Jordan Poole has entered the self-nickname business.
Poole, Michigan's confident 6-foot-4 shooting guard, has labeled himself "The Microwave." The virtual player he's created for himself in the popular NBA 2K video game franchise shares the moniker.
Asked Monday night if he knew the name of the popular former Detroit Pistons guard who made that nickname famous, the 18-year-old Poole said he did, but had to think about it for a minute.
"I just read it, too, and I forgot it," Poole told reportersbefore asking for the name. "Oh yeah.
"Shout out to Vinnie Johnson."
On the other side of the room, in a much calmer tone, another guy with a nickname – and a much calmer personality – walked reporters through his game-winning drive and free throws in the final second.
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Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, whose team-given nickname of "Rock" serves as a convenient riff on his last name and a literal description of his value to John Beilein's Wolverines (16-4, 5-2 Big Ten) as a senior co-captain.
Poole eats emotion for breakfast. Abdur-Rahkman barely sweats.
"I just went up there and knocked them down," he said of his final foul shots.
On Monday night, two days after reintroducing themselves to the national college basketball landscape, Michigan's combination of fire and ice kept the Wolverines' fascinating group moving forward with a last-second 68-67 win over Maryland.
After nearly pulling off an upset over Purdue, the Big Ten's best club at the moment, U-M scored its biggest win of the year with a 10-point upset victory at Michigan State on Saturday. Two days later, running on fumes, the Wolverines hosted a hungry Maryland squad looking for a quality road win.
It almost happened, too.
But Poole's tidal wave of intensity and Abdur-Rahkman's calm close got in the way.
Moments after blowing a five-point lead in roughly a minute, Beilein went to his favorite last-second full-court set, hoping to steal one. The first read on the play for inbound forward Isaiah Livers was to hurl a half-court pass to Abdur-Rahkman and give him a chance to catch and drive to the basket at the other end. The throw by Livers, a former pitcher for Kalamazoo Central, was perfect. And once the ball entered the hands of his most consistent player, Beilein knew the ending would be, too.
"(When he caught it) I said 'we're going to win the game,' " Beilein recalled afterward.
He knew his team was in good hands. Shortly after U-M's upset win over MSU on Saturday, Beilein told a small group of reporters that he'd finally been able to put his finger on why this youthful squad has shown an ability to stick with a fight for 40 minutes every night, despite stretches of sloppy play or large deficits.
Abdur-Rahkman, whose experience in Michigan's system and consistent calm, keeps everything level. There are no peaks and valleys with the senior from Allentown, Pa., who was a late add to Michigan's 2014 class as a barely recruited two-star prospect.
After both free throws fell through the net Monday night, Abdur-Rahkman – playing in his 123rd game – joined the program's 1,000-point club.
Ice.
"We make a lot of old jokes about (him), but he's a great person," Poole says. "He's super caring and he's always looking out, he never thinks about himself. ... You can go to him for anything.
"And if you have any questions, he's been in Coach B's system for, like, 12 years. So he knows everything."
And now, the fire.
Poole's opportunity Monday was probably a long time coming, but it also happened out of circ*mstance as the Wolverines needed more juice from their bench after a grueling battle just two days prior. Poole had no problem with that.
Less than 2 minutes after checking in early in the second half, Poole had taken and hit two 3s. Twelve seconds later, he added a blocked shot and an absurd step-back transition 3-pointer that sent the crowd into a frenzy as he confidently strolled back down the floor.
In Poole's first 10 minutes of action Monday, the spark plug from Milwaukee had 11 points, an assist, a block and a plus-12 rating on the floor. Unlike games earlier this year, Beilein opted to leave Poole in the game for a longer stretch.
Beilein even had the rookie on the floor for the final set, playing alongside Abdur-Rahkman as a secondary option on the play.
When the game ended, the other end of Michigan's emotional spectrum jogged over and locked arms with U-M's cheerleaders to sing the school's alma mater with the student section.
"He was amazing when he came in there, he was amazing," Beilein said. "Somehow he gets open, finds himself open and he's got these shifty gears. ... He's very quick to get into right spots.
"Just get him the ball."
It's been something different most every game with this team, which is sort of the point.
Michigan has more quality depth than most Beilein teams have had. It has intensity and calm. It can shoot and defend. It's got a microwave and a rock.Oh, and an offense that can put five shooters, including 6-foot-11 Moritz Wagner,on the floor at any given time, regardless of situation.
"They're impossible to guard," Maryland's Mark Turgeon said. "Let me say that again: They're impossible to guard."
That's not quite a nickname. But Michigan will take it for now.
Contact Nick Baumgardner: nbaumgardn@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitternickbaumgardner.Download our Wolverines Xtra app for free onAppleandAndroiddevices!
