Dilk Challenged to Become Something Truly Special by Barnes Arico
11/8/2019 11:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Wolverine point guard Amy Dilk grabbed the defensive rebound and drove to midcourt in a flash. Then she effortlessly dribbled behind her back to create the space needed to fire a perfect pass to Akienreh Johnson driving to the basket for two points.
"You don't even feel sometimes like, 'Is she really going hard?'" said University of Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico. "But she's just so efficient and so smooth that sometimes she does things that look effortless. Where other people struggle to do them, she makes it look so easy. So, that (play) just shows you what kind of player she is."
Dilk said, "One of my biggest goals, personally, coming into this game was rebounding. I was looking to get on the glass, and once you get the first couple, you start finding rhythms to shots. When I grabbed that (ball), knowing there was going to be pressure, because that's what they'd been doing, I kept my eyes up, trusting my ball-handling skills and found a cutting 'AK' to the basket."
It was something to see and a microcosm of what Dilk, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, brings in terms of a complete game. She did it all in Friday night's (Nov. 8) season-opening 76-55 win over Western Michigan, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
"Amy Dilk has the opportunity to be one of the greatest point guards to ever put on the Michigan uniform," said Barnes Arico. "I knew she was special coming out of high school, and watched her compete at such a high level at Carmel (Indiana) High School, taking her team to state championship after state championship. So, she's a winner. She's a competitor.
"And we've seen glimpses of her through her freshman year. But she was like most freshmen -- had some great games, had some inconsistency. I think her challenge this year is to really be consistent, night-in and night-out. She showed her ability to rebound. She's a tremendous athlete. Her ability to affect the game in so many ways -- she has great court vision, she was aggressive on the offensive end, she can defend. I mean, she could do a little bit of everything, and I think we saw that tonight."
Dilk has a chance to become something special.
"We want to speak in the same breath as Sabrina Ionescu, who is up for national player of the year," said Barnes Arico, "and I keep talking to Amy, 'You could be like that girl. You just have to be consistent, night-in and night-out,' and she worked hard. But also understanding the role of leading the team from that position, she's worked really hard at that. So, she's gotten better and better, and is going to continue to get better because she's really now pushing herself at another level."
Ionescu, a senior guard at Oregon, was a first team All-American and has scored 1,984 points with 792 assists and 756 rebounds in three seasons.
She's a mighty high bar to set, but Dilk has the basketball pedigree to chase greatness.
Dilk was both Miss Basketball and the Gatorade Player of the Year in her home state, and averaged 17.8 points, 6.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 3.8 steals as a senior for the Greyhounds. She was rated a five-star recruit by ESPN HoopGurlz.
She started 29 games as a Michigan freshman, averaging 7.2 points, 4.4 assists and 3.7 assists. Those are solid newcomer numbers, but she also had games against Washington (career-high 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists), Purdue (16 points, six assists) and Michigan State (13 points, five rebounds) where she made big impacts.
Dilk said, "My goal for the year is consistency. I've got to be the best I can be every single day and not take a possession off."
Barnes Arico said, "(Dilk) said to me, 'Coach, in high school, I could take plays off and I wouldn't get exposed. Now, if I take a play off, any play off, someone's taking advantage of me, especially on the defensive end.' She said she had to learn to play hard on each and every single possession."
She also has to score like she did in high school.
Dilk said: "That was the biggest improvement I wanted to make from my freshman to sophomore year -- knowing that I can score but finding my role to score. Losing three valuable players last year (Hallie Thome, Nicole Munger and Deja Church all averaged double-figure scoring) who made an impact scoring, we knew that we were going to have to step up. So, I'm just looking to take my shots when they're open, and that's what I worked on this summer."
She put up between 600 and 800 shots daily in the summer, hit the weights and upgraded her game at the Crisler Center training facilities.
"The whole team came back the end of June," said Dilk. "We took one class, worked out as a team -- our primary focus was weight-lifting -- and we conditioned and practiced. Spending that extra time together before school starts, you're able to focus more on basketball, which is awesome for us.
"I'm a lot stronger, and that's a credit to the time we put in, and just trusting in the process. As a team, we had a shooting chart and were holding each other accountable for the shots we made and took."
What did she feel like after 800 shots?
"Get into treatment," Dilk said with a laugh. "Get in the cold tub. But it's also important to take a day off. We'd say, 'Three on and one off,' that routine."
Now, it's time to reap the rewards for the hard work as well as the "experience" of last season.
"I think that all just came with experience," said Dilk. "Seeing my individual parts of my game last year and looking at ways I can get better. A big part of that is the game's kind of slowing down for me, and I've learned from the upper classmen (about) leadership.
"Each of us had a meeting (with coaches) and there were stats from last year, weight room maxes from last year, and seeing the improvements. We hold each other accountable to get our ball-handling in, dribbling in and finishing shooting. The (team) managers have done a great job of helping and supporting us, and that was a new thing we did this year. It's showing in the improvement."
Where does Dilk feel she's made the biggest strides?
"I think overall my confidence," she said. "I'm learning the game a lot more. I know I can score -- it's just a confidence thing. So, I'm taking more shots."
Her body language did not change while missing all but one of six three-pointers Friday night, and that is important. Shooters are reliant upon the need to hunt their shots and take their shots, regardless of whether the last one went in or not. They need the belief that the next one is going to drop.
Starting forward Kayla Robbins, who had 17 points and eight rebounds against WMU, said Dilk has stepped up as an important voice on the team, too.
"Amy's great," said Robbins. "She's gotten a lot better in terms of being more vocal because last year she was a freshman and kind of was the shy one on the team. But now she established herself. She can score and she can pass and she can shoot. So, we definitely look to her for our pace.
"She's very humble, and that's where people think she's shy. But she's showing a lot more emotion out on the court this year."
Dilk is being challenged by Barnes Arico to become even more at home on the court, even more of a scorer, even more of a rebounder, even more of a passer. She'll be an interesting Wolverine to follow this season because she ties directly into what Barnes Arico hopes Dilk and this team can become -- a great point guard on a great squad.
