The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
November 26, 2018 — 3B
Offensive gameplan leaves lingering questions
Standing at the podium, hat
fixed, mood stoic, there wasn’t
much Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh could say.
A reporter asked broadly
about his offensive gameplan.
Harbaugh’s
response
was
terse.
“Wanted to run our best
plays,” he said. “Throwing,
moving the ball, outside zone,
inside power. We had basically
everything — drop back, zone
read. Roll-outs, boots, that was
our plan.”
After
the
thorough
undressing that was Saturday’s
62-39
loss
to
Ohio
State,
nothing was left unworthy
of
scrutiny.
The
offensive
gameplan — and the execution
that
ensued
—
certainly
warranted closer examination.
And upon that examination,
it was a gameplan devoid of
necessary creativity.
On
its
face,
Michigan’s
offensive output was far from
the main issue. The Wolverines
posted 401 total yards and 39
points. Before the game, most
would
have
thought
those
numbers would have sufficed
for a win — even a comfortable
one.
But that fails to encapsulate
the lack of ambition, and clear
contrast in styles, throughout
the game — especially at the
outset.
Harbaugh isn’t wrong; there
was plenty sprinkled into the
offense throughout the game.
The emphasis was clear: He
hoped the running game would
take control, work the clock
and tire Ohio State’s defense.
Off that, junior quarterback
Shea Patterson could make
plays out of zone-read and
play-action. It’s what they’d
done all year, so why should
Saturday have been different?
And for a while, it was
working to an extent. Early in
the second quarter, Michigan
had run 25 plays to Ohio State’s
six, tallied 98 total yards to
the Buckeyes’ 17 and held
possession of the ball for 12:35
to Ohio State’s 1:55.
Yet
at
that
point
the
Buckeyes still led the game,
7-6.
Ohio State opened up a 21-6
lead in the blink of an eye, and
that’s when the
challenge
was
truly pressed on
the Wolverines’
offense.
Had
they
been
playing with a
lead,
perhaps
this game would
have played out
differently.
For
a pro-style, run-
first
offense,
playing with the
lead is always the plan until it
can’t be.
But when that plan was
thrown
out
the
window,
Harbaugh
and
his
offense
had no response. There were
no big plays. The read-option
that had become a staple
of the offense was few and
far between. There was no
challenging a susceptible Ohio
State
secondary
Maryland
torched for 51 points last week.
Michigan threw the ball 10
or more yards past the line of
scrimmage just four times in
the first half, when the game
was within striking distance.
Including
penalties,
those
plays averaged 13.5 yards. The
other 40 plays averaged 4.5
yards per play.
It
seemed
like a coaching
staff
intent
on bashing its
head
against
a
wall.
And
all the while,
the Buckeyes’
offense
was
running circles
around
the
Wolverines’
defense
by
spreading their offense out,
getting their weapons in space
and letting their All-Big Ten
quarterback deliver.
Ohio State ended the game
with six touchdown drives
that lasted fewer than three
minutes.
The
Wolverines
offense ran 16:12 off the clock
in their first six possessions
and had just six points to
show for it. That contrast was
evident all day.
There is the larger question
now, which many seem eager
to litigate, of Jim Harbaugh’s
pro-style offense. To be fair,
that criticism was muted no
less than a week ago.
It
would
be
wrong
to
insinuate this team ran the
same offense it has for the last
three years under Harbaugh.
To a large extent, Harbaugh
altered this offense quite a
bit with Patterson in tow —
and it was evident in several
dominant wins. Saturday, for
example, Michigan ran 70 of
its 85 plays from the shotgun
or
pistol
formations.
That
would be unheard of in the last
three seasons.
In the end, Harbaugh was
right. Michigan ran its “best
plays.”
It
included
those
concepts
he
mentioned
in
the
press
conference.
The
Wolverines
won’t
suddenly
become a spead team as long as
Harbaugh is the coach. Tweaks
are one thing. Overhaul isn’t
coming.
On Saturday against Ohio
State, those “best plays” were
not enough. And now, let the
Shifting expectations
S
ix games into the season, the
Michigan men’s basketball
team is
6-0. The clos-
est of those
were 19-point
wins against
Norfolk
State, Holy
Cross and
Providence.
Its defense
is the best in
the country,
per KenPom’s
adjusted defensive efficiency. It
was ranked ninth in last week’s
AP poll — ahead of any other Big
Ten team — and will likely move
up on Monday. And if you listen
to Michigan coach John Beilein,
you’d think he was unaware of any
of that.
“I don’t think we’re this
juggernaut,” Beilein said, after the
Wolverines dispatched Tennessee-
Chattanooga, 83-55, on Friday
afternoon. “I think we’re OK. ... We
don’t have that type of experience
yet to just say, ‘OK, watch out. Here
comes Michigan.’ ”
Beilein’s job, of course, requires
him to say things like that. And it’s
true that six games in November
— most of them against terrible
competition — don’t make a season.
But not all of those wins are
hollow. Crushing Villanova, by
27, at Villanova — that means
something. So does dispatching
Providence, a likely tournament
team, by 19 points.
“I think we certainly got
some teams that are rebuilding,”
Beilein said. “Villanova, George
Washington and Providence. They
all lost some pretty key players —
as we did.”
A month ago, it looked like this
would be a rebuilding year for the
Wolverines — or at least what a
program that just made a national
title game could classify as such.
Nobody knew where the shooting
would come from, how quickly
the freshmen could be integrated,
whether sophomores Isaiah Livers
or Eli Brooks could take the next
step.
The shooting hasn’t been great,
but the defense is so good that it
hasn’t mattered. Only one of five
freshmen has played significant
minutes, but that freshman, Ignas
Brazdeikis, is averaging 15.7 points
per game, and looks like a star.
Playing Livers, a natural forward,
at the ‘5’ has unlocked a new level
for the Wolverines on both sides
of the ball; Brooks has been more
than serviceable coming off the
bench.
North Carolina and Purdue, two
teams in KenPom’s top-15, loom
next week, and the Wolverines
can reasonably expect to win both
games.
None of those questions from
the start of the season have been
fully answered — they can’t be in
six games. But if things continue
this way, Michigan won’t just
compete in the Big Ten, but sustain
a spot in the national conversation.
The Wolverines, already,
have recalibrated expectations,
changing the conversation around
the team. Beating the Tar Heels
— who smacked them in Chapel
Hill around this time last season
— would be yet another signal of a
shifting ceiling.
“I feel like we’re alright,” said
sophomore guard Jordan Poole.
“We’re getting the shots that we
practice. We can get better shots.
But we also are turning down some
shots. We’re not being aggressive
in some areas. It’s definitely just
coming for our defense, we’re
getting a lot of stops. We should be
running hard in transition. It’s just
a lot of little things that we can still
work on.”
Like Beilein, Poole is supposed
to talk about improving when
faced with questions about how
good Michigan is. And like Beilein,
there’s a kernel of truth in there.
The Wolverines can get better.
That’s what makes the first six
games so scary.
Sears can be reached at
searseth@umich.edu or on
Twitter @ethan_sears.
Wolverines fall to Wisconsin in shootout
It only takes one play to
change a game.
Saturday night, the No. 14
Michigan hockey team (6-5-1
overall, 2-2-1 Big Ten) had two
of them in regulation before it
tied with Wisconsin (5-7-1, 1-3-
1), 2-2, in double overtime and
then fell in the shootout.
Late in the third period, facing
a
one-goal
deficit,
redshirt
sophomore
forward
Luke
Morgan received a pass from
junior defenseman Luke Martin
as he was crossing the offensive
blue line, all alone in front of
goaltender Daniel Lebedeff.
A little bit of stickwork and a
quick shot later, and Morgan had
notched his first goal of the year
and tied the game at two.
“Good to see (Morgan) get off
the mark there,” said Michigan
coach Mel Pearson. “It’s just
gonna help him and give him
some confidence. … We’re gonna
need that secondary scoring
going forward. We’re getting
guys to contribute now and
we’re doing a good job. Good for
(Morgan). That was a big goal.”
But despite Morgan’s heroics,
eight minutes later, the game
was still tied, and the Wolverines
headed to their third straight
overtime game.
Michigan sustained pressure
on
Lebedeff
through
most
of the first overtime period
but couldn’t knock the puck
through. With 1:20 left in the
stanza, senior defenseman Nick
Boka was whistled for hooking.
The penalty kill held strong,
sending the game to double
overtime and 3-on-3 action for
the second night in a row.
Wisconsin
had
an
extra
skater to begin the second
overtime period, but Michigan
neutralized the man advantage.
The five minutes of 3-on-3 came
and went, and the game was still
tied.
“You want to win them in
regulation, but we’ll take it any
way we can if we have to drag it
to overtime,” Morgan said. “We
have to come out with the win
some way. It’s best in regulation,
you don’t have to worry about
it, it’s not as nerve wrecking at
times, but we’ll take it any way
we can.”
But on Saturday, the next step
was a shootout for the extra Big
Ten point — not a victory for
either side. The game went down
as a tie after the first overtime,
meaning each team earned one
point for conference standings.
The shootout winner earned the
second point.
Junior
forward
Will
Lockwood went first in the
shootout and his effort was
just barely saved by Lebedeff.
Next, Wisconsin forward Wyatt
Kalynuk shot wide of the net.
Following
Kalynuk,
sophomore defenseman Quinn
Hughes fired a shot that went
well wide.
As the second shooter in the
second round, forward Max
Zimmer beat junior goaltender
Hayden Lavigne five-hole, and
the Badgers streamed onto the
ice to celebrate.
Before it got to the shootout,
or even scored a goal, Michigan
was down by two and struggling
to find a rhythm.
For the first time all season,
Lavigne earned the starting
nod on back-to-back nights. He
came up with some big saves in
the first five minutes, effectively
neutralizing
the
constant
pressure from the Badgers. But
4:21 into the first period, Hughes
was called for slashing and the
Wolverines were sent to the
penalty kill for the first time in
the game.
Less than a minute later, with
Wisconsin pressuring Lavigne in
the crease, Boka lost his footing
and allowed his assignment —
defenseman K’Andre Miller — to
slip past him and tuck the puck
past the outstretched glove of
Lavigne. He got part of his glove
on the puck, but it wasn’t enough
to save the goal.
In the second period, Lavigne
fell victim to another defensive
breakdown. When Michigan’s
defenders
slipped
out
of
position, forward Jack Gorniak
was able to get his stick on the
puck and flip it up over Lavigne’s
shoulder.
Suddenly,
the
Wolverines
trailed, 2-0. The game appeared
to be slipping out of reach.
Shortly afterwards, Hughes
entered the offensive zone with
the puck and slipped it across
the ice to sophomore forward
Josh Norris. Norris found fellow
sophomore forward Jack Becker
coming down through the slot
and put the puck right on his
stick.
Becker tapped the puck past
Lebedeff and cut the Wolverines’
deficit to 2-1.
But the two goals would prove
to be not enough, after all the
extra periods and the shootout.
Michigan’s power play, which
entered the weekend ranked
seventh in the nation, failed to
score on any of its seven chances.
The Wolverines recorded just
12 shots across those seven
opportunities.
“We’ve been riding our power
play,” Pearson said. “It’s been
really good for us lately. It’s
been winning us a lot of games.
Tonight, and this weekend,
we just came up empty. I think
that’s why we’re just looking
at getting the three points and
basically a split this weekend.”
Morgan’s late-game play gave
Michigan hope momentarily, but
the offense couldn’t overcome
its woes and the late goal wasn’t
enough to eke out a victory.
‘M’ dominated by Texas
in Gulf Coast Showcase
Michigan’s quick start — a
string
of
three
consecutive
layups offensively — did not
last. In fact, by the end of the
first quarter, it was as if that
two-minute spell hadn’t even
happened.
Texas proceeded to rattle
off 19 straight points before the
Wolverines managed another
basket, building up a 23-8 lead
heading into the second quarter.
Michigan (4-1) never really
recovered from that sequence,
as the No. 10 Longhorns (5-0)
staved off any sign of a comeback
en route to a 69-52 win in the
Gulf Coast Showcase semifinal.
Though the Wolverines were
coming off a quality win against a
ranked Missouri team on Friday,
Texas was a class above anything
they had faced so far in the young
season. The Longhorns lost a few
substantial players from last
year’s team, but they retained
multiple starters and reloaded
with the nation’s second-ranked
recruiting class.
Their size and talent proved
too much for Michigan to
overcome.
The
Wolverines
usually match up with teams
well, especially because of senior
center Hallie Thome’s influence
inside. This was not the case
Saturday.
Texas’
6-foot-4
starting
center Jatarie White controlled
the paint, rendering Thome
somewhat ineffective offensively,
as she finished with just eight
points in 30 minutes.
“I think their physicality
surprised us at first,” said
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico. “I think we tried to go
inside and they were really
bumping, really being physical,
really pushing us off the block.
They sent double teams right
away. We weren’t used to that.”
On
the
wings,
Michigan
didn’t fare much better. Both
sophomore Deja Church and
senior Nicole Munger struggled
to find their mark, shooting 7-for-
29
collectively.
Alternatively,
Longhorn guard Audrey Warren,
a member of that highly-ranked
recruiting class, poured in 15 on
6-of-9 shooting.
All
of
the
Wolverines’
offensive
struggles
—
chief
among them being a 13.9-percent
shooting clip — culminated in
just six second-quarter points,
which allowed the Longhorns to
open up a 25-point lead heading
into the locker room.
“I think it’s important, as
much as we think we have an
experienced team with Hallie
and (Munger), there are a lot of
young kids,” Barnes Arico said.
“A lot of young kids are getting
a lot of minutes, so I think they
need to understand this is a top
team in the country. This is how
physical the game is going to be.
If we want to be at this level, this
is how we are going to need to
compete.”
One of the lone bright spots
for the Wolverines was the play
of freshman point guard Amy
Dilk, who once again showed
signs of settling into her starting
role. Thanks in part to her
performance in the second half,
Michigan clawed back late to
avoid a blowout scoreline.
“I
think
she’s
growing
more and more comfortable,”
Barnes Arico said. “And (she’s)
understanding
what
the
expectations are. I was really
happy that she attacked the rim
a little bit more and looked to be
offensively aggressive.”
The Wolverines regained some
semblance of confidence with
their second-half performance —
shooting 45.5-percent from the
field.
Another positive for Michigan
was the return of junior guard
Akienreh Johnson from injury.
Though she won’t factor into the
starting lineup, she does provide
a bit more depth going forward.
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Junior defenseman Luke Martin notched the assist on Michigan’s game-tying goal against Wisconsin on Saturday.
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s offensive gameplan lacked creativity in the Wolverines’ 62-39 loss at Ohio State.
“Throwing,
moving the ball,
outside zone,
inside power.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer
Read the full story online at
MichiganDaily.com
MEN’S BASKETBALL
ETHAN
SEARS