6A — Thursday, December 5, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

After losing two All-Americans, Wolverines look toward their future

Walking into the Donald R. 
Shepherd Gymnastics Center, 
it’s near impossible to miss the 
maize and blue championship 
banners that hang in rows all 
across the ceiling. The flags — 
26 in total — create an imposing 
image against the white interior 
of the building, a constant 
reminder 
of 
the 
program’s 
success.
Freshman Gabby Wilson felt 
the weight of those banners long 
before she came to Michigan. 
Growing 
up 
in 
Ypsilanti, 
Wilson 
was 
always 
in 
the 
stands for the 
Wolverines’ 
home 
meets, 
watching 
All-
Americans like 
Sarah 
Curtis 
and 
Natalie 
Beilstein. Since 
being recruited 
her freshman year of high 
school, she’s been waiting in the 
wings, seeing Michigan rack 
up wins year after year. Now 
continuing that legacy falls on 
Wilson’s shoulders. 
“The 
hardest 
part 
(of 
the 
transition 
to 
collegiate 
gymnastics) was getting used to 
the pride of the ‘block M’ because 
in high school, we did club 
gymnastics,” 
Wilson 
said. 
“We 
weren’t 
representing our 
school and our 
sport at the same 
time. You don’t 
want to put too 
much 
pressure 
on yourself, but 
you also want to 
give your school 
a reputation.”
Michigan 
has 
quite 
a 
reputation 
already, 
clinching 
five of the last seven regular-
season Big Ten titles and 17 Big 
Ten championship wins since 

2000. With 24 titles, Michigan 
coach Bev Plocki is the most 
decorated gymnastics coach in 
the conference by a mile. The 
runner-up has just five. Last 
year, the team continued that 
success all the way to the NCAA 
Championships 
where 
they 
finished third behind UCLA and 
LSU. 
In 
recent 
history, 
the 
Wolverines’ dominance of the 
Big Ten can be largely traced 
to All-Americans and recent 
graduates 
Olivia 
Karas 
and 
Emma McLean. They held 60 
event 
and 
all-around 
titles, 
four 
NCAA 
Championship 
appearances 
and 100 routines 
scoring 9.90 or 
higher. The duo 
set the bar high 
in the gym and 
out of it, serving 
as 
leaders 
and 
helping to create 
the team culture. 
“Last 
year 
was a pretty specially year,” 
Plocki said. “I think for a lot of 
reasons, but one of them was 
definitely the leadership we had 
with Emma and Olivia. You can 
lead vocally and you can lead by 
example. Both of those two did 
both. They walked the talk. They 
were committed. They worked 
hard everyday. I think that they 
gave everything that they had 
and then some.”
After 
losing 
two 
dominant 
members of the 
team, 
Plocki 
and the rest of 
the 
coaching 
staff 
got 
right 
to work making 
plans 
for 
this 
upcoming season. 
In the end of year 
meetings 
last 
spring, the coaches analyzed 
the Wolverines’ strengths and 
how they could be replicated the 
following year. They came to the 
consensus they had to recreate 

the culture developed by Karas 
and McLean. 
“They laid the framework 
for us (current) seniors,” said 
senior captain Maddy Osman. 
“My 
whole 
class 
has 
kind of taken 
what they’ve 
done. 
We’ve 
taken 
their 
leadership, 
their 
skills, 
the way that 
they 
cheer, 
the 
way 
that 
they 
embodied the 
‘block M’ and transitioned it into 
this year.”
Plocki is confident in the 
team’s ability to pick up where 
they left off, both in terms of 

team chemistry and depth of 
talent across the squad. The 
returning athletes have a strong 
track record with three All-
Americans, 
including 
Osman 
and 
second-time 
captain, senior Lexi 
Funk, still on the 
roster. 
Purely 
looking 
at the numbers, the 
freshman 
class, 
considered one of 
the best recruiting 
classes 
in 
the 
country, balance out 
the loss of Karas and 
McLean. With three 
freshmen who compete for the 
all-around title replacing two 
seniors — one of whom didn’t 
always perform every event — 
the team should statistically be 

in a better spot coming into this 
season. 
“The potential is huge,” Plocki 
said. “Gabby Wilson and Sierra 
Brooks 
are 
just 
straight 
up 
rockstars. Nicoletta 
Koulos 
is 
going 
to be the secret 
weapon 
of 
our 
season. She doesn’t 
have quite the level 
of difficulty in her 
skills, but I think 
she’s a competitor. 
She’s 
beautiful 
to 
watch 
and 
she’s very clean. I 
think those three 
freshmen can make a huge impact.”
While Wilson and the rest of the 
newcomers may feel the pressure 
of those banners now, Plocki thinks 
they’ll feel differently after their 

first competition this weekend, an 
exhibition against Central, Eastern 
and Western Michigan. 
“It’s a big responsibility to 
represent the ‘block M’,” Plocki 
said. “This is the 
hard part. It’s all 
the preparation 
for the fun part 
that starts with 
competition. 
Then — all of 
the pressure of 
representing 
that ‘block M’ 
— you get to see 
the reward of 
that. All of the 
sudden, not only is it easier, but 
that pride starts to bubble up 
inside of you. The next thing you 
know, you’re preaching that to 
the next class of freshmen.”

Simpson, Michigan struggle to overcome Louisville’s ball-screen defense

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When 
Michigan hired Juwan Howard, 
it wasn’t much of a secret that 
the Wolverines would try their 
hand at an up-tempo, pro-style 
offense grounded in the pick-
and-roll.
Leading 
up 
to 
Tuesday 
night’s 
game 
against 
top-
ranked Louisville (8-0), the No. 
4 Michigan men’s basketball 
team (7-1) had found its callin 

card in exactly that. Coming 
off 
wins 
against 
then-No. 
6 North Carolina and No. 8 
Gonzaga at the Battle 4 Atlantis 
Tournament in which they 
averaged over 75 points per 
game, the Wolverines’ ball-
screen offense was rolling.
As for what Michigan had 
to show for it, senior point 
guard Zavier Simpson — a 
preseason All-Big Ten selection 
— 
entered 
Tuesday 
night 
leading the nation in assists. 
His 
effectiveness 
in 
both 

passing and finishing at the rim 
out of the pick-and-roll was a 
driving force to the Wolverines’ 
undefeated November.
But on Tuesday night, the 
Cardinals 
made 
it 
difficult 
for him to do either from the 
start. They hedged hard on 
some screens and sagged off 
of 
others, 
leaving 
Simpson 
uncertain of what to expect. 
Ultimately, Michigan’s offense 
struggled to adapt in its 58-43 
loss.
In the Wolverines’ first seven 
games, Simpson 
shredded 
opposing 
defenses 
with 
three 
actions 
coming out of 
ball 
screens: 
taking it to the 
rim 
himself, 
dishing 
to 
the 
rolling 
or 
popping 
screener, 
or 
swinging a cross-court pass 
to a shooter. With an arsenal 
of chest passes, hook passes 
and bounce passes, his success 
rate at even the most damning 
angles made Michigan’s offense 
an efficient work of art.
For 
Cardinals’ 
coach 
Chris 
Mack, 
game-planning 
against the nation’s assists 
leader proved to be the most 
challenging aspect of facing the 
Wolverines.
“(Simpson) 
is 
very, 
very 
quick,” Mack said. “He’ll reject 
a lot of ball screens, he’ll act 
like he’s using it 
and then drive 
the space and 
kick. 
Teams 
have 
tried 
to 
go under, and 
Zavier 
is 
so 
clever, he just 
plays 
peek-a-
boo and figures 
out which side 
you’re 
trying 
to 
catch 
him 
on then he goes down the lane 
with 
that 
Kareem 
(Abdul-
Jabbar) hook.” 
Regardless of which move 
Simpson tried in the early 
going, all 6-foot-10 of Louisville 

center Steve Enoch stood in 
his way. The Cardinals began 
the game by hedging high on 
ball screens, making Simpson’s 
passing angles difficult.
The impact was easy to see. 
Michigan missed its first five 
shots. Soon, it was 1-of-10 from 
the floor. Then the struggles 
amounted to a 2-for-17 stretch 
and 
a 
double-digit 
deficit. 
By the end of the night, the 
Wolverines were staring at a 
15-point loss, and the zero in 
their loss column was no longer 
intact.
On the other 
bench, all Mack 
could 
do 
was 
smile and fold 
his arms.
“It 
starts 
with 
Zavier,” 
Mack said. “The 
deeper he gets 
in the lane, the 
more 
it 
puts 
your 
off-ball 
defenders in a bind. How much 
do I help in? In the Bahamas, 
he’d just get in the lane and 
spray it out, and (junior forward 
Isaiah) Livers and (junior guard 
Eli) Brooks, they couldn’t miss. 
And so all we talked about was 
keeping him out of the lane, and 
then hard closeouts, hands are 
early. I really didn’t think they 
generated a whole lot of good 
looks.”
For the first time all season, 
Michigan struggled to get the 
ball into the paint. And for 
the first time all season, an 
offense 
that 
entered Tuesday 
night averaging 
over 80 points 
per game went 
silent.
“Our 
goal 
was 
to 
make 
sure 
that 
we 
could get those 
paint 
touches 
that 
we 
were 
comfortable 
with getting throughout the 
year thus far,” Howard said. “ 
… (Louisville) did a really good 
job of compacting the paint, 
keeping us out of the paint 
going downhill.”

LANE KIZZIAH
Daily Sports Writer

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
Senior captain Maddy Osman says her class has started to embody the leadership of Olivia Karas and Emma McLean, who graduated at the end of last year.

You don’t want 
to put too much 
pressure on 
yourself.

You can lead 
vocally and 
you can lead by 
example.

We’ve taken 
their leadership, 
their skills, the 
way they cheer.

Gabby Wilson 
and Sierra 
Brooks are just 
... rockstars.

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Zavier Simpson struggled in ball-screen situations on Tuesday night.

... (Simpson) 
goes down the 
lane with that 
Kareem hook.

Our goal was to 
make sure that 
we could get ... 
paint touches.

By Mark McClain
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
12/05/19

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

12/05/19

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019

ACROSS
1 Distillery mixture
5 The Flyers’ Gritty, 
e.g.
11 Poke fun at
14 __-inflammatory
15 Corrida figure
16 Important card
17 *Line never 
spoken by James 
Cagney
19 Cutting remark
20 4,300-mile range
21 Novelist Waugh
22 “In __ of gifts ... ”
23 *Rock pile at 
a prehistoric 
gravesite
26 Protect with a 
levee
30 Canon SLR
31 Gorilla expert 
Fossey
32 A pop
36 Sail (through)
40 *Like Juárez, 
vis-à-vis El Paso
43 MGM part
44 Cork’s place
45 Racing legend 
Earnhardt
46 Brouhaha
48 Held to account
50 *Far-fetched, as 
a story
56 Car rental giant
57 “Royal” seaside 
bird
58 Spare
63 GQ or EW
64 “__, Batman!”: 
Robin’s cry upon 
spotting the ends 
of the answers to 
starred clues?
66 Lyft driver’s 
ballpark fig.
67 Café option
68 Real estate ad 
number
69 Anthem 
contraction
70 “Hard to Stop” air 
conditioners
71 Use one’s outside 
voice

DOWN
1 “The Good Place” 
Emmy nominee 
Rudolph
2 In a trice

3 Poker choice
4 Keep out of sight
5 Debussy’s 
“La __”
6 Chancel feature
7 Tablet 
accessories
8 Chick with 
Grammys
9 Soothsayer
10 Little one
11 Circle lines
12 Less 
approachable
13 Started
18 Library ID
22 Hall of Fame 
Dodger manager 
Tommy
24 Luau strings
25 Estée 
contemporary
26 Mild cheese
27 Nursery rhyme 
trio
28 Frequent prank 
caller to Moe’s 
Tavern
29 Arctic garb
33 Snacked, say
34 McBride of 
“Hawaii Five-0”
35 Sailor’s pronoun

37 Very little
38 Market
39 Walnut or pecan
41 Bar mixer
42 Round signal
47 Like a band in 
a bus
49 “The Sopranos” 
actor Robert
50 Brief appearance
51 Egg-shaped
52 Cuban export
53 Street of mystery

54 “Trumbo” 
Oscar nominee 
Cranston
55 Set free
59 CT scan 
component
60 Run out of gas
61 Traditional dance
62 Mostly depleted 
sea
64 Party accessory
65 UFO passengers, 
supposedly

