2B — Monday, January 8, 2018
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
A week to make believers
J
ohn Beilein has a theory.
He’s just not entirely sold
on it yet.
It came to light after his
Michigan
basketball
team notched
a 79-69 win
over Illinois
on Saturday
afternoon.
The victory,
by Beilein’s
own self
admission,
wasn’t pretty.
Redshirt
sophomore wing Charles Mat-
thews played 67 seconds in the
first half due to foul trouble.
Junior center Moritz Wagner
didn’t fare much better, picking
up two fouls of his own. The
duo combined for three first-
half points, and the Wolverines
turned the ball over 12 times
in the frame against an Illinois
team that ranks sixth nation-
ally in forced turnovers.
And yet, Michigan man-
aged to right the ship anyway.
Freshmen Jordan Poole and
Isaiah Livers found themselves
on the court with just under
nine minutes left, turning in
the game of their dreams. A
3-pointer, two dunks, an alley-
oop and five
free throws
later, the Wol-
verines found
themselves up
by two — lucky
to eventu-
ally exit the
half trailing by
three.
After the
early foul trou-
ble, Wagner and
Matthews finally found sound
footing, and the Wolverines
outlasted a vaunted defensive
unit to shoot 64 percent from
the floor in the second half.
Michigan finished with six
players scoring in double dig-
its, two of whom —Poole and
Livers — came off the bench.
Quite simply, the Wolver-
ines found a way to make a
ramshackle unit survive long
enough to win.
The produc-
tion, as it has
all season, came
from different
characters in no
logical order.
But with
matchups
against No. 13
Purdue and No.
1 Michigan State
in the coming
week, Beilein was asked if he
wants to see one of his players
become ‘the guy.’ His answer
was illuminating.
“I think it’s important that
those guys continue to estab-
lish a rhythm when everyone’s
in a new role,” he said. “I don’t
think it’s essential that they
have to be stars for us to win,
as you can see today. I think
there’s enough guys out there
that can make shots.”
Still, there was some doubt.
“That’s our hope,” he con-
tinued. “Now we’ll find out,
and I’ll be a believer when I
know that we’re rebounding
and we’re better in the post
defense. If we can beat the
Purdues and the Michigan
States, alright, then I’m gonna
probably be a believer that
we’re okay.”
Hope is the operative word,
and therein lies the crux of
this entire week. On paper, the
Wolverines are okay, boasting
14 wins in 17 games.
Michigan, of course, has star
power in Wagner and Mat-
thews. Both can take over a
game, though neither has on
a consistent basis. The same
fluctuations apply to Muham-
mad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and
Duncan Robinson.
Poole and
Livers, for
their part, have
shown an ability
to fill in when
those fluc-
tuations cause
trouble. In other
cases, they’ve
shown the oppo-
site, though
there has been
more of the for-
mer as of late.
And Zavier Simpson, who
started for the first time in
12 games Saturday, seems to
be rounding out the bunch at
point guard — though Beilein
wouldn’t go as far to say his
starting nod was a definitive
answer.
This all goes to say that their
collective identity, it appears,
just may work out.
But now it’s
time to find out
for good.
Purdue will
visit Crisler
Center on Tues-
day, providing
the Wolverines
with their first
opportunity
to notch a win
over a top-25
team.
Four days later, Michigan
will seek its first road win
over its in-state rivals since
2014 when it heads to East
Lansing.
The Boilermakers’ Isaac
Haas and Vincent Edwards
await, while Miles Bridges is
only the tip of the iceberg on a
loaded Spartans roster.
The only team that Michi-
gan has faced that can evenly
remotely compare to the chal-
lenge ahead is North Carolina,
which ran the Wolverines out
of the gym.
The Wolverines have come
a long way since that Nov. 29
matchup in Chapel Hill — win-
ning eight of their last nine.
And after the most recent
win, Illinois coach Brad
Underwood seemed to confirm
as much.
“That’s a really good Michi-
gan basketball team,” he said.
“They’ve proven that with
who they’ve beat and who they
played.”
Underwood, more than
most, can offer a sound outsid-
er’s perspective on where this
team stands. The Wolverines
beat his Oklahoma State team
in the NCAA Tournament last
year. Asked about how this
iteration of Michigan com-
pares to last year’s, Under-
wood pointed to the seemingly
obvious.
“Well it starts at the point,”
he said. “And I’m not down-
playing Zavier or any of their
other guys, but when we
played them in the tourna-
ment, Walton was playing as
well as any point guard in
America. … But they’re a lot
of the same characters, do the
same things.”
“Characters,” it would
seem, is an accurate noun for
a Michigan team that has yet
to see a star emerge. Beilein
thinks those “characters” may
just be enough, but isn’t sold
just yet.
Which brings us back to this
week.
The Wolverines have a
chance to make some believ-
ers. Their coach included.
Santo can be reached at
kmsanto@umich.edu or on
Twitter at @Kevin_M_Santo.
KEVIN
SANTO
EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein believes that he will learn a lot about his Michigan basketball team in its next two games against Purdue and Michigan State.
“I think there’s
enough guys out
there that can
make shots.”
The Wolverines
have a chance
to make some
believers.
Livers and Poole have the game of their dreams
Isaiah Livers said that he and
Jordan Poole have dreamed about
games like Saturday.
Each of the roommates has had
their own breakout games — Poole
dropped 19 points on Indiana and
Livers had 13 against Iowa — but
the pair had yet to go off in the
same game.
Against Illinois, in a 79-69 win,
that changed. And not only did the
freshmen do it in the same game,
but in the same portion of the
game, to keep Michigan in it.
Livers checked in for the first
time at the 8:52 mark in the first
half. The Wolverines trailed by
eight. Two minutes later, they
were still down eight. That’s when
Livers and Poole got going.
First, Livers hit a corner three
to cut it to five.
Then,
when
the
Fighting
Illini
tried
to
trap
senior
guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman, Livers snuck toward
the
basket,
where
Abdur-
Rahkman found him for an open
dunk.
Another Livers dunk moments
later came from similar action,
and the freshman had put together
a personal 7-0 run.
It’s a far cry from where Livers
was even a few games ago.
“I was thinking way too much
a month ago,” Livers said. “Just,
‘should I shoot this, or should
I pass it.’ Now I feel like Coach
(Beilein) trusts that I have the
green light to shoot the ball or go
to the basket any time I want to.”
After Livers’ run, Illinois made
a basket, and it was time for Poole
to get in on the action. He was
fouled on a three of his own, and
he promptly drilled his three free
throws to tie the game.
Moments later, Michigan took
the lead on the best example of
Livers and Poole’s chemistry.
Fifth-year senior guard Jaaron
Simmons tossed an outlet pass
to Poole, who was already in the
frontcourt. A defender stood
between Poole and the basket, and
he took a step toward Poole. What
the defender didn’t see was Livers
running the floor on the opposite
side. Poole didn’t hesitate.
He slowed down at the 3-point
line and lobbed the ball toward
the hoop. Livers went and got it,
threw it down, and sent Crisler
Center into hysterics.
“We made eye contact,” Livers
said. “That’s my roommate, we
made eye contact. I knew at half
court, he was gonna slow down
and throw it up.”
Added Poole: “I remember
last time I threw an alley-oop to
him, he wanted me to throw it
higher. So at that point, it’s like,
‘I’m gonna throw it up, you’ve got
to go get it.’ It was a huge energy-
bringer to Crisler that got us going
a little bit.”
Poole would add two free
throws at the 3:22 mark, giving
the duo a combined 14-4 runt
that propelled the Wolverines to a
27-25 lead.
It was a crucial run for a
Michigan team whose leading
scorer — redshirt sophomore
guard Charles Matthews — had
picked up two quick fouls to start
the game.
It could also be crucial for the
Wolverines in the future. Poole
and Livers seem to be getting more
comfortable with every game, and
their combined 23 points against
Illinois was another data point
that hints at their development.
They’ve shown that they can pick
up the slack when Matthews and
junior forward Moritz Wagner
have off nights or get in foul
trouble. Saturday was just the
latest example of that.
The game also served as an
example of just how good the pair
can be together.
“I mean, I wake up and I see
him all the time,” Poole said. “So,
when I go out there, and I just see a
big human being like that running
to the rim, I just throw it up. So I
feel like, definitely, spending as
much time as we do together is a
huge connection on the court.”
After the game, in the media
room, Poole finished answering
questions
before
Livers.
He
walked over to his roommate, took
a microphone, and asked Livers
what he thought about the alley-
oop pass.
Livers smiled and said he
thought he might owe the passer
some food.
Then, the pair left and took
pictures with fans outside the
room. It was all smiles for them
after the day they had. After all,
it’s a game Livers and Poole have
been dreaming about.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Freshman forward Isaiah Livers scored 12 points aand his roommate, freshman guard Jordan Poole, had 11 in a game Livers says they’ve dreamed about.
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
The two freshmen combined for 23 points in Michigan’s 79-69 win over Illinois
Report: ‘M’ set to hire
former Arkansas OC
Michigan
officially
announced the hiring of one
assistant coach, Al Washington,
this past weekend. And it
may not be too long before
the Wolverines officially hire
another assistant as the college
football
coaching
carousel
continues to turn.
According to a report from
Bruce Feldman
of
Sports
Illustrated
on
Friday
afternoon,
Michigan
is
set
to
hire
Dan
Enos,
previously
Arkansas’
offensive
coordinator.
Enos
has been connected to the
Wolverines in recent weeks.
A Dec. 7 report from Football
Scoop stated that Jim Harbaugh
had been in contact with Enos
about a position on his staff.
Enos,
a
native
of
Dearborn, has
spent
much
of his career
working within
the
state
—
especially
at
Michigan
State,
where
he played four
years at as a
quarterback.
After his playing career,
Enos began coaching as a
graduate assistant with the
Spartans for three seasons.
He made stops at Lakeland,
Northern Michigan, Southern
Illinois and Missouri State
before returning to his home
state as Western Michigan’s
quarterbacks coach.
Following stops at North
Dakota State and Cincinnati,
Enos then joined his alma
mater’s staff. He was Michigan
State’s quarterbacks coach in
2006 and the running backs
coach from 2007-2009.
Enos then began his first
and only stint as a head coach
at Central Michigan, where he
compiled a 26-36 record over
five seasons. He made waves in
the offseason of 2014 when he
decided to leave the Chippewas
to
become
the
offensive
coordinator
at
Arkansas,
where he spent the past three
seasons coaching
before being let
go
along
with
the rest of Bret
Bielema’s
staff
this offseason.
While
in
East
Lansing,
Enos cultivated
a
reputation
as
a
talented
recruiter.
He
was responsible
for many of Michigan State’s
in-state recruiting victories,
signing players such as Edwin
Baker, Chris Norman, Fred
Smith, Dion Sims, Tyler Hoover,
Bennie Fowler and Keshawn
Martin.
It
remains
unknown
what
Enos’s
official
role
on
Michigan’s
staff
will
be.
Offensive
tackles and tight
ends coach Greg
Frey
appears
to be taking a
similar role with
Florida State; meanwhile, the
Wolverines still have offensive
coordinator
Tim
Drevno,
running
backs
coach
Jay
Harbaugh and quarterbacks
coach Pep Hamilton on staff as
of now.
While Enos has experience
with calling plays, there would
need to be some shuffling along
Michigan’s staff for him to do so
in Ann Arbor. This season, the
Wolverines split play-calling
duties
amongst
Harbaugh,
Drevno and Hamilton.
FOOTBALL
ORION SANG
Managing Sports Editor
Enos has been
connected to
the Wolverines
in recent weeks.
Enos compiled
a 26-36 record
at Central
Michigan.