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Sports
Thursday, October 18, 2018 — 7
Too skilled to sit, Brazdeikis to learn multiple positions
Ignas Brazdeikis is officially
listed as a forward. Don’t let
that fool you.
The top-40 prospect, who
headlines the men’s basketball
team’s 12th-ranked recruiting
classes, per 247Sports’ compos-
ite score, is firmly behind red-
shirt junior Charles Matthews
at small forward. That’s more
a product of Matthews’ abil-
ity as a scorer and anchor for
a defense that ranked third in
adjusted efficiency last season.
But Brazdeikis’ talent is enough
to warrant some unorthodox
moves.
“We gotta get him out on the
court somehow,” Beilein said
last week at Big Ten Media Day.
Doing so means also playing
Brazdeikis at shooting guard
and power forward, forcing the
freshman to learn multiple posi-
tions in Beilein’s notoriously
complex system. Since coaching
in Division I, it’s the third time
Beilein has done that. The last
was with Johannes Herber, who
played under Beilein at West
Virginia from 2003-06; the first
was with Scott Ungerer, who
was under Beilein’s tutelage
from 1998-2002 at Richmond
and who, like Brazdeikis, is list-
ed as 6-foot-7.
For Ungerer, too, playing
multiple positions as a fresh-
man
was
as
much
a
result
of necessity as
versatility.
The
Spiders suffered
so many injuries
that
Ungerer,
a
point
guard
in high school,
had to play cen-
ter in a game at
UConn.
“I’ll
prob-
ably jump to a conclusion with
Ignas,” Ungerer told The Daily
in a phone interview. “You’ve
gotta have somebody who’s
smart enough, especially in
(Beilein’s) system, to be able
to pick up and play multiple
positions. Because there is a
pretty
significant
difference
in Beilein’s two-guard offense
between
the
guard and the
forward and the
center.
“Those
are
the three pivot
spots. So you’ve
gotta have some-
body who’s adept
and kind of com-
fortable, and can
have
a
pretty
quick,
high-
learning agility to pick up the
different motions.”
Being
the
4-man
means
playing on the wing. Often, in
Beilein’s offense, it means get-
ting the entry pass as opposed to
the shooting guard, who splits
the responsibility of bringing
the ball up.
It’s a little more compli-
cated than that,
though.
“The offense,
a lot of it, is
predicated based
on motion and
movement,”
Ungerer
said.
“So,
some-
body
makes
one change and
cuts
backdoor,
it changes the
whole flow of the play. So I
needed to know what everybody
was doing from every position.”
The reads Brazdeikis will
have to make, in other words,
change drastically based on
position. As much as his abil-
ity to slide between two posi-
tions depends on the physical
— can he guard players across
the
spectrum
without trouble?
— the mental is
just as impor-
tant.
“I
wouldn’t
do it if I didn’t
think he could
do it,” Beilein
said. “... One day
I’m gonna say,
‘You’re a 4-man,
you’ve
gotta
crash the boards on offense.’
And then I’m gonna tell (him),
‘No, you gotta be back when
you’re a 2-man.’ So there’s a lot
of things. He’s gonna not be per-
fect at it, but he’s gonna grow
as a player. He’s a guy that can
handle this. His basketball IQ
is good, and he picks up things
quickly.”
Brazdeikis’
physical skill is
already
there,
in droves. He’s
older than most
freshmen at 19
and lit up the
prep school cir-
cuit last season
at
Orangeville
Prep in Ontar-
io, Canada. On
Michigan’s trip
to Spain in August, Brazdeikis
averaged 15.7 points and 7.0
rebounds in three games, lead-
ing the team in scoring, per
stats compiled by The Athletic’s
Brendan Quinn.
If you’re looking for a reason
Beilein wants him on the court
so badly, that’s it. Three exhibi-
tion games though they may be,
if Brazdeikis can put up those
numbers in that setting, hav-
ing been with the team for just
weeks, think about what he can
do with once fully integrated.
Brazdeikis is a hamster running
in a ball. He may need a little
more structure, but the energy
— and ability — he brings is pal-
pable.
“He’s such a good driver that
he’ll pass up an open shot, or
he’ll doubt whether he’s open
because he knows, anytime, (he
can) just get to the hoop in prior
experiences,” Beilein said. “In
the Big Ten, you ain’t getting to
the hoop. So we gotta get him to
be able to slow down, play with
pace.”
It could take time for that
slow-down to happen, Ungerer
said, but Brazdeikis has a noted
advantage in the Spain trip.
Already, he has played live com-
petition against real opponents,
albeit in an exhibition setting.
And his performance was up to
par.
Still, there may be kinks to
work out early on. Miscommu-
nication could be a telltale sign,
Ungerer said, that Brazdeikis is
still learning to play within the
system. Once he does, Brazdei-
kis may quickly become good
enough for the
next level.
“When (Braz-
deikis) has the
ability to go to
the NBA — I
think
he’s
got
a great shot of
playing
profes-
sional basketball
— (that) they’re
gonna
want
a
guy
that
can
play a lot of positions,” Beilein
said. “A guy that can pass, can
rebound, can shoot and can
defend three or four positions.
Iggy, I believe he can do that.”
EVAN AARON/Daily
Freshman Ignas Brazdeikis was a top-40 prospect before committing to Michigan and is now learning how to play multiple positions for the Wolverines this season.
ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer
“We gotta get
him out on
the court
somehow.”
“I wouldn’t
do it if I didn’t
think he could
do it.”
“In the Big
Ten, you ain’t
getting to the
hoop.”
Lockwood ready to help Michigan offense
Standing just outside the
left circle, Will Lockwood
waited to receive the puck
from sophomore forward Josh
Norris. Norris rifled a pass
right to the junior forward’s
stick, and Lockwood fired a
shot that found twine.
With one flick of his stick,
he halved the Michigan hockey
team’s deficit in the first game
of the season. And though the
Wolverines would eventually
fall to Vermont in that matchup,
Lockwood’s goal mattered for a
different reason.
It was his first goal in a
Michigan sweater since 2017
after suffering a season-ending
shoulder injury in January
2018.
“It was awesome,” Lockwood
said of the goal. “Any time you
get an opportunity to score in
Yost and you end up putting one
in, it’s an awesome experience.
… To have that one go in was a
good feeling.”
It was a long road from the
initial injury to being ice-ready.
Lockwood
worked
toward
returning for the beginning
of the 2018-19 season, nine
months
after
undergoing
surgery.
On April 15, just ten days
after the Wolverines’ season
ended with a loss to Notre
Dame in the Frozen Four
semifinal
game,
Michigan
coach Mel Pearson tweeted a
photo of Lockwood practicing
on the ice at a darkened Yost
Ice Arena — alone.
“I
saw
determination,
focus,” Pearson said. “He really
did a great job getting himself
ready to play and making sure
he was strong enough to go. He
redefined his body … He really
committed himself to making
sure he could do everything he
could to get himself ready for
the season.”
After notching 11 points in 16
games last season, Lockwood’s
return to the ice promises to
help the Michigan offense
recover from the loss of last
season’s three top scorers.
“It’s great having him back
because it gives us so many
more options to have a player
like him, whether on your
power play or penalty kill,”
Pearson said. “He can play
in all situations. He’s a good
player, too, so you put him with
other players and he lifts their
game up, too. He’s got great
individual skills, but he makes
people around him better.”
Through their first game —
plus two exhibition matchups
— the Wolverines have scored
12 goals and given up 15. And
at the same point last season,
through two games and one
exhibition,
Michigan
had
scored 13 goals and given
up just five. While the goals
scored differs very slightly, the
goals against shows a glaring
change.
And
it’s
that
increased
number of goals against — the
sign of a struggling defense —
that shows the real offensive
issues for the Wolverines. The
best defense is a good offense,
and Michigan demonstrates
that the adage is true.
“The best defense is to be
playing in the offensive zone,”
Lockwood said. “We’ve been
working on that, and a lot of it
is puck control and supporting
each other.”
When a team has possession
in the offensive zone and
manages to score, the defense
has to do little work. But
when a team loses possession
entering the offensive zone
or leaving the defensive zone,
the defense is suddenly on its
heels attempting to prevent a
goal. And while the role of the
defense is to prevent the other
team from scoring, a lack of
offense makes that job harder.
“You get behind and then you
start pressing,” Pearson said.
“You do different things. Your
style changes, it shouldn’t. …
We’ve gotta make sure we take
care of our defensive zone first.
If you’re giving up four and
five goals, you’re gonna have to
score more, and that puts a lot
of pressure on your forwards to
do that.”
As
one
forward
in
the
Wolverines’ top line, Lockwood
stands in position to take on
that pressure.
And after sitting in the
stands for Michigan’s trip to
the Frozen Four, he’s ready
to be back competing on the
ice. With three points in the
Wolverines’ first three games,
Lockwood has settled back
in as one of Michigan’s top
scorers and has made it clear
he won’t let opportunities pass
him by this season.
“I felt like I was missing
a little something in my life
(when
I
wasn’t
playing),”
Lockwood said. “But to be back
— it feels great to be on the ice
every day. I have a different
mindset. I don’t really take
anything for granted.”
‘M’ sweeps road slate
Michigan volleyball coach
Mark Rosen clinched his 400th
career win with the Wolverines
on Friday, after over 20 years in
Ann Arbor.
More
dear
to
Rosen
was that he achieved this
accomplishment alongside his
wife, associate head coach Leisa
Rosen.
No. 13 Michigan (17-2 overall,
6-2 Big Ten) swept its weekend
road tilts against rival Ohio
State (12-8, 3-5) and Maryland
(12-8, 3-5) in five and four sets,
respectively.
On the road Friday in a hostile
environment, the Wolverines
jumped out to a two sets to
none lead against the Buckeyes.
But in a game with so much
emotion, Ohio State did not go
away easily, and countered by
taking the next two sets behind
a flurry of adjustments.
“Every team in the Big Ten
is good,” Rosen said. “But it’s
those teams that maybe don’t
have as good a record and
haven’t had as much success
that I don’t want to say you look
past, but it’s a little harder to
prepare for them because on a
given night, they can play really,
really well.
“Ohio
State
made
some
pretty significant changes in
their lineup and their tactics.
They just did a great job of
serving the ball aggressively
and switching their blockers
around so they could match up
differently with our hitters. I
just thought that they played
really well and adjusted, and we
had to make sure we adjusted to
the their adjustments.”
That they did.
Although it dropped both
the third and the fourth sets,
Michigan remained confident
in its gameplan and unleashed
its not-so-secret weapon in the
fifth set, senior outside hitter
Carly Skjodt. She finished the
match with 23 kills, tied for the
team lead.
“In
the
fifth
we
really
challenged her to be super
aggressive and bang out of
trouble,”
Rosen
said.
“You
know, when we’re in trouble,
we tell her to just go after it, and
don’t just try to keep the ball in
play. Carly did a great job in the
fifth set, and she was great all
weekend.”
Equally
great
was
Paige
Jones, the freshman outside
hitter from Ohio, about whom
Rosen gushed.
“She was playing in her home
state, against the big school in
her state and she had her whole
high school there, probably even
her county was there,” Rosen
said. “That’s a lot of pressure
to have on you as an 18-year
old freshman. And she played
outstanding, and that tells you
a lot about her fortitude and her
makeup. She’s a kid who’s not
afraid of those moments.”
As Rosen alluded to, the
stage
elevated
Jones’
play.
She finished the match with a
career high 23 kills, which tied
the veteran Skjodt for the team
lead.
Coming off the rivalry game
in Columbus though, Michigan
had a hiccup in its first set
against the Terrapins, and lost,
25-19.
“Maryland came out and was
serving the leather off of the
ball.” Rosen said. “They were
playing clean defense, they
were great offensively and we
just couldn’t get anything going.
“But that’s why we reset it
and play best of five.”
And in an odd second set
where the Wolverines won with
just eight kills — around half
their season average for kills-
per-set — they mentally reset.
Michigan came out firing on all
cylinders in the next two sets
and never looked back en route
to a four-set victory.
But
as
the
Wolverines
progress deeper into the season,
Rosen knows more work is
needed to tack onto his now 401
wins.
“Since we’ve got some youth
on the court,” Rosen said, “we’ve
got to continue to develop those
guys and progress to where, by
the end of the year, six weeks
from now, we’re playing our
best volleyball.”
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
ADAM RICH
Daily Sports Editor
VOLLEYBALL
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior forward Will Lockwood has notched three points through three games for the Wolverines so far this season.