8 — Thursday, January 23, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Pearson’s vision coming true
In sports, positive messages
about resilience and perseverance
have
become
the
staple
of
struggling teams.
Yet such optimism often falls
short. Out of all the teams that
pledge to stick with it, trust the
process, work
hard
and
improve each
day to make
a midseason
comeback,
only
a
handful will
see
such
promises
come
to
fruition.
With such
positive statements, it can be
hard to accurately predict how a
team will actually respond. It’s
difficult to separate fact from
fiction, hard to know who’s
just talking and who genuinely
believes that they’ll change their
fate midseason.
Looking back, though, brings
the necessary clarity. And it’s now
crystal clear that there was truth
behind Mel Pearson’s optimism
during the Michigan hockey
team’s early season struggles.
***
It was a Monday in mid-
November,
late
afternoon.
Practice had ended a short while
back, and Pearson sat down in
a dark blue, leather chair in the
lobby of the hockey offices at Yost
to field questions from a group of
reporters, as he often does.
There was a certain element
of repetitiveness to the ensuing
conversation.
For
the
third
weekend in a row, Michigan
had widely underperformed its
expectations.
The
Wolverines
had just been swept by Michigan
State, including a home loss in
which they blew a two-goal
lead. They were on a seven-
game winless streak that began
in Kalamazoo against Western
Michigan.
Through
three
weekends of conference play,
Michigan had tallied just one out
of a possible 18 points.
“For the most part, they’re
playing pretty well. And it will
come,” Pearson said that day.
“There’s two ways you can go. You
can just feel sorry for yourself,
you can sulk, you can start
complaining. … Or you can just
continue to work hard, continue
to support each other and just
trust in the process. They’re the
latter.”
Pearson went on to cover the
importance of focusing on things
you can control. The weather that
Monday was quite pleasant. The
sun shined brightly, bringing a
blanket of warmth atypical of a
November day and providing the
coach with a perfect example to
further explain his mantra.
“You guys can’t control the
weather out there today, right?”
Pearson asked. “Did you call
somebody out and say ‘I want a
sunny day today’? No, you can’t …
There’s so many things you can’t
control.”
He mentioned that attitude
is
controllable,
though,
and
that the Wolverines would just
have to stay positive and avoid
complaining.
“I’m going to be different and
have a good attitude,” Pearson
said. “And know that the sun is
going to come out at some point
for us, and when it does it’s going
to be beautiful.”
***
Michigan’s
recent
success
would’ve
seemed
somewhat
unfathomable earlier this season.
The Wolverines are coming off
two stellar weekends on the road,
in which they swept then-No. 14
Notre Dame and earned five of six
points against then-No. 6 Penn
State.
To Pearson, it has been a
gradual comeback. It started
with the three series following
the one against the Spartans in
November. Michigan split all
three — against New Hampshire,
Wisconsin and the Nittany Lions
— and started to find its footing.
Now thinking back, Pearson
can bring perspective to his team’s
rebirth and why he believed in it
during the tough times.
“You know as a coach,” Pearson
said this week. “You know when
you have something and you’ve
got a chance and some things are
just working against you. And you
know when you are just horse
shit, when you have no chance.”
The Wolverines are finally
playing with some moxy. They’ve
convinced themselves that this
is who they truly are and this is
what they’ve always been capable
of.
Through
Pearson’s
eyes,
the
team
that
suffered
the
rough stretch early on was still
scrambling to find its identity.
Now, Michigan has found that
identity in its defense.
“That’s the bread and butter.
And I told the team after the
Friday night game at Penn State,
‘Hey I’m happy about the six
goals, but what I really like is the
goose egg, the zero,’ ” Pearson said
of the 6-0 victory. “Because some
nights as we’ve seen in the first
half the puck is not always going
to go in for you. But if you play
solid defensively and don’t give
anything up then you’re going to
be right there. You’re going to be
in every game and we have been.
I think that’s the foundation on
which you build upon.
“They’ve bought into that now.
They understand that.”
Now
for
the
Wolverines,
it’s all about maintaining that
success through the remainder
of the regular season to help their
postseason aspirations.
“I’m not going to say we’re
going to run through and go 8-2
here in the second half, but we
have a chance,” Pearson said. “We
have a chance to win every game,
and that’s all you can ask for.”
In other words, Pearson is
staying positive as before. The
past two weekends justify that,
little by little. It paid off the first
time.
Maybe, just maybe, the sun will
come out again.
‘M’ tops three-way meet
Junior
sprinter
Vail
Hartman made the final turn
in the 4-by-400 men’s relay
with a comfortable lead. His
teammates,
senior
Desmond
Melson, sophomore Ian Davis
and senior Alex Schwedt helped
Michigan built a sizeable lead,
but it was Hartman who the
Wolverines entrusted as their
anchor. As he leaned into the
finish line, with only empty
track in his wake, a roar erupted
from
the
2,000
maize-and-
blue dressed fans around him,
providing a truly cinematic
finale to the meet.
Michigan track and field made
it look easy all afternoon as they
swept the Buckeyes and the
Spartans in the Simmons-Harvey
Invitational.
The
Wolverines
walked away with a win in
both the men’s and women’s
divisions, finishing first in half
of the 30 events combined. The
women’s team won by 27 points
over the second-place Buckeyes
and third-place Spartans, while
the men’s team won by 13 points
over second-place Ohio State and
third-place Michigan State.
“It gives you a sense of a
championship — Big Ten —
because it’s Ohio State and
Michigan
State,”
Michigan
coach James Henry said. “Those
are the teams that you want to
beat. It gave us a Big Ten flavor.
The intensity was there and
that’s what we wanted.”
Senior distance runner Meg
Darmofal felt that intensity as
she won the women’s mile race.
She won by over two seconds
with a time of 4:46 — a career
best and the fifth-fastest time in
college this year.
Six laps in, Darmofal was a
part of the pack, but then made
her move and got up to the second
spot
behind
her
teammate,
senior Annie Taylor. In the final
lap, Darmofal continued to lay
it all out, passing her teammate.
Spartans’
distance
runner
Annie Fuller climbed her way
to behind Darmofal, forming
an All-American battle. But in
the last 200 meters, Darmofal’s
speed accelerated her away from
Fuller and into the first-place
finish.
“I was trying to get position
throughout the race,” Darmofal
said. “Then my teammate made
a move in the last quarter of it
and got things rolling … so I just
kicked it and went for the win.”
The Wolverines, as a whole,
followed
Darmofal’s
words
competing in a different gear
throughout the events.
In the men’s 800-meter race,
Michigan filled out the top
five. The five runners followed
sophomore
distance
runner
Derrick Simmons’ hot start
out of the gate and used that
momentum to triumph in the
race. Sophomore distance runner
Cole Johnson finished first with
a time of 1:51. Freshman distance
runner Nick Foster, Simmons,
senior distance runner Ben Hill
and freshman distance runner
Thomas Shilgalis didn’t finish
far behind — all within a second
of Johnson.
“To finish top five and have
your teammates right there
running with you is an awesome
feeling,” Johnson said.
Records — personal, school-
wide and league-wide — were
a major theme of the meet. No
one can attest to that more
than senior thrower Andrew
Liskowitz. He launched the
five farthest throws in school
history, three of them being
over 20-meters. Liskowitz’s top
throw went for 20.29 meters,
which stands as the second
farthest shot-put throw in the
NCAA this year.
“I think today has been a good
reflection of how my training
has been going,” Liskowitz said.
“(I’m) working hard and eating
right. Pretty happy with that.”
The
Wolverine
athletes’
events went their way Saturday
and the results of the meet
exemplified their success.
“The momentum flew in our
directions because of the home
field advantage that we had,”
Henry said. “We wanted to take
advantage of that. It was nice
to see our team come together
and cheer each other on from
beginning to end.”
BRANDON TRACHTENBERG
Daily Sports Writer
ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson is seeing the fruits of his persistent optimism in the Wolverines’ recent hot streak.
TRACK AND FIELD
State of despair
The ball started in Lamar
Stevens’ hands, as the Michigan
men’s basketball team expected.
The senior forward has been
a key cog of Penn State’s offense
since he stepped foot on campus in
2016. So when the first possession
of the Wolverines’ 72-63 loss to
Penn State (14-5 overall, 4-4 Big
Ten) ended with Stevens posting
up, nobody was surprised.
With
sophomore
forward
Brandon Johns Jr. at his back, he
faked toward the paint, spun the
other way and knocked down a
fadeaway from baseline.
On the next possession, he
sank a three from the wing. The
one after that ended with him
converting a mid-range jumper.
Before long, Stevens’ hot start put
Michigan (11-7, 2-5) in a 9-2 hole,
forcing coach Juwan Howard to
burn a timeout.
And as his team trotted back to
the bench, what Howard saw was
a fitting prelude to the rest of the
night.
“I saw some guys had a little
doubt in their eyes,” Howard said.
“And that’s not how we have to
approach games, especially when
we’re playing at home.”
When Stevens exited the floor
shortly after, the Wolverines made
the most of the opportunity. As
Stevens watched from the bench,
junior guard Eli Brooks knocked
down a corner three that sparked
a 11-0 run. He added another five
points during the spurt.
Stevens sat for fewer than two
minutes, but it was enough to
give Michigan the lead. Shortly
after he checked back into the
game, though, Penn State scored
14 unanswered points over a
six-minute stretch that saw the
Wolverines commit five turnovers.
And in a matter of minutes, a
game that had already been flipped
on its head took another sharp
turn.
Once again, Michigan had
plenty of opportunities to retake
the reins after it fell behind. The
Wolverines couldn’t cash in this
time, missing 14 of their 19 shots
away from the rim in the first half.
Between Michigan’s shooting
woes and Stevens’ lack thereof,
Penn State took a 37-28 lead into
halftime.
The second half began with a
similar script. Coming out of the
locker room, Penn State went on a
7-3 run as the Wolverines missed
seven of their first eight field
goal attempts. While Michigan’s
open looks repeatedly clanked off
the back iron, the Nittany Lions
extended their lead to as much as
15.
Through it all, the Wolverines’
defense was as quiet as it’s been all
season.
“It’s too late in the season for,
you know, I have to beg our guys
to communicate on defense,”
Howard said. “Not just on the
defensive end, on the offensive end,
too. It just so happens it’s a lost art
in the game and we have to bring it
back.
“Yes, I’m old school, but in
order for us to forge ahead and
move
forward
and
improve,
communication has to be a part of
the process. That is surprising that
some of our guys don’t like talking
on defense. … There’s a lot of
guessing going on, and I just don’t
understand it.”
With Michigan in dire need
of a spark, freshman wing Franz
Wagner jumped in front of a pass
along the perimeter. As he chased
the deflected ball in transition for
what looked like an imminent open
dunk, a Nittany Lion defender
grabbed hold of his arm.
The blaring sound of a whistle
pierced through Crisler Center,
and the unconventional intentional
foul call ensued. Wagner sank both
free throws, which proved to be the
first of eight unanswered points for
the Wolverines — a stretch that
trimmed the deficit to just five.
But as the Wolverines began
closing the gap, it was an unlikely
candidate who kept them at bay.
After playing only three minutes
in the first half, Chambers called
on fifth-year guard Curtis Jones
Jr. — who entered Wednesday
night averaging 6.8 points on
35.7-percent shooting — for 15
second-half minutes.
As Jones prepared to check in,
his coach delivered a message.
“These moments are made for
seniors,” Chambers recalled telling
him. “It’s your time.”
Jones
answered
the
call,
knocking down seven of his nine
second-half shots in an 18-point
explosion against subpar defense.
“If your hand is down versus
a shooter — for example, Curtis
Jones, who was just lining it up
and shot it right in our face — that’s
unacceptable,” Howard said. “You
have to own it. You have to be able
to do your job.”
Against
Penn
State,
the
Wolverines didn’t own it, nor did
they do their job.
And for that, they dropped
a game on their own floor in a
conference where road wins are a
rarity, putting them even further
behind the eight ball.
Michigan loses to Penn State, 72-63, dropping its third-straight game behind a lackluster defensive effort
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
This
game
against
Penn
State at home was supposed to
be a way to get out of a slump,
a way for the Michigan men’s
basketball team to regain its
rhythm — and some standing in
the conference rankings.
That is not what it turned out
to be.
What it turned out to be
was 40 minutes of proof that
Michigan’s issues on defense
are still very much in play,
at home or on the road, and
that it boils down to a lack of
communication.
“We
just
couldn’t
get
defensive stops,” sophomore
forward Brandon Johns, Jr.
said. “We just need to be better
on defense. Our communication
could’ve been a little bit better.
We just need to be solid with all
the little things on defense.”
Penn State shot 48.2 percent
from the field, and 42.1 percent
from the arc, in its eventual
72-63
win
over
Michigan.
And it wasn’t as if all of those
72 points were coming from
distance. The Nittany Lions
had 22 points in the paint. No
matter where the shots were
coming from, they were falling.
And the Wolverines had a
hard time stopping them.
“They got too many open
looks,”
Michigan
coach
Juwan
Howard
said.
“And
it was because of lack of
communication
on
the
defensive end. It’s January 22.
We talked about it. We have to
communicate on defense, be
physical, don’t be surprised.”
After Michigan was gashed
in the post at Minnesota last
week and continued to struggle
inside against junior center
Luka Garza and Iowa on Friday,
going up against Penn State’s
lethal combination of senior
forwards,
Lamar
Stevens
and Mike Watkins, was a tall
task,
literally.
Stevens
and
Watkins give Penn State a lot
of length. With Isaiah Livers
still sidelined with a lingering
groin injury, Michigan has
been turning to a three-guard
lineup at times, which left them
looking somewhat small on the
court Wednesday.
But the Wolverines’ problems
were far from being contained
inside the painted lines. Penn
State punished Michigan from
just about anywhere, taking
advantage of the open looks
they got from the Wolverines.
The thing was, it wasn’t as if
the Nittany Lions brought out
radical new looks or started
taking shots they haven’t been
taking all season. Wednesday
night’s shot chart looked pretty
similar to any of a number of
Penn State shot charts from
this season.
Michigan knew what was
coming. And they still couldn’t
stop it.
“We have a great scouting
report, and we watch film on
every opponent,” Howard said.
“We see guys’ tendencies as
well as their strengths, and
who can shoot the ball and
where they shoot the ball from.
“So there’s no surprises. I
understand why guys get open
looks. It tells me it’s because of
lack of communication.”
As
the
Wolverines
are
seeming to sink further and
further
into
their
ongoing
slump, the mood in the locker
room is not helping. Players
are “getting in their heads,”
according
to
Johns.
And
that’s just making it harder on
defense, where so much — as
is becoming increasingly clear
lately — depends on teammates
talking to each other on the
court.
If they don’t start talking, it
doesn’t seem that the energy —
or the defense — is going to get
better anytime soon.
“It’s something you should
do regardless,” junior guard
Eli Brooks said. “You’re a
basketball player. At the end of
the day, hopefully you’ve been
doing it your whole life. Talking
on the court and just bringing
energy are different things.”
ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer
ASHA LEWIS/Daily
Freshman wing Franz Wagner shot 1-for-9 on Wednesday, part of a game in which Michigan shot 35 percent from the field.
ROHAN
KUMAR