Kornacki: Point Guard Position Key to Big Ten Success
1/7/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2017
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Head coach John Beilein answered the questions as they came from reporters following Michigan's 77-70 loss to Maryland on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 7) at the Crisler Center.
He was asked about why his Wolverines basketball team waited until the second half to take it to the Terrapins. There were questions about countering Maryland's hot three-point shooting and Michigan's lack of punch off the bench and even a question about why he didn't play guys off his bench more down the stretch.
When you lose at home to an unranked team -- albeit a pretty good team with a 14-2 record and 2-1 Big Ten mark -- that's what happens at press conferences.
It becomes an inquiry of sorts.
However, nobody asked about point guard Derrick Walton Jr., and so I walked away from the press conference toward the team's weight room and offices and asked Beilein about his senior point guard.
While Zak Irvin, Moritz Wagner and D.J. Wilson went from a combined 11 points and two rebounds in the first half to totaling 34 points and nine rebounds after intermission, Walton didn't step up to make the difference as he has so often in his four-year career.
Walton hit a flying three-point shot on the first possession and didn't score again until driving for a layup with 30 seconds left to make it a three-point deficit.
It was an off scoring night for a player who has scored 1,075 points, and five-point games happen to the best of them. But what jumped out more was Walton's one assist in the game, and the lack of playmaking in recent games by a deft passer with 366 assists. Walton has seven assists in the last four games, less than two per game, but was averaging 4.1 per game before that.
What does Walton need to get going?
"Confidence right now," said Beilein. "Confidence, swag. He's a really good player. He's scored over a thousand points and been a four-year starter. He just needs to get that swag back, and that all starts at the defensive end as well."
Walton also has 444 rebounds, and it can be argued that the Wolverines have never had a better man on the boards who stands 6-foot-1 (his height) or less.
He has a very realistic chance to become the first Michigan player to ever reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists. Gary Grant and Jalen Rose, two of the better Wolverines of all-time and long-time NBA stars, are the only 1,000-400-400 players the program has had.
So, while Walton, averaging 12.1 points this season, has never scored like Grant and Rose, he has offered an all-around presence similar to theirs.
Beilein mentioned going into the season that he hoped to play Walton and freshman Xavier Simpson, his heir apparent on the point, together some in the backcourt. And Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman has stepped up in recent games to earn more playing time in the backcourt.
"Moving forward," said Beilein, "we might have to give 'X' more minutes to make sure that Derrick can play off the ball as well. That's what's happened to (Maryland's Melo) Trimble right now. He's playing off the ball somewhat, and when he plays off the ball, he can get his confidence up. He doesn't have to think as much. Sometimes guys are over-thinking when they're the (point) guard."
Trimble had 13 points, a team-high six rebounds and still got four assists for the Terrapins in their win. Backcourt mate Anthony Cowan had nine points and four assists in the three-guard alignment Coach Mark Turgeon went with.
Beilein has had a knack of spotting breakout players at this time of the season, and I asked if Simpson had caught his eye that way in practices and games.
"He's moving in that direction," said Beilein. "It's not as quick as he'd like it to be or I'd like it to be, but it's moving in the right direction."
The Wolverines (11-5, 1-2 Big Ten) have been inconsistent, looking like a team on the rise in beating SMU and Marquette to take the 2K Classic at New York's Madison Square Garden. But they've only beaten two good teams -- Furman and Penn State -- since defeating Texas Dec. 6, and those two are far from world-beaters.
So, like Walton, Michigan needs to get its "swag" and "confidence" back. Walton had 23 points and six assists in the championship game win over SMU, and that is what he and his team are capable of.
It needs consistency from everybody in the starting lineup and strong bench contributions (Maryland had a 19-8 edge in bench scoring) to get back on track, and 15 conference games remain to get on a roll and return to the NCAA Tournament.
So, there's plenty of time.
But just like a game clock winds down on the team trailing to end its chances, so does a schedule. The Wolverines now go on the road Wednesday (Jan. 11) at Illinois before returning home next Saturday (Jan. 14) to play a surprisingly good Nebraska team. They need to turn the corner in those games to get where they hope to be when March becomes madness.
Michigan has had inconsistent players and stretches of games. It overcame a slow start to beat Penn State but couldn't pull one out after trailing, 37-28, at halftime to Maryland. Winning the second half, 42-40, was too little too late for the Wolverines.
"I think we wait to get hit in the mouth before we come out and play," said Irvin, "and we can't let that happen. We came back against Penn State, but the Big Ten is a tough conference, and we're not going to be able to do that every game.
"It's just a lesson learned this afternoon."
Both Irvin and Wagner talked about defense turning the tide for them, but Maryland still shot 52 percent from the field and made an outstanding 67 percent (10 of 15) from three-point territory in the game.
"You haven't taught until they've learned," Beilein said of the changes made on defense this season.
So, he's being accountable for those shortcomings. His players are, too. But the clock is ticking, and the Wolverines have to find ways to improve in virtually every phase of the game.
"It's going to be really fun when we pull this all together," said Beilein.
He knows what he's got and has a plan to get the most out of that talent, and that includes everyone from the stars to the walk-on players. But make no mistake about it. Having his point guard play the way he can is as important as anything in regard to this team realizing its potential.
