6A — Thursday, October 25, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan players using different methods to improve mental strength

Assistant 
coach 
DeAndre 
Haynes preaches the importance 
of having a short-term memory 
on the court. When Isaiah 
Livers first heard the advice, 
the sophomore forward found 
it so striking, he wrote it on 
his shoe. That way, every time 
Livers looked down, he would 
remember to forget, developing 
an aspect of his game that was 
largely absent last year.
In basketball, the ability to 
block out noise and remain 
calm amid distractions is a vital 
and underrated aspect of the 
game — a skill many players 
don’t develop until later in their 
careers. But in the offseason, 
when 
the 
Michigan 
men’s 
basketball team’s practice time 
is limited, many players worked 
on their mental games — and 
they’re beginning to see it pay 
off.
Livers didn’t stop at his shoes. 
He spent a lot of time reading 
books by his idol Bruce Lee.
“I learned more about, life is 
gonna happen, you just gotta let 
it,” Livers said. “ … That sticks 
with me every day now. Even 
before practice, I think about it, 
like if you’re gonna miss a shot, 
you were supposed to miss a 
shot because it’s what fate had 
for you, so I kinda don’t try to 
control everything as much as I 
did.”
Livers 
didn’t 
make 
a 
single 3-pointer in the NCAA 
Tournament. It’s a stat that still 
sticks with him — a byproduct 
of not having enough of a short-
term memory last year. A jump 
shot is all about fluidity and 
muscle memory, and because of 
that, being slightly off mentally 
can have a big impact physically. 
It’s a lesson Livers now wishes 
he could have used in every 
game of the postseason.
That’s why the coaches have 
also 
been 
emphasizing 
the 
psychological 
aspect 
of 
the 
sport. Michigan coach John 

Beilein has brought in a person 
to 
run 
guided 
meditation 
sessions and help players with 
the mental side of free-throw 
shooting. Sometimes, it works 
almost too well.
“We’ve 
been 
doing a lot of 
meditation,” 
Haynes 
said. 
“(Beilein) 
brought in a guy 
the 
other 
day, 
and we all was in 
the media room, 
and he actually 
put 
a 
lot 
of 
people to sleep. 
He just taught us 
to relax.”
And while meditation can 
seem soporific to some, many 
players 
have 
discovered 
its 
benefits — and credit it with 
improving their mental game on 
and off the court.

“It’s done a lot,” said junior 
guard Zavier Simpson. “At first, 
I’m not gonna say I wasn’t a fan 
of it, I just didn’t do it. As I began 
to mature, so I would probably 
say beginning of last year, I 
started doing a 
lot of meditation 
amongst myself 
and just trying 
to read certain 
books 
that 
dealing 
with 
mental 
health, 
just 
trying 
to 
make 
life 
and 
basketball 
and 
everything 
around me a lot 
easier.”
Simpson keeps his specific 
meditation practices to himself, 
but he’s also happy to give his 
teammates advice if they ask. 
After all, as one of the team’s 
veterans — and one who has 

faced his fair share of adversity 
— he has a lot to offer to younger 
players beyond his on-court 
presence.
He frequently tells teammates 
to find little segments of time to 
relax and take 
their minds away 
from everything 
else going on — 
even if it’s just 
a few minutes 
per night spent 
reading or doing 
meditation. 
Many 
of 
the 
underclassmen 
are 
now 
discovering how 
much of a difference it can make.
“I’ve been doing a lot of 
yoga 
and 
meditation,” 
said 
sophomore guard Jordan Poole. 
“More relax time. I’m saying 
I used to just want to hurry up 
and leave and go somewhere last 

year.”
Poole went beyond just taking 
time to relax. After a brush with 
celebrity following his buzzer-
beating March Madness shot 
against Houston, Poole wanted 
to 
learn 
more 
about 
himself. 
He deleted most 
social 
media. 
He 
went 
to 
pumpkin farms. 
He watched real 
estate-themed 
TV shows with 
his parents. And 
most of all, he 
took the time to 
learn new things 
and discover everything the 
world had to offer.
Last year, Poole was always 
moving. Now he knows the 
importance of slowing down.
“(I learned) to be extremely 
composed, not get overwhelmed 

with things because when so 
much is getting thrown at you, 
you can start to … freak out a lot 
and and start moving too fast 
and not go back to the basics,” 
Poole said. “But when things 
are being thrown at you, and 
you’re able to just relax and in 
the moment and calm down and 
take things slowly, I feel like it 
helps on the court and off the 
court.”
The mental side of the game 
is 
something 
players 
often 
learn from each other, and for 
no teammates is that more true 
than Poole and Livers. Over 
the summer, the two hung out 
constantly, 
swapping 
video 
games, TV shows and books. 
Even subconsciously, the best 
aspects of Poole’s effervescent 
personality and Livers’ mellower 
one influenced the other.
“I 
noticed 
(Poole) 
was 
changing 
and 
getting 
more 
mature. He used to be late to 
everything. Now he’s more on 
time,” Livers said. “No matter 
what it was, he was late, so I was 
like, ‘Dang!’ I think he’s more, I 
think I rubbed off more on him.
“ … That swag and that chip 
on his shoulder rubbed off on me 
a lot because the offseason I was 
working on my mental game and 
just hearing his positivity every 
day helped me a lot.”
In theory, the changes are 
simple. But in a sport where 
the right frame of mind can 
be the difference between a 
flood of shots and a scoring 
drought, those changes can be 
monumental. And while every 
player has a different method 
of developing confidence and 
ignoring distractions, everyone 
has started to see the value in it.
“Just 
finding 
peace 
and 
blocking out all the noise,” said 
junior center Jon Teske. “ … I 
think that’s a big part of the 
game too.
“ … I kinda just, kinda clear 
my mind. I love naps, so I kinda 
just take a nap.”
As long as they’re not during 
meditation sessions.

EVAN AARON/Daily
Sophomore forward Isaiah Livers wrote a message on his shoes to remind himself to have a short memory, especially after he makes a mistake on the court.

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

“I kinda don’t 
try to control 
everything as 
much as I did.”

“I’ve been 
doing a lot 
of yoga and 
meditation.”

Jake Slaker helping Wolverines’ top line of Josh Norris and Will Lockwood 

You saw a taste of it Friday 
night against No. 19 Western 
Michigan.
Jake Slaker, Josh Norris and 
Will Lockwood made things 
happen.
However, 
in 
the 
opening 
game of the season, the No. 11 
Michigan hockey team’s top 
line had a slightly different 
look. Instead of junior forward 
Slaker, Michigan head coach 
Mel Pearson chose to go with 
sophomore 
forward 
Michael 
Pastujov in his stead, opting for 
a moderately bigger and more 
physical option in the crafty, 
speedy line.
And though the line produced 
a goal, a change was needed 
after a 5-2 loss against Vermont 
in the opener.
And that change was Slaker.
Slaker had been the heir 
apparent for the first line after 
the previous year’s top line — 
the Dancs, Marody, Calderone 
line — had departed. Of the 
returning players, Slaker had the 
second most points and the most 
goals at 27 and 15, respectively. 
And more importantly, he did 
it with Norris as a linemate. So 
it was a surprise to many when 
he was put on the third line 
instead.
But upon being promoted 
to 
the 
first 
line, 
Slaker’s 
performance has justified the 
decision.
Since his entry into the line, 
the 
top-line 
forwards 
have 
produced three goals and two 
assists.
“Last year, Slaker played with 
Norris pretty well the whole 
year. I just showed Josh the 
line chart today from last year 
when we played in the regional,” 
Pearson said. “We had Slaker 
and Warren and Norris together. 
So Josh and Jake played well 
together and we feel there’s 
some chemistry between Will 
and Josh right now. And you’re 
trying to find that chemistry.”
Chemistry 
is 
essential 
for success in any sport, but 
especially hockey. As Slaker 
noted — the game is so fast that 

sometimes the players don’t 
even have a chance to look and 
see where their linemates are.
“Sometimes, you don’t really 
have a chance to look,” Slaker 
said. “You kinda just know 
where the guy is or you kinda 
sense where the guy is and I 
think that just comes with time 
and situations and we’ve only 
played 
two 
games 
together 
this year and now we’ve got 
Lockwood, a new linemate, 
so I think once we play a little 
longer together, it’ll really add 
the chemistry.”
In Friday’s matchup against 
Western, 
Norris 
initiated 
an offensive attack midway 
through the second period. 
Slipping through the defense, he 
drew the defenders and brought 

the puck to Joseph Cecconi, who 
in turn passed to Lockwood. Set 
in front of the net, Lockwood 
scored 
Michigan’s 
second-
power play goal of the game. 
“They’re 
all 
good 
players,” 
Pearson 
said. 
“They 
all 
can 
skate, They all 
can score. They 
all 
can 
create 
offense.”
And 
the 
offensive 
push 
continued 
minutes 
later, 
this time with 
Slaker.
“It was a power play goal,” 
Slaker said. “Quinn made a nice 
pass to Josh, and Josh likes to 

take that one tee on that side, 
and it’s one of those things 
where usually the net front guy 
falls off back door just to be 
an option. If he does miss the 
netter or if he 
does 
rebound, 
then I’m right 
there.”
Having 
fought 
for 
position, Slaker 
capitalized after 
a 
hard 
battle 
for the front of 
the net. Earlier 
in 
the 
week 
during practice, 
Norris had approached Slaker 
to talk about what to do in that 
situation. It was a chemistry-
building moment that can only 

strengthen a line. So during the 
talk, Norris suggested to Slaker 
to fall off and put his stick 
towards the net.
“Honestly, I didn’t even see 
the puck,” Slaker said. “It came 
so fast, I just had my stick and 
placed it and I felt it go off.
“I was just pretty excited. Just 
one of those situations where 
you kinda get the ball rolling for 
the season, and happy it came 
then because it turned out to be 
a pretty big goal as it came down 
to a 6-5 game.”
And it wasn’t just Slaker who 
had the ball rolling. The three 
linemates and their chemistry 
displayed potential throughout 
the weekend that had Pearson 
seeing flashes of last season.
“We saw some good things,” 

Pearson 
said. 
“We’ve 
seen 
Norris score, we saw Slaker 
score, we saw Lockwood score 
this weekend so that’s good. 
We think that can be a really 
dominate line, not unlike the run 
‘DMC’ line we had last year, with 
Dancs, Marody and Calderone. 
We see that they can play against 
anyone else’s top line.”
The 
difference 
between 
Pastujov 
and 
Slaker’s 
top 
line impact is style. Whereas 
Pastujov has a little bit more 
physical style of play, Slaker 
complemented 
his 
linemates 
with his speed, puck control and 
puck movement.
“I think once we get our 
chemistry going, we can really 
get something special going,” 
Slaker said.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior forward Jake Slaker has fueled Michigan’s top line since he joined them after the Wolverines’ 5-2 loss to Vermont in the opening game of the season. Slaker and his linemates have improved since.

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

“Last year, 
Slaker played 
with Norris 
pretty well...”