The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1444545
FEBRUARY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 47 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL "They play very similarly [to last year]," one coach said about Michigan's scheme. "They're very organized, they run a lot of sets. But those sets were very effective when they had four guys on the perimeter who were all danger- ous, could all make plays. You had Franz Wagner, a lottery pick, playing the four. The spacing was really good. "Look at the team this year, they're playing a four [freshman Moussa Dia- bate] who can't make a shot and can't make plays. A three [rookie Caleb Houstan] who can potentially make shots, but he can't make plays. All those plays and sets became very ordinary. There's a clear blueprint to beat them. You get them out of what they do. You can get them out of their plays. They run good plays, but you don't have to guard [everyone]." Another coach pointed to the team not receiving the same point guard play as it did out of Columbia transfer Mike Smith last season. DeVante' Jones has been solid, but not the replacement he was expected to be coming from Coastal Carolina. "The biggest difference is a lot of peo- ple assumed Jones would fill in where the kid from Columbia did," the coach said. "For every kid that transfers up out of 10, there's nine kids that just don't have the same kind of success. I thought Smith was good at setting the tone, he could make a big three when they needed it. Jones is solid, but he's not someone you're overly worried about." The offense remains a work in prog- ress, but another coach believes Michi- gan can still hang its hat on defense and develop from there. "Defensively, they can get better," he said. "There is upside there. They have a good coaching staff and Howard has been great the last two years. He hasn't forgotten how to coach in four months. Those freshmen were just not as good as they thought. They could stay one more year and suddenly this becomes a really good team with experienced guys who understand their role. They just haven't figured it out yet. But it can happen." — Anthony Broome Three Best Players 1. Sophomore center Hunter Dickinson He continues to be one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing season to this point. Dickinson put up 12 points at UCF Dec. 30, before going off for 25 points on 14 shots at Rutgers Jan. 4, while combining for 14 rebounds and three assists with just two turn- overs during the pair of contests. Dickinson did not play at Illinois Jan. 14 due to "conditioning and stamina concerns," but his absence further displayed his value, with the Wolverines losing by 15 points and having just one player — fifth-year senior guard DeVante' Jones — score in double figures. 2. Fifth-year guard Eli Brooks Brooks' shooting numbers aren't gaudy, but he poured in 18 points and made four three-pointers, while adding four assists and three re- bounds, at UCF, before posting 11 points, a team-high six assists, three rebounds and two steals versus the Scarlet Knights. He struggled against the Illini, going 3-of-11 shooting from the floor for just seven points, but held his own for much of the game while defending Illinois guards Trent Frazier and Alfonso Plummer. 3. Freshman forward Moussa Diabate He averaged 12.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in the three outings, including notching 13 points and 15 points against UCF and Rutgers, respectively. Down Dickinson and senior forward Brandon Johns Jr. at Illinois, Diabate slid down from power forward to center, and was key in the Maize and Blue holding elite Illini big man Kofi Cockburn to 21 points, one point under his season average. Key Play UCF senior guard Brandon Mahan took a dribble handoff on the left wing and moved to the middle of the floor. He picked up his dribble, jab- stepped twice at Brooks, then pulled up and hit a contested three-pointer to cut the Michigan lead to nine points, 49-40, with 15:50 remaining in the second half. That began a huge Knights run to end the game, with the home team scoring 48 points to the Wolverines' 22 to close things out. They hit their final eight triple tries of the game and won by 14, 85-71, after trail- ing by 12 points in the second half. Best Highlight Dickinson held the ball over his head with two hands while on the left block, faked a pass to the middle of the lane, which got Rutgers big man Clifford Omoruyi to bite and completely turn around, before he spun baseline and fin- ished with an emphatic two-handed slam. The dunk cut the Wolverines' deficit to 29-17 with just under seven and a half minutes remaining in the first half of a 75- 67 loss in Piscataway. Bold Prediction Head coach Juwan Howard has said he's confident both of Michigan's postponed games — against Michigan State and Purdue — will be rescheduled, but we'll predict that the Big Ten only makes up the contest versus the Spartans. U-M and MSU have three scheduling windows of three-plus days in between games that line up with each other, while the Wolverines and Boilermakers have none that occur at the same time. While it's not impossible to squeeze one in on even shorter rest, it would be tough, and we'll say the league doesn't make it work. — Clayton Sayfie Superlatives For U-M's Three Games From Dec. 18-Jan. 14 Sophomore center Hunter Dickinson netted 25 points at Rutgers Jan. 4, his fourth 20-point game of the season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL