8 — Thursday, November 1, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Eli Brooks looking for
increased role this year
Eli Brooks’ phone rang, and
DeAndre Haynes was on the
other end.
Haynes, an assistant coach on
the Michigan men’s basketball
team, called Brooks to give the
sophomore guard a little extra
boost before the season.
“Man, I’m proud of you,”
Haynes said. “Just keep doing
what you’re doing, keep being
a great leader and keep playing
with confidence.”
It would be easy for Brooks to
lose the faith. At the start of last
year, the point guard position
was one of the Wolverines’
most pressing questions, and
for a time, Brooks looked like he
could be the answer. He earned
the starting job in November,
but had lost it by January.
Brooks
faded
into
the
background
as
then-
sophomore
Zavier
Simpson
broke out on defense. He was
eclipsed as backup point guard
by fifth-year senior Jaaron
Simmons and backup shooting
guard by freshman Jordan
Poole. By February, Brooks
was averaging less than five
minutes a game.
This year will be different.
Brooks knows he won’t have
a starting role, with Simpson
and Poole firmly entrenched
at the ‘1’ and ‘2,’ respectively.
But Brooks has a different
perspective, an improved game
and with it, a clearer path to
more playing time.
“He handled it last year
really well and … he got
chances to go back on the scout
team and really get reps,” said
Michigan coach John Beilein.
“And he’s been one of our best
players this fall.”
Brooks’ experience with the
scout team led him to take more
of a leadership role among the
freshmen, especially forward
Ignas Brazdeikis and guard
David DeJulius — something
he didn’t do last year. He has
never been very vocal, but
with Simpson’s fiery “bulldog”
personality, he doesn’t need to
be.
Instead, Brooks leads by
example.
Frequently,
he
stays after practice with the
freshmen, teaching them the
finer points of the game. It helps
them, but it also helps him.
“It’s just his confidence,”
Haynes said. “He’s just been a
great teammate. I was telling
someone earlier, the things
(guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman) was doing with him
last year and doing with the
team, you see him doing.”
During his time on the bench,
Brooks learned the importance
of confidence — something
that has increased with his
leadership. Beilein and Haynes
have noticed the difference,
and the improvements that
have come along with it.
Beilein praised Brooks for
shooting the ball as well as any
Wolverine. Haynes mentioned
him as one of Michigan’s best
defenders — high praise for a
player on one of the country’s
best defensive teams. If those
changes show up in games,
other teams will start to notice,
too.
“We don’t know if he’ll back
up at the point, play more of the
‘2,’ I don’t know what,” Beilein
said. “But he’s gonna be on the
court.”
After last year, Brooks could
have given up and resigned
himself to a diminished role.
Instead, he recognized his
unique position to help other
players improve — and carved
out a place for himself in the
process. And no matter what
position he plays this year,
Brooks knows he has a lot to
offer, on and off the court.
“Just
maintaining
your
confidence, cause that’s one of
the biggest things I learned,”
Brooks said. “You’re gonna
have highs and lows, but just
being able to limit the lows is
one way to stay on top.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
From PSU to PSU, Kwity Paye filling potential
Last season’s matchup with
Penn State is one that many
Wolverines have tried not to
forget.
The
Nittany
Lions
embarrassed
the
Michigan
football team, 42-13, and went so
far as trying to score late in the
game when they could have just
run out the clock.
Defensive
coordinator
Don
Brown has said he wakes up every
morning and thinks about that
game. His players have echoed
that sentiment.
For sophomore defensive end
Kwity Paye, though, the memory
is a little bit different. Sure, he
wants revenge against Penn
State just like any of the other
Wolverines. But in last year’s
game, when things got out of
hand and the starters subbed out,
Paye showed his capability. He
finished with three tackles — one
for a loss — and assisted on a sack,
which was the first of his career.
That gave a glimpse of what could
be expected from him when he
rose to the top of the depth chart.
“It was exciting last year,
finally getting my first sack,”
Paye said on Tuesday. “But this
year, you know, trying to get some
more sacks, obviously. You know,
just trying to get that new page
and just keep working.”
With junior defensive end
Rashan Gary sidelined the last
three games due to injury, Paye
has gotten another opportunity,
and he has gotten more sacks.
Two, to be exact.
More importantly, though, the
Michigan defense hasn’t missed
a beat with Gary’s absence. Paye
has filled in for him seamlessly.
“When I found out I was going
to be starting the Maryland
game, I was a little nervous. I was
a little on the edge,” Paye said.
“(Gary) was just like, ‘Don’t be
nervous. You’ve been doing this.
You’ve been working throughout
two camps, and you know what
you’re doing, so just go out there
and play your game.’ ”
Paye says he finally relieved
himself of his nerves after the
Wisconsin game. In his words,
the Badgers’ offensive line was
“big as hell,” and once he and
the Wolverines defense hung
in against them, he knew he
belonged.
“After I played with them, I
was like, I can hang,” Paye said.
“After that, I just started going
out and playing my game.”
That might mean more than
just his play.
The Rhode Island native is
admittedly
quiet,
something
his
teammates
corroborate.
But against Michigan State last
week, Paye came out of his shell.
Maybe it was the rivalry and
the emotions surrounding that
particular game, or maybe it’s the
growing self-confidence, but Paye
began talking trash on the field,
as Michigan held the Spartans to
94 total yards.
“Kwity is a really quiet person
until something happens,” said
sophomore defensive tackle Carlo
Kemp. “Then you look over, like,
‘That was Kwity doing that?’
So, you know, it’s fun getting to
see when Kwity brings out his
personality. He does that on the
field a lot.”
So what exactly does that look
like?
“All you see come out of Kwity
is his teeth,” Kemp said.
Added Paye: “Usually I don’t
like to talk a lot. But that game,
we were jawing at each other, us
and the offensive linemen, so it
was real fun.”
In
the
end,
though,
the
burgeoning personality is a side
piece, and possibly a product of
what really matters. If you had
told Wolverines fans before the
season that they would have to
face the Badgers and Michigan
State without Gary, there would
have been concern.
But
Michigan’s
defense
dominated both offenses. With
the 14th-ranked Nittany Lions
coming into town, Gary still
might not be healthy enough to
play. And yet the Wolverines are
double-digit favorites.
That is, in part, because Paye
has followed through on the
potential he showed a year ago in
Happy Valley.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Sophomore defensive end Kwity Paye got his first career sack against Penn State last season, and since then, he has developed into a solid option on the line.
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
Saturday’s game is for Don Brown
I
t’s been well publicized
at this point that Don
Brown thinks about last
year’s 42-13
loss to Penn
State every
day. That’s
376 days
replaying the
deepest stain
on his three
years at
Michigan.
The 506
yards and 42
points the
Nittany Lions put up exposed
his seemingly impervious
scheme. Recently, Brown
showed the defensive players
a clip of Penn State going
for another gut-punching
touchdown as time expired
last season. With part of his
memory reserved for that
game, he didn’t need the
extra motivation. His players
probably didn’t either.
“We still remember,
fourth quarter, five seconds
left in the game, they had
their players in, they ran a
last play,” said sophomore
defensive end Kwity Paye.
“So we put that in our back
pocket and we just remember
that every single day as
we’re working that they
disrespected us.”
For a defensive coordinator
that Jim Harbaugh called
“one of the all-time great
football coaches in the history
of the game,” this weekend’s
game is reclamation of that
description.
Saturday, whether the
outcome is good or bad, is for
Don Brown.
The 63-year-old walked
through the door Wednesday
afternoon with a spry jaunt to
meet with the media.
“Happy Halloween,” he said
to the scrum. “What are you
dressing up as?”
In response to junior safety
Josh Metellus calling him an
“old man,” Brown says he’s
dressing as a younger version
of himself, though his black
sweater and khakis suggested
he wasn’t in costume yet.
And therein lies Brown’s
mystique. Behind a mustache,
Boston accent
and story-
filled wrinkles,
Brown is
chipper with
no signs of
restlessness. He
is coaching one
of the biggest
games of his
lengthy career
— Big Ten
Championship
and College Football Playoff
implications at stake — and he
remains measured and funny
with his answers.
“That’s what happens in
41 years — you win some
battles, some you’re not gonna
win. But at the end of the
day, you’ve gotta get better,”
Brown said. “The thing that
drives me is when I don’t give
our players the best possible
chance. I want to make sure I
remind myself
of that. … At
the same time,
you’ve gotta
move on and
learn from it.
Make sure you
have all the
tools in the
toolbox at your
disposal. Don’t
say ‘Ah, we’re
good without
that.’ ”
Brown won’t tell you what’s
in his toolbox this year that
wasn’t last year, because he
is still implementing it in
his stalwart defense. But his
defense is smarter and more
trustworthy, they can talk on
more defensive concepts and
be better at it.
“You have to have a cerebral
approach,” Brown said. “I was
looking at third-down stuff,
we repeated
a bunch of
stuff on third
down against
Michigan State
two weeks ago.
But you go back
beyond that —
Northwestern,
Nebraska,
just going
back — there’s
somewhere
about 65 different concepts
that we’ve challenged
opposing offenses with.”
And then, Brown gets asked
how he knows his players love
football. In other words, how
does a football guy recognize
another football guy?
“You can’t come here and
play football here and not love
football because it’s too much
a part of your DNA,” Brown
said. “This isn’t Happy Jack
City. You better
like football,
and you better
like the things
that go into it.”
He hasn’t
even discussed
this year’s Penn
State team yet.
That doesn’t
happen until
12 minutes into
an 18-minute
conversation, and lasts two
minutes.
He likes quarterback Trace
McSorley, wide receivers K.J.
Hamler and Juwan Johnson,
running back Miles Sanders
and tight end Pat Freiermuth.
It’s a listicle of the primary
weapons that Michigan’s
defense will see from the
Nittany Lions.
Then, it’s back to his
unit and its most recent
performance: allowing just 94
yards to Michigan State.
“Just relief for another
week,” Brown said of his
reaction. “I’ll share something
with you — that didn’t
surprise me. This team, this
defensive football team that
we’re coaching presently, is
the best practice team I’ve
ever been around. I don’t have
to out there with my hair
on fire, screaming on guys,
‘You’ve gotta hustle, you’ve
gotta run, get to the ball, blah
blah blah.’ This team practices
like they’re supposed to
practice.”
Don Brown could just be
doing Don Brown things and
complimenting his guys. But
even when poked and prodded
for answers, he didn’t dwell
for too long on last year and
what he is preparing for this
year.
He’s felt accountable for
over a year about last season’s
blowout, and shares that
feeling with his players. Of
course that’s what he wants
to talk about. His defense is
fourth in points allowed and
first in yards allowed per
game, after all.
On Saturday, a replication
of last year’s nightmare
can undo all of this year’s
accomplishments and
squander a hopeful season.
Or Brown and his players can
turn the table and keep title
dreams intact.
“Happy Halloween,” Brown
repeated with a smile as he
finished his press conference.
The mental weight of 376
frustrating days were nowhere
be seen.
Wolfe can be reached
eewolfe@umich.edu or on
Twitter @ethanewolfe
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown says he has thought about last season’s Penn State game every day since the Wolverines lost, 42-13.
“But at the
end of the day,
you’ve gotta get
better.”
“This isn’t
Happy Jack
City. You better
like football.”
ETHAN
WOLFE