The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1351834
APRIL 2021 THE WOLVERINE 27 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Iowa's Luka Garza was tabbed as the Big Ten Player of the Year over Illinois' Ayo Dosunmu. The two were the only unanimous first-team All- Big Ten selections as voted on by both the media and the coaches. — Chris Balas FRANZ WAGNER SHAKES OFF ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM SNUB Five times in the last seven years the Big Ten's All-Defensive team has not contained a single player from the league's top defensive unit. The 2020-21 season proved no different to the surprise of many league experts. Despite being the most dominant defender on the best defensive team in the league, sophomore guard Franz Wagner was omitted from the five-man squad announced March 9, giving way to Trent Frazier (Il- linois), Darryl Morsell (Maryland), Aaron Henry (Michigan State), Ja- mari Wheeler (Penn State) and Myles Johnson (Rutgers). Wagner, a second-team All-Big Ten pick by the coaches and third- team selection by the media, ranked second nationally in defensive box plus/minus (DBPM) rating (6.4) — a figure that estimates a basketball player 's contribution to the team when that player is on the court — and ranked sixth in the league in steals and 13th in blocks. The ad- vanced metrics, though, do a better job outlining his value on that end. According to Daily Illini sports- writer Brandon Simberg, Wagner should have been a lock for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, let alone the All-Defensive team, thanks to his advanced numbers. His DBPM led the conference in the regular season and was sixth in the country. He was also one of only three players to have a steal rate of more than 2.6 and a block rate of more than 3.3. Furthermore, the Wolverines were 13 points per 100 possessions better defensively with Wagner on the floor, and their turnover rate nearly dou- bles when he's on the floor … and that's for the team that ranked No. 5 (as of March 14) in KenPom.com's adjusted defensive efficiency rank- ings that estimate the defensive ef- ficiency (points allowed per 100 pos- sessions) a team would have against the average Division I offense. Wagner shook it off when asked about the snub days later. "It's alright," he said. "Those are not the awards that any player plays for. We're just trying to win a cham- pionship. … I don't really need any more motivation — I'm good on that end." Many also felt senior guard Eli Brooks had a case for the All-Defen- sive team. He was U-M's lockdown guy at the guard position. Former U-M head coach John Beilein, now a Big Ten Network analyst, said he's been outstanding in that role for years. "People talk about flow on offense with him, but it's the flow on defense that is also huge," Beilein said. "He's always in the right spot. "We did stats on him back when he was struggling more offensively … [former U-M assistant] Luke Yaklich did the stats on him, and we contin- ued to come up with we were always better defensively when Eli was on the floor. Always." — Chris Balas PLAYERS HAVE JUWAN HOWARD'S BACK AFTER EJECTION Michigan head coach Juwan How- ard received a double-technical foul in U-M's 13-point win over Mary- land in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, after he and Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon were in a shouting match. Turgeon, who was also given a technical foul, took steps toward Howard and the Wolverine bench, before Howard did the same in reaction and was held back by as- sistant coaches, before being forced to head to the locker room for the remainder of the contest. "I don't know how you guys were raised, but how I was raised by my grandmother and also by Chicago — because I was also raised by Chicago, and I grew up on the south side — when guys charge you, it's time to defend yourself, especially when a grown man charges you," Howard said afterwards. "That right there, I went in defense mode, forgetting ex- actly where I'm at, because that's not the right way to handle the situation. … He charged me, and I reacted. I reacted out of defense." The altercation appeared to fire up the Wolverines, who were up 10 at the time, heading down the stretch in what turned out to be an exciting victory. Even so, Howard, after his first ejection, acknowledged he was Howard admitted he did not handle an in-game shouting match with Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon correctly, but his team still posted a 79-66 victory March 12 in the Big Ten quar- terfinals after he was ejected for a double-technical foul. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN