The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1488967
40 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2023 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL FRESHMAN POINT GUARD DUG MCDANIEL KNOWS IT'S HIS TIME TO SHINE There was no question Michigan needed more guards entering the sea- son, one of the reasons head coach Ju- wan Howard hit the transfer portal to land Princeton's Jaelin Llewellyn. He wasn't recruiting him to take freshman Frankie Collins' place, of course — the Wolverines just needed depth in case someone got hurt. Collins didn't see it that way, appar- ently, and he bolted for Arizona State. And Howard's reasoning for landing Llewellyn in the first place came to frui- tion when the former Ivy Leaguer went down with a season-ending knee injury in a loss to Kentucky Dec. 4 in London. Freshman Dug McDaniel was then asked to carry a good portion of the point guard load, a lot to ask for a first- year guy. He responded with 15 points and 7 assists in a huge 90-75 win at Minnesota, and he came up big with 7 points down the stretch in U-M's win over Lipscomb Dec. 17. "I think Dug has come along pretty well. He's been a great spark plug for us off the bench," Michigan assistant Saddi Washington said before the Minnesota game. "He's been tremendous in terms of his willingness to learn. He's a great, competitive kid, able to change the pace of the game with his speed and his quickness, and we're confident that if his role needs to increase that we'll bring him along like we have every other guy. "It's a big transition for most young players, when they can kind of do and be anything that they want in high school. Then when you make the transition to college where there's probably more ac- countability, you've got to really focus on the detail." McDaniel averaged 4.1 points per game in 14.9 minutes, along with 2.1 as- sists against 1.5 turnovers, prior to the Minnesota game. He was shooting only 34.1 percent from the floor and 27.3 per- cent from three-point range, but those numbers quickly rose to 38.2 and 40.0. He's still going to need to improve on the defensive end if Michigan is going to reach its potential. He's willing and was averaging a steal per game, but he gets lost too often. "He's really been trying hard to fo- cus on the details both offensively and defensively," Washington said. "He's had a great opportunity to watch Jaelin and others do it and do it right. You just hope that a kid takes all of that in so that when his moment comes, now he can be his authentic self. "Dug, the talent is dynamic, and we're going to need him to continue to take steps forward …" He'll also need to slow down a bit — he's often in high gear when he needs to shift lower — and improve his shooting. "That's part of the growth. You've got to be able to change pace," Washington said. "I guess it's one of those things — it's a blessing, and something that needs to be controlled at times. "But at the end of the day, I think he's getting a better understanding of that. And as the season progresses, I think he will take some steps forward." Sophomore Kobe Bufkin also will be asked to handle more responsibility as the backup. "Will it be a different look for us a little bit? Yeah, it'll be a different look from a game perspective, maybe," head coach Juwan Howard said. "But just in terms of their ability to read the game and see the game and make decisions, I think there's a comfortability with them individually and then with us collectively as a group." — Chris Balas In his first two starts, McDaniel hit for a career-high 15 points with 7 assists at Minnesota, and then had 7 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists against Lipscomb. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL