2B — March 27, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Under Beilein, Michigan lands on two feet
W
ith under a minute
to go in a Sweet
16 game against
Oregon on
Thursday,
DJ Wilson
set up on
the left
wing to
take a
go-ahead
3-pointer
for the
Michigan
men’s
basketball
team. It wasn’t the shot you’ll
remember for years.
Before Derrick Walton Jr.
missed that shot, Wilson lined
up the first one that would
have given the Wolverines
the lead. It wasn’t as big as
the buzzer-beater, but it was
critical. Everyone noticed
that he missed. Not everyone
noticed what he did before
that.
Maybe John Beilein didn’t,
either. Maybe Beilein has
coached the same shot so many
times over 1,289 games and
38 years that it didn’t cross
his mind. But here’s the thing:
Before DJ Wilson took that
shot, he caught the ball on two
feet.
This time, it didn’t make a
difference. Wilson cocked, fired
and missed. Oregon grabbed
the rebound, and you know the
rest: After an empty possession,
Walton had another chance to
win the game and missed. The
Wolverines took two 3-pointers
in the final minute, earned two
good looks and missed them
both.
Back to catching it on
two feet, though. Why did
Wilson do it? And why does it
matter? Well, every fall when
Michigan coach John Beilein
starts practice, whether he’s
coaching local guys at Newfane
High School or NBA prospects
at Michigan, he teaches his
players to catch the ball on two
feet so that they’re balanced.
His players don’t forget
it. Two years ago, after
the Wolverines ended a
disappointing 16-16 season
with a loss to Wisconsin in the
Big Ten Tournament, then-
sophomore Sean Lonergan
said: “We start off every single
year reviewing how to pass
and catch a ball. Catch on two
feet. Pass with the seams so
shooters can shoot. Everybody
gets one-on-one instruction
with them with their jump shot
to make sure that you’re lifting
up.”
A few weeks before that,
Javone Moore — who played
for Beilein at Canisius and
aided the coach’s first NCAA
Tournament run — said: “I
remember every single thing
he’s ever taught us. When
you’re passing the ball, pass
with two hands. When you’re
catching the ball, give the guy
a target with your outside hand
so the guy can’t steal it.”
Sean Lonergan and Javone
Moore played for John Beilein
two decades apart.
But they both see the ideas
behind Beilein’s practices.
Asked again Saturday about his
old coach’s tendencies, Moore
said, “He understands that you
need to have these little things
before they become big.”
And Lonergan, two years
ago: “Regardless of where he’s
coaching, you can just tell the
minor details — and the thing
is, with Coach B, they’re really
not so minor.”
When practice would start
with such a minor drill, Moore
admits he used to wonder: What
the hell are we doing this for?
Fans often question Beilein,
too. He took criticism this
season, and some of it was fair.
The 2013 Final Four run sure
seemed like a long time ago
when this year’s Michigan team
gave up a 20-point lead against
Virginia Tech, and when it
started Big Ten play 1-3, and
when it lost an ugly home game
against Ohio State in early
February.
But Beilein taught his players
to catch the ball on two feet,
and he always seemed to know
it was going to pay off in the
end. Moore said Saturday,
recalling his days with Beilein,
“He never has this panic. It’s
almost like he sees things
before they’re about to happen.”
This season, more than
ever, that rang true. Whenever
this season was about to
veer off, Beilein stabilized
it. Remember when you say
his teams “live by the three,
die by the three,” that in the
Wolverines’ miraculous Big
Ten Tournament run, they
shot 6-for-25 from behind the
arc and still upset Purdue in
overtime, then turned around
and hit 10 triples in the title
game against Wisconsin.
Remember when you say
Beilein can’t develop big men
that he is coaching two future
pros. Remember when you call
his teams “soft” that this one
survived everything it faced on
its way to the Sweet 16.
If the two Big Ten titles,
National Championship Game
berth and Elite Eight trip in
a three-year span weren’t
enough, perhaps this season
will serve as a reminder that
Beilein’s ways still work.
The season ended with one
last second-guessed decision.
With less than 10 seconds left
in Thursday’s game and Oregon
still up one, Beilein chose not
to call timeout. Walton took
the ball up, gained separation,
stepped back and shot.
Some said Beilein should
have used the timeout to draw
up a better play, but consider
this: The Ducks had two fouls
to give. Beilein said afterward
he thought they would commit
one and that he would have
another chance to call a play.
As it turned out, they didn’t,
and Walton got his shot off. If
you had asked Beilein when
he woke up Thursday morning
how he would feel about that
night’s game coming down to
his senior point guard taking a
3-pointer to win at the buzzer,
I’m guessing he would have
taken it.
Of Beilein’s 1,289 college
games, some have ended in
shots like that. Some have gone
in, and some haven’t. Trey
Burke’s four years ago went in.
Wilson’s did not. Neither did
Walton’s.
So the season is over, and
the miss will sting for a while.
But Beilein’s group will have
another run at it next year.
Perhaps it will lead somewhere,
and perhaps it won’t. Perhaps
it’ll even come down to another
last-second shot. But rest
assured: Whatever happens, it’s
going to start with catching the
ball on two feet.
Lourim can be reached
at jlourim@umich.edu and
on Twitter @jakelourim.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein teaches his players to catch the ball on two feet, and he has always seemed to know the importance of the fundamentals.
JAKE
LOURIM
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
The evidence was all there
K
ANSAS CITY, Mo. — With
less than two seconds
left on the clock, Derrick
Walton Jr.
stepped back
and put up a
shot.
Unlike
many times
before in
the last
three weeks,
the senior
guard’s shot
clanked
front iron
and rimmed out as the buzzer
sounded.
Game over.
Final score: Oregon 69,
Michigan 68.
It marked the end of a magical
three-week run for the Michigan
men’s basketball team which saw
the Wolverines win the Big Ten
Tournament and advance to the
NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
It was a run that saw them
win in about every way possible,
coming out victorious in a variety
of methods including hot shooting,
dominant big man play and stifling
defense, among others.
For how successful Michigan
was in March, though, it was a
run that was unexpected by many,
especially after the inconsistency
the Wolverines showed during the
year, and few gave them a chance
at accomplishing what they did.
But even during those low
points, all the evidence was there
of Michigan’s capability to go
on the run that it went on. The
Wolverines just happened to put it
all together in March.
***
Back in November, Michigan
traveled to New York City to play
in the 2K Classic. The Wolverines
shot lights out — over 50 percent
in both games — en route to
victories over Marquette and
Southern Methodist, two teams
that would make the NCAA
Tournament as No. 10 and No. 6
seeds, respectively, on the way to a
2K Classic title.
It was the first piece of evidence
that Michigan was capable of
being the team it has been the last
three weeks.
Against SMU, Walton put up
23 points on 7-of-12 shooting
from behind the arc, and it was
on the back of fantastic shooting
performances from Walton and
Co. that carried the Wolverines to
the Sweet 16.
But, more importantly,
Michigan played fantastic defense,
holding both opponents under 40
percent shooting, while shutting
down both teams’ big men. Most
notably, the American Athletic
Conference’s Player of the Year,
Mustang forward Semi Oljeleye,
who averaged 19 points per game
this season, was held to just 13
points on 5-of-16 shooting.
The tournament victory was
the best evidence of Michigan’s
capabilities, and the type of
play that coach John Beilein
referenced “getting back to” as
the season progressed.
The next piece of evidence
came about a month later, when
the Wolverines traveled to
California to take on then-No. 2
UCLA.
Michigan shot a blistering
65.5 percent from the field — 75
percent from behind the arc —
and kept up with one of the best
shooting teams in the country,
taking a 50-50 tie into the
halftime break.
While the Wolverines ran
out of gas in the second half,
losing 102-84, the game showed
that Michigan was capable of
sticking with the elite teams in the
country, even if just for stretches
at the time.
It was invaluable experience
that helped them, especially
against another elite team in No.
10 Louisville in the second round
of the NCAA Tournament, when
the Wolverines climbed back from
an eight-point halftime deficit to
win.
Michigan’s next piece of
evidence came after the New Year,
when Nebraska came to town.
The Cornhuskers featured two
guards in Tai Webster and Glynn
Watson Jr., who like to push the
pace.
In a game that featured little-
to-no defense — Nebraska scored
1.232 points per possession, while
the Wolverines scored 1.338 —
Michigan prevailed by simply
outscoring its opponent.
It was a contest similar to the
Wolverines’ NCAA Tournament
first round game against
Oklahoma State, and at home on
Jan. 14, Michigan proved that it
could win an offensive track meet.
Sandwiched between the two
big home victories against Indiana
and Michigan State, in which the
Wolverines showed their offensive
prowess, Michigan traveled to
East Lansing to take on Michigan
State in a game that was the
complete opposite.
The Wolverines lacked energy
and their offense stalled, shooting
just 33.9 percent. But one player
who didn’t lack energy was
Walton, who finished with 24
points while no other Michigan
player finished with more than 10.
It was the first game that
Walton carried the brunt of the
Wolverines’ scoring, while his
teammates struggled. The game
was the first piece of evidence
that Walton could be the team’s
primary scorer and kickstarted
a two-month period of dominant
play from Michigan’s senior point
guard.
While much of the evidence
thus far in the season had been
about the Wolverines’ offense,
their improved defense was a key
aspect of their March run.
And on Feb. 16 against
Wisconsin, that was on full
display.
With the Badgers sporting two
dominant big men in forwards
Nigel Hayes and Ethan Happ,
Michigan was up to a tall task in
defending the duo.
In the first half, the Wolverines
looked like they weren’t up to the
task as Happ put up 18, looking
unstoppable in the post.
But in the second half,
Michigan double teamed him,
with much of the work going
to sophomore forward Moritz
Wagner, redshirt sophomore
forward DJ Wilson and senior
wing Zak Irvin. With a new
strategy, the Wolverines excelled,
holding Happ to just four points in
the second half.
Irvin, especially, played great
help defense on Happ, and it was
the first evidence of what assistant
coach Billy Donlon called his “elite
defense” over the course of the
last two months of the season.
The last piece of evidence of
Michigan’s capability of a March
run came on Senior Day against
Purdue.
Wagner, going up against
an elite big man duo of Big Ten
Player of the Year Caleb Swanigan
and 7-foot-2 center Isaac Haas,
the Berlin, Germany native had
himself a game, scoring 20 points
in the first half, on his way to what
was a career-high 24 points before
he broke that record against
Louisville.
While there had been evidence
of Wagner being able to score like
he did against the Cardinals all
year, it all came to fruition against
Purdue. Wagner not only showed
his 3-point shooting range, but
also worked inside against the
Boilermaker big men, as 15 of his
24 points in the paint.
***
For much of the season,
Michigan’s play has teetered
between fantastic and below-
average.
The Wolverines have looked
like world beaters against the
best teams in the Big Ten, while
looking lost against some of the
Big Ten’s bottom feeders.
And while it’s easy for people
to overreact as the season
progresses, sometimes the
Wolverines just haven’t looked
like the team capable of pulling off
a March run.
But more importantly, there
were many times when they
did look like a team that could
play with the elite teams in the
country.
And in March, they finally put
it all together.
Doan can be reached at
minhdoan@umich.edu and
on Twitter @_minhdoan.
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. and the Wolverines showcased that they had the potential for their NCAA Tournament run at multiple points earlier in the season.
MINH
DOAN