8 — Thursday, March 15, 2018 Sports The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com A few weeks ago, Luke Wil- son almost punched Zavier Simpson. The freshman scout-teamer thought Simpson was fouling him in practice, and as another rough play resulted in Wilson’s second-straight turnover, he shoved the starting point guard in the chest with both hands. That’s how freshman guard CJ Baird, a walk-on like Wil- son, described it in the Michi- gan men’s basketball team’s locker room in Wichita, Kan., the day before the Wolverines begin the NCAA Tournament against Montana. Simpson and Wilson crowded near Baird, the independent, third-party story- teller, making sure they weren’t portrayed unfairly. From all accounts, the situ- ation didn’t escalate after that. Teammates stepped in and cooler heads prevailed. But the scene is emblematic of a larger theme. The scout team, walk-ons and all, has pride too. Of course, that doesn’t nor- mally manifest itself in physi- cal altercations at practice. It shows itself in the job the scout team has to do: prepare the starters by any means neces- sary. “(We’re) still trying to learn all the concepts of the entire system and then still trying to show you’re capable to push these guys, and you can fit in, and you can run scout, and you can prepare them,” said fresh- man walk-on guard Rico Ozu- na-Harrison. “It’s definitely a challenge every day. … You don’t want to get punked.” That pride comes from more than just individual basketball skill. Take sophomore guard Ibi Watson, for example. Ask different Michigan play- ers, and they’ll all tell you Wat- son can hold his own. But the part of a scout-teamer is that of a method actor. They meticu- lously study their role, learning the rhythm and movement of an opposing player, before emulat- ing it for themselves. Then they move on to the next role. So Watson isn’t just playing like Watson. He’s playing like a totally different person. “Sometimes I get yelled at, because I might be playing a guy who is strictly a 3-point shooter, and I’m trying to create or do something too much,” Watson said. “But usu- ally I try as hard as I can to play as similarly to that player as possible.” Watson had an important job this week. His was the role of Montana guard Michael Ogu- ine, a hyper-aggressive slasher who averages 15.8 points per game for the Grizzlies. It’s a role that apparently allowed Watson to showcase his own ability, as multiple team- mates pointed to him as some- body who shined on the second unit this week. Senior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahk- man, who often guards Watson in practice, was less eager to admit his impressiveness. “He doesn’t really score on me as much,” Abdur-Rahkman joked. “… It definitely helps, though, when you can have a player that caliber on the scout team. Sometimes they’re better than the people that we’re actu- ally playing, and that definitely helps.” The rest of the scout team had their own assignments. Somebody was Oregon transfer Ahmaad Rorie, and somebody was 6-foot-8 forward Jamar Akoh. When the buzzer sounds Thursday, barring an unex- pected upset, those roles will be forgotten, and Watson, Baird, Wilson and Ozuna-Harrison will prepare to emulate either Houston or San Diego State. It’s a thankless job. In fact, when coaches and players pub- licly credit the scout team, it’s brushed off as cliché. The NCAA Tourna- ment is the only time all season they all get to just travel with the team. But that’s okay with them. They find their fulfillment in other ways. “I think one of the coolest things is realizing where you’re at, and how lucky you are to be in this position,” Baird said. “I think the scout team, as a whole, takes pride in it, and we go at them 100 percent every day.” The scout team takes pride in their day-to-day effort. They take pride in acting out a role to the best of their ability. “Whether we’re running (opponent’s) plays or emulating how a certain player works on the floor, it definitely gives our defense a better look and helps us prepare better for the game,” Baird said. “And it’s really cool, once you’ve emulated that play- er, and you see them out on the court next time you play, it’s cool to see, like, ‘Wow, that’s actually what they do. We actu- ally worked on that.’ ” It shows in the team’s prepa- ration when the bright lights are on. And sometimes, it shows in practice, with a shove to the starting point guard. EVAN AARON/Daily Sophomore guard Ibi Watson and Michigan’s scout team will have the Wolverines ready to take on Montana. Back to do it all again W ICHITA, Kan. — Moritz Wagner thinks back to the Oregon game, but not in the way you might assume. He objects to the notion that he lost last year’s Sweet 16 game on his own. He objects to the notion that anyone can lose any single game. Heck, he even objects to the notion that he played that poorly. “I never feel that way,” the junior center said Wednesday afternoon, “that it’s somebody’s fault, that it’s my fault that we lost.” Wagner went 3-for-10 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range in the 69-68 season-ending loss, scoring just seven points as his team bowed out of the field. This came less than a week after he carried his team to an upset win over No. 2 seed Louisville with 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field. If his performance against Louisville was the crescendo on an ascendant sophomore campaign, the Oregon game was the distasteful piano crash at the end. It would have been easy then to point fingers, connect some dots and assume Wagner’s withdrawal from the NBA draft months after was some sort of impassioned vow to do better — to carry this team on his back to heights it fell just short of last year — all while improving his stock to be a surefire NBA player. That would fit a traditional narrative of college athletes. To be fair, that’s all part of it. He has improved in many facets, including going from 4.2 rebounds per game to 7.1 rebounds per game. He would love to advance past the Sweet 16 for the first time in his career, especially as a team captain and leading scorer. The reality is much more simple, though: Moritz Wagner loves college basketball. He loves all the hoopla. He loves draining a three and then dangling his tongue out at the fans or his opponent. He loves the conference rivalries and the bright lights of March. He loves the process of it all as much as he yearns for the glory. He loves to be loved almost as much as he loves to be hated. “They hate me everywhere,” Wagner says, grinning ear to ear. “I know that. It’s fun. I’ve kind of embraced that role. And I’ve got to be honest, I’d hate myself, too. “I just tell myself, they hate you because I’m good.” All of this came across in the locker room the afternoon before the first round of an NCAA Tournament that may well be his last, and could easily define his legacy at Michigan. He won’t look at it that way, though, at least not in the moment. Wagner isn’t going to publicly relish the personal accolades that may come from the next month. He certainly didn’t after winning the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player less than two weeks ago. There’s a distinction between arrogance on the court and selfishness off it, and while one could argue the former, nobody could viably claim the latter. Wagner, despite his boisterous on-court and off- court persona, is hesitant to ever make guarantees or grand proclamations. He didn’t come back to Michigan to make a Final Four, explicitly at least. He came back to get better with a team he loves at a university he cherishes. And he’s not going to sacrifice his momentary pleasure — no matter how minute or trivial it may seem — for some external end goal, or to overcome a non-existent burden from the exit last March. “These things are fun, these things are the things you never forget,” Wagner says, peering around the locker room. To his left, the five walk-ons — traveling together for the first time on the road with the team — are joking around in a circle. To his right, freshman guard Jordan Poole plays hangman on the whiteboard with junior forward Brent Hibbits. “Whether the games go well, bad,” Wagner continues, “this is the type of stuff that is so much fun around here that we would never experience in any other way.” Minutes later, Wagner gleefully trots through warmup calisthenics at the team’s open practice with round one of the 2018 NCAA Tournament set to kick off a day later. He and Michigan assistant coach Saddi Washington trade some playful banter, before Washington raises his tone a few octaves in Wagner’s direction. “Your time to shine, baby.” Marcovitch can be reached at maxmarco@umich.edu or on Twitter @Max_Marcovitch. EVAN AARON/Daily Junior center Moritz Wagner returned to Michigan to play on this stage. Michigan to begin NCAA Tournament on Thursday MAX MARCOVITCH Scout team proudly prepares ‘M’ MIKE PERSAK Managing Sports Editor “Sometimes they’re better than the people we’re actually playing”