The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/589596
2015-16 BASKETBALL PREVIEW shooting, his rebounding, his defense is showing up. "He's going to be tough to keep off the floor." At the same time, so will 10 or 11 others, including fellow sophomore Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. Both became critical contributors by the end of last season, despite barely playing in the early going, and each of them had huge games when U-M needed it most. Abdur-Rahkman scored 18 points at Michigan State to lead the Wolverines to a near-upset with a depleted roster. Dawkins put up 20 in only 24 minutes against Illinois during his breakout game early in the season, making six triples. Later, he scored 21 in an over- time loss to Northwestern and put up 31 points during a win over Rutgers. He made 12 of 18 three-pointers over the final two games and shot 65.4 per- cent from the field (17-26). His 31 points in the finale against Rutgers made him the first U-M fresh- man to score 30 or more since even- tual National Player of the Year Trey Burke, and his eight made triples fell just short of Garde Thompson's school record of nine, set in 1987. "We're really going to be good to have those guys seriously vying for starting spots or guys that are com- fortable coming off the bench at the six, seven, eight, nine places in our ro- tation who have been out there before and made big shots in big games," Beilein said. "They understand how much they've got to prepare for a game because they don't know if they'll play five or 35 minutes." It should be closer to the latter for Dawkins, who averaged only 5.3 minutes per game over the first 12 contests of his freshman season. He finished the year appearing in 30 tilts, averaging 7.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 20.7 minutes per game, and making 13 starts after LeVert went down with an injury. He ranked second behind junior Zak Irvin in made threes and first in three-point percentage (39-89, .438). Playing time last year came al- most by default after LeVert's injury. Dawkins admits even he didn't see that many minutes coming in his first year. "Obviously I want the best for Ca- ris," Dawkins said. "I think he's go- ing to have a great season, and I can't wait to see him back on the court. But it was a blessing in disguise. It hap- pened, and I got better for it." ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT Although encouraging, the debut was not enough to satisfy Dawkins or his coaches. He came up with the occasional highlight reel dunk in tran- sition and made his ridiculous ath- leticism an advantage on the offensive glass, but Dawkins was very limited in how he could score. When he tried to put it on the floor, he usually couldn't get to the rim. And passing — a staple in the Beilein of- fense for players at every position — was not a strong suit. Dawkins ranked eighth on the team with 11 assists de- spite finishing fifth in minutes played.