8 — Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
LeVert: “I was thinking positive”
By SIMON KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Despite injuring his lower left
leg in December and potentially
hurting his future NBA Draft
stock, Caris LeVert said he never
worried during his recovery.
Monday,
two
days
after
returning
to
action
in
the
Michigan men’s basketball team’s
win against Purdue on Saturday,
the senior guard addressed the
media for the first time since his
Dec. 30 injury at Illinois. The left-
leg injury sidelined LeVert for 11
games.
The injury occurred late in the
second half of Michigan’s game
in Champaign when LeVert’s left
foot landed on the foot of an Illini
player as he drove toward the
basket.
“It was definitely a little scary
when it happened,” LeVert said.
“It was a bang-bang play. It was
kind of sore after the game, but,
you know, God doesn’t make
mistakes. I wasn’t too worried
about it, just worried about how I
could get better from it.”
Following the injury, Michigan
coach John Beilein said LeVert’s
road to recovery would be a day-
to-day process but never gave
specific details regarding the
timetable of his return or any
information regarding the injury.
Asked if not discussing the
details of the injury was a matter
of protecting his draft stock,
LeVert said it was a program
decision he made with Beilein, his
mother and the team physician.
He did confirm that it was a
rest-only recovery and that no
operation was performed on his
leg.
In his first game back Saturday,
LeVert came off the bench for
the first time since his freshman
season. He logged 11 minutes —
all in the first half — took only
one field-goal attempt and a free
throw, both of which he missed,
and collected five rebounds.
LeVert gave a few reasons for
his unimpressive performance
against Purdue.
“I haven’t played in about six
weeks,” LeVert said. “I was a little
nervous getting back out there,
and just game flow. I really don’t
have a great rhythm right now, but
it’s coming back to me.”
He did say he was sore
afterward,
but
Michigan’s
co-captain said the pain was more
from just playing and not specific
to his left leg.
“It’s just soreness like with
playing,” LeVert said. “If you
don’t do something for six weeks,
your body’s going to be sore, so
I’d say that’s the majority of my
soreness.”
LeVert said he does plan to play
Tuesday against Ohio State, but
that going forward, his playing
time would be a game-time
decision. Saturday, he didn’t know
if he’d be able to play until after
the pregame warmups.
Beilein said that, in the future,
they’ll reevaluate his ability to
play each day.
“Pain is still going to be his
guide,” Beilein said. “If he’s
feeling any soreness anywhere in
his body, right now, we’ll pull him
out and wait. This is important
that he takes his time in getting
back to full strength.”
During his absence, sophomore
guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman replaced him in the
starting lineup and paced 10
points per game during that
time. Meanwhile, junior guard
Zak Irvin has begun to find his
shooting touch after starting the
season off streaky, and junior
guard Derrick Walton Jr. has been
capable of stepping up when the
Wolverines need him most.
Michigan’s play during LeVert’s
absence — including wins over
then-No. 3 Maryland and then-
No. 18 Purdue — make game
planning for future opponents
difficult given the fluidity that the
lineup has now.
“We have these sets of plays run
for different people, depending on
how they’re playing us,” Beilein
said. “It gets to be this huge
puzzle. … So now you’re going into
a game, and you don’t know if he
can play or not. It’s frankly not
smooth right now, because we’re
just trying to get him back.”
During the recovery, LeVert
admitted his lowest point was
during the week that Michigan
played Indiana and Michigan
State. He didn’t get to play those
teams last year, either, as he was
sidelined following a foot surgery.
Still, though, he said he never had
any regrets about coming back
this year and didn’t get worried
about what this year’s injury
might do to a potential future
NBA career.
“I wasn’t thinking that way the
whole time,” LeVert said. “I was
thinking positive. You know that’s
what I came back for my senior
year for, to play in games.”
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Senior guard Caris LeVert missed 11 games since his lower left-leg injury against Illinois on Dec. 30.
Tate remembers
bond with LeVert
By KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
Tuesday, the Michigan men’s
basketball team (9-4 Big Ten, 19-7
overall) will travel to Columbus to
take on a middling Ohio State team
that
has
only one
win in the
top-100
RPI.
The
Buckeyes’
less-
than-ideal start to the season
included consecutive losses to
UT Arlington, Louisiana Tech
and Memphis in November, after
losing star guard D’Angelo Russell
to the NBA Draft following last
season.
Now, with Russell gone, the
team’s leadership has fallen on
sophomore
forward
Jae’Sean
Tate and junior forward Marc
Loving.
Tate has done his part to
keep the Buckeyes (8-5, 16-10)
competitive, scoring 11.5 points
per game in addition to Loving’s
12.5 points per game. Though Ohio
State has been far from consistent,
it has played tough recently,
winning four of its last six Big Ten
games.
The Daily sat down with Tate
— who has started every game
this season for the Buckeyes — at
Big Ten Media Day in October
to discuss former high school
teammate and current rival Caris
LeVert, the unknown potential for
a young Ohio State team and Tate’s
expected contribution as a team
leader.
The Michigan Daily: I know
that you were a teammate of Caris
LeVert’s in high school. I heard a
story about how he took a shot at
the buzzer, and you tipped it in,
and your team won 64-62 for the
state title. What’s your relationship
with Caris like?
Jae’Sean Tate: Me and Caris
went to high school together;
we won a state championship
together. But I’ve been watching
Caris since I was in about the
seventh or eighth grade. Just to
see him progress and where he
came from — it’s crazy. I promise
you, I kid you not, he could not
dunk his sophomore year in high
school and then he just worked
over the summer and, I mean, he
just went through the roof. He
got blessed to get a scholarship to
Michigan, and he’s taken off ever
since.
TMD: Are there any hard
feelings there because of the
rivalry?
JT: I’ve run into him a couple
times while I’ve been (at Ohio
State). It’s always good to catch
up with old friends. That’s like my
brother.
TMD: You said that you
remember seeing him play in
seventh and eighth grade. Did
you ever play with him at that
young of an age?
JT: No, he’s about three years
older than me, so I would just
watch him play against the older
guys … (Our competition level
has) always been high. Just to
play against him his last year,
and he’s finally healthy, I’m
looking forward to it.
TMD: Earlier today, Ohio
State
coach
Thad
Matta
mentioned that you were going to
have to be a big part of this team.
Is that a lot of pressure?
JT: I wouldn’t say a lot of
pressure, because I feel like
history
repeats
itself.
Like
I said, with me and Caris,
that year we won the state
championship,
he
left,
and
then I was the older guy. A few
years later, I’m in the same
position, where I’m on a young
team and I have to be a leader,
so I’m prepared for it, and I’m
accepting it now.
BEHIND
ENEMY
LINES
Five things: ‘M’ tops Badgers
By MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan hockey team
was 27 seconds away from
coming out of Madison with six
points.
Instead, Wisconsin forward
Cameron Hughes found fellow
forward Luke Kunin alone on
the back post, where he ripped a
one-timer past Wolverine senior
goaltender Steve Racine to knot
the game at four in the dying
moments of regulation.
The two teams played to a
scoreless overtime period before
Michigan won the shootout, 1-0,
with three saves from Racine
and a goal from junior forward
JT Compher.
The shootout win left the
Wolverines with two of three
possible points from the game
and five of six points on the
weekend. After being tied for
first with Minnesota in the Big
Ten standings coming into the
weekend, the Gophers took over
sole possession of first place
with a clean sweep of Ohio State.
Here are five things we
learned from Michigan’s trip to
Madison this past weekend.
1. Once again, Racine is
strong between the pipes.
The Wolverines rarely get
outshot.
But
on
Saturday,
Wisconsin outshot Michigan,
44-33.
Usually, this doesn’t bode well
for the Wolverines. Racine was
up to the task all night, though,
stopping 40 shots as well as all
three penalty shots.
Even on Friday, Racine bailed
Michigan out multiple times
on odd-man rushes to keep the
game out of the Badgers’ reach.
Overall, Racine stopped 60
shots, and after his outing last
week against Michigan State,
where he stopped 71 shots in two
games, his performance bodes
well for the Wolverines as the
season’s finish line nears.
2. The defense is still a work
in progress.
If you think you’ve heard this
line before this season, chances
are, you probably have. The
Wolverines give up an average
of three goals per game and are
ranked 39th nationally out of 60
teams in team defense.
One of Michigan’s problems
this
season
has
been
its
tendency to give up odd-man
rushes.
That
problem
was
evident again this weekend,
but Racine was able to limit the
damage for the Wolverines in
most scenarios.
However,
giving
up
four
goals in one game to a team that
averages 2.62 goals per game
is concerning, and Michigan
knows that work is needed on
the defensive end.
3. The CCM line is pretty
good.
Yeah, I know, you already
knew this.
But week in, week out, the
forward line of Compher, junior
Tyler
Motte
and
freshman
Kyle Connor continues to score
points, and bushels of them.
This
weekend,
the
trio
combined for 12 points (five
goals, seven assists) and was
responsible for 55 percent of
Michigan’s goals.
4. Dancs thrives on second
line.
After
freshman
forward
Cooper Marody came down
with mononucleosis, Michigan
coach Red Berenson was forced
to switch up his lines. Senior
forward Justin Selman was
moved into Marody’s spot on
the third line, and sophomore
forward
Dexter
Dancs
was
moved up from the fourth line.
And in that time, he has
played well.
Dancs has tallied two goals
and an assist, and has a plus-
minus of +2 since his move to the
second line.
His goal Friday proved to be
the game winner in Michigan’s
4-1 victory.
5. Bold prediction: Someone
on the CCM line will win the
Hobey Baker Award.
Currently, Connor leads the
nation in scoring with 48 points.
But just five points behind him
is Compher. And just a point
behind Compher is Motte.
In
comparison,
former
Michigan forward Zach Hyman
led the team last season with
54 points, while forward Dylan
Larkin, who currently plays in
the National Hockey League
with the Detroit Red Wings,
finished with 47 points.
With at least eight games left
in the season, it isn’t out of the
realm of possibility that all three
players could pass Hyman’s
total.
In
addition,
Motte
and
Connor are No. 1 and 2 in the
goals category, while Compher
and Connor are No. 2 and 3 in
the assists column.
While it isn’t obvious which
player on the line is in the best
position to win it, all three
should be in good consideration
for the award.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Senior goalie Steve Racine has seen a resurgence of late between the pipes.
Thompson’s defense key to
Wolverines success of late
Junior guard shuts
down opponents’
big guns with skill,
not size.
By TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
Siera Thompson is best known
for knocking down 3-pointers
and doling out assists, but it’s
her defense that has been crucial
to winning games.
The junior guard on the
Michigan women’s basketball
team has shut down opponents’
best players all season, and
lately, she has begun to show
how important that truly is.
Just two weeks ago, on
Jan. 31, she forced Minnesota
guard Rachel Banham to post
a 1-for-10 effort from 3-point
territory — Banham went on
to tie the NCAA single-game
scoring record with 60 points
just a week later. And on Feb. 11,
against Wisconsin, Thompson
matched up with the Badgers’
best
player,
guard
Nicole
Bauman, and held her to just 10
points.
Thompson’s defensive skillset
doesn’t come from a menacing
height or long wingspan, but
simply her effort and mindset,
as Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico always says.
She has a meticulous eye
for opponents’ tendencies and
studies each with care leading
up to games.
“It’s my job to get the energy
going on defense to try and
stop the opposing team’s best
players,” Thompson said. “I take
a lot of pride and try my hardest
to do that.”
But Thompson hasn’t become
the Wolverines’ top defender
by practicing against the likes
of sophomore guard Katelynn
Flaherty — the most lethal
scorer on the team (22.4 points
per game, 2.4 assists). She
has reached these heights by
playing against the boys that
Michigan scrimmages against
in practices.
Thompson, at just 5-foot-
7, doesn’t look as dangerous
as some of Michigan’s other
options, but the work she puts
in against the “practice boys”
makes her just as strong.
“Usually
whoever
is
the
best one, I’m guarding him,”
Thompson said. “If you can
guard the boys, you can guard
almost anyone
of our girls,
because
(the
boys) are so
athletic.”
Playing
against
boys
is
common
practice
for
women’s
teams
around
the
NCAA, allowing teams to gain
experience against players with
different physical advantages
than they would be able to find
in a reserve team made up of
girls.
“Defense — so much is effort,
and so much is toughness,”
Barnes Arico said. “(Thompson)
has that probably more than
anybody on our team. I wish that
some of that defensive effort
would rub off on everybody
else.”
Michigan’s
defense
gives
up an average of 70.5 points,
the eighth-best in the Big Ten.
Eighth out of a 14-team pool
puts the Wolverines (7-7 Big
Ten, 15-10 overall) in the middle
of the pack, but it’s below the
standard Michigan hopes to
reach.
Thompson, though, is setting
the pace, and she has earned
Barnes Arico’s full trust in that
realm.
But while going head to head
with
the
Badgers’
Bauman,
Thompson
recorded
four
personal fouls, one of the few
times this season she has been in
danger of fouling out.
It would have been far easier
to just foul players like Bauman
and
Banham
in
pressure
situations and force them to
convert from the free-throw line,
but Thompson is experienced
enough — and Barnes Arico
trusted her enough — to play
smart without picking up a fifth
foul.
“Some games you have to feel
out the refs,” Thompson said.
“Sometimes they call more fouls
than
other
games. That’s
something
I
have to adjust
to.”
The
Wolverines
wouldn’t
have been as
successful on
the
offensive
or
defensive
end if Thompson weren’t in the
game.
“She needed to stay in at that
point,” Barnes Arico said.
Lately,
her
defensive
presence has been matched
with an equally strong stint
on offense, too. In Michigan’s
current three-game win streak,
Thompson is pacing 13.3 points
per contest. Stops on defense
lead to transition scoring, and
her team-high 34 steals continue
to boost the Wolverines.
Thompson
will
face
the
challenge of stopping Shatori
Walker-Kimbrough this week,
in a rematch of the Jan. 14 close
loss to then-No. 8 Maryland. The
Terrapins’ guard is averaging
20.5 points through 14 Big Ten
games.
Last time she met with
Michigan, she put up 15. This
time, both teams have more on
the line. Thompson will have to
do more to stop her, and Walker-
Kimbrough will have to do more
to score.
It’s just another opportunity
for Thompson to pad her already
impressive defensive resume.
KICKER
“It’s my job to
get the
energy going
on defense.”