The bubble team locker room always has some sort of underlying tension. Most players look to capitalize on the few chances they have remaining to prove themselves to the committee and bring the team closer to the dream of winning the NCAA tournament. As Michigan approaches the end of the regular season, I wanted to share my experience as a member of a bubble team locker room from 2019 to 2020. Although the NCAA tournament did not happen that year, we certainly were a bubble team for stretches in the season, and we looked to the direction of Coach Howard, Coach Eisley, Coach Martelli, and Coach Washington for guidance.

Messages from the Coaches

Often the typical coach message for a bubble team would be centered around the idea of “controlling your own destiny”. While the coaching staff does mix that message into their speeches, this Michigan staff often focused more simply on getting “1% better each day”. This message became a motto for our approach to practices, film sessions, and lifting weights. I asked myself prior to each day about what I could do to become one percent better as a player. However, I think the current staff does a great job of emphasizing the collective as more important than the individual. Initially, this 1% message seemed to be directed at each individual. As the season progressed, it became a team message; making the team 1% better would bring us another step closer to our goals. In a few management courses I have taken, this idea of breaking down a large goal into smaller pieces becomes evident in a bubble team locker room. This 1% message takes away the outside pressures and the expectations weighing on the shoulders of the players. 1% better is not a high mountain to climb, but it is a simple step to take.

Due to the current situation for Michigan basketball this season, I’m sure the coaching staff of Howard Eisley, Saddi Washington, Chris Hunter, and Phil Martelli have discussed with each other the best approach to ease the minds of the players and have them focus on the task at hand. Promoting the 1% as a milestone for each team activity can give the players an easy goal to accomplish. As the staff knows once March rolls around, anything can happen. Michigan currently sits at 16-13 on the season, but if they make the tournament, then they still have a shot at the National Championship.

Player Attitudes

Throughout this year, I found myself wondering about the locker room attitudes of this year’s Michigan basketball squad. The guys from my team last year seemed to have a solid approach to the postseason aspirations, but some things seemed to change a bit this year, especially at the beginning of the year. In the preseason, Michigan had national championship expectations as well as Big Ten title hopes. The team had a lot to accomplish to even come close to meeting these lofty goals, and early season losses to Seton Hall, Minnesota, and UCF knocked into some of the players. Even when they were winning, the team seemed to not have as much energy as prior teams.

In the most recent weeks with their season on the line, Michigan's attitude has quickly shifted. It's easy for me to see that completely based on the bench involvement in games. Will Tschetter, Jace Howard, Ian Burns, Brandon Johns, Adrien Nunez, and Jaron Faulds all have

been captured doing funny celebrations, high-fiving teammates, and supporting the program in general. This energy has been carried through games they have lost too. Even when the team is losing, this energy helps the guys on the floor battle through the grueling Big Ten season. I truly believe this general support and comradery that has been shown in February and the first week of March will give the Wolverines a better chance to win every time they step on the floor.

On our team for 2019-2020, I personally was challenged to bring more energy to everything that I did for basketball. To push the team to the NCAA tournament, I needed to fully accept my role as a support player behind the scenes. This came from Zavier Simpson who straight up told me I needed to be better defensively in practice. At the time, this direct approach to identifying my lackluster energy and defensive issues was hard for me to hear at the time. However, I needed to hear someone tell me that to help me fully understand the value that I have in the program. Zavier talking to each player was essential to our success down the stretch that season. Every player got the chance to look at their own games and decided what would be best going forward to get us to the NCAA tournament. Like I mentioned before, many of the bench players could bring energy while starters could take better care of themselves through sleep, recovery, and efficient workouts.

This type of leadership has been exhibited by Eli Brooks in this trying season for the Wolverines. In many quick timeout situations, or even in team huddles, Eli talks or yells at somebody to correct a mistake or to explain to them a mistake that the person made. As the season has progressed, Brooks has stepped up further into the vocal leader that can push the team to the NCAA tournament. Other players respond to his words well, and hopefully, his teaching can provide a spark to the team.

Dealing with the Outside Pressure

When March rolls around, many analysts and sports media outlets try to predict the teams that will make the tournament and have a shot at the national championship. The toughest thing to do as a player is to ignore that chatter on the outside. Bubble team locker rooms often implement certain measures to prevent the outside pressure from creeping into the minds of the players. Some players make personal choices to uninstall various social media platforms to prevent the constant influx of information and make the outside pressures just seem like noise. A tactic that I liked the most was “visualizing success”. Both coaching staffs that I played for have given us the message to visualize our success on the floor. This visualization helped make the toughest assignments, the biggest games, and the difficult shots more possible. In my mind, if I can visualize myself doing something like raising a trophy, then I can make it happen. This practice helped make the outside pressure less daunting. Once you imagine your success and see yourself doing those things, a player often thinks, “What can I do to make that happen?”. Once that question becomes apparent, players will not worry about what other people think. The main focus then shifts to what the players can control rather than what other people are saying about them.

Michigan’s current locker room has to be emphasizing this point. They still have opportunities to make the NCAA tournament through winning the Big Ten Tournament or making a nice run in the final few games. If the players can visualize themselves doing these things, then the outside noise dies down and they can focus on what they have in the locker room.

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