2B — February 4, 2019
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Jon Teske picked up his
second foul with 11:42 left in
the first half of Michigan’s
game against Iowa on Friday.
The Hawkeyes were up 12-11
after
the
ensuing free
throws, and
that’s
when
redshirt
sophomore
center
Austin Davis
subbed in for
the
junior
center.
The
Wolverines
went on a 6-0
run immediately afterward.
If
that
had
been
the
beginning
of
a
trend
for
Michigan
men’s
basketball
team, the Wolverines would
still have one loss, a game clear
of anyone else in the Big Ten
standings.
But that momentum didn’t
continue.
Three minutes later, Iowa
ripped off a 13-0 run to go up
eight. Two minutes after that,
the lead grew to 14, and at
the end of the half, Michigan
trailed by 13.
Teske had played only
one minute, and a mixture
of Davis, freshman forward
Brandon
Johns,
sophomore
forward Isaiah Livers and
even freshman center Colin
Castleton — who had played
a total of 18 minutes all year
— struggled mightily either
to
contain
the
Hawkeyes’
size on defense or contribute
offensively.
“We hoped it would be
better, but this was a bad one
to not have (Teske),” said
Michigan coach John Beilein.
“Because he does so many
different things. … We do
not have this plethora of bigs
coming in behind him that
have his experience.
“… I can’t say we weren’t
ready for it. It’s happened a
few times, but the opponent
hasn’t been this strong when it
did happen.”
Of
course,
the
game’s
outcome
can’t
simply
be
boiled down to
insufficiencies
at one position.
But the lack of
a
backup
for
Teske
speaks
to
a
larger
problem for the
Wolverines.
Michigan has
just six players
that score more
than seven points per game.
The next best is sophomore
guard Eli Brooks, who averages
2.9 points per game, hardly a
trustworthy offensive option.
So when the Wolverines
run
into
foul
trouble
or
cold shooting nights — or if
someone in the rotation gets
hurt at some point throughout
the year — it could present a
great deal of trouble.
That
manifested
Friday,
when
Teske,
Livers,
freshman
forward
Ignas
Brazdeikis and
sophomore
guard
Jordan
Poole were all
called for two
fouls in the first
half. Brazdeikis,
Poole and junior
guard
Zavier
Simpson
were
the only players to score for
Michigan in that first half. So
when two of those three were
out, the Wolverines turned to
some unlikely sources.
Three freshmen — Castleton,
guard David DeJulius and
guard Adrien Nunez — got
their first meaningful minutes
of their careers late in the first
20 minutes of Friday’s game.
They
were
not
nearly
enough, as made evident by the
score at halftime.
And as it turned
out,
the
rest
of
the
offense
wasn’t
enough
for the rest of the
night either.
“Basketball
game’s a game
full
of
runs,”
Simpson
said.
“They’re
gonna
make runs, we’re
gonna make runs.
They just happened to make a
big run. Salute to Iowa.”
To be clear, Michigan’s depth
issues are not a death sentence
by any means. Beilein-coached
teams are notorious for fouling
less than other teams. And
the
Wolverines’
six
main
contributors have proven they
can play a ton of minutes,
which helps mask some of the
problems.
But the issue comes with a
team like Iowa. The Hawkeyes
rotated several competent big
men
onto
the
court and went
after
Teske,
and it worked,
because
while
the backups at
all
positions
struggle to score
for
Michigan,
Teske’s
importance
is
twofold. Teske’s
backups not only
lack his offensive ability, but
they don’t bring the defensive
versatility he possesses.
So Iowa’s formula worked
like a charm, and while it
isn’t one that all teams in the
country can employ when the
competition gets stiffer, that
weakness could come back to
bite the Wolverines when it
matters most.
Michigan’s two late-season
games
against
Michigan
State could be for the Big Ten
Championship. The Spartans
will undoubtedly run big men
Nick Ward and Xavier Tillman
at Teske when
they meet on
Feb. 24. If the
Wolverines
match up with
the
likes
of
Tennessee,
Duke
or
Gonzaga
in
March, all of
those
teams
have
size
to
spare, too.
And now that
the book is out on Michigan
and how to stop them, there
are two ways this thing could
go.
The first is that Beilein
transforms
his
weaknesses
into strengths once again.
Last
year,
defenses
that
switched ball screens gave the
Wolverines fits, but by the end
of the season, Michigan was
feasting on teams that did just
that.
Maybe this season, Davis,
Johns or Brooks will find
their respective
grooves
and
turn
their
offense
into
the
buzzsaw
everyone
witnessed
against
North
Carolina
and
Villanova.
Or
maybe
the Wolverines’
lack of depth is
their fatal flaw. Maybe what
happened Friday was less a
mirage and more a preview of
what’s to come.
Maybe we’ll look back on
Friday night and remember
when Iowa found the end of a
proverbial thread and the rest
of Michigan’s season began to
unravel.
SportsMonday Column: Michigan has a depth problem
IOWA CITY — Last year,
before the start of the Big Ten
Tournament in New York City,
Iowa video coordinator Courtney
Eldridge pulled the Hawkeyes’
sophomore class aside. In their
two seasons at Iowa, he realized,
the group had yet to notch a
signature win. The next day,
they came a point away from
doing so in an overtime loss
to Michigan. Instead, they fell
just short, marking a familiarly
disappointing end to a 14-19
season.
Friday night against the same
opponent, that signature win
finally arrived, as Iowa (17-5
overall, 6-5 Big Ten) took down
the
fifth-ranked
Wolverines,
74-59.
The game took a sour turn
for Michigan (20-2, 9-2) just 1:19
after tipoff, when junior center
Jon Teske picked up his first
foul, forcing John Beilein to call
for Isaiah Livers off the bench. It
only took 31 seconds before the
sophomore forward committed
a foul of his own. Less than a
minute later, he too made his way
to the bench after another foul
under the basket.
Freshman forward Brandon
Johns held his own until the
under-12 media timeout, when
Teske re-entered with the game
knotted at 11. Six seconds later,
Iowa forward Tyler Cook charged
at Teske, attempting to throw a
dunk over him. The ball rattled
off the back of the rim, but more
importantly, Teske was whistled
for his second foul, sending him
to the bench for the remainder of
the half.
“One of our game plans, as
always, was try to get their big in
foul trouble,” said Iowa forward
Luka Garza. “So we did a really
good job of that. Me, Tyler (Cook),
Ryan (Kriener), we all had a focus
on that. We attacked them inside,
just to try to get them out of there.
And it worked for us.”
Six minutes later, Nicholas
Baer caught the ball in transition,
squaring up from the top of the arc
as the crowd at Carver-Hawkeye
Arena rose to its feet. Seconds
later, the ball splashed through
the net, blowing the roof off the
building and completing a 21-2
run that gave Iowa a 14-point lead
it would never relinquish.
“Basketball game’s a game full
of runs,” said junior guard Zavier
Simpson. “They’re gonna make
runs, we’re gonna make runs.
They just happened to make a big
run. Salute to Iowa.”
The run came on the back of
a dominant inside performance
from Iowa in Teske’s absence,
as five of its seven field goals
during the stretch came in the
paint. With Johns and redshirt
sophomore forward Austin Davis
manning the ‘5’ for nearly the
entire remainder of the half, the
Hawkeyes went into halftime
with a 22-6 advantage in the paint
and 22-10 on the boards.
“It’s not the same presence
of the room (without Teske),”
Kreiner said. “Michigan gets
really aggressive denying things.
And if they’re denying things,
you gotta drive the ball. … And if
Teske’s not there to rotate over, it’s
a lot easier to finish.”
The second half was a more
even affair, but each Michigan
threat was quickly snuffed out
by an Iowa response — especially
on the defensive end, where the
Hawkeyes’ mix of zone, man-to-
man and full-court press forced
the Wolverines into a 8-for-33
performance from three.
Michigan, though, was able
use a 16-6 run to cut the deficit to
five midway through the second
half, relying on Teske’s interior
presence to get back into the game.
Then, with 9:08 to play and
a chance to silence the Carver-
Hawkeye
crowd,
sophomore
Jordan Poole pump faked, slid to
his left and fired off a three that
would have pulled the Wolverines
within four. It clanged off the
front of the rim and into the hands
of Iowa forward Luka Garza.
Seconds later, Garza popped a
3-pointer from the right wing.
Unlike Poole’s, his caught nothing
but net.
From there, the final eight
minutes
were
an
obligatory
procession toward the final buzzer
sounding and a mass of black-and-
gold clad students descending on
the court. As students mobbed the
team, the arena speakers began to
blast Queen’s Another One Bites
The Dust.
Only for the Hawkeyes, this
win was one of a kind.
Michigan falls to Iowa, 74-59, as lack of big-man depth exposed
IOWA CITY — First came
Isaiah Livers. It was 81 seconds
into Friday’s game, and junior
center Jon Teske had picked up a
foul. John Beilein, in turn, went to
the sophomore, his most reliable
backup center option to date.
Less than two minutes later,
after Livers picked up a foul of
his own, it was Brandon Johns’
turn. Five minutes after that, with
Michigan looking sluggish, Beilein
went back to Teske.
In just six seconds, he got
whistled for his second foul, and
that’s when things went from bad
to worse.
“You don’t have a 7-(foot)-1, 260-
(pound) guy standing in the paint,”
Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp would say
two hours later. “Obviously they
have (Austin) Davis that comes in
off the bench, but he’s not Teske.”
Davis was in just five minutes,
a span over which the Hawkeyes
attacked him, then attacked him
some more — finding repeated
success. But he wasn’t the only
person that faltered while Teske
sat.
So did Livers, and Johns, and
Colin Castleton.
Get Jon Teske in foul trouble,
it turns out, is how you get the
Wolverines to file off the court,
heads hung low, backs turned to
a sea of students flowing from
their seats to the court. Iowa 74,
Michigan 59 was the reason for
their jubilation and Teske — or the
lack thereof — was the reason for
the score.
Without him, the Hawkeyes
feasted, turning a defense that came
into Iowa City ranked first in the
nation into one befitting of a Beilein
team of old. They scored 22 times
in the paint in the first 20 minutes,
grabbing 26 rebounds to Michigan’s
12. For 19 of those minutes, Teske
sat on the bench, watching the
margin climb, and with 2:26 to go in
the half, Beilein proverbially threw
up his hands and sent Castleton
onto the floor.
The freshman checked in with
the Wolverines down 13 — getting
outplayed front to back — and the
Carver-Hawkeye
Arena
crowd
hungering for more. It was his first
meaningful action of the season,
in a far-from-ideal scenario for
a freshman still adapting to the
college game.
The reason why it happened,
seemingly, had more to do with
everybody else.
“We needed something,” Beilein
said. “The guys that come off the
bench have to understand there’s a
certain speed you need to play with,
effort you need to play with. When
they don’t do that, we’ve got to go
further down the bench.”
It’s easy to forget Jon Teske when
he’s merely a cog in the system. The
Hawkeyes came into Friday with a
goal of getting him into foul trouble,
and forcing him to sit. They did
just that — and with him gone, the
entire machine fell apart.
In that first half, Michigan
coughed
up
1.24
points
per
possession, fouling more often than
it hit a field goal. Two weeks ago,
Wisconsin stymied the Wolverines’
offense by junking it up. On Friday,
Iowa scored at will by forcing its
biggest piece to sit and watch.
Teske played 11 minutes and 55
seconds in the second half before
fouling out, and was a plus-3 over
13 minutes of action in a game
Michigan lost by 15. The value of
a player is easiest to quantify once
he’s gone.
“The
way
Michigan
plays
defense is they’re really aggressive
on ball-screens, and they drag them
a lot,” said Iowa’s Ryan Kriener. “So
that means he has to be the man
in recovery. If you can either drive
him or all bigger guys have trouble
with — if you jump, jump into him,
in that direction, bringing your
arms down.
“... I can’t commend Jon Teske
enough, because I know how
overlooked he is. But knowing the
game, that dude’s the key to their
defense. They’re one of the best
defensive teams in the country. I
100 percent believe that he’s the key
to that.”
This isn’t about Jon Teske, but
the lack of a viable option behind
him. On Thursday, Beilein was
asked about the backup center spot
and kept saying the same thing
he has for over a month. Whether
Davis or Johns is the first big off
the bench depends on matchup, and
how practice has been going.
On Friday, asked if the loss shed
any light on the situation, he was a
bit more direct.
“We can’t find a backup ‘5,’ ”
Beilein said. “That would be the
conclusion.”
ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
ANNIE KLUS/Daily
Junior center Jon Teske played just one minute in the first half after getting into foul trouble, leading to Michigan’s defensive struggles in a loss at Iowa.
MIKE
PERSAK
ANNIE KLUS/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein must find a solution to the Wolverines’ depth problem if they are to reach their potential when the NCAA Tournament comes.
We do not have
this plethora of
bigs coming in
behind (Teske).
They just
happened to
make a big run.
Salute to Iowa.
It’s happened a
few times ... the
opponent hasn’t
been as strong.