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8 — Friday, February 16, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Simmons turning corner as regular season comes to a close
Jaaron Simmons ambled into
the media room like he was a
regular.
In
reality,
the
fifth-year
senior hadn’t been in a post-
game interview since the Nov. 3
exhibition against Grand Valley
State, but his confident gait to the
top right corner of the room would
have made you think otherwise.
Just as he did over three months
ago, Simmons entered donning a
mesh, long-sleeve Michigan shirt
with a sweat-soaked Gatorade
towel draped around his neck.
Simmons
had
just
seen
his most playing time — 12
minutes — since Dec. 16 against
Detroit Mercy, catalyzing the
Wolverines’ eventual runaway
win over Iowa on Wednesday. He
cracked a smile.
“It feels good,” he said, “but it’s
the same thing. I’ve gotta keep
working everyday, continue to
prepare myself everyday. That’s
really it.”
The smile had faded by the
end of his simple answer — the
quiet sentiment of someone who
doesn’t want to celebrate his
brief moment in the spotlight
too much. His production in
Wednesday’s matchup, though,
demonstrated
exactly
what
John Beilein brought him in to
do in the first place. And that’s
something to celebrate.
In the beginning minutes
of the contest, the Hawkeyes’
extended zone defense visibly
shook
starting
point
guard
Zavier Simpson. The sophomore
ranks fourth in the Big Ten with
a 3-1 assist-turnover ratio, but
coughed it up three times in the
game’s first 2:17, helping amount
to a 7-0 deficit. Thus came the
earliest entrance into a game in
Simmons’ Michigan career.
He channeled his University
of Ohio days as a confident
ball-handler, staving off Iowa
defenders in its early full-court
press
and
commanding
his
teammates around the court.
Shortly into his shift, he drilled a
three to lessen the margin to only
one point.
Five minutes later, Simmons
was still in and Michigan had
a three-point lead. He stole a
telegraphed pass at the top of the
key from Iowa’s Brady Ellingson
and charged ahead for the fast
break.
Simmons
doubtfully
turned his head to see who was
chasing him down — but nobody
was even close, and he smoothly
lofted it off the glass and in.
For the first time on both
sides of the ball, it looked like
the Simmons experiment was
finally bringing positive results,
as he registered a five-point,
four-assist
performance.
The
statline appeared as a blip on the
radar, but in just 12 minutes for a
team devoid of energy, it was the
perfect display.
“It takes a whole lot to
learn the offense, and it’s a
complicated offense,” said senior
guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman, “but I think you’re
starting to see him grow.”
Added Simmons: “It’s easier
to get into a flow because I know
more. I know more of what we’re
doing. In the beginning of the
season it was very challenging.
Going out there, you’re thinking
a lot, me personally, because I’m
learning new stuff every single
day.
“Now I’m starting to get it.
Now I don’t have to think what
play we call, what we gotta do
now. It’s more ‘we’re gonna run
this’ and I can flow into it.”
Simmons’ struggles have been
no secret. After Michigan’s Jan.
21 game against Rutgers, Beilein
said the graduate transfer “hasn’t
worked out so far,” referring to
his inability to play comfortably
in already limited minutes.
The rocky transition, Simmons
claims, was a result of complex
schemes that he never saw with
the Bobcats. Remaining mentally
tough was the only way for
Simmons to get over the change.
“(I) never ask why. ‘Why am I
not playing or why am I not doing
this?’ It’s just ‘How can I get
better and put myself in a position
to get out there?’ ” Simmons
said. “... I don’t question stuff.
I just — I’m ready. Just battle it
out. Tough situations will come,
tough people last.”
While his time with the
Wolverines
hasn’t
gone
as
planned, he is on the verge of
going somewhere he’s never
been: the NCAA Tournament.
But first, he will say goodbye to
his short-lived Michigan tenure
during Senior Day against No. 8
Ohio State on Sunday.
Simmons , ironically, still calls
himself a freshman given all of
the new plays and terminology
thrusted upon him in his lone
season. As fast as he realized he
was learning stuff he had never
seen before, his final year was
ending. And while he hopes
to extend it to the uncharted
territory of the Tournament, the
enthusiasm of the team would say
otherwise.
“The way coach be talking,
he’s talking like if we lose a game
we might not even make it to the
tournament,” Simmons said. “I’m
just hoping we get there.”
For Simmons, the tournament
is priority number one. At one
point, it may have been the
NBA or even just filling Derrick
Walton Jr.’s shoes. Later on, it
may have been finding some
semblance of his game from his
Ohio days. Now, those goals are
far, far behind him. He’s shown
flashes of improvement as the
regular season dwindles, but
it remains to be seen if it is too
little, too late.
If the Wolverines take care
of business down the stretch,
though, Simmons will have the
opportunity to play in his first
tournament game, spotlight or
not.
That’s something to smile
about.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Fith-year senior Jaaron Simmons played 12 minutes against Iowa.
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Editor