Dan Dakich: Michigan is really, really good
Analyst and former Indiana coach Dan Dakich has worked Michigan's last three games, and he's gotten a sense of just how good the No. 3 Wolverines can be this year. He shared them today on his radio show.
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Dakich, hosting fellow ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, told Vitale Michigan is "really good" when Vitale asked what to expect from U-M this year.
"I'll tell you, the backcourt is terrific, the wings are exceptionally good," he said. "I think like what Tom Crean has at Indiana, John Beilein has this team playing the way he wants them to play. When they get in trouble like they did against Pitt, they go to the 1-3-1 - and you are going to absolutely love this [Nik] Stauskas kid. He has swagger, he shoots it, has no conscience. He's athletic, and he can finish. He may be the best freshman in the country I guess nobody is talking about, though we talked about him last year. I'm certain coming in nobody was talking about him.
"But I had them the last three games, and they are really, really good. It is going to be unbelievable when those two [Michigan and Indiana] hook up."
U-M might have the advantage in the backcourt, he added, but Indiana's Cody Zeller gives the Hoosiers an edge up front.
"They're going to have trouble with Cody, but they certainly can guard Christian Watford," Dakich said. "The kid playing really well and people don't talk about him is Jordan Morgan. He's one of those guys who knows his role, get to his spots defensively, takes a charge, muscles up and gets the ball in and around the basket, even if he's not great.
"One area they miss is kind of a John Beilein staple. They're missing a big guy who can shoot, a Kevin Pittsnogle kind of thing - come off a down screen, curl, pop a bit and shoot. Morgan can't do that, but they've got four other guys who can. And Trey Burke is special. He's really special."
Glenn Robinson III, too, is "really, really good," Dakich said.
"He looks a lot like his dad now," he said. "Two years ago I saw him here in the state AAU tournament and he was 6-4, 160 or 170. Now he looks like his dad. He is big, long and strong. They don't run a lot for him, and he's not really comfortable I think yet. But he'll go and get you 20. In fact, I think he got eight to 10 in the last four or five minutes against Pitt and helped them win the game. He can go when he needs to. He's really good."