Kornacki: Munger Injury Puts Emphasis on Lineup Adjustments for Wolverines
1/27/2019 9:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- When the Wolverines lost senior guard and sparkplug captain Nicole Munger to an ankle injury late in the first quarter, it brought about a lineup change that looked this way at crunch time:
Two freshmen (point guard Amy Dilk and power forward Naz Hillmon), two sophomores (guard Deja Church and forward-guard Hailey Brown) and senior center Hallie Thome.
They led a spirited comeback from a 15-point deficit for the University of Michigan women's basketball team Sunday afternoon (Jan. 27), but No. 23-ranked Michigan State came out on top, 77-73, before a crowd of 12,707 in a sellout at Crisler Center.
Wolverine coach Kim Barnes Arico said Munger, who had scored 18 and 16 points in the last two games prior to Sunday, was going to have X-rays taken after the game, and wasn't sure how long she would be out. But she was clearly missed from the second she went down.
Munger
Brown moved into Munger's role for the most part, and Hillmon started the third quarter rather than coming in off the bench, where she's been dynamite. The lineup is going to be impacted until Munger returns, and Thome will be the lone junior or senior in the top five players.
"(Munger) was in quite a bit of pain," said Barnes Arico, "and she's a very tough kid."
Munger required assistance getting off the court, dragging her right leg with no ankle support. But she stayed on the bench for the rest of the game, never even putting on a sweat suit, and her teammates took note.
"It's tough when you see Munger go down because she usually gets right back up," said Dilk. "But this one was serious. I think it brought more fire to us. We wanted to work hard for her, knowing she wanted to be on the court.
"But she didn't just disappear. She was on our bench, talking in our ears and just being the leader that she is. Munger, there was no way she was going to leave."
Brown said, "I think that just shows her character. I mean, Munger is one of the hardest-working players I've ever had on my team. She was still trying to give energy on the bench."
The Wolverines led by six points six minutes into the game -- at the point when Munger went down on the offensive end of the court and a hush fell over the crowd. The Spartans took immediate advantage, and finished the first quarter with a five-point lead for an 11-point swing in a very short time. They built the lead to 15 points before Michigan caught fire and finished the game on a 42-31 run over the final 18 minutes.
"Losing one of our best players and most experienced players really hurt us in the game," said Barnes Arico. "Once Nicole went down, we kind of weren't able to respond right away. They went on a little bit of a run and it took us some time to regroup. But we did regroup and put ourselves in a position down the stretch to make it a really good game. But we weren't able to make the plays we needed to be successful."
The young lineup is going to have to grow up a little faster now.
"That's kind of a little bit of what we talked about in the locker room after the game," said Barnes Arico. "Frustration obviously is at a high right now … every game has been down to the wire (lately) and could go either way. And we talked about the importance of understanding situations, whether that's the end of the first quarter, end of the second quarter or even the end of the game. And getting better at those little things.
"But without your leadership and experience out there, they are kind of learning on the job, and without Nicole's presence and voice, I think that hurt us a little bit at crunch time. Nicole's been handling the ball a little bit for us (along the three-point arc) and these are some new situations that Amy's in, Deja's in. Hailey Brown's playing outside for us now, and Naz Hillmon is a freshman."
Brown
Barnes Arico said MSU "had the experience edge on us for sure," and said the absence of Munger's three-point presence (she had 41 of the team's 88 entering this game) allowed the Spartans "to pack it in" and make maneuvering down low difficult for Thome. Brown made two-of-five treys and Church and Dilk each hit one, but their coach noted that it was not enough to demand defensive honesty from their opponent.
Brown (18 three-pointers) and Church (15) are the only other Wolverines with more than six, and so it will likely be up to them to maintain a three-point threat.
Church (13 points, six rebounds and four assists) has played the point, and so she can pick up what Munger did in terms of ball-handling up top. She played with fire and scored seven points in the fourth quarter.
"I thought Deja had one of her best games tonight," said Barnes Arico. "She had great composure. I thought she played incredibly hard. I thought she was locked in and focused. She had great shot selection (going four-for-seven). She made some buckets for us. I hope this is a turning point for her because she's still a young player, and now there's so much on her plate."
Church averages 8.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
"And Amy Dilk was able to score a little bit for us," continued Barnes Arico, "and we're going to need more of that from her as well if Nicole's down."
Munger averaged 11.0 points and 3.4 rebounds entering the game, and ranked third in scoring behind Thome (13.1) and Hillmon (12.4).
Dilk
Hillmon recorded her fourth double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
"Naz might be the best sixth player in the country," Barnes Arico said. "Part of the reason is not only because, one, she's an incredible basketball player. But, two, because she has Hallie Thome and Hailey Brown in front of her wearing out the defense a little bit. Then she comes in there, bam-bam-bam (hitting fist into hand), she comes right at them and gives us a definite mix to our lineup.
"So, that definitely has helped her success, and also the ability to watch the game for the first couple minutes before being thrown into the fire helps Naz as well. So, we need to talk about switching up our lineup and coming in with our full lineup as it is. We don't really want Naz in that (starting) spot. But if we do switch the lineup, and it'll be determined by how practice goes this week, but she did start in the third quarter and that's something we're going to look to do moving forward. We've had sluggish starts in third quarters, but I'm not sure if it's going to be at the start of games."
Brown added, "I honestly think that we're fine. It's just adjusting to the game. We'll be back with Munger back and scoring. But we've lost our sharpshooter for now, and we're going to need people to pick it up and do what she's been doing for however long she's out."Â
Brown, who had 10 points and six rebounds Sunday, averages 7.7 points and 4.7 rebounds. She said she's been looking to get others more involved in the offense as a sophomore while stressing rebounding improvement.
What's she looking to accomplish over the final nine regular-season games?
"Focus on my three-point shooting," said Brown. "I think definitely teams can pack the paint, especially with Munger out, and so it's easier for teams to guard us (down low) if they don't have to worry about outside shooting. Being able to knock down those shots consistently is what I'm going to focus on."
Dilk had 13 points, five rebounds and one assist against MSU. She's averaging 7.7 points and 4.2 assists, while showing more poise every game.
Where has she improved most?
"I think in my decision-making," said Dilk, "and putting my teammates in the necessary positions to make the plays they're capable of."
Where will she look to pick up her game?
"Continue to be aggressive," said Dilk, "and I know I can knock down the outside shots. I just have to find my confidence. When teams play off me, I need to know that I can stick it and lead the team."
They'll be young with the exception of Thome when the game is on the line.
"All of these freshmen," said Dilk, "we're learning every day. Each game we're embracing new challenges that we work on in practices, and we're going to be great. We just have to find that fire to finish out games."
