Tommy Amaker, standing with arms folded and biting his upper lip, watched passively as a young Iowa team exploded for a 20-1 run in the second half, turning a 14 point deficit into a 69-62 victory. Amaker claimed he did all he could and sought to rationalize the loss on his team’s second half offensive woes rather than Michigan’s inability to defend and maintain focus. According to Amaker’s theory of basketball as explained to Nate Fenno of the Ann Arbor News, in order to play solid defense you need to play good offense.
Apparently, if you play at Michigan and your shots don’t fall then you can’t defend. Amaker, the 1987 National Defensive Player of the Year, surely knows better. He explained away his team’s poor effort by saying, “[O]ur defense wasn’t there for us in the second half. That was a product of us not being able to make shots.” Amaker’s theory of hoops, while self-serving and perhaps undersandable given his precarious job stability, fails to explain how Michigan tooted away a 14 point ead at home to an average Iowa team in a must win game. As Tom Izzo knows well, defensive effort often leads to better offense. You may not be able to control how many shots you make on a given night, but you can always control your defensive effort. Last night night, Michigan simply didn’t put together a 40 minute effort.
As everyone associated with Michigan basketball knows, Michigan’s humdrum effort and lack of focus are not recent developments. The team is a reflection of Amaker and Amaker’s teams look like this: mentally fragile. Freshman Ekpe Udoh, who’s scholarship will not be terminated at the end of season, was more succinct and direct than his coach: “[Iowa] wanted it more.” Even senior Courtney Sims acknowledged, “[w]e got out-toughed.”
Fortunately, Michigan as the weekend off. Unfortunately, they deal with Ohio State on Tuesday in Columbus. Jim Carty of the Ann Arbor News has written the obituary. Bill Martin can read it here. Now, for once for all, let’s just be done with it.
