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
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e.g.
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spoken by James
Cagney
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a prehistoric
gravesite
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levee
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vis-à-vis El Paso
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a story
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spotting the ends
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starred clues?
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ballpark fig.
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number
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contraction
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voice
DOWN
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Emmy nominee
Rudolph
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“La __”
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accessories
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approachable
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Dodger manager
Tommy
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contemporary
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supposedly