By: Michael Rothstein
AnnArbor.com Staff
Posted: Dec 26, 2009 at 4:41 PM [Dec 26, 2009]
His college career started off with bangs, five of them to be exact, as Michigan guard Matt Vogrich was perfect from outside and pretty much flawless overall.
Since then, he hasn’t been close.
After a spectacular debut, Michigan freshman Matt Vogrich has struggled in limited minutes so far this season.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Before Tuesday, when he made two three-pointers against Coppin State in 11 mostly mop-up minutes, Vogrich hadn’t hit a shot in December. As he struggled, his minutes slid to almost nothing - 1 minute each against Kansas and Detroit and 3 minutes against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
For a kid who was used to playing almost every minute of every game in high school and AAU, it came as a shock.
“It’s tough when you only play two or three minutes at a time. I’ve never done it before,” Vogrich said earlier this month. “We used to play the whole game, but it’s a learning process and I’m getting better at it. I try to simulate it in practice, when we’re scrimmaging or something tell myself ‘OK, this is the first 3 minutes. Just play really hard in the first three.’
“That’s what it’s going to be like in the game, when you get 3 at a time. So I’m getting better at it and hopefully I can learn to come off the bench better.”
All of this said, Vogrich leads Michigan in three-point shooting at 47.1 percent. The number, though, is skewed. Before his 2-for-4 game against Coppin State, he hadn’t hit a three-pointer since Nov. 27 against Marquette.
And other than his 5 three-pointers against Northern, he has made long range shots in just two games. The lack of minutes -- he’s averaging 7.4 a game but just 4.3 minutes over the last three games -- has been about more than his shooting.
“Just trying to get used to the speed of this game,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “It’s very fast, he’s got to continue to work on ball handling. It’s very typical of some two-guards, shooting two-guards that have some size, the speed of the game is just so much early.
“He’s got to let it slow down for him.”
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.
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walmartwolverine
Posted Dec 27 2009
i love the phrase "still finding his way."
Everyone knows the UM beat writer can't give you kool-aid drinkers the scary truth, so he uses these meaningless phrases that that convey his slappiness. Let me translate:
"finding his way" means Vogrich, like most of his teammates, are completely lost and helpless out on the floor. What a suprise! I know right? It's obvious that UM basketball is still "finding its way." They are absolutely mediocre, average, mid-level, nothing special. Then again, this is something that walverine nation is already used to considering the lack of competence your football coach displays on a weekly basis.
And finally, in the spirit of the holiday season, I wish the walverine nation happiness as they sip cocoa and sit in their Lay-Z boy while watching Sparty play in a January bowl game. baw, haw haw haw!!
GoBlue2009
Posted Dec 27 2009
How often do freshmen truly excel on ANY TEAM?
You know full well MSU doesn't deserve to be in that bowl game. You would know plenty about Laz-Z-Boys: you guys burn them.
How can you live with yourself as an adult, knowing you spend most of your time spitting vile things on a comment section of an online newspaper?
Sad. MSU is so pathetic, they make it so easy every week. How many felonies this time?
For the record, most of us here, like myself, are Michigan Alumni. It amuses me to the fullest extent when MSU fans assume none of us went to the school.
Which begs the question: where did you go to college?
tater
Posted Dec 27 2009
JB is right: the biggest adjustment for any freshman is the speed at which the college game is played. Plus, the worst defender Vogrich will face in college is probably better than the best defender he faced in HS. Luckily, he is playing for a coach who is very good at developing his players.
I know it gets tiresome for most of us, but the team is still a work in progress. They didn't deserve a top 15 ranking at the beginning of the season, but they can still scrape into the tournament and should be good enough to advance once they get there.
guns4me
Posted Dec 27 2009
7th in BIG 10.anyone?
redceder1
Posted Dec 29 2009
Tater is right. JB is great at developing talent. Look what he did for Manny and Dion. When they are gone this team will really shine! Good thing he is on the search committe for the new AD. It will be hard to fire a guy that just hired you.