Zack Novak helps Michigan's offense be flexible; Evan Smotrycz's bigger role and more
Watch Michigan junior guard Zack Novak long enough and you'll see him occasionally bring the ball up the court, make the first pass and call plays.
None of that is in his day-to-day job description in Michigan basketball coach John Beilein's offense, at least not in any sort of primary capacity.
The Chesterton, Ind., native, who is the do-everything player for Michigan, will likely never be the Wolverines’ primary point guard, but he serves as yet another wrinkle in Michigan’s playbook.
“In our two-guard set, it really is interchangeable whoever does it,” Beilein said. “There may be action we’re trying to get that he makes the entry pass we’re trying to get smoother than Darius (Morris), so we may have just been saying we wanted to get to a certain spot on the floor.
“There’s reason for that. And then, sometimes, there’s reason ‘Why the heck does he have the ball?’ We have both these things going on. I’d like to say it’s all planned.”
Among Michigan’s main rotation players, Novak has the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio on the squad (2:1) with eight assists and four turnovers. Morris has 43 assists and 18 turnovers.
It also comes into play because Novak is on the floor for 29.3 minutes a game, more than any other player other than Morris (33.7).
More expanding roles As Michigan showed against Clemson and then reiterated after the Wolverines knocked off the Tigers, 69-61, Beilein is trying to make freshman forward Evan Smotrycz a multi-positional player.
In addition to his role as a starting power forward, he’s also having him learn Jordan Morgan’s role at center. Not that Beilein is looking to replace his most productive big man, he’s merely trying to find some more versatility.
“Whatever works,” Smotrycz said. “I’m just trying to add more to my game and the more versatile I can be, the more ways I can impact the game and help the team. It’s a great thing to create matchup problems.”
Smotrycz said he figured he’d be a multi-position player almost immediately, but he underestimated how difficult it is to learn one spot in Beilein’s offense.
Now, though, he’s picked up one position and starting to learn a second.
It helps, too, because Michigan needs production behind Morgan. Reserve centers Blake McLimans and Jon Horford are averaging a combined 4 points and 3.7 rebounds in 15 minutes a game.
New jerseys with little waste Michigan will wear new uniforms that adidas claims are “the lightest and most technologically-advanced college basketball uniforms ever” according to a release.
The uniforms are 30 percent lighter and dry quicker than the team’s previous jerseys. Michigan is one of 11 schools, including Notre Dame, Kansas, Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville, Nebraska, N.C. State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCLA and Wisconsin, to wear the jerseys.
Also Saturday, Michigan will have its first-ever “zero waste” event at Crisler Arena.
Recycling and compost stations will be placed around the arena instead of typical trash cans and all concession service items (cups, forks, etc.) will be made of natural or recycled items that can eventually become nutrients for soil, according to a release from the university.
This and that Smotrycz played AAU basketball with Harvard freshman guard Matt Brown. While he didn’t know Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, the Reading, Mass., native played prep school basketball against almost a quarter of the Crimson’s roster. Harvard has won five straight games, including an 82-66 crushing of Big 12 school Colorado on Nov. 28. Like Michigan, Harvard has no seniors on its roster and is perhaps younger than the Wolverines because the Crimson don’t redshirt players and don’t offer scholarships.
Michael Rothstein covers 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.
Comments
dongiles
Sat, Dec 4, 2010 : 8:45 p.m.
It would be interesting to know how many of the Harvard basketball players are on either a "merit" scholarship or a "need" scholarship or a "disadvantaged" scholarship. The majority of students at Harvard do not pay the full load.