Seeing double hinders Happ
Aggressive defense limiting his scoring
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Will Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ face aggressive doubleteams for the third consecutive game when UW resumes its Big Ten title chase Thursday night at Michigan? Or will the Wolverines follow the defensive game plan they used in their first meeting with UW, when they slowed Happ with single coverage but suffered a 68-64 loss at the Kohl Center?
“The way that we’ve handled the double-teams the past two games,” UW freshman guard D’Mitrik Trice said, “I expect them to double-team at least a little bit.
“If not, then Ethan should do really well. We’re still going to feed the post no matter what. And we know that Ethan is going to make the right plays when he gets it in there.”
Michigan (16-9, 6-6 Big Ten), riding a two-game winning streak, faces No. 10 UW (21-4, 10-2) at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Crisler Center.
Despite not doubling Happ in the first meeting, the Wolverines were successful in containing the redshirt sophomore.
Happ made only 5 of 13 shots and attempted only two free throws. He finished with 11 points and six rebounds and had as many turnovers (three) as assists.
Junior forward D.J. Wilson, 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, blocked two of Happ’s shots. Michigan also used Moritz Wagner (6-11,
240), Mark Donnal (6-9, 240) and Jon Teske (7-0, 245) against Happ.
Happ scored one time against each defender but never got rolling.
“I think they trust their length and they trust that have enough of that to bother us a little bit,” UW assistant coach Howard Moore said. “And they did. He’s got to be a little more savvy in understanding what he is playing against.
“He’s got to understand that’s what he is going to see and maybe that’s why they didn’t double him. But maybe they’ll look at some things other people have done and come with a little more pressure.”
Nebraska attacked Happ with quick, hard double-teams and limited him to eight points, 3of-9 shooting and no assists. He also had three turnovers.
Northwestern followed a similar plan, and Happ finished with nine points and seven rebounds. He hit just 3 of 8 shots and had almost as many turnovers (four) as assists (five).
After studying video of the Northwestern loss, however, head coach Greg Gard found UW scored 20 points on 23 possessions against double-teams. Happ didn’t turn the ball over against double-teams and did move the ball more effectively than Gard first thought, particularly after halftime.
“He turned into a playmaker,” Gard said on his weekly radio show. “His assists were mostly out of that. He was better. Now we’ve got to be better around him in terms of converting.”
Beginning with an overtime victory Jan. 21 at Minnesota, Happ scored 28, 14, 32, 14 and 20 points in a five-game stretch for an average of 21.6 points per game. He hit 43 of 67 shots (64.2%).
Nebraska and Northwestern limited him to a combined 17 points and 17 field-goal attempts. The goal was to take the ball out of Happ’s hands and see if UW could hit shots from the perimeter.
“Basically,” Happ said, “if they’re going to take away me, then other guys are going to have to step up. I trust them to do that.”
UW still managed to outscore Nebraska in the paint, 26-24. However, Northwestern dominated that battle on Sunday, 26-12.
“We just made a conscious decision we were going to take away the paint,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said, “and try to live with some jump shots.”
UW doubled up Michigan in the paint in the teams’ first meeting, 3216.
With senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. leading the way by averaging 23.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the last five games, the Wolverines are a better team than the one that visited Madison last month.
UW will have to slow Walton. Michigan will have to choose how to defend Happ.
“We’re prepared for whatever they throw at us,” Happ said. “We’re not going to change what we do offensively based on what they do.”
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