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