The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, November 14, 2019 — 7
Offense clicking behind Patterson
Ben McDaniels stood in front of
the media Wednesday afternoon,
detailing the texture that a football
takes on in cold weather and the
impact that has on ball security.
Midway
through,
the
quarterbacks coach offered an
apology, realizing that the minutiae
of a football’s texture isn’t high on
the list of storylines surrounding
Michigan football three days
before the Michigan State game.
Inside Schembechler Hall, though,
it’s a strange juxtaposition to the
scene just a few weeks ago, when
ball security was the unavoidable
topic of the month.
That was back when Shea
Patterson fumbled five times and
lost four in the season’s first three
games. Now, six games removed
from his last lost fumble, it’s a
forgotten topic from a departed
part of Michigan’s season — back
when its offense couldn’t get going,
with Patterson as the primary
culprit.
“Ball handling’s improved a
ton,” Patterson said. “Struggled
a little bit early to keep the ball
off the ground, but that was a big
emphasis over the last four, five
weeks.”
The correlation isn’t lost on the
Wolverines.
“Not getting ourselves into
bad situations, third-and-longs
(has helped the turnaround),”
Patterson said. “Just taking care
of the football, and I think the run
game’s really helped that out. It’s
opened up the pass game a little bit,
and our guys are really getting into
open space.”
Back then — when Michigan
nearly got shut out in a loss to
Wisconsin and then scored just 10
points on Iowa two weeks later —
the questions that encompassed
the Wolverines’ offense were
wholesale, with Patterson clearly
hampered by a series of injuries.
What is this offense supposed to
be? Why is it not utilizing its best
weapons? Is Josh Gattis ready to be
an offensive coordinator?
Four games, 146 points and
three wins later, those questions
are gone, largely replaced by
conclusive answers.
This
isn’t
the
Oklahoma-
esque spread offense that many
envisioned when Gattis was hired,
and Patterson isn’t a dark-horse
Heisman candidate. But there’s a
coherent identity and Patterson
looks comfortable in the offense,
mixing in elements of Gattis’
modern concepts with Michigan’s
old offense.
Holding onto the football has
been a large part of that, helping
Gattis install his promised run-
pass option game.
“That’s a big part of our offense,”
McDaniels said. “The mesh with
the backs, giving it, pulling it,
throwing it, it’s a huge part of the
system. And (Patterson) does a
good job of it.”
The biggest impact of Patterson’s
improved ball security, though,
can be found in the ground game.
Amid his slew of early-season
injuries, he was hesitant to keep
the ball on quarterback reads or get
out of the pocket on passing plays
— moves he feels more comfortable
making now.
Since the loss at Wisconsin, he’s
picked up gains of 10-plus yards
in all but two games, run for five
touchdowns and helped get the
Wolverines’ run game going by
keeping defenses honest.
“Of course we know he can
run and throw, so that’s an added
benefit,” said senior guard Michael
Onwenu. “If they bite down hard
on a run, we can pull it. ... It makes
defenses think twice.”
So now, two months after
Patterson ran for negative yards
in consecutive games, McDaniels
doesn’t even have to talk about
running with him. He’s trusted to
make his own reads and get out
of the pocket as he sees fit. “Every
plan is built in a way that, for the
right reasons, when he takes off,
it’s a good thing for our offense,”
McDaniels said.
And, most importantly, it doesn’t
end with the ball on the turf.
Simpson stands out on pick-and-roll
It was a play Creighton had
seen before.
Jon
Teske
—
with
his
imposing 7-foot-1, 265-pound
frame — set a high-ball screen
for Zavier Simpson, who, fully
in control and dangling the
basketball from his right hand
as if it were a yo-yo, led his
defender right into Teske’s
torso. As Simpson peeled off,
occupying two Bluejays in the
process, the senior center dove
towards the basket, eventually
receiving a pinpoint bounce-
pass and converting an easy
layup underneath.
The sequence gave Michigan
a seven-point cushion with just
over five minutes remaining
in the second half and was
the fourth time the duo had
connected directly off the pick-
and-roll, leading to a 79-69 win.
Creighton
saw
that
set
countless times on Tuesday
night — it just couldn’t stop it.
“Simpson’s hard to control,”
said
Bluejays
coach
Greg
McDermott. “He is who he is
for a reason. He makes great
decisions with the basketball
and got us stretched out some.
“Our bigs probably didn’t do a
good enough job of stopping the
basketball, and when we did,
Simpson made the right read,
either with the skip pass or
finding Teske under the basket.”
Simpson was his usual self
against
Creighton,
dictating
the Wolverines’ offense and
attacking the basket when the
opportunity presented itself.
In addition to his nine assists
— five of which went to Teske —
the senior point guard tallied 17
points.
For much of the first half
though, junior forward Isaiah
Livers and junior guard Eli
Brooks were the beneficiaries
of Teske’s high-ball screens.
Curling off and attacking the
lane, Simpson found them for
open looks from deep.
But, as time went on, things
opened up for Teske. Nearing
halftime, Simpson found the
rolling big man on consecutive
possessions for two uncontested
dunks.
“He was just being more
patient,” Teske said. “He wasn’t
forcing things. When he’s in
those ball screens, he can get
downhill. He’s gonna find you if
you’re open — either kick it out
for threes or throw it up for a
lob. He’s just very creative off of
those ball screens.”
With
Creighton
hedging
on the shooters more in the
second half and lacking size
in its frontcourt, the Simpson-
Teske pipeline was even more
freeflowing. As a result, Teske
scored 12 of his 17 in the final 20
minutes.
“Anytime we play a team like
that, we want to use our height
advantage,” Teske said. “In the
first half, we were trying to,
but sometimes it’s not going to
really work. But (Simpson) did
a great job of getting downhill
and kicking it out for open
threes. In the second half, that
kinda opened it up for everyone
downlow.”
While
Michigan
coach
Juwan Howard prefers his team
push the ball up the floor in
transition, in half-court sets, his
offensive system is predicated
on
his
guard’s
playmaking
ability coming off the high-ball
screen.
Against Appalachian State,
Simpson struggled with this,
especially in the second half.
A
proven
ball-handler,
he
uncharacteristically
turned
the ball over six times — five of
which came after halftime.
As Howard is quick to point
out though, transitioning from
John Beilein’s offense to his
own will take some time, even
for Simpson.
“Well, it’s a new offense for
him,” Howard said. “For all of
us. There’s going to be some
growing pains throughout the
process. Hopefully, with the
growing pains that there are,
we get better. But I trust we
will.”
The growing pains Simpson
experienced
against
the
Mountaineers
were
absent
on Tuesday. With Simpson
orchestrating the pick-and-roll
to perfection, the Wolverines
improved over the course of the
game.
And, the Bluejays had no
answer for it.
“He’s very crafty and smart,”
Howard said. “Our bigs can do a
better job of screening, which I
will help them get better in that
area by screening and screening
angles, to allow Zavier to be
able to get downhill, to make
plays for himself, or for others.”
3-point shooting provides key for ‘M’
In both of its games so far, the
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team has attempted at least
20 3-pointers — a statistic that
occurred only one time all of last
season.
The change in style is largely
due to one player in particular:
Naz Hillmon.
Against
both
Western
Michigan and Bradley, Hillmon
was the defense’s main focus.
She often faced double and triple-
teams as opposing defenses dared
other Michigan players to beat
them from the perimeter. In both
games, open 3-point opportunities
were plentiful, and the Wolverines
were willing to take what they
were given.
“We make sure we’re taking
threes every day and getting
up shots every day, because we
know the attention that Naz is
gonna face,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico. “If people
are double-teaming the post,
somebody else has gotta step in
and make a play.”
Added junior forward Hailey
Brown: “It definitely opens (the
floor) up. If my player wants to go
on double or help off, then that’s
an easy kick out to me, or honestly
with anybody.”
In
Friday’s
game,
the
Wolverines only went 5-for-20
from 3-point range, but it was
clearly a focus of their offense.
On
Sunday,
this
percentage
improved. Michigan shot 11-for-23
from beyond the arc, and two of
its biggest runs were sparked by
efficient 3-point shooting.
Rather than forcing the ball
into the paint and taking contested
shots or risking turnovers with
Hillmon
drawing
in
bodies,
the
Wolverines
took
these
open 3-pointers and didn’t lose
confidence in themselves when
they weren’t falling. Freshman
guard Michelle Sidor — who has
received praise from both her
teammates and Barnes Arico on
her ability to score off the bounce
— attempted 16 shots in the two
games, 11 of which were from
deep.
“Obviously I can shoot ... but I
can definitely drive too and score
in a lot of different ways,” Sidor
said. “I didn’t display that a lot this
weekend because I was mostly just
coming off screens and shooting.”
These 3-pointers didn’t just
come
from
Michigan’s
top
shooters such as Sidor. Over
the
weekend,
nine
different
Wolverines made a 3-point shot,
including every forward on the
roster except Hillmon. The ability
of the Michigan’s bigs to knock
down these shots, in turn, opens
up the paint more, forcing defenses
to cover the perimeter.
“I think it’s great when you
have a great compliment to Naz
in another post player that can
face-up and knock down threes,
and our three other post players
are really good at that,” Barnes
Arico said. “So we just gotta have
the confidence, if Naz is being
doubled, to make those shots and
take those shots.”
It was no coincidence that
Hillmon registered a double-
double on Sunday. With Michigan
shooting more effectively, the
opposing defense had to shift some
of their focus away from Hillmon
and towards its shooters.
“It opens up the floor a lot,”
Hillmon said. “You have to close
out to those 3-point shooters, and
it opens up the lane so much for me
to get long or short rebounds, so
having great shooters on my team
… helps me a lot.”
Despite streaky shooting, the
Wolverines decidedly won their
first two games because of their
ability to catch fire at any time. As
the competition gets better, it will
be crucial for them to consistently
make open 3-pointers to force
teams to stop packing the paint
against Hillmon, allowing her
to be as dominant as she was last
season.
“If we’re able to knock down
shots it’ll become a lot more easier
for her to get her quick scores and
stuff like that in the paint,” Brown
said. “Just being able to … shoot
from the outside forces defenses
to kind of pick and choose how
they want to defend and what they
want to take away.”
For Michigan hockey, this weekend
is about more than Michigan State
Michael Pastujov smirked.
“I mean, it’s (Michigan) State
week,” he said. “Everybody’s
pretty fired up. Everybody’s
ready.”
When
asked
about
the
upcoming
weekend
series,
the junior forward’s response
was direct and to the point.
Everyone
was
onboard.
Everyone was buying into the
vision.
Just like Pastujov’s answer,
Michigan coach Mel Pearson’s
message to the team this week
sung the same tune.
Pearson
emphasized
the
importance
of
taking
the
schedule one game at a time and
stressed that the Wolverines’
season wasn’t in danger of
needing to be turned around.
It’s still early in the season,
and the Michigan hockey team
is building the foundation of its
play style.
“It’s
obviously
very
important,” Pearson said. “You
can’t keep giving points away
if we’d like to finish as high as
we want to. Especially home
games.”
And there are certainly areas
where the team could stand to
improve.
In the last two weeks 12
conference points have been
within Michigan’s grasp. It’s
only managed to eke one point
out from its last four games —
good enough for second-to-last
place in the conference.
It’s no secret that as of late,
the Wolverines’ offense has
been struggling considerably.
Through its last five games,
Michigan has found the back of
the net just seven times.
Despite
these
setbacks,
Pearson preached a message of
positivity to his team this week
during practice.
“The mood has been good,”
Pearson said. “The intensity
has
been
really
good
in
practice, which is a positive.
There’s so many games left, so
it’s not like football where if
you lose one game, it can really
sidetrack you. You have to stay
upbeat and positive and really
trust in the players around
you.”
The Wolverines’ absence on
the scoresheet is not the only
thing that’s provided fuel in
the team’s preparation for the
upcoming games against the
Spartans — there’s an almost-
century long rivalry, too.
For
players
like
senior
forward
Will
Lockwood
—
someone
who’s
been
a
Michigan fan his entire life —
the history between the two
schools is long and grinding.
On the other side of the
spectrum are Wolverines like
Pastujov, born and raised in
Florida, completely unaware of
the vying teams.
“Until I got here, I didn’t
really think about it much,”
Pastujov
said.
“Then
once
you get here, you learn the
history of it. What it means
to everybody here and what it
means to the fans. It’s hard not
to get pretty deep into it.”
In Pastujov’s freshman year
when Michigan State came to
play at Yost, Michigan blanked
the Spartans, 4-0. Then —
the next day — it lost, 5-0, at
Munn Ice Arena. Every year,
no matter how either team is
fareing, the series is either
school’s for the taking.
With the Wolverines having
only one conference point,
there’s a lot at stake this
weekend.
“At the end of the day it’s all
about Big Ten play,” Pastujov
said. “And right now, we’re on
a four-game skid in Big Ten.
There’s going to be six huge
points this week. I guess that’s
priority one, but the rivalry, it’s
definitely still in our heads.”
The energy boost provided
by such a big rivalry is exactly
what Michigan needs. Yes, it’s
still early in the season. And
yes, its last five games have
been close, but if this team
wants to achieve the goals it set,
there has to be a momentum
swing at some point.
Beyond
fierce
competitiveness,
this
series
offers players who’ve been
struggling — like sophomore
forward Jimmy Lambert — a
shot at redemption.
Twice last Friday, Lambert
had the game on his stick
and failed to convert. The
frustration was written all
over his face and mirrored on
his teammates’, too.
This weekend, he has the
chance to prove his talent, and
maybe provide the spark the
Wolverines’ offense has been
desperately searching for the
past five games.
Because, yes, it’s rivalry
weekend. But for a team still
trying to find its footing in
the Big Ten, it’s about so much
more than history.
“You don’t come to Michigan
just to play in big games,”
Lambert said. “You come to
win in big games.”
CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Senior guard Zavier Simpson operated the pick-and-roll well against Creighton.
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Senior quarterback Shea Patterson has been running the ball more, helping open up Michigan’s offense.
JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Michigan women’s basketball team wants to shoot more threes when teams double-team Naz Hillmon.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Michael Pastujov has learned about the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry
MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor