Ohio State next victim in Michigan's roll to tourney

Saturday was one of those days. The Wolverines were in rare form, dismantling a hapless Ohio State team with incredible ease and looking, dare it be said, like a team capable of making a serious run for a Big Ten title.

Granted, even the Ohio State pep band showed significantly more spunk than the Buckeyes, but the Wolverines deserve most of the credit for that as well. In the past, Michigan might have looked at a game like this and taken it for granted, or tried to coast through on just enough energy to squeak out a win. But not this time.

The Wolverines came out firing, literally, scoring their first 15 points on five 3-pointers. Less than seven minutes into the game, it was already over. Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien tried to change his defense, but he knew it was a lost cause, and shortly thereafter he knew it was a lost game, too. The Wolverines did whatever they wanted, however they wanted.

Jim Rose Rose Beef

"Clearly, we were in over our heads," O'Brien said. "That, in my opinion, is the best team we've played all year."

It was as dominant an offensive display as the Wolverines have put together all season, with the kind of passing and ball movement you're used to seeing from teams like Duke and Kentucky - not Michigan, never Michigan.

Ohio State decided to clamp down on the big men and take away the inside game - not a bad strategy, all things considered - by trapping and double-teaming. But the Wolverines, believe it or not - the same Wolverines that lost to Western Michigan, Bradley and Eastern Michigan - were too smart. Traylor and Baston were feeding the guards on the perimeter. The guards were making the extra pass to find the holes in the zone. Conlan was hitting threes. Reid was hitting threes. Bullock, of course, was hitting threes. The Ohio State fans could just watch with their mouths agape, which, incidentally, is pretty much what the Ohio State defense did as well.

It was an awesome offensive performance, and it came at a nice time for the Wolverines. After tonight's game against Minnesota, they play three of the top teams in the league - Illinois, Purdue and Iowa - in a critical week-long stretch that will go a long way in sorting out the race for the Big Ten championship.

And while a collapse in the next week would nullify Saturday's performance, this group of Wolverines seems more focused than in other years, certainly more selfless than in other years, and, truth be told, just plain better than in other years.

But the next few games are critical, without a doubt. And if the Wolverines revert to old form and stumble over themselves for the next week or so, this season could end up looking awfully similar to other recent seasons. If, on the other hand, the Wolverines continue to play the way they are right now, this season could end up looking a lot different than the disappointments of years past.

With Robert Traylor playing with a broken nose, Josh Asselin and Brandon Smith still recovering from last week's car accident and only minimal schedule breaks from here on out, the Wolverines don't have much room to slip up.

But what they do have going for them is that they seem to be playing their best ball of the year as they head into the toughest part of their schedule. Whether or not that heady, inspired play will last is yet to be seen. If it doesn't, the season could be the same type of roller coaster ride that Michigan fans have become oh-so used to; if it does, we could be looking at a serious race for the conference crown.

Which Michigan team will show up over the course of the next week? The good one that looks unbeatable? Or the bad one that beats itself? Only time will tell what happens with the Big Ten championship, but one thing is certain: it sure would be fun to watch the good team make a run at it.

- Jim Rose can be reached via e-mail at jwrose@umich.edu.

01-20-98