8 — Thursday, January 25, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

In No. 3 Purdue, Michigan faces toughest test

John 
Beilein 
believes 

Purdue might be the best Big 
Ten team Michigan has faced.

No, not this season. The best 

ever.

Beilein began Wednesday’s 

press conference by saying as 
much, comparing the third-
ranked Boilermakers to great 
teams of the past.

“I’ve 
been 

here 
long 

enough to tell 
you 
there’s 

some 
pretty 

good 
teams 

in this league 
we’ve 
seen,” 

Beilein 
said. 

“Look 
at 

the 
great 

Wisconsin 
teams, 
the 

terrific Purdue teams from 
earlier in my career that were 
so good. Indiana, ourselves 
had games where there were 
just incredibly talented, these 
guys are still playing in the 
league. Purdue has everything 
that all those teams had. And 
maybe more than any of those 
teams, they have incredible 
experience. … I haven’t seen 
anything like this.”

It’s high praise, but with the 

way Purdue has been playing 
recently, it’s easy to see where 
Beilein is coming from.

The Boilermakers (8-0 Big 

Ten, 19-2 overall) have won 
three straight games by at least 
23 points, rising to the No. 2 
spot in the KenPom rankings 
along the way.

They’re the same team the 

Wolverines (6-3, 17-5) lost to by 
a point two weeks ago in Ann 
Arbor. They still impose their 

will on the inside 
with 
7-foot-2 

center Isaac Haas 
and his backup, 
7-foot-3 
Matt 

Haarms. 
They 

still 
threaten 

teams with their 
outside shooting 
— they made 20 
3-pointers 
in 

their 
win 
over 

Iowa. And they 

still play elite defense both on 
and off the ball. 

Michigan 
was 
able 
to 

counter all of that to make the 
first game close.

If anything, though, the first 

matchup has propelled Purdue 
to new heights, as its last three 
outcomes may indicate. 

Needless 
to 
say, 
the 

Wolverines have their work 
cut out for them.

“It 
presents 
a 
great 

challenge for us — a really 
good opportunity,” said fifth-
year senior forward Duncan 
Robinson. “Like (Beilein) said, 
they’re a really tough team to 
beat, especially at their place. 
But we’re excited for the 
opportunity for sure.”

Perhaps the biggest thing the 

game against the Boilermakers 
did was give the blueprint on 
how to guard the Wolverines. 
Purdue switched on every 
ball screen in 
that 
matchup, 

refusing 
to 

allow 
junior 

forward 
Moritz Wagner 
get 
open 
for 

his 
patented 

pick-and-pop 
3-pointer.

Since 
that 

game, Nebraska 
guarded 
Michigan the same way, quite 
successfully. It’s a problem 
that Beilein’s teams have faced 
before, but even he admits that 
it’s been an easier conundrum 
to solve in the past.

On Wednesday, he cited how 

former guard Trey Burke was 
able to break those defenses by 
simply shooting over them.

This year’s team has tried 

a variety of solutions, such as 
attempting to feed Wagner 

on the post and drive past 
bigger defenders with guards. 
Against the Cornhuskers — 
and the Boilermakers, to an 
extent — that strategy didn’t 
work.

But in the end, Beilein 

says, there’s only so much 
gameplanning the coaches can 
do. At some point, the players 
have to be the ones to beat the 
defense.

“It’s not only a schematic 

thing,” 
Beilein 

said. “It is a 
thing, 
‘Alright, 

can you actually 
score 
against 

somebody doing 
this? Can you 
actually 
score 

— guard score 
on a big, and a 
big score on a 
small? Can you 
make that entry 

pass in there? So we’ve tried 
to think of everything, and I 
know I grow as a coach every 
day of what we can do. But I 
don’t feel, like, ‘I can’t wait 
until people switch on us right 
now, because we’ve got the 
answers.’ We’re still solving 
that.”

In the end, Thursday’s game 

will be a litmus test for the 
offense against a particular 
defensive scheme, sure, but it 
will also mean more than that.

With the relative lack of 

depth in the Big Ten, this 
game will be one of the 
Wolverines’ final chances to 
prove themselves against an 
elite team. They don’t play 
Michigan State again, and 
their one remaining game 
against a ranked team is at 
home against No. 13 Ohio 
State.

It’s not like Michigan is in 

need of a resume boost with 
the successes they’ve had so 
far this season, but Thursday’s 
game is one of the last regular 
season opportunities for the 
Wolverines to prove they can 
hang with the upper echelon 
of college basketball.

It’s one of the final chances 

for 
Michigan 
to 
prove 
it 

belongs.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein believes that Purdue may be the best Big Ten team he’s ever seen.

MIKE PERSAK

Managing Sports Editor

“Purdue has 

everything that 
all those teams 

had.”

“But we’re 

excited for the 
opportunity for 

sure.”

Three plays that told the tale of the first game between ‘M’ and Purdue

For 
the 
Michigan 
men’s 

basketball team, quite a bit has 
changed in 15 days. 

It 
went 
to 
in-state 
rival 

Michigan State and won by double 
digits, clung to a narrow one-point 
victory over Maryland and got its 
doors blown off at Nebraska in its 
worst performance of the season. 
While the offense has hit a bit of 
a funk, the defense has sustained 
itself as the backbone of the team.

The Wolverines are a different 

team than they were when they 
lost by a point at home to No. 3 
Purdue 15 days ago.

Thursday, we’ll find out how 

different.

Thursday, we’ll find out if 15 

days were enough to correct the 
errors that became apparent 
in the narrow defeat to the 
Boilermakers. In preparation, 
The Daily reviewed the tape 
from that game, noting three 
plays that defined the struggles 
— and arguably turned the tide — 
in the one-point loss:

1) The Play: Purdue 0, 

Michigan 0. 19:51 left in the 
first half. Purdue ball.

Center Isaac Haas stands at the 

top of the key with the ball and 
an arsenal of shooters on each 
side — each of whom essentially 
requires being face guarded at 
all times. Purdue runs an on-ball 
screen 
with 
Haas 
clipping 

Duncan Robinson after a dribble 
handoff — to try to free guard 
Dakota Mathias — and guard PJ 
Thompson screening sophomore 
point guard Zavier Simpson off 
the ball to free Carsen Edwards. 
Robinson and Simpson recover 
perfectly, fighting through the 
screens to stifle the motion. The 
pass to the wing deflects off the 
leg of Vincent Edwards, who has 
to chase back to half court to 
recover. Michigan defends to a 
T for the first 15 seconds of the 
clock.

But here’s the problem with 

defending 
Purdue’s 
shooting 

ability: They force you to defend 

for all 30 seconds, and any 
defensive lapse will be punished 
swiftly.

Mathias sets a screen off the 

ball, but doesn’t make contact 
with any defender. It doesn’t 
matter. 
Matthews, 
expecting 

to switch onto the cutter in the 
lane, loses Mathias off the ball. 
He and Robinson pick up the 
same Purdue player who cuts 
into the lane. Mathias swishes a 
warmup 3-pointer, and Purdue is 
off. Before the ball falls through 
the twine, Matthews throws his 
arms up in frustration. 

The adjustment:
There were several instances 

— largely in the first half — of 
simple 
miscommunications 

that 
resulted 
in 
Purdue 

3-pointers. 
That 
may 
seem 

easily correctable, but those 
miscommunications 
or 
failed 

rotations will only be augmented 
in 
a 
hostile 
environment. 

The 
Boilermakers 
shoot 
44 

percent from three, trailing 
only Wofford and William and 
Mary nationally. They have five 
players who shoot better from 
beyond the arc than Michigan’s 
best shooter. After the game, 
freshman forward Isaiah Livers 

said he thought the team was 
overly concerned about Haas in 
the post, to the detriment of the 
3-point defense. This cannot 
happen the second time around, 
or Purdue will simply bludgeon 
them from deep.

“You’ve 
got 
to 
just 
give 

multiple efforts on the defensive 
end,” said redshirt sophomore 
wing 
Charles 
Matthews 
on 

Wednesday 
afternoon. 
“You 

can’t just come in there and take 
away the lane and leave shooters 
all around. You can’t just say, 
‘We’re going to take the shooters 
away and leave our big on a 
7-foot-3 (guy).’ ”

Much of guarding Purdue 

requires a degree of chaos. You 
have to chase and fight through 
screens, 
hedge 
on 
shooters, 

collapse on the big, then spring 
back 
to 
the 
shooters. 
But 

controlling that chaos may be 
the key to containing the high-
octane offense. Minizimizing 
such perimeter breakdowns — 
as easy as that may be to write, 
rather than execute — could be 
the biggest key to winning the 
game.

2) The Play: Purdue 5, 

Michigan 2. 18:16 left in the 

first half. Michigan ball.

The Wolverines bring the ball 

up the court effectively amid 
some light pressure, and get into 
one of their basic sets — some 
on-ball and off-ball movement. 
Simpson gets the ball at the top 
of the key and takes a screen 
from Wagner on the right wing, 
getting the switch he wants 
with the 7-foot-3 Haas. This is a 
matchup Michigan theoretically 
wants, and will likely get again, 
assuming Purdue comes out 
switching every screen. 

But just because it wants 

this matchup does not mean its 
consistently capable of exploiting 
it. Simpson settles back into 
isolation and realizes he has no 
viable path to the hoop. Haas, 
meagerly respecting Simpson’s 
jumper, lags three steps from 
Simpson. Simpson dishes the 
ball away, only to get it right 
back in the same position with 10 
seconds on the shot clock. Trying 
to make something happen, he 
aimlessly dribbles into the lane, 
where Haas is easily able to 
recover. Wagner gets the ball, 
attacks the lane and is met at the 
rim by a camping Haas for an 
easy block.

The adjustment:
Herein lies the problem with 

this matchup. With a score-first 
guard like Trey Burke or Derrick 
Walton Jr. the Wolverines would 
be chomping at the bit to get 
Haas switched onto a guard. 
Either could simply pull up from 
3-point range, or pump fake 
and explode past the slower 
Haas. But neither Simpson nor 
senior 
guard 
Muhammad-Ali 

Abdur-Rahkman 
is 
naturally 

comfortable 
generating 

consistent 
offense 
in 
the 

isolation. In a vacuum, them 
attempting to do so is not a recipe 
for this team’s success. 

“If we have Trey Burke right 

now — an experienced player 
at the point — that’s just got the 
entire package, it’s a little bit 
different,” Beilein said. “When 
they switched on McGary and 
McGary 
is 
big, 
rebounding 

inside. We said, ‘Alright Trey, 
you shoot it, Mitch, you rebound 
it.’ That was our solution.”

But 
as 
Beilein 
noted 

Wednesday, 
they 
have 
little 

choice but to try to attack those 
mismatches off the switch. He 
noted that it merely comes down 
to guards making plays on bigger 
defenders, rather than a grand 
schematic change.

3) The Play: Purdue 69, 

Michigan 69. 1:16 left in the 
game. Michigan ball.

Simpson 
started 
the 

possession with heavy pressure 
near halfcourt. With the game 
tied at 69 and just over a minute 
left, this out-of-timeout play 
respresented the closest thing 
to a “make or break” possession. 
Yet, 
as 
Simpson 
is 
being 

pressured there is little, if any, 
off ball movement. He picks up 
his dribble, and only Abdur-
Rahkman cuts toward him to 
get the ball, catching it nearly 30 
feet from the basket, and the shot 
clock dwindled down to 15. 

It seems unlikely Beilein told 

his team “Let the clock trickle, 
and get Abdur-Rahkman and 
Wagner in a pick-and-roll,” but 
that was the result. 

Finally, with eight seconds on 

the shot clock the senior guard 
dribbles into a Wagner pick, 
once again earning the switch. 
If either Abdur-Rahkman was 
confident enough to exploit Haas 
or he could get the ball to Wagner 
on the guard, a go-ahead bucket 
would seem imminent. Instead, 
a 
hesistant 
Abdur-Rahkman 

stutters right, trying to finesse 
himself free on the seven-foot 
defender. The result? An errant 
step-back, 
fadeaway 
three 

pointer that clangs the back right 
portion of the rim. 

The adjustment:
This 
play 
was 
just 
one 

of 
several 
poorly 
executed 

possessions down the stretch 
of the 70-69 loss. Michigan 
failed to score in the final 2:54 of 
this game, and while some can 
point to the referees as blame 
for the loss, a lack of late-game 
execution played a major role. 
For neither Wagner or Matthews 
to get a touch on this possession 
(Wagner didn’t touch the ball 
in the final three minutes) 
represents a negligence on the 
Wolverines’ part.

And that was not a result 

of Wagner being smothered 
defensively, either.

“Give Zavier Simpson credit, 

he almost beat us. My man didn’t 
beat us — Moe Wagner,” said 
Purdue coach Matt Painter. He 
destroyed us last year. I wasn’t 
going to watch that again. I’ve 
got all the respect in the world 
for (Simpson), but Moe Wagner 
is a stud.”

That perspective, from the 

opposing coach, about sums it up.

For a team that lacks dominant 

perimeter 
scoring, 
it 
must 

position Wagner for success on its 
most important possessions. He 
is the team’s most gifted offensive 
player, and the advantage he 
presents with his ability to stretch 
the perimeter is only amplified by 
Purdue’s plodding big men. If this 
game is close late, he must have 
the ball in his hands — or at the 
very least, be directly involved in 
the play. 

MAX MARCOVITCH

Daily Sports Editor

Munger adjusting to 
new role as a starter

“I hate starting.”
That’s not something you 

would expect to hear from one 
of the starting guards on the 
Michigan women’s basketball 
team.

But Nicole Munger prefers to 

analyze.

The junior misses the days 

of her sophomore year, when 
she would sit on the bench and 
watch. She would carefully 
observe her opponent and then 
go in and provide a break for the 
starters and, more importantly, a 
spark of energy.

But this year 

Munger 
has 

embraced her role 
as a starter — and 
playmaker — for 
the Wolverines.

“I 
think 
for 

this 
team 
to 

be 
successful, 

(Michigan coach 
Kim 
Barnes 

Arico) wanted me 
to be in that role 
but it’s just different, just trying 
to come in and be ready very 
quickly, it took time,” Munger 
said. “The first couple times I 
was very nervous because it’s a 
different feel to the game. You 
don’t get to sit there and watch 
it and get your feet wet. I liked 
coming in when everyone else 
got a little tired and then I could 
turn up the energy.”

It took some adjusting but 

now Munger seems to be more 
comfortable. She has assisted 
Michigan in a five game winning 
streak, which included a victory 
each over rivals Ohio State and 
Michigan State.

She scored a career-high 20 

points at Ohio State on Jan. 7 and 
had another career high of five 
steals against Illinois on Jan. 20.

“She’s 
playing 
with 
an 

extreme amount of confidence,” 
Barnes Arico said. “She was an 
outstanding player last year as 
well but she didn’t have that 

same confidence and now it’s 
nice to see her growth. She’s 
doing a little bit of everything 
for us.”

Along with her role as a 

starter, Munger has also become 
Barnes Arico’s voice on the 
court.

“I’ve kind of turned to her 

a little bit as the voice of the 
team because she has great 
recognition 
and 
she 
sees 

things,” Barnes Arico said. 
“She’s a student of the game, 
she really knows the situations 
and the game a lot so I’ve been 
relying on her a lot to be a voice 
out there for our team, and I 
think she’s really embraced that 

role.”

Whenever 

Munger 
is 

subbed out, she 
sits 
directly 

next to Barnes 
Arico on the 
bench. Side-by-
side, the coach 
and her player 
break down the 
plays and their 
opponent.

“She listens to me the whole 

time as to what I’m saying,” 
Barnes Arico said. “We’re kind 
of on the same page. She thinks 
the same way that I do, she 
doesn’t say it that much so now I 
want her to say it when she’s out 
on the court. She knows what 
I’m thinking and she’s thinking 
the game the entire time. I’ve 
challenged her with becoming 
more vocal and she’s embraced 
that.”

While other teammates, like 

senior forward Jillian Dunston, 
have a fire in their belly and 
provide 
the 
energy 
to 
the 

court, Munger is clearly more 
analytical, providing a different 
dimension for the Wolverines to 
balance Dunston’s attack.

It’s a formula that seems to 

to be working, as indicated by 
the Wolverines’ success this 
season. Surely, part of that can 
be indicated to Munger, even if 
she’d prefer a different role.

“She listens to 
me the whole 
time as to what 

I’m saying.”

SARAH HURST
Daily Sports Writer

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Sophomore guard Zavier Simpson and the other guards will need to prove more capable of driving past Purdue’s big men.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL