The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1111798
42 THE WOLVERINE MAY 2019 get there and we didn't make it. It's a great sign." Beilein gave a thoughtful retro- spective on the games against Mich- igan State recently. He joined host Bill Simonson on The Huge Show ra- dio broadcast, breaking down those games as he saw them. The Wolverines built double-digit leads in all three games and dropped them all — 77-70 in Crisler Center, 75-63 at the Breslin Center and 65- 60 at the United Center in Chicago. Beilein saw his team close the gap, but never finish on top. "We got better every time," Beilein said. "The first time we played them, here, we didn't play the way Michi- gan normally plays. We didn't have the same togetherness, and they did. They really just executed beauti- fully, and we did not play very well. There's a lot of reasons behind that, that I'm not willing to share publicly. "The second time, at their place, again, a double-digit lead in the sec- ond half, and we can't hang on. Cas- sius [Winston] was tremendous in that game. They made open shots, and when we got them we didn't make them. "The third time, again, a double- digit lead in the second half. But they made shots and we didn't. [Matt] McQuaid hit one from the corner with [junior guard] Zavier [Simpson] all over him. Zavier 's got a similar shot to win the game, maybe, and he misses it. It comes down to that, sometimes." Beilein also hinted at a break and a call or two involved. He remembered Winston putting up a shot that Teske actually blocked but somehow still rolled in. Teske also saw a ball swat- ted out of his hands, one that was given to Michigan State. "That last one could have gone ei- ther way," Beilein stressed. "We kept getting better. They were just a really good team. "We have a great rivalry there. [The losses] always hurt. They hurt more, because they kept us from winning a championship, twice. We had two championships we couldn't get, and that was what hurt the most." Still, Beilein stressed, hard-fought rivalry losses weren't going to ruin a 30-win, Sweet-16 season. "I love the way we finished the season, with the exception of the Michigan State games," he said. "We won on the road at Minnesota, at Maryland, then we went into the Big Ten Tournament and beat Iowa and Minnesota big, right? We ran into a great, great basketball team in Michi- gan State. "We're not going to let that temper our season. I know it tempers some, but we had a heck of a year. The kids would agree and we'd agree, we got almost everything we could out of this team. It just wasn't enough." PERSONNEL QUESTIONS LOOM FOR 2019-20 After last season, Beilein knew there would be a big overhaul with his team. This year, he'll find out the exact size of the retooling task as late as the end of May. May 29 is when the Wolverines go- ing through the NBA Draft process have to decide whether they're in or out. Shortly after the season, three key components from this year 's team made it clear they're looking Sophomore guard Jordan Poole (above) and redshirt junior wing Charles Matthews have already decided to move on to the professional ranks; the lone remaining decision to watch is from freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN