8 — Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
The reality that will haunt Michigan
SAN ANTONIO, Texas —
As with everything in the
Michigan
men’s
basketball
program, John Beilein preaches
a precise routine. For freshman
forward
Isaiah
Livers,
that
means talking to his dad prior to
every game.
So on Monday, Livers told
his dad how he needed to
be aggressive, how he could
attempt to stifle his matchup,
how
he
wanted
to
take
smart shots on offense. And
naturally,
Livers
articulated
his excitement to play in the
national championship game
— a dream for every college
basketball player but a reality
for a select few.
Yet there was a sobering tone
of realism in his words.
“We’ve got to play like our
old self,” Livers told his dad.
“We got to pick it up. We haven’t
played our best basketball in a
while.”
When Michigan took the floor
in San Antonio, it’d been exactly
30 days since it won the Big Ten
Tournament
Championship.
There,
it
looked
nearly
unbeatable
with
convincing
victories over Michigan State
and Purdue.
But the Wolverines would
soon begin to flirt with death
like a bad habit. They were
dreadfully
sluggish
in
the
opening round of the NCAA
Tournament. Jordan Poole saved
them with a miracle in the next
round. A less-talented Florida
State club nearly bit them in Los
Angeles. Moritz Wagner needed
the game of his life to knock off
Loyola-Chicago.
Excluding
an
anomalous
barrage against Texas A&M,
Michigan had been shooting
3-pointers at just 25 percent
during the tournament. Defense
and luck — having playing no
team seeded higher than sixth
until
Monday
— had carried
the
Wolverines
through
their
rough
shooting
performances.
“We’ve
noticed that our
shooting
was
not to where it
normally is, that
was
clear
the
last two games
especially,”
said
freshman
guard C.J. Baird.
All of this, of course, is part
of basketball. No team is always
going to play its best.
But Monday’s
20-point loss to
Villanova
was
one
that
was
coming.
The
Wolverines had
another dreadful
shooting
performance,
going just 3-of-
23 from beyond-
the-arc.
Their
offense settled far too often.
The rim was rarely kind.
“I couldn’t tell you (why),”
Baird said. “I mean every day,
those guys are raining 3s on us
in practice.”
And yet, there were aspects
of
Michigan’s
game
that
unexpectedly underperformed.
Michigan’s perimeter defense
had been exceptional all-season
long.
On
Monday,
Yaklich’s
magic number was eight —
that, or less, was how many
3-pointers he told his defense it
could allow to win.
The
Wildcats,
even
after
starting 1-of-9, hit 10.
“We
(knew
we
had)
to
be
incredibly
connected
defensively, the whole night,”
Yakich said. “You can’t let your
guard down.”
Villanova ran
the
definition
of a blitzkrieg
offense.
Even
when
the
Wildcats
seem
off-base like they
did early, they
strike before you
know it. It’s what
led
Villanova
to one of the
most
dominant
tournament runs of all time, and
it’s what led them to a 17-point
win over Michigan on a night
when its best player in Jalen
Brunson struggled immensely.
That’s
why
defensive
rebounding, a significant source
of improvement this season, was
so critial for Michigan. But the
Wolverines allowed 12 offensive
boards, killing any momentum
and hope they had at coming
back.
“The biggest surprise was our
lack of defensive rebounding,”
Yakich said. “That was just
surprising.
…
If
you’d
had
said we’d give up 12 offensive
rebounds tonight I’d probably
have said we’re in trouble.”
But perhaps what nobody
could
have
expect
was
the
performance
of
Donte
DiVincenzo.
He’s
the
sixth
option in Villanova’s offense,
averaging 13.5 points per game.
He lit up Michigan for 31.
“He killed us for sure,” said
redshirt
sophomore
guard
Charles Matthews. “He wasn’t
their main option, but he showed
up on the big stage, and I got to
say I respect it.”
Added
Livers:
“When
someone’s on fire you got to deny
him. I know we tried our best,
but I don’t think we did what
we’re capable of shutting a player
down. That doesn’t happen a lot.”
What had been happening a
lot, however, were Michigan’s
sub-par
offensive
showings.
And when those are combined
with rebounding
lapse,
a
DiVincenzo
blaze
and
an
overall
brilliant
Wildcats’
team,
they’re
compounded into
the blowout you’d
expect.
Of course, it
was a blowout
that
the
Wolverines weren’t expecting.
And that’s the reality that they’ll
have to deal with as they turn the
page on this season.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Fifth-year senior forward Duncan Robinson was held to 0 points in his final game at Michigan.
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman’s final exit
SAN ANTONIO, Texas —
The walk between the bench
to the Alamodome tunnel is
as lonely as it is visible. After
stepping up to the court and
walking across it, it takes
another 70 steps to leave — an
expansive walk on the carpet
with an unobstructed view
around the arena until step No.
71.
That
was
the
route
Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-
Rahkman
took,
jogging
behind his teammates as they
exited. In the final game of
the senior guard’s career — a
79-62 drubbing at the hands
of Villanova in the National
Championship game — all he
could do was stroll, stone-
faced, off the court for the last
time in a Michigan uniform.
Nobody imagined his team
would make it this far. The
team’s
accomplishments,
including a program-best 33-8
record, didn’t make the defeat
any less painful.
“You don’t think about it
much right now because of the
way we lost,” Abdur-Rahkman
said. “But nobody had us here.
Lost a couple guys to the NBA, a
lot of new faces and we weren’t
picked to be one of the top
teams in the Big Ten. We went
out there and proved them
wrong from the beginning of
the season to the end.”
Despite the results, Abdur-
Rahkman did what a senior
and team captain should do
on the biggest stage — the
perfect goodbye to one of the
quietest players to rank in
Michigan lore. In the first
half of Monday night’s tilt he
finished a transition layup,
knocked down a 3-pointer and
finessed his way to two more
easy layups and a free throw
for 10 points. The captain
even showed uncharacteristic
emotion, hoisting up three
fingers and pounding his chest
after his triple.
Then he was substituted out
after earning his second foul
with 4:07 remaining, and the
wheels came irreversibly off
for
Michigan.
Wildcat
guard
Donte
Divincenzo
exploded for 31
points, draining
shots
every
which
way.
When Villanova
wasn’t scoring,
the Wolverines
committed
one foul after
another.
Abdur-Rahkman
was
the
lone
constant.
The
6-foot-
4 guard stayed aggressive,
driving to the rim for points
three
separate
times
and
hitting one crossover trey as
part of his team-high 23 points
on 8-for-13 shooting. The game
was out of reach, but Abdur-
Rahkman played like someone
who knew it was
his last game.
“It’s
a
testament to his
heart, the type
of person he is,”
said sophomore
guard
Ibi
Watson.
“Unfortunately,
it
was
kinda
overshadowed
by our loss. But
it just shows how he is as a
person. He never gives up and
he has such a great will.
“It’s something that’s rubbed
off on all of us, and he’s a great
example of what it’s like to be a
Michigan man.”
With 1:10 remaining, Abdur-
Rahkman checked out for the
final time and embraced John
Beilein. It wasn’t long after
he lined up last for post-game
handshakes
and
made
his
contemplative jog out of the
arena. But he wasn’t thinking
about the future — it was time
to be a captain one more time
and impart his wisdom on his
teammates.
“I just wanted to say how
proud I am of this team,”
Abdur-Rahkman said. “Being
the captain, I had my hand
in a lot of things and a lot of
people’s growth. We wanted to
see people grow and pass stuff
on to the younger guys.”
Added
freshman
guard
Jordan Poole when asked about
Abdur-Rahkman’s leadership:
“That’s big bro, straight like
that. We done been through
so much. I didn’t really talk
to him at the beginning of the
year because I was tryna feel
him out, but now
we talk everyday.
Being
able
to
be
around
that
type of guy — he
just has so much
knowledge,
he’s
like 27 years old.”
So what comes
next for the senior,
who
is
actually
just 23 years old?
Earlier
in
the
season,
Beilein
called
Abdur-Rahkman a guy who
practices solely to improve,
not to make the jump to a more
competitive league. Pursuing a
professional basketball career
is not something that he’s ever
spoken about publicly. Not
even his teammates know.
“Muhammad’s not like that,”
said freshman forward Isaiah
Livers. “He’s gonna make a
decision on his own and that’s
what I like most about him.
But he hasn’t told me about
it. … It’s not (his) last game of
basketball, I do believe that.”
The
“silent
assassin”
as
assistant
coach
Saddi
Washington calls him, is just
that
—
Abdur-Rahkman’s
quiet imprint includes one of
the most polished resumes in
program history. A national
championship appearance, two
Big Ten Tournament titles,
a Sweet Sixteen finish, 1,283
career points and a program
record for most games played.
Abdur-Rahkman was never
one to make light of that, of
course. It’s not in the DNA
of someone who came in as
a two-star recruit and who
was thrusted into the starting
lineup his freshman year to do
that. His legacy is as powerful
as it is predictable.
“Do your work in silence,”
Livers
remarked
of
what
Abdur-Rahkman
taught
him. “You don’t see Duncan
(Robinson) and Muhammad
flaunting about all the work
they’ve put in. They don’t say
anything about that at all.
…
I
haven’t
told
them
this yet that
I
appreciate
how
much
work they’ve
put
in
even
when
nobody’s
looking.”
But
after
Monday
night’s
loss,
Abdur-Rahkman
couldn’t
escape the 67,831 person crowd
as he walked off the court for
the final time. He’s now a
part of Michigan basketball
history.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Senior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman embraces Michigan coach John Beilein as he leaves the court.
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Editor
Villanova ran
the definition
of a blitzkrieg
offense.
“The biggest
surprise was our
lack of defensive
rebounding.”
The senior guard put on a show in his final game at Michigan, leading the team with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting
“He never gives
up and he has
such a great
will.”
“He just has so
much knowledge,
he’s like 27 years
old.”
There were aspects of the Wolverines’ game that unexpectedly underperformed in their 17-point loss to Villanova