hit me until after the game. That's when it was like,
'Wow, this is a big win."'
To this day, Jackson still isn't sure how Brust made
the half-court shot. "It wasn't like LeVert was playing
bad defense," he said. "He was in his face and he still
hit it. I've tried it; I don't know how he did it."
Yes, Jackson has tried making the same shot during practice. So has Berggren. "It was something that
we always did at the end of shootarounds on the
road," he said.
Sometimes there will be a friendly competition
between the guards and the "bigs" during the game
day shootarounds with the position groups lining up
at half-court and firing away at the basket.
"We do those half-court shots not only to keep
the guys loose," Gard said, "but it lets you know who
has the touch and can judge distance, those types of
things. You work on it because you never know when
it's going to come into play."
Make no mistake about it: Brust shot the ball,
he didn't heave it. This wasn't H-O-R-S-E.
"He was able to take one dribble and he got
his footwork right and squared up to the basket,"
38
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VARSITY January 16, 2014
Berggren said. "For a good shooter like Ben, that's
really not that crazy of a shot. It's not like he threw
it over his head from half-court and made it. He was
facing the basket and going towards the rim.
"It's probably not the most outrageous shot that
he's ever made."
It begs the question, "Has Brust attempted and
made the same shot since Michigan?"
"I've tried it a couple of times and I haven't hit
once yet," Brust said. "But there are too many little
things that went into. It's never going to be the same
pass or the same cut and you're never going to be
catching it at the same spot. I've made it from that
spot, but maybe not exactly like it happened."
A once-in-a-lifetime shot should be just that; fleeting, for now, but not forgotten.
"It was cool," Brust said, "but I'm just into winning
games this year."
"We do those half-court shots not only to keep
the guys loose," Gard said, "but it lets you know
who has the touch and can judge distance, those
types of things. You work on it because you never
know when it's going to come into play."
