8A — Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Hughes, Norris return from World Juniors with experience in hand
Josh
Norris
and
Quinn
Hughes were no strangers to U20
World Juniors. It was only one
year ago the sophomore forwards
had both appeared in it together
for Team USA, earning a bronze
medal.
Returning to the scene once
more — this time in Vancouver
and Victoria, Ont. — they had
their eyes set on gold.
“It was obviously a lot of
fun anytime you can go and
represent your country,” Norris
said. “Obviously that’s a pretty
big tournament and something
that you grow up dreaming about
playing in.”
The duo ended with eight
points and a plus-minus of nine
between the two. Their impacts,
however, were more than just on
the stat sheet.
“It’s nice having a familiarity
there with Josh,” Hughes said
to SiriusXM. “I kind of know
what he likes to do and I’m sure
he knows what I like to do so
whenever we’re out on the ice,
it’s easier.”
After a slow start that ended in
a narrow 2-1 win over Slovakia,
Hughes
emphasized
USA’s
growth and unity
as a team.
“For
us,
we
just got to keep
building
every
game,”
Hughes
said to SiriusXM.
“I
think
from
the
first
game
to the end of the
tournament, we’ll
be a completely
different
team.
So us every day we just got
to continue getting better so
hopefully for today’s game we’re
better today than two days ago.”
Hughes
and
Norris
were
named alternate captains before
the start of the tournament,
putting a bigger burden on them
than just playing their best. They
had to be leaders.
“You can have different kind
of leaders,” Hughes said. “I think
for me, just working really hard
on the ice and showing that you
really care, and that’s what I kind
of attract to.”
The
team
got after it in
the
following
match
against
Kazakhstan,
ending
in
a
dominant
8-2
win.
Hughes
contributed
an
assist
to
take
the
lead
after
Kazakhstan
tied the game at one apiece. He
sparked the power play goal after
drawing the defense by passing
the puck back and forth across
the blue line. Norris tallied
an assist and the eighth and
final goal of the game to cap a
commanding performance.
Even
after
the
beatdown,
Norris thought the team hadn’t
reached its full potential. It
wasn’t until the following game,
against Sweden, that he saw
the team grow. After allowing a
three-goal deficit through two
periods, Team USA looked out of
sorts as it allowed in a fourth goal
minutes after the third period
started.
However, the
team scored four
unanswered
goals to tie the
game — one of
which came off
a Hughes assist
— and pushed it
into
overtime,
where the team
ultimately failed
to
secure
the
comeback win.
Despite the close loss, Norris
says that game will stick with
him.
“I think the Sweden game,
our round robin game against
Sweden, we were down 4-1 with
eight minutes left, and (St. Cloud
State forward Jake Poehling) hit
three in the last eight minutes
and that was pretty crazy.
“That kind of gave our team
a little bit of life, and right after
that game is where we took off.
We all kind of believed in each
other a little bit more, that was
probably the moment that stuck
out to me.”
Norris would add an assist
and a game-winning goal in the
team’s subsequent wins over
Finland and Czech Republic, 4-1
and 3-1, respectively.
He
also
generated
multiple scoring
opportunities in
the
semifinals
against
Russia
that ended in a
2-1 win for USA.
“It
was
the
first time in the
tourney
people
were
actually
cheering
for
us,” joked U.S.
National
Team
Development
program player Jack Hughes to
SiriusXM after the match.
Despite his solid performance
throughout,
Norris’
biggest
achievement was in the final
match Jan. 5 against Finland. The
team had dug a 2-0 hole and after
50 minutes of play, the deficit
was cut to only one. Hitting a
one-timer from the right circle,
Norris scored the equalizer that
rejuvenated not only the players
on the ice but the entire bench.
“Everyone was really excited
because we were down two
nothing to a really good team,”
Quinn Hughes said. “It’s hard to
score goals in that tournament,
so when he scored you could just
feel the energy on the bench and
in the stadium, that it was tied up
and we were all really excited.
“There was a confidence on
the bench that once we tied it up,
we’d be OK.”
Added
Norris:
“It
was
obviously a pretty big momentum
change and probably one of the
biggest goals I’ve ever scored and
I was on a high there for 15, 20
seconds.”
Team USA went on to lose the
match 3-2, earning a silver medal.
But
despite
being
unable
to
secure
the
victory,
the
tournament offered Hughes and
Norris a change of pace from
college hockey.
“The NCAA’s pretty tough,”
Hughes said to the Victoria
media group. “You’re playing
24-25 year old men actually, and
the guys aren’t as strong, but
you’re playing more elite players
so sometimes they’re a little bit
more skilled.”
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes competed alongside teammate Josh Norris at the World Junior Championships.
“I know I’m capable of knocking down those shots”: The terrifying
proposition of Jon Teske, the 3-point shooter, and how it became possible
Jon Teske stood at the free-
throw line with Eli Brooks
about five feet to his right.
The two operated in tandem —
Teske dropping back behind the
3-point line to where Brooks
once stood, Brooks vacating his
original position to seal off two
defenders with a screen at the
stripe.
Next came the pass from
junior guard Zavier Simpson.
Then came the shot by Teske.
Then came the sound of ball
catching nylon.
Then it happened again.
Two minutes later, Brooks
drove the lane, drawing Teske’s
defender to help. Teske stepped
back across the arc and fired
away. The ball rattled home.
The next possession saw the
exact same play and the exact
same result.
Here was Brooks, a 6-foot-
1, 185-pound guard, setting an
off-ball
screen
to
spring
his
7-foot-1
center
for a 3-pointer.
Here
was
the
center
setting
up and knocking
it down delay-
free. Here was
Teske, who had
hit just five treys
in
his
career
before
Sunday,
hitting three in the first half
alone.
Michigan’s
80-60
win
Sunday
over
Northwestern
did not actually take place in
a parallel universe, although
it may have seemed that way
for those 150 seconds. Nor did
Teske somehow switch bodies
with a certain tall, sweet-
shooting Los Angeles Lakers
rookie, even if
that may have
appeared to be
the case too.
No, this was
Jon Teske, all 85
inches and 260
pounds of him,
doing
exactly
what many have
long hoped he’d
be doing.
Teske
shot
3-pointers
at
Medina
High
School in Ohio. But in Ann
Arbor, the anticipation started
last
spring,
when
Moritz
Wagner and his 110 career
threes departed for the NBA
Draft and was drafted by the
Lakers. Of all the off-season
storylines
surrounding
the
Wolverines, Teske’s improved
outside stroke was one of the
most prominent. It was the
intrigue of something unseen
and the allure of yet another
behemoth gunning teams down
from deep. If Teske’s shooting
was as accurate as hyped,
Michigan’s pick-and-pop game
— so deadly with Wagner as an
outlet — wouldn’t miss a beat.
“Jon Teske has shot the ball
really well (in practice),” said
Michigan coach John Beilein
on Sept. 25. “Having a big man
that can shoot, you all see what
can happen, it made everybody
else better last year. Having Jon
be able to do that … (that’s) big
to get those big men that can
shoot.”
Added Teske: “Now that
Moe’s gone, it’s my turn to
step up. And I think with my
capability shooting the three, I
can really stretch the floor and
help us win games.”
Teske has indeed helped
the Wolverines win games in
many ways, but
until
Sunday,
shooting wasn’t
exactly
among
them.
In
his
two-
plus
years
on
campus, Teske’s
grown
from
a
whistle-prone
freshman
into
a
mature
rim
protector
who
keeps his arms up and defends
without fouling. In his first
season, he committed 6.7 fouls
per 40 minutes. This year, he’s
sliced that rate in half.
Teske once ran out of energy
quickly, but he now has both
the defensive acumen and the
stamina to average 27 minutes
a night, including a career-
high 35 minutes on Sunday. His
ability to switch onto guards on
the perimeter has allowed him
to anchor Michigan’s defense
both inside and outside.
“Jon Teske’s come a long
way,” said Purdue coach Matt
Painter after his team lost,
76-57, to the Wolverines on Dec.
1. “He’s bypassed a lot of people,
in my opinion, that he competes
against. ... I don’t know him
personally, but there’s no way
he hasn’t worked hard, because
he was a long way away two
years ago.”
Added Northwestern coach
Chris Collins after his team’s
62-60 loss to Michigan on Dec.
4: “The development he’s made
this year has really added to
(Michigan’s) weaponry, so to
speak. They don’t have many
holes.”
Teske
has
only
showed
flashes of the awaited range.
But
as
with
Simpson,
a
maligned shooter who went
5-for-10 from deep against the
Wildcats, what’s been more
telling is the Wolverines’, and
Teske’s, unwillingness to go
away from the three-ball. Teske
had
attempted
22
threes
before
Sunday,
including seven
over Michigan’s
last three games.
“I
think
(Teske’s
confidence)
never wavered,”
said
redshirt
junior
wing
Charles
Matthews.
“(He)
just
understood that shots were
going to fall at some point,
kept taking those shots, kept
believing in it.”
On Sunday, Teske came out
firing. Though most of his prior
3-point attempts were basic
pick-and-pop looks, against the
Wildcats, he showed a greater
willingness to move without
the ball and hunt his own shots.
He faded out of the post to pop
in a 16-footer from the right
wing on the Wolverines’ fourth
possession, and hit a long two
from the left wing one trip
later, part of a 10-0 start. Later
in the half, the 3-point barrage
came in full force.
“I
know
I’m
capable
of
knocking down those shots,”
Teske said. “Just finding the
right shots within the offense
… If the shot’s there, I’m going
to take it. I’m not going to force
anything.”
It’s too early to tell if
Sunday’s
17-point,
3-of-5
shooting performance was just
another flash.
But if it isn’t? That’s a scary
proposition for the Big Ten,
as
Michigan’s
seven-footer
continues to grow.
ANNIE KLUS/Daily
Junior center Jon Teske had only hit five 3-pointers in his career before Sunday, when he went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in an 80-60 win over Northwestern.
“It’s hard
to score
goals in that
tournament.”
“(Jon Teske)
was a long way
away two years
ago.”
“Probably one
of the biggest
goals I’ve ever
scored.”
“(That’s) big to
get those big
men that can
shoot.”
JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Editor
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer