The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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26 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2018 BY ANDREW VAILLIENCOURT E ntering the Sweet 16, Michigan was riding an 11-game winning streak that was in large part due to its strong defensive play. According to KenPom.com, Michi- gan boasted the third-most efficient defense in the country, allowing just 91.5 points per 100 possessions ad- justed for opponent. KenPom adjusts the stat after each team's game, and only uses results from games be- tween two Division I foes. Each team typically has about 70 possessions per game, which is why the total numbers look higher than what one would see in a game. Sophomore guard Zavier Simpson has been Michigan's defensive leader this year with his tough, bulldog mentality. Simpson routinely checks opponents' best offensive guards and has held those players to low scoring outputs and shooting percentages. In the Big Ten Tournament, Simp- son guarded Iowa's Jordan Bohan- non, Nebraska's Glynn Watson Jr., Michigan State's Cassius Winston and Purdue's Carsen Edwards. That quartet combined to shoot just 26.9 percent from both the floor (14 of 52) and three-point range (7 of 26), while averaging just 11.0 points per game. "This guy hangs his hat on de- fense," Michigan head coach John Beilein said. "He's stubborn. He wants to play every minute. He doesn't want to rest. "He's just wore me out so much with how hard he plays." While Simpson hasn't exclusively guarded all these players, he has taken a lead defensive role on each one. He will switch occasionally throughout the game as well, if an- other player needs more attention. In the NCAA Tournament's open- ing weekend, Simpson limited Mon- tana guard Ahmaad Rorie from breaking out after Rorie claimed people should get ready to see a lot of points scored. Rorie only posted 15 points, 2.2 below his season average, on 35.3 percent shooting. A g a i n s t H o u s t o n , S i m p s o n checked Rob Gray, who torched San Diego State for 39 points in the first round. With defensive help from red- shirt sophomore guard Charles Mat- thews, Michigan limited Gray to 23 points on 36.4-percent shooting (8 of 22). The defensive renaissance Michi- gan has had this season started back in the fall, when new assistant coach Luke Yaklich took over the defensive game planning. In a story by NBC Sports, Yaklich spoke about his first day of practice with the Wolverines. "When I first walked into the gym, the first drill ever was 'one, two, three, let's hit the floor, we're going to do some slides' — in August," Yaklich said. "And Zavier was the guy right in front, 'I got you Coach Luke.'" That mentality and mindset of car- ing about defense spread like wild- fire to the rest of the team. Now, Michigan has reliable defenders all over the court. Matthews and senior guard Mu- hammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman are a dynamic duo along the perimeter, with length and speed not many teams can match. On the inside, ju- nior forward Moritz Wagner, sopho- MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Zavier Simpson Shuts Down Top Opponents During U-M's run to the Big Ten Tournament title, Simpson helped defend opponents' top back- court scoring options and limited them to 11.0 points per game on 26.9-percent shooting from both the field and three-point range. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL PLAYERS ZAVIER SIMPSON HAS GUARDED DURING U-M'S 11-GAME WINNING STREAK Player, Team Points Scored Shooting % Steals* Brad Davison, Wisconsin 10 30.0 1 Jordan Bohannon, Iowa 7 60.0 0 C.J. Jackson, Ohio State 3 20.0 2 Tony Carr, Penn State 21 44.4 3 Anthony Cowan, Maryland 17 50.0 1 Jordan Bohannon, Iowa 11 21.4 1 Glynn Watson Jr., Nebraska 10 33.3 2 Cassius Winston, Michigan State 11 30.0 0 Carsen Edwards, Purdue 12 25.0 2 Ahmaad Rorie, Montana 15 35.3 0 Rob Gray, Houston 23 36.4 2 *Steals By Simpson