8 — Thursday, February 8, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Offensive struggles becoming a troubling trend for the Wolverines
It seems like years ago that
a
scorched-earth
offensive
juggernaut went shot for shot
with Purdue on its home court.
That night, the Michigan
men’s
basketball
team
shot
60 percent from the field, 56
percent from 3-point range and
scored 1.35 points per possession
against the No. 3 team in the
country. It became the first team
all season to score 1.3 points per
possession in a game and lose.
Senior guard Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-Rahkman
was
hitting
fadeaway threes and sweeping
layups en route to a 26-point
outburst — causing coach John
Beilein to insinuate a Derrick
Walton-esque leap could be in
store.
Offensive
turbulence
appeared to be a thing of the
past.
It
seems
like
years
ago,
because the two weeks before
and the two weeks since have
featured
offensive
struggles
the likes of which Michigan
has rarely experienced under
Beilein.
Putting the flame-throwing
showcase at Mackey Arena aside,
the Wolverines have averaged 61
points per game on 41-percent
shooting in the other six games,
and done so with a consistently
troubling malaise.
“I just think
we need to have
a little bit more
of
a
sense
of
urgency,” Abdur-
Rahkman
said
after
Tuesday
night’s 61-52 loss
at Northwestern.
“I think we didn’t
have that. Also,
it’s getting late
in the season … a
lot of people are adjusting to the
way people are playing. We’ve
just got to make adjustments as
well.”
Each game has its built-
in excuse to sugarcoat the
struggles. The Maryland game
came just two days after the
high point of the season, a road
victory against Michigan State.
The Wolverines went to Lincoln
facing a desperate Nebraska
team, in a hostile environment,
in the midst of a grueling stretch
of four games in nine days — a
“schedule loss.” Rutgers, for its
gruesome offensive deficiencies,
was a strong defensive side that
came into the game intending to
muck up offensive flow and slow
down tempo at all costs.
Northwestern — both times —
unveiled a unique
matchup
zone
that
presented
few
clear
solutions.
“I don’t know
if
we
had
a
week prep (for
the
zone)
we
could
make
a
big
difference,”
Beilein said. “It is
really good.”
Added
Abdur-Rahkman:
“They knew what we were
running, things like that — we
just played them, like a week
ago. So they’re familiar with our
players and our scout and stuff
like that.”
Individually,
each
performance
is
excusable.
Together, they paint a troubling
picture.
But what exactly are those
adjustments
Abdur-Rahkman
alluded to?
For one, starting to make shots
would help. Though the past
month has displayed struggles,
the
overall
team
shooting
outlook
(47.1
percent
from
the field and 36 percent from
three on the season) is about on
par with other slightly above
average
Beilein
teams.
There
is a prevailing
sentiment
that
the
shooting
struggles are a
blip on the radar,
that a Beilein-
coached
team
will
find
its
stroke — and that
very well may be.
But
unlike
past teams, there are few guys
on this team who are drastically
underperforming their expected
shooting numbers.
Abdur-Rahkman is currently
matching his career-best 3-point
percentage (37.8) and taking
them at a much higher clip.
Wagner, too, is right around
his
career-high
in
3-point
percentage (39.6) and shooting a
solid 53.7 percent from the field.
The two main dropoffs come
from the sharp decline in the
shooting of fifth-year senior
forward Duncan
Robinson,
who
has
somewhat
inexplicably gone
from 42 percent
to 35 percent on
3-pointers in the
span of a year.
The other comes
from the natural
dropoff
from
an elite scoring
point guard in
Derrick Walton Jr. to the more
defense-focused Zavier Simpson,
an unavoidable decline. The
sophomore has made just four of
his last 21 3-point attempts after
starting the year 14-for-31.
“Of course, it sucks,” Wagner
said. “You play basketball to
make shots, it’s fun to win. You
practice so much, and missing
shots is not fun.”
One possible solution may
be an attempt to re-emphasize
redshirt
sophomore
wing
Charles Matthews. Matthews
has scored just 12.3 points on
43 percent from the field and
26 percent from three in the
last seven games. And while
those numbers don’t jump out
as overtly destructive, they’re
discouraging for a guy who had
begun to evolve into the team’s
go-to scorer, a role still patiently
waiting for an apt suitor.
A
perfomance
becomes
a
problem. A problem becomes a
trend. A trend becomes a fatal
flaw. Right now, Michigan is
ranked 57th in adjusted offensive
efficiency,
which
comes
dangerously close to the lowest
ranking of the Beilein era — 67th
in 2015.
“We’re responsible for (the
struggles),” Wagner said. “We’ve
got to make shots, it’s on us.”
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Redshirt sophomore forward Charles Matthews could be a solution to helping revive the Michigan offense.
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor
“We’ve just
got to make
adjustments as
well.”
“You practice
so much, and
missing shots is
not fun.”
Four-star recruit flips commitment to Georgia
in otherwise uneventful Signing Day for Michigan
The
Michigan
football
program welcomed three new
signees to the 2018 recruiting
class on National Signing Day
on Wednesday, but the biggest
news came from a player who
wasn’t on that list.
Four-star
linebacker
Otis
Reese, a former
Michigan
verbal
commit,
announced
Wednesday at a
ceremony at his
high school that
he would instead
be
playing
at
University
of
Georgia
next
season. Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh
was
informed
of
Reese’s decision earlier in the
day.
“(I) wouldn’t say it caught
us off guard,” Harbaugh said.
“We understood that was a
possibility. … One person closes
the door, that opens the door for
somebody else, and it’s our job
to make sure that whoever turns
the knob on that is what’s right
for Michigan.”
Reese, a native of Leesburg,
Ga.,
verbally
committed
to
Michigan in June of 2016 and
was one of the longest-standing
commitments
in
the
class.
Ranked
87th
overall and 5th
among
outside
linebackers
nationally
according
to
the
247Sports
composite,
Reese
represented
a
significant loss
for a recruiting
class that will
be viewed as one of the least
prominent in years. He had
previously
been
Michigan’s
highest-rated commit.
In
a
tamped
down
environment,
devoid
of
the
bright lights and loudspeakers of
past years, Harbaugh welcomed
in the new class.
Thanks to the new early
signing period in late December,
the day was relatively quiet.
Nineteen of the 22 commits —
excluding incoming transfers,
Shea
Patterson
and
Casey
Hughes — in the class signed
their letters of intent in the early
period, leaving just three to sign
Wednesday.
“There
was
a
priority
for
youngsters to sign
on the first signing
day,”
Harbaugh
said. “That’s the
biggest takeaway.”
Ronnie
Bell,
a
three-star
receiver
from
Kansas
City,
totaled
159
catches and 31 touchdowns in
his high school career. Until
December, though, Bell was
committed to play basketball
at Missouri State. Bell earned
the Simone award — granted to
the best football player in the
Kansas City area — for his senior
year production.
Three-star Michael Barrett
also signed his letter of intent
Wednesday, and though it’s
unclear what position he’ll play
play, Harbaugh said he was
eager to get him the ball.
“Envision him getting the ball
in his hands — wide receiver, slot
receiver, running back. I think
those
two
areas primarily
for
him,”
Harbaugh said.
“Somebody
who can get the
ball and make
yards after the
catch — yards
after
contact.
A receiver who
can run like a
running back,
but I think also he’ll have the
ability to be a running back.”
Barrett thrived as a dual-
threat
quarterback
in
high
school, racking up 4,640 yards
passing, 2,647 yards rushing
and 83 total touchdowns in
his career. His senior year,
Barrett was named Georgia’s 7A
offensive player of the year. He
received interest from Georgia
Tech to play quarterback in its
triple-option system, ultimately,
choosing
Michigan
rather
than the assurance of playing
quarterback elsewhere.
Barrett’s
recruitment
continued the coaching staff’s
recent emphasis on recruiting
out of the state of Georgia. He
is the third player in the class
from Georgia, totaling six such
recruits in the last three years.
In
all,
the
class
ranks
21st nationally, according to
247Sports,
and
features
no
consensus five-star prospects.
Excluding
Harbaugh’s
first,
shortened
recruiting
class,
this class ranks as the lowest
Michigan has had since 2011, the
year between the tenures of Rich
Rodriguez and Brady Hoke.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh’s 2018 recruiting class is ranked 21st nationally and has no five-star prospects.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor
“(I) wouldn’t
say (Reese
flipping) caught
us off guard.”
This class ranks
as the lowest
Michigan has
had since 2011.
Livers hurts left ankle
in loss to Northwestern
Isaiah Livers stole the ball and
headed up the court. He rose over
a Northwestern defender and laid
it in, putting the No. 20 Michigan
men’s basketball team up, 4-0, less
than two minutes into Tuesday’s
game.
When the freshman forward
landed, though, he turned his
left ankle and fell to the floor. He
got up and attempted to play the
next defensive possession with
a heavy limp, but Wildcat guard
Bryant McIntosh attacked Livers,
drawing a foul.
Livers hobbled off the court and
was immediately
attended to by
trainers on the
bench
before
going
to
the
locker room. The
freshman tested
the ankle after
halftime
but
was
ultimately
unable to return.
After
the
game, Michigan
coach
John
Beilein said he thought the injury
was a left ankle sprain, though he
admitted he hadn’t spoken with
the team doctors yet.
“The fact that he wanted to
go out and try it again means it’s
probably not a break or anything
like that,” Beilein said. “But, you
know, with an ankle sprain, you
never know.”
Livers
has
struggled
offensively in recent weeks. Since
he broke into the starting lineup —
usurping fifth-year senior Duncan
Robinson — in the Wolverines’
Jan. 13 game against Michigan
State, he has yet to score more
than eight points in a game.
Livers’
points-per-game
average has slowly dropped to 4.4,
and while his energetic defense
has allowed him to maintain
his starting spot, he hasn’t been
the same offensive threat as of
late. So it’s unlikely Livers would
have been able to jumpstart the
stagnant Michigan offense in
Tuesday’s game, though Beilein
did mention the stress Livers’
absence put on the team’s rotation.
“(Livers’
injury)
certainly
affected us a little bit, but that was
not the reason we lost,” Beilein
said. “ … (Against Northwestern’s)
zone, you know, he didn’t play a
lot. It certainly would have gave
Duncan a rest, and I think that
you can’t, probably, put a measure
on what that does to Duncan and
his shooting.”
Robinson played 36 minutes
Tuesday
and
scored just three
points.
He
too
has
struggled
offensively,
shooting just 35
percent
from
deep — a far cry
from last season’s
42-percent clip.
Though
his
availability
for
Sunday’s
game
against
Wisconsin is still unclear, as
Beilein mentioned, the fact that
Livers was able to at least try to
play on his ankle likely means the
injury isn’t too serious.
For that, the Wolverines can
be
thankful.
Junior
forward
Moritz Wagner mentioned Livers’
energy, defense and versatility as
things Michigan missed with the
freshman out of the lineup.
If Livers is unable to play in
the future, it stands to reason
Robinson will get a hefty share
of the available minutes. When
Robinson does need a break,
Beilein could also play redshirt
sophomore
forward
Charles
Matthews as the four-man with
freshman guard Jordan Poole
and senior guard Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-Rahkman at the wings.
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
“But, you know,
with an ankle
sprain, you
never know.”