
ETHAN
SEARS
They can’t
depend on
Flaherty
to play 39
minutes a
night.