TheWolverine.com - Hoops Notebook: Cronin takes a step back

November 19, 2009

Chris Balas
TheWolverine.com Senior Editor

Michigan redshirt freshman seven-footer Ben Cronin figured to help in spots this year, but he's still struggling with a surgically repaired hip. Head coach John Beilein expressed some concern Monday about his center's health.

Cronin has played sparingly through two games, an exhibition and the opener with Northern Michigan, and has gone back to rehab to heal up.

"We have to step back a little bit and do more rehab, more rehab, more rehab for his hip, because he's bouncier than you're seeing right now," said Beilein. "We've got to get him playing a little bigger.

"We're reexamining right now and trying to get him into more rehab, more weightlifting, more jumping rope. At the expense of playing time, he may be doing more than that. Hopefully in the Big Ten season ? we just need an inch more bounce and quickness out of him. If you see him, he's still limping. Our goal was not to have a limping seven-footer on the floor to play. When he gets his whole body back in balance, that's a good sign. We've got to get him balanced first."

Cronin hasn't been healthy since arriving in Ann Arbor, but his surgery was expected to alleviate his pain.

"It's been a really long year. He just came from extra rehab right now. It's something we've just got to keep working with him," said Beilein. "When practice is over, he'll go an extra 30 minutes to work on getting bouncier and continue this transition to college basketball."

Notes

? Beilein first found out about Friday's opponent, Houston Baptist, through is cousin, an NAIA coach.

"He introduced me to [Baptist coach Ron Cottrell] at the Final Four, said he was looking for games. I said well, give us a call. That's what happened," said Beilein. "They are in Division I now, but independent. They are always looking for games.

"I believe it came through that they actually bought some tickets to go to the football game, so they're actually making a nice little weekend out of it."

Houston Baptist does some things well despite the 0-3 record, Beilein said.

"They really throw the ball in the post really well. That's something concerning," he said. "They post up and are really active ? [Mario Flaherty] posts up huge inside and can you in foul trouble, score a lot of easy points.

"They haven't shot it well yet. They'd get a lot of open shots in the games they played, but the ball hasn't gone in. Hopefully the defense is pretty good that we can continue that trend, but the one kid - Andrew Gonzales - has only missed five shots inside the arc - he just hasn't made them outside the arc. That kid can score.

"They come after people. They won't quit. They keep coming after you, and we have to be prepared for a lot of full court and half court pressure."

? Manny Harris's hamstring is better, but he took a shot to the quad on his other leg yesterday in practice.

"He's okay. He got a little bruised yesterday, so we'll see how he is today ? not that same injury, but something small," said Beilein. "He's a competitor, he's got to get in there and he'll get banged around."

Freshman big man Jordan Morgan, meanwhile, has been cleared to practice following an offseason knee surgery.

"He can go full court, so today will be one of the first days he'll go full court. We'll see how he does," said Beilein.

? Beilein wasn't surprised in the least by Harris's triple double against Northern Michigan.

"He can manufacture his own double in points and rebounds, but you can't manufacture assists. They've still got to make shots," said Beilein. "He might have three or four of those assists to [freshman Matt] Vogrich, who as a typical freshman if he goes two for five, there's not triple. That's what really fell together.

"Even when I wanted to get him out of there up 35 points, I hear he has nine assists and say let's hope somebody makes a shot, because he'll get the assist. Matt drops it in and we get him out of there. There's some luck involved as well, but he's got the ability to do it. Guys have to make shots, in other words, to get that."

Vogrich, meanwhile, took all of his shots and made five triples within the flow of the offense.

"He saw three of the clips of those shots. This is what he came to Michigan to do ? to make open shots and a lot of other plays," said Beilein. "But primarily to hit open shots, and he did it in his first game.

"We like kids that are going to, over a 10-shot span. make five out of 10 or four out of 10. We don't want four in a row, then miss four in a row. You'd like them to be 2 for 4, 2 for 4 ? we have enough shooters out there that we'll find somebody.

"We were trying to find Vogrich after he hit three in a row, but we've got guys that can have similar success on some nights, as we saw last year with Zack Novak in one game, Stu Douglass another night, Laval Lucas-Perry."

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