Michigan forward DeShawn Sims stays in the post, has success

When DeShawn Sims steps on the floor to start games, he’s been the Michigan basketball team's tallest player. And he’s been the Wolverines’ only real post option at the outset.

So to see the senior forward spend a bunch of the first half Saturday down close to the basket is a positive for Michigan after its 67-53 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

DeShawn Sims

“There were opportunities they were able to get for me today,” Sims said. “And they looked for me early and often.”

Sims kept Michigan in the game in the first half, scoring 15 of his game-high 19 points. But the difference was, Sims stayed inside most of the time.

After tying a career-high with 5 3-pointers against Houston Baptist last month, Michigan coach John Beilein said Sims had essentially free range to shoot from the outside.

Sims did in Orlando and against Boston College and, in some ways, it looked like it disrupted Michigan’s delicate offensive balance.

So Beilein and Sims sat down before Saturday’s game and watched tape of the Boston College game. In that game, Michigan rarely seemed to get the ball in the post as it took 34 three-pointers.

“Some of it should have been (outside-in) and some of it was unnecessary,” Beilein said. “There are times we should dribble the ball and I don’t know if we scored as much inside as we dribbled it.

“He knows what he has to do but it’s part of what I have to do, teach him that gray area that is so slim.”

Beilein has stressed through much of the season developing Sims not only for his team but also for his professional future, where he won’t be able to stay in the post the entire time. At 6-foot-8, he needs a mid-to-long range game to have success in the NBA.

On Saturday, though, he showed what he does best now. He played well in the paint. He had a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds to go with the 19 points. And he also had a couple of blocks, including one in the second half that jump started Michigan’s 11-1 run that blew open the game.

“There’s more I feel and know he can do,” Beilein said. “That’s the key, try and search and grow and meet and put my arm around him and then scold him to get those things out of him.

“It’s in there, we’ve all seen it at different times. We just want to see it more consistently.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.