An evolution and a new breed of Wolverine

D

oes the name Maverick 
Morgan ring a bell?
In case it doesn’t, 
Morgan was 
a center for 
Illinois from 
2013 to 2017 
and had a 
perfectly 
fine career, 
averaging 
5.6 points 
per game 
in 135 total 
appearances. 
But if you 
primarily follow the Michigan 
men’s basketball team, that’s 
not what you remember him for.
“They are more of a white-
collar team traditionally and at 
Illinois we’re about toughness 
and together,” Morgan said 
of the Wolverines after his 
Fighting Illini thumped them, 
85-69, in January of 2017.
Michigan, of course, returned 
the favor later that year, 
ending Illinois’ season on the 
way to an unexpected Big Ten 
Tournament title and Sweet 
16 appearance. But everyone 
makes statements they might 
regret making later on. I’m not 
bringing this up to make fun of 
Morgan.
Maybe you remember him, 
and maybe you don’t. What you 
do remember is his perception.
And, well, if “white-collar” 
maybe wasn’t the most refined 
wording, it’s not 
like it was unfair.
When you 
remember the 
Wolverine teams 
of the mid-2010s, 
you don’t think 
of physical freaks 
crashing the 
boards, swatting 
shots into the 
second row or 
driving hard to 
the rim. Instead, you think of 
precise ball movement, constant 
motion and Trey Burke, Nik 
Stauskas and Moritz Wagner 
draining triples from all over 
the court.
You won’t find much of that 
on this year’s roster. Where 
Burke, the 2013 Naismith 
Award-winner, once manned 
the point, there’s junior Zavier 
Simpson, a pitbull of a defender 
with a limited offensive game, 

but the heart of the team 
regardless. On the wing, visions 
of Stauskas and his silky-
smooth 3-point stroke have 
given way to redshirt junior 
Charles Matthews — one of the 
best athletes Beilein’s coached 
at Michigan, but a mere 56 
percent foul shooter. The holes 
created by the departures of 
Wagner and Duncan Robinson 
this offseason are being filled 
by sophomore Isaiah Livers — a 
versatile defender and strong 
rebounding presence — and 
junior Jon Teske — a hulking, 
7-foot-1 rim-protecting colossus.
As a team, Michigan shot 
above 35 percent from 3-point 
range every year since 2011. 
Only one player on the roster — 
sophomore guard Jordan Poole 
— did so last season.
The first glimpse of the 
2018-2019 Wolverines came 
last Friday against Division II 
Northwood. Michigan took just 
11 3-pointers, scoring 56 of 90 
points in the paint and 24 on 
the fast break. It didn’t make its 
first three until 19 minutes into 
the game. It forced 10 steals, 
which led to 22 points. Simpson 
and Poole jumped passing lanes, 
led the break and got to the rim. 
Livers and freshman forward 
Ignas Brazdeikis ran the wheels 
off the Timberwolves and threw 
down transition slams.
It was an exhibition, sure, but 
it told this much: these aren’t 
your parents’ 
Wolverines.
“We’re 
definitely going 
to be another 
really good 
defending team,” 
Poole said. 
“We’re going to 
want to get up 
and down the 
floor extremely 
fast and get it out 
and go. Lot of high-flyers, lot of 
attack-the-rim guys, back cuts 
and being able to throw lobs. 
This is an extremely athletic 
team, and we’re able to attack 
more and get to the basket 
more.”
Michigan coach John Beilein 
has spoken of the need to adapt 
his complex offensive system to 
his team’s personnel. He’s also 
aware that his team will rely 
first and foremost on an elite 

defense.
But it’s one thing for a coach 
to tailor his gameplan to the 
strengths of his roster, or to 
preach attacking, downhill 
offense and tough, hard-nosed 
defending. Mostly, that’s just 
good coaching.
It’s another thing entirely 
for a team to take scrappy 
defense and aggressive offense 
to heart and make it its identity 
— especially a team whose 
identity, until recently, has been 
the complete opposite.
That identity was apparent 
when the Wolverines finished 
with the third-most efficient 
defense in the country last 
season. It’s apparent when 
Beilein states that Simpson and 
Matthews — the upperclass 
leaders of the team — will “not 
let you not play defense.” It’s 
apparent when players and 
coaches mention the defensive 
improvement of players such as 
Poole, whose inconsistent effort 
often kept him off the court last 
year.
Under Beilein, Michigan 
has had five top-30 seasons in 
offensive efficiency, per Ken 

Pomeroy’s advanced ratings 
system. Until last season, 
though, it had never had a 
defense rank above 37th.
But last season, that all began 
to change. A misfit group of role 
players, unheralded veterans 
and promising 
freshmen clicked 
with a defensive 
mastermind 
in first-year 
assistant coach 
Luke Yaklich, 
with Simpson’s 
tenacious 
leadership 
spurring them 
on. An offense 
that was, 
for Michigan’s standards, 
inconsistent, did just enough 
to win, and occasionally much 
more. It all culminated in one of 
the more unexpected Final Four 
runs in recent memory.
This year, the evolution is just 
about complete. The Wolverines 
have taken a formula that 
worked last season and doubled 
down on it this year.
“We built a name last year 
that we could be a pretty good 

defensive team,” Simpson 
said at Michigan’s media 
day in October. “This year, 
it’s a different breed on this 
team, and that breed is more 
aggressive.”
In a sport with as much 
season-to-
season change 
and personnel 
turnover 
as college 
basketball, 
however, 
flexibility is 
key. Maybe in 
a year, another 
evolution will 
take place. Maybe 
Poole, Livers and 
freshmen such as Adrien Nunez, 
David DeJulius and Colin 
Castleton start bombing away 
in a fashion resembling the 
Wolverines of yesteryear.
But it’s unlikely that anyone 
will be calling Michigan 
“white-collar” anytime soon.

Shames can be reached at 

jacosham@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @Jacob_Shames

Tuesday, November 6, 2018 // TIP OFF 2018
3B 

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Junior guard Zavier Simpson, one of the best defenders on the roster, exemplifies Michigan’s new mentality on the court.

JACOB
SHAMES

“This year, it’s 
a different 
breed on the 
team...”

This year, the 
evolution is 
just about 
complete.

