Wolverine Watch: Somebody Had To Step Up
James Brooks felt it, like every other Michigan fan felt it, heading into a road game at Nebraska.
The Wolverines needed this one — badly. They weren’t in the best position to get it, either.
Arguably their best player — out, after aggravating an injury that has kept him out of the lineup for more than a month. Their captain, senior point guard and leader — out, because of a suspension about as timely as an ice cream truck driving by in a blizzard.
None of that helped, but none of it mattered, either. Big Ten teams don’t send out sympathy cards. They punch you in the mouth again, and say good luck chewing.
Nebraska certainly wanted to deliver a haymaker. The Cornhuskers are effective as a one-wheel tractor these days, but they saw the Wolverines limping themselves, and stared down an opportunity — especially at home.
So Wolverine watchers fretted, with good reason. And James Brooks — who served as father/coach for U-M junior guard Eli Brooks for the latter’s entire life, until Juwan Howard took over the coaching duties — was right with them.
Prior to a bigger-picture conversation about his son, James Brooks delivered a cogent observation about the battle soon to take place in Lincoln.
If there was ever a time for somebody to step up, this is it, he mused.
Somebody did.
There were double-digit hugs and high-fives in the Brooks household on Tuesday night, and for good reason. Eli delivered an effort that helped end Michigan’s four-game Big Ten losing streak and allowed it to, finally, take a deep breath.
It’s been one gut punch after another for Howard’s team, following a jaw-dropping start to the season. Isaiah Livers’ injury, Michigan’s inconsistent play in its wake, Livers’ re-injury in the very game that he returned, Zavier Simpson’s suspension … the Wolverines’ bus has been sliding backward down an icy hill.
Brooks and his teammates blocked the wheels, at least temporarily. His 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in 39 minutes loomed as large as any effort this season. He also stepped in defensively to slow Nebraska guard Cam Mack, who was threatening to carry the Cornhuskers to the winning crib.
He didn’t win this one alone, by any means. Freshman forward Franz Wagner found his shooting touch, with 18 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore forward Brandon Johns Jr., stood tall with 16 points and seven boards.
But Michigan came into the game shorter on serviceable guards than the Wicked Witch’s castle after she melted. Brooks stepped in broke the spell.
Not that he proved perfect, by any means. Brooks went 4-for-6 from the free throw line, and his former coach and ongoing dad won’t like that one bit. Free throws and layups aren’t to be missed.
Brooks recalled that when he was in the seventh grade: “He was upset that my layup percentage was worse than my three-point percentage. He said, ‘How can you shoot 50 percent from 19 feet, and shoot layups the same or less than that?’ He always gets on me about concentration on layups and being focused.”
James Brooks, Eli’s coach at Spring Grove, Pa., High School, laughed over that recounted memory.
“We still have serious conversations about free throws and missed layups,” the elder Brooks said. “It’s one of those things where you have to see it the whole way through, whatever you’re doing. It’s easy to start the situation, but are you going to be in the moment long enough and concentrate long enough to finish?
“That’s what I’ve always stressed to him. Even now, if he misses a free throw, he might not say it, but he’s thinking, ‘My dad is really fired up right now, and he’s going to talk to me about it.’ We’d have conversations after games, and he’d go, ‘I know the first thing you’re going to say…’”
Brooks pushed back on some of the lessons early on, without verbalizing his resistance. He appreciates all he’s been taught these days.
“I’ve always respected and realized what he was doing, but it was a big light going on when people started noticing me and wanting me to be on their teams,” Brooks said.
Michigan wanted Brooks on its team Tuesday night — badly. It needed him. And his former coach couldn’t help but smile.
(For an in-depth look at the coach-player, father-son relationship of James and Eli Brooks, check the issue of The Wolverine out the week of Feb. 17).
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