Aday Mara has been fantastic for Michigan in a lot of ways. He talks about his performances, his fit with Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. and his experience in Chicago for the Big Ten Tournament.
Michigan center Aday Mara has been a God send for head coach Dusty May. The 7-3 Spaniard is invaluable on both ends of the floor and is ready to prove that in a rematch with Wisconsin. Mara talked about the Badgers, who handed U-M their only Big Ten loss this year, and explained why he and his teammates are looking very forward to the game.
"[The first game] wasn't fun," he said through a wry smile. "You know, just by thinking it was our only loss in the season, in the Big Ten. Now, that we're playing twice against them, we're playing again, we know what they do. We know what we can do better to beat them. So we're just going to think about it and go."
One thing that works in Michigan's favor is the chemistry and team-first approach that he, Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. have with each other. It's not easy to integrate three bigs into a game plan, but May has done just that with Mara, Johnson and Lendeborg all season long.
"I think we all say the same thing. Like, we are not selfish and I think we love each other," Mara explained. "We create a family here. And I think you can feel it when we play. We don't panic in the last minutes of the game. That's because we created the family, and we created this group — special group.
"If I see Morez inside, I'm going to stay out. We play for each other, you know. We move the ball. Like today was me, maybe tomorrow it's going to be Rez, the next day it's going to be, you know, someone else. I think that's what makes us play so good."
When you watch Mara on the court, it's easy to forget that he's playing about 4,000 miles from home. The Zaragoza, Spain native is leaning on Chicagoland teammates Nimari Burnett and Morez Johnson Jr. while here in the Windy City, but that's not his only knowledge of Chitown.
"I'm super happy to be here, because when I played 2k when I was a kid, I always played with the with the 1996 Bulls team. Like [Ron] Harper, [Scottie] Pippen, [Michael] Jordan, Dennis Rodman and [Luc] Longley — that team. So, just by watching, like, the banners, the numbers, just the logo, like it's super cool. So I'm really happy to to be here and to play in this arena."
Mara will be needed in a big way for the Wolverines to advance as they take on the only team to hand him and his teammates a conference loss this year, the Wisconsin Badgers.