8 — Friday, February 21, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Simpson’s 3-point shooting a boon

For 
a 
while 
now, 
it’s 
been evident that Michigan 
coach 
Juwan 
Howard 
has 
transformed the Wolverines’ 
offense to live by one principle: 
If you’re open, shoot your shot.
This wheeling-and-dealing 
style of play has led to a 
much faster-paced Michigan 
team that consistently runs 
the score up far past season 
averages of years past. While 
the philosophy clearly favors 
the team’s best shooters in its 
application, any guard who 
is not known for his prolific 
shooting ability may be placed 
in an uncomfortable situation, 
stuck between wanting to take 
the open shot and wanting 
to generate the most high-
percentage opportunity for the 
team.
Over the course of this 
season, this has been the 
predicament of senior guard 
Zavier Simpson.
Simpson 
— 
assuredly 
not known for his shooting 
prowess — has been trapped 
between the decision to take 
the open 3-point shot or carry 
on with one of the other 
options he is more comfortable 
with, including driving to the 
hoop or finding another open 
man.
But 
in 
an 
unexpected 
development, 
the 
veteran 
guard has added an effective 
3-point shot to his arsenal, 
elevating 
the 
Wolverines’ 
offense. The senior made this 
addition even more apparent 
on Wednesday, when he hit 
two threes in the opening four 
minutes to ignite Michigan’s 
offense in its eventual 60-52 
win over Rutgers.
To be sure, this is unlike 
any development Simpson has 
shown before. While the team 
captain has shown progress 
and diversified his skill set 
with each year on the team, 
his shooting was always a sore 

spot.
For 
instance, 
after 
his 
sophomore season, Simpson 
added a now-patented hook 
shot to his shot selection. 
Simpson’s 
main 
source 
of 
offense came around the rim 
where he would consistently 
drive to the basket, so this shot 
— while unconventional — was 
in the realm of possibility given 
his skillset.
But 
3-point 
shooting? That 
was somebody 
else’s problem.
Before 
this 
season, 
Simpson 
was 
a career 28.5 
percent 3-point 
shooter. 
But 
the 
senior 
has 
taken 
great strides and is shooting 
a respectable 37 percent from 
beyond the arc — enough to 
add a paragraph in the scouting 
report 
about 
his 
shooting 
ability. It’s clear, though, that 
this uptick not only in the 
amount of 3s taken per game 
but the amount of makes stems 
from Howard.
“Every shot that goes in is 
important, but it’s good to see 
the ball go in,” Howard said. 
“When they went under the 
screen, he was wide open. I 

wanted him to take it. If he 
would’ve missed those two 
shots, I would say take the third 
shot. Any player, when they see 
the ball go in, it becomes an 
ocean sometimes.”
The 
increase 
in 
3-point 
shots 
could 
be 
attributed 
to 
confidence, 
as 
Howard 
suggests — confidence in his 
own shot selection, confidence 
from his coaches 
— or it could 
be the natural 
marriage 
of 
muscle memory 
and 
instincts. 
After 
all, 
the 
amount 
of 
3-pointers 
Simpson 
has 
taken in practice 
or just shooting 
around 
over 
the years is essentially an 
incalculable number. 
Perhaps that is why this 
new development is not as 
surprising to his teammates 
and coaches.
“It’s nothing new, he’s a 
smart enough player to know 
where the reads are,” Howard 
said. “Any time a guy steps off 
you and you’re able to line it 
up, massage the ball, line the 
seams up and shoot it, it’s great. 
“He was confident enough to 
take the shot; the ball went in.”

Johnson growing as a team leader

An hour before Wednesday’s 
game against Illinois, Michigan 
coach Kim Barnes Arico pulled 
Akienreh Johnson aside. The 
senior guard — after watching 
her best friend go down with 
an injury, the emotional leader 
of the team follow suit and the 
best player on the team battle 
through her own setbacks — 
had seen her responsibility on 
the team grow exponentially 
over the course of the last few 
weeks.
Barnes Arico wanted more 
from Johnson. Wanted her to 
take over the emotion on the 
team, to fight and inspire the 
rest of her teammates.
After 
the 
shootaround, 
Johnson did what she always 
did — meditate. For fifteen 
minutes, she went over what 
Barnes Arico told her, then the 
plays and her role. She ran over 
and over what she needed to do 
in her head, playing out every 
scenario that could happen in 
the game. What if she’s hot? 
What if she’s not? What does 
she need to do to make sure the 
team wins?
On Illinois’ first possession, 
both of Michigan’s bigs were 
pulled up to the top of the 
3-point line, and the Fighting 
Illini 
point 
guard, 
Brandi 
Beasley, tried to lob a pass over 
the top of them — and would 
have connected for an easy two 
points, if not for Johnson. She 
sniffed it out before the pass 
even began, taking two steps 
and knocking down the pass.
“It’s not really about your 
length, it’s about how hard 
you’re going to play,” Johnson 
said. “But I’m not going to lie — 
my length really does help it out 
a little bit, gives me a little extra 
step to get back and get those 
tips.”
It was decided, then, that her 
game would be defensive.
Johnson racked up three 
steals in the first quarter, often 

times being the only thing 
between a hot Illini and a 
bucket.
While the Wolverines fought 
to keep in the game, Johnson 
took every opportunity she 
could to be the emotional 
boost they needed. Handing 
out high fives between plays, 
congratulating players on the 
tiniest thing, she did exactly 
what Barnes Arico needed her 
to.
“She’s stepped up to that 
challenge,” Barnes Arico said. 
“I think she understands what 
it takes to be successful and 
that’s playing with a certain 
type of intensity and a certain 
type of fire. It doesn’t mean 
just shooting the basketball and 
scoring a ton of points, but we 
need to establish ourselves with 
that kind of fire and energy.”
Added sophomore guard Amy 
Dilk: “She’s grown into a great, 
great leader, She has the ability 
to use her voice. It’s tough 
sometimes, when you’re in the 
motion of the game, and you’re 
thinking about 20 different 
things, you like lose your voice 
sometimes. … AK mastered that, 
and her voice on the court, she’s 
a great leader, she’s a great vocal 
leader.”
And then, despite it seemingly 
being 
another 
game 
where 
Johnson would, nearly single-
handedly, limit the production 

of an opposing team, she did 
something 
that’s 
becoming 
more and more common for her: 
scoring.
Her seven first-quarter points 
led the team, and when it looked 
like it would be impossible to 
keep up with Illinois’ explosive 
shooting, 
she 
pump 
faked, 
sending a defender flying past 
her. Her second look clear, the 
ball soared in an arc from the 
corner, giving Michigan a big 
three and narrowing the deficit 
to five, in a game the Wolverines 
would eventually win, 80-59.
In the five games since 
sophomore 
guard 
Danielle 
Rauch’s injury — the team’s 
biggest emotional leader — 
Johnson has scored in double 
digits four times. She’s thrown 
up wild shots that fell despite 
all laws of physics. She’s made 
big 3-pointers when the team’s 
needed her to. She’s sparked 
easy transition buckets that 
shifted momentum with her 
steals.
As the season has progressed, 
Barnes Arico has asked more 
and more from the captain of 
her team. To lock down the 
most potent offensive threat in 
the conference, to replace the 
rebounds of the team’s second-
best rebounder, to get better 
and better.
Every time, Johnson has met 
those expectations.

KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer

JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Editor

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior point guard Zavier Simpson is shooting 37 percent from three this year.

Slaker’s success leading Wolverines

Jake Slaker finished his lap 
around the ice with a deadpan 
look on his face. The senior 
forward had scored the opening 
goal Friday at Munn Ice Arena, 
and made it a point to turn to 
the Michigan State student 
section.
Until that point, the arena 
had been moderately loud. The 
Michigan hockey team likes to 
joke Munn is a library in terms 
of atmosphere, but the jeers and 
chants rained from all around, 
contrary to its defamation.
And after his goal, Slaker 
faced the student section and 
brought a single finger to his 
lips — doing what any person 
disturbed in a library would do.
“Shhh,” Slaker said, silencing 
the rowdy crowd. 
He skated away with a smirk. 
It was a long time coming. He 
was finally playing with a level 
of confidence that matched his 
skill. He was finally producing.
The silencer was by all means 
intended for the attendees, but 
in a sense, it was aimed at the 
doubters, the skeptics who were 
questioning if his production 
would ever come after a rough 
first half of the season.
Slaker was held without a 
goal in the first ten games of the 
year and had just three goals 
heading into Winter break. 
Since the break, however, he’s 
scored nine goals and tacked 

on eight assists, bringing the 
impact he had been expecting 
to bring all year.
And as he’s found success, so 
has the team. Of the nine games 
he’s scored in, 
the Wolverines 
have 
won 
eight 
— 
he’s 
contributing, 
and Michigan’s 
reaping 
the 
rewards of his 
hot streak.
“When 
(seniors) 
get 
going, it gets 
the entire team 
going,” 
senior 
forward Will Lockwood said 
Jan. 21. “When Slakes gets 
going, he brings a lot of energy 
in the locker room. I always 
say our team is 
doing the best 
when 
Slakes 
is putting the 
puck 
in 
the 
net.”
It’s 
only 
natural 
that 
when 
goals 
are 
scored, 
teams 
find 
success, 
but 
Slaker’s 
goals 
in 
particular 
bring an unmatched vigor that 
trickles down through the rest 
of the team. 
It’s hard to bring positivity 
when there’s no production 
to back it up, even more so 

when the team loses. But as 
he’s scoring, he’s making sure 
people know. His impact lies 
not only in the goals he scores, 
but in the energy he brings after 
each one.
“Energy 
and 
energy 
breeds 
energy,” 
senior 
defenseman 
Luke 
Martin 
said. “Positivity 
creates 
positivity, 
and 
the more we’ve 
been able to have 
success, 
we’ve 
just kind of built 
on it, and it’s 
snowballing now and you know, 
we’re rolling. 
“I think (Slaker and team 
success) 
definitely 
have 
something to do 
with each other.”
It’s 
how 
he 
built his game, 
a 
development 
that’s 
jumped 
since the start of 
his 
Wolverines’ 
career. 
With 
some 
of 
the 
best hockey his 
teammates have 
ever seen out of 
him coming in 
the last couple months, Slaker 
plays a team-complementary 
playstyle. He plays in the 
gritty areas. He cleans up the 
rebounds. He goes after the 
physicality of the game with no 
hesitation.
“He’s not forcing anything,” 
Martin said. “Not to say that 
he was in the first half, but 
now he’s taking what’s coming 
to him and he’s not, you know, 
forcing anything or cheating 
the game, he’s playing the game 
the right way and on the right 
side and he’s having success.”
He’s putting up numbers, 
but not empty numbers. His 
goals make an impact, and as 
he lined up his 12th goal of the 
season Friday, the final nail in 
the coffin in the third period, 
he put his hand to his ear to 
hear if there were any more 
complaints.
Not a single one could be 
heard.

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Senior forward Jake Slaker has scored in three of Michigan’s last four games.

MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Senior guard Akienreh Johnson has stepped up as a leader in recent weeks.

SLAKE 
SHOW

SLAKER’S 12 GOALS 
SPURRING MICHIGAN

SLAKER
GAME RESULT

1 GOAL

1 GOAL

1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST

2 GOALS

1 GOAL

2 GOALS

1 GOAL, 3 ASSISTS

1 GOAL

2 GOALS

L, 3-2 VS NEW HAMPSHIRE

W, 3-1 AT WISCONSIN

W, 4-1 VS PENN STATE

W, 4-1 VS FERRIS STATE

W, 3-1 AT NOTRE DAME

W, 6-0 AT PENN STATE

W, 8-4 VS WISCONSIN

W, 5-3 VS WISCONSIN

W, 5-1 AT MICHIGAN STATE

Allison Engkvist / Daily

When (seniors) 
get going, it gets 
the entire team 
going.

It’s snowballing 
now and you 
know, we’re 
rolling.

He’s a smart 
enough player 
to know where 
the reads are.

