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April 21, 2015 - Image 7

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O

n the same day, Trey Burke, who
could be a senior, is in Philadel-
phia, getting ready to play the

76ers. Tim Hardaway Jr. is in New York,
between two games against the Indiana
Pacers. Darius Morris is in Brooklyn,
where his Nets will soon host the Phoenix
Suns.

And while on March 5 they were

spread across the country, getting set for
NBA games, the common thread woven
through all of them is the same — they
once stood on the sideline, taking instruc-
tion from LaVall Jordan.

One of the wonders of John Beilein’s

tenure at Michigan is how the Wolver-
ines have been so successful at producing
NBA-caliber guards.

The answer, or at least a big part of it, is

Jordan, one of the best-kept secrets in col-
lege basketball. But Jordan doesn’t want
the spotlight, nor does he seek it. He’d
rather it be on his players.

That way, he can stay under the radar,

seeing the openings no one else does.

***

Jordan likes to use the phrase “Chess,

not checkers,” when thinking about the
game. It’s a nice phrase to turn, but it’s also
a window into the way he plays, watches
and now coaches basketball.

He honed his basketball mind at Butler,

where he played from 1998-2001. He never
put up huge numbers or had NBA scouts
calling, but he was a steady contributor
during a particularly successful period in
Bulldog history.

While he was there, Butler won three

straight Midwestern Collegiate Confer-
ence titles and appeared in three NCAA
Tournaments. During the stretch, Jordan
was named All-Conference twice.

And after his stint as a player, Jordan

moved quickly into coaching, serving as
the Bulldogs coordinator of player opera-
tions in 2003 and becoming an assistant
coach a year later.

He left Butler to work in the same role

at Iowa in 2007, before ultimately being
hired by Beilein in 2010.

And it’s no wonder he has ascended so

quickly. He observes the floor like a chess
master looks at a board, viewing his oppo-
nent’s move less as a threat and more as an
opening.

“He sees things that I think a lot of

people don’t see,” Stauskas said. “He sees
things before they happen.”

Added sophomore guard Derrick Wal-

ton Jr.: “The game is a lot mental, but he
takes it to another level.”

There are a few words that hold a uni-

versal meaning to Jordan’s players. He
likes to do what he calls “bullet-point
coaching” from the bench, shouting
phrases meant to elicit specific responses.

Without revealing their exact mean-

ings, players know exactly what to key
on when they hear words like “Bingo” or
“Hostage.”

But in some cases, words or phrases are

tailored to individual players.

“The one he used to always say to me

was ‘one one-thousand,’ ” Stauskas said.
“When he said ‘one one-thousand,’ it was
pretty much him telling me I need one
one-thousandth of a second to get a shot
off.

“That was basically him telling me

there’s no one out there who can stop me,
just go out there and do you.”

But getting to the point where athletes

buy in requires Jordan to relate to his
players in a way many coaches don’t.

Much like Jordan finds otherwise

unseen opportunities on the floor, he sees
them in his players. He can take a talented
guard with the right physical tools and
unlock whatever it is that puts him over
the top.

“You’ve gotta tell them your stories,”

Jordan said. “When (they’re) going
through good times or tough times, just
to let them know they’re not the only
one to go through what they’re going
through.”

For Stauskas, unlocking his talent

meant helping him harness the killer
instinct he already had inside him.

He could shoot; there was never any

doubt about that. But Stauskas’ sopho-
more year he turned into a bona fide
threat to drive, dunk or distribute.

“Any time I was struggling, any time I

was doubting myself, any time I was sec-
ond guessing anything, he would look at
me and be like, ‘Nik, one one-thousand,’
” Stauskas said. “And I would just go out
there and just play.”

Sometimes, it can be as simple as a

verbal reminder. In other cases, it takes a
long-term effort. But no matter what it is,
Jordan almost always sees his guards turn
into standouts, breaking through the ceil-
ing they once thought limited them.

Stauskas was called “just a shooter” his

freshman season, but turned into the Big
Ten Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Sophomore guard Zak Irvin had a similar
label until he won the team’s Loy Vaught
rebounding award this year. Junior guard
Spike Albrecht was supposed to be a bench
player — more of a feel-good story than
someone to game plan around — but aver-
aged over 30 minutes per game this season

and shared the Wolverines’ MVP

award with Irvin.

“Watching them grow, that’s the fun

part,” Jordan said. “Watching them think
and understand the game at a higher
level, because it is a thinking man’s game.
You’ve gotta be athletic and have the skill
and all of that, but you also have to have
the understanding and the IQ and an acu-
men where you can be a little ahead of the
play.”

***

In 2000, Jordan’s junior year of col-

lege, his Butler team was leading Florida
in the first round of the NCAA Tourna-
ment by one point. With less than 10 sec-
onds left, Jordan missed two free throws,
giving Florida a chance to bring the ball
down the court for a late win.

Mike Miller hoisted up a two-point

jumper, and Jordan went for a block,
sprinting in from behind. His fingers
missed the top of the ball by mere centi-
meters.

The shot dropped.
“I thought I had it,” Jordan said,

chuckling all these years later. “And our
point guard tried to take a charge.”

But he has never told any of his play-

ers that story. At least not that he can
remember.

“Maybe if they bring it up, or if one

of them has a similar experience,” Jor-
dan said. “I’ve had guys miss what’s
perceived to be a game-winning shot, or
maybe a big free throw or two, and you
just have a testimony you can share that
it’s not the end of the world. It happens.”

But rather than tell them, he has done

his teams one better. His attention to
detail and game preparation have kept
Michigan from suffering the same fates
time and again.

In 2013, before Michigan’s game

against Kansas in the NCAA Tourna-
ment, Jordan had a particularly difficult

problem to solve. The Wolverines relied
heavily on pick-and-rolls in their offense,
but then-sophomore Trey Burke and
then-freshman Mitch McGary appeared
to be mismatched against Kansas center
Jeff Withey.

So Jordan turned where he often finds

himself turning when he wants to see
great guard play — Chris Paul.

An admirer of Paul’s backcourt art-

istry, Jordan encourages players to watch
film of Paul and how he handles different
situations. Usually, he watches it with
them.

So when he was game planning for

Withey, Jordan knew that Paul’s game
film could have the answer to his prob-
lem. As then-senior Josh Bartelstein
remembers it, Jordan queued up clips
of Paul running pick-and-rolls against
tall centers who contested shots, and he
crafted an attack based on those.

“They would drop the big, and, for

Trey, he’s not going to really be able to
finish on a 7-footer like that,” Bartel-
stein said. “So many coaches you hear
say, ‘When you pass the ball, don’t jump.’
Cause that leaves you with no options.’

“Chris Paul would be great at throw-

ing lobs to DeAndre Jordan, they called
them ‘Lob City.’ Against (Kansas), we
practiced all week, Trey going up to
shoot, and at the last second instead of
shooting it, throwing up a lob to Mitch. If
you go watch the highlights of the Kansas
game, Mitch probably had 10 points off
just straight pick-and-rolls where Trey
would go up to shoot, and Jeff Withey
would go up to block him, and Trey
would lob it to Mitch and Mitch would
lay it in.”

McGary had 25 points on 12-of-17

shooting in that game. He might have
never even taken that many shots without
Burke’s lob passes to get around Withey.

That’s
the
move
of
a
chess

master. Jordan can find a weakness and
quickly figure out how to exploit it, even
if it means doing something conventional
wisdom would prohibit.

“Val is a champ at giving me differ-

ent options,” said Michigan coach John
Beilein at last week’s team Award Cer-
emony. “He looks at it a bit different per-
spective. He’s definitely not a yes man.”

***

In his five completed seasons with the

team, Jordan’s impact was perhaps never
more important than 2014-15.

The Wolverines lost their entire start-

ing backcourt — Walton and junior guard
Caris LeVert — to injury midway through
the season. For most teams, and most
backcourts, that would’ve meant a com-
plete collapse.

But for Michigan, which had Wal-

ton and LeVert as the centerpieces of its
offense, it meant a completely new start-
ing backcourt stepping in and, somehow,
remaining the focal point of the offense.

And as the season wore on, it was Irvin

— a guard-turned-forward who previ-
ously spent extensive time working with
Jordan — leading the charge.

After LeVert and Walton went down,

the team didn’t have a go-to scorer, and
Albrecht was its only proven distributor.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Irvin came
alive in the final few games and delivered
polished, determined performances both
passing and shooting the ball, sparking
the Wolverines late in the year.

“(LeVert and Walton) were second and

third (on the team) in assists, and they
didn’t play half the year,” Beilein said.
“So passing was a big issue for us this
year, and all of the sudden, Zak Irvin’s
dropping dimes, like five a game down
the stretch? Big.”

But it wasn’t so sudden when you think

of the context. Irvin had been work-
ing with Jordan for two years, trying to
locate the spark that would round out his
game and push him over the edge.

It just finally paid off.
“Coach Val — he’s incredible,” Albrecht

said after the Wolverines thumped Illi-
nois in the first round of the Big Ten
Tournament. “Best point guards coach in
the country.”

***

While Stauskas talks on the phone

from Orlando in March, he’s at a bit of a
crossroads. His NBA career didn’t start
as hot as he might have hoped.

Over the first half of the season, he

averaged less than four points per game.
He played under three separate head
coaches and had to battle with Ben
McLemore for playing time. But Stauskas
came on strong late, nearly doubling his
first half scoring average after the All-
Star Break.

There are flashes of the greatness he

showed off his sophomore season — the
greatness Jordan helped him and so
many others harness.

But even still, Stauskas hasn’t yet found

the type of success he had at Michigan.

No one reminds him to embrace his

killer instinct. No one tells him, “one one-
thousand.”

“I’ve kind of forgotten it this year,”

Stauskas says. “It might be good for me to
kind of remember that.”

Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 — 7

THE GUARD WHISPERER

LaVall Jordan helps Wolverines harness untapped potential

After successful playing career,

Michigan assistant uses wisdom to

inspire, motivate

By MAX BULTMAN

Daily Sports Editor

Nik Stauskas remembers it clearly. The game.

The play. The trap. But mostly, he remembers the
timeout.

It was his sophomore year, and Michigan was

playing Minnesota. Normally able to create his
own shot off a ball screen, Stauskas was struggling
to get open.

Frustrated, he went to the sideline during a

timeout, where Michigan assistant coach LaVall
Jordan was waiting with the answer Stauskas
didn’t even know he was looking for.

“I remember going to the timeout and he was

like, ‘Reject the ball screen. Just fake middle,
go baseline and you’re gonna have a wide-open
layup,’ ” Stauskas recalls Jordan telling him. “I
was like, ‘Alright, whatever.’ ”

When he went back in, Stauskas did exactly

what Jordan told him to. Jordan Morgan passed
him the ball and rotated over for a screen. But as
Minnesota’s Daquien McNeil started to cheat the
screen, Stauskas blew past him, finishing a layup
at the rim. He finished with a game-high 21 points.

“I looked back to him, and he was like, ‘I told

you so!’ ” Stauskas said.

Stauskas could have been a junior this season,

and as he recalls the moment, he could be getting
ready for a trip to Northwestern. Instead, he’s
talking on the phone in Orlando, where his
Sacramento Kings are preparing to play the Magic.

PHOTOS BY ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

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