6A — Thursday, January 16, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wagner gaining coaches’ trust
Months
ago,
during
Michigan’s media day, associate
head coach Phil Martelli raved
about freshman forward Franz
Wagner.
“He’s just different,” Martelli
said on Oct. 17. “I suggest, if
you’re on the fence or there
are tickets available, get your
tickets. You’re gonna want to
see this kid play.”
Fans soon learned they’d
have to wait when Wagner
fractured his wrist in practice
just three days later. He missed
the first four games of the
season, which the Wolverines
won, before making his much-
anticipated college debut in
the first game of the Battle 4
Atlantis against Iowa State. He
scored six points in 23 minutes
against the Cyclones.
Like any freshman, Wagner
was inconsistent in the games
that followed. He had to adjust
to the pace and physicality of
college basketball and acquaint
himself with a new team and
coaching staff.
Wagner backed up Martelli’s
praise in games against Iowa
and Oregon, scoring 18 and 21
points, respectively. Bracketing
his performance against the
Hawkeyes, though, he scored
a combined nine points on
4-for-14 shooting in losses to
Louisville and Illinois.
Wagner’s season so far can
largely be characterized as
up and down, boom or bust,
occasionally
thriving
and
occasionally struggling — all to
be expected from a freshman.
And
yet,
his
confidence
and Michigan coach Juwan
Howard’s confidence in him has
steadily increased over time.
Lately, Wagner’s shot attempts
and
minutes
have
climbed
considerably. The former might
be a direct result of the latter,
but both come at a time when
the Wolverines are trying to fill
the void left by injured starter
Isaiah Livers.
In the last three games,
Wagner has scored double-
digit points and played 111 of
130 minutes. More notably, in
the past two contests against
Purdue and Minnesota, Wagner
put up a combined 29 shot
attempts. While he hit just six in
each and Michigan split the two
games, Wagner’s willingness to
shoot is a welcome sight.
“I give it to Franz pretty much
everyday at practice,” senior
point guard Zavier Simpson
said after last Thursday’s win
over the Boilermakers. “I tell
him to stop passing up shots,
knock em down. I don’t pass it
to him just because he’s open. I
pass it to him because he’s open
and I believe he can make the
shot.
“I told him to shoot the ball
… I think it was early in the
second half. We were being
too unselfish. Trust yourself to
make a play.”
With Livers out indefinitely,
the Wolverines have needed
Wagner’s
scoring
from
the
wing. Even when Livers returns
— rumblings are that could
be this Friday against Iowa —
they’ll still need it.
Michigan’s depth has recently
come into question. After a
hot start to the season, junior
guard Eli Brooks’ production
has tailed off. In the last four
games against major conference
opponents — Oregon, Michigan
State, Purdue and Minnesota
— Brooks has shot 27.5 percent
from the field and averaged just
4.3 points per game.
Brooks isn’t the only one
who’s struggled. On any given
night, senior center Jon Teske,
the team’s leading scorer, could
find himself relegated to the
bench because of foul trouble.
While sophomore guard David
DeJulius
and
sophomore
forward Brandon Johns Jr. have
provided a spark defensively,
their scoring production has
been inconsistent all year.
As the Wolverines continue
through Big Ten play, with or
without Livers, Wagner is going
to have to be a threat offensively.
There’s only one way to do that
though: shoot when given the
opportunity.
“Yeah,
I’m
feeling
good
when I shoot it,” Wagner said
following his 17-point outing
against the Golden Gophers.
“I’m gonna stay aggressive.”
His shooting percentage isn’t
necessarily stellar, but given
his skill set, those shots should
eventually fall.
As
Martelli,
who’s
been
coaching for over 40 years,
added on media day: “He’s a
guy that you come to practice
everyday and then you leave
scratching your head. To be that
age, to be that cerebral and to be
that pure — not to put too much
pressure on him but he’s a rain
man. He’s a savant.”
Turnaround doable for Wolverines
By
many
standards,
the
Michigan women’s basketball
team has had a rough few
weeks.
Since Dec. 22, the Wolverines
have endured three matchups
against
ranked
opponents,
resulting in a loss to Florida
State and two to Maryland
— the last of which being a
77-49 blowout — plus a loss at
unranked Ohio State. In these
defeats,
Michigan
suffered
just about every problem a
basketball team can face, from
turnovers to cold shooting to
defensive collapses.
Still, during that span, the
Wolverines managed to pick
up
blowout
victories
over
Penn State and rival Michigan
State.
Though
these
wins
do little to numb the overall
disappointment
from
this
stretch, they show Michigan
is still capable of competing at
a high level — if it’s having a
good day.
The Wolverines will need a
lot of good days to salvage this
season.
The Big Ten is having one
of its best seasons in recent
memory,
with
Indiana,
Maryland
and
Iowa
all
cracking the top 25, plus
Rutgers and a surprisingly
tough Northwestern team both
receiving votes.
“Every year, I say (the Big
Ten) is getting better and
better. But this is arguably
the best that its ever been,”
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico said. “Obviously they’re
talking about 10 teams being
in the NCAA Tournament, so
from top to bottom the league
is
tremendous,
and
we’ve
played a bunch of great teams
already. It’s a grind, and I
think our kids are adjusting to
that, as are all the other kids in
the league.”
To manage the grind of the
Big Ten, the Wolverines have
required consistent individual
performances
across
the
board. Each starter offers a
unique skill set that can change
a game in an instant, but tends
to disappear in big moments.
Take junior forward Hailey
Brown. Her strong outside
shooting provides the team
more than just the three points.
It creates space for Michigan’s
ballhandlers to get to the
hoop and pick up a bucket or
a foul. But in
the Wolverines’
four
recent
losses, she shot a
combined 3-for-
20 from three
— a far cry from
her 33.9 percent
season average.
Then
there’s
sophomore
guard
Amy
Dilk.
Her
quickness off the dribble and
often incisive passing makes
her a nightmare for opposing
defenses when she’s at her
best. As a result, she held the
team together against Florida
State and in the first Maryland
game, scoring 26 and 18 points,
respectively. But she went
cold against Ohio State and in
the second Maryland game,
putting up just seven and two
points, respectively.
The list goes on and on.
Michigan’s lineup is loaded
with
talented
players
that
can be elite when they’re at
their best. But they never
seem to be at their best at
the
same
time,
and
that
leads to miscommunications,
frustration
and
a
lack
of
confidence.
Make no mistake, though,
this season is far from over.
The Wolverines are through
the toughest part of their
schedule,
and
their upcoming
matchup
with
a
struggling
Wisconsin
team
will
give them an
opportunity
to clean up the
errors and get
a few players
going.
And many of
them have been here before.
Last season, Michigan lost
five of seven in the month
of January, before an 8-1
finish to the regular season
propelled the Wolverines to a
strong showing in the Big Ten
Tournament — where they lost
to conference-best Maryland
by only one point.
A repeat of that won’t be
easy.
But Michigan has shown
that it is doable.
Dakota Raabe undeterred after being kept out of lineup against Irish
There
was
no
jersey
embroidered with the number 12
left to greet Dakota Raabe, the
then-freshman forward. Bags
filled with his equipment laid to
the side. There were no helmet
or pads hanging in the top-shelf
bins.
If he looked, the only thing
he’d see was his name plate and
an empty locker under it. No
skates dangling below on the
bottom rack.
“We gave him a week off to
make sure he did what he was
supposed
to
do,”
Michigan
hockey coach Mel Pearson said,
“and took the hockey away from
him.”
At
the
time,
it
was
an
academic issue. He wasn’t living
up to the team’s standards and
expectations and broke the trust
of the coaches when it pertained
to classes.
So they sent him a message.
Don’t live up to the team’s
standards, and they’ll take away
the thing every hockey player
cares about: hockey.
But
last
weekend
was
a
different case. It was no longer
academic. It was an on-ice
issue, and ultimately, an off-ice
coaching decision. Earlier in
the year, the Wolverines were
allowed to bring the entirety
of the roster, but now they can
only bring 23 players, leaving six
behind to sit at home and watch
from afar. And it was up to the
coaches to decide who those six
were going to be.
Immediately after practice
last Wednesday evening, the
coaches gathered the players in
a room, sat them down behind
closed doors and explained the
new Big Ten travel rules. But the
players knew what was coming.
They knew just 23 could go.
They just didn’t know which
six were going to be left behind.
That meeting was to let them
know.
Emil Orhvall. Shane Switzer.
Jack Leavy. Adam Winborg. Jay
Keranan. Dakota Raabe.
Upon
learning
he
wasn’t
chosen
to
go,
Raabe
was
surprised — and disappointed. It
was the first time the junior had
been held out of the lineup since
his freshman year.
But poor play and end results
had forced Pearson and the
coaching staff’s hands to make
some sort of change to spark the
team.
“You’re always in conflict,”
Pearson said. “As a coach, you’d
like to take everybody, but I
think we have to get to a certain
point where we have to make
changes if things aren’t working,
and you have to be ready to make
those changes. That was a good
change.”
This time, the message was
just as transparent as it was
Raabe’s freshman year. There
was no need to empty a locker
or throw aside his equipment.
Instead, Michigan opted to fill
that same seat on the bus with
a different body, one who would
help bring the impact they so
desperately sought.
The end result was a weekend
sweep against No. 14 Notre
Dame.
“It’s
tough,”
Raabe
said.
“Biggest thing is just seeing the
team success.
“Obviously, you want to be a
part of it. You want to be there
but you can’t, can’t pout about it.
That’s the most important thing
is we got those two wins, we got
those six points and helped us in
the standings. And that’s all you
can ask for really.”
He watched the wins on
television with the remaining
five teammates left behind. He
cheered when Michigan scored
and celebrated when his team
won, hoping his wishes of good
luck helped them succeed.
When the games ended, so
did his time off. Pearson had
left him and five others behind,
but he also left behind a clear
template of what they need to
do to have more opportunities.
So the weekend’s games weren’t
the only thing they spent time
watching. Pearson had given
Raabe a list and video of things
he needed to improve on.
“It’s not all just offense,
even though he’s got one goal,”
Pearson said. “Production is
down … So we just felt it, he
wasn’t doing a lot of things in
practice and we kept playing
him because of, you know, he
adds some speed.
“Dakota’s been told, you know,
things you got to work harder,
pay more attention to defensive
detail because he’s not scoring
a lot. Then use the speed more,
like he’s might be the fastest guy
on our team, but we don’t see
that enough.”
That was the caveat. He was
fast, but that was it. His utility
on the penalty kill and ability
to put pressure on the opposing
puck handler was valuable but
he was, more or less, a black hole
on offense, and at times, defense.
Raabe had trouble finishing
his chances. He took egregious
and unnecessary penalties. He
would make turnovers in the
defensive zone that frustrated
Pearson to no end. And so
Pearson gave him a message and
took hockey away from him.
“You
could
tell
players
things, but one thing that they
really hold dear is the ice time,”
Pearson said. “You can tell them
this or that, but when you take
that opportunity or that ice time
away from them, then it hits
home a little bit more.
“That’s the ultimate hammer
is the ice time.”
In the past, the Wolverines
have sat captains. They’ve sat
hard workers and hustle players.
The reason being the same: They
weren’t playing to their potential
or standard of play.
So for Raabe, it was no
different. Seven points in 20
games, while being a wild card
on defense, was not going to
cut it. But he understood the
message and came into the new
week of practice undeterred
— his mind set on making the
lineup once again.
BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer
CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Freshman forward Franz Wagner has seen increased usage in recent games.
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Junior forward Hailey Brown has struggled from three recently.
We’ve played a
bunch of great
teams already.
It’s a grind.
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior forward Dakota Raabe was left out of Michigan’s trip to Notre Dame last weekend after recording just one goal and six assists in the team’s first 20 games of what has been an underwhelming season.