Dusty May met with reporters after Michigan's 78-53 drubbing of Xavier in the Fort Myers Tip-Off championship. Here's everything the Michigan head coach had to say.
Opening statement
I thought it was an extremely gritty performance, especially defensively, against an Xavier program that we have the utmost respect for. Sean Miller's one of the best coaches in our game. They're a veteran group. And this wasn't their best game, but a lot of that, I think, did have to do with our size and our tenacity on the defensive end. We were as active as we've been. We were as physical as we've been. And it's a good starting point for us, as we have a long season in front of us and a lot of room to grow. Hats off to our guys. They fought like warriors tonight.
On Michigan's depth wearing Xavier down
You want as many good players as you can get, obviously. Especially with the late start that we got. But we've always felt like we've had a little bit of an odd team. Like they didn't naturally fit. And so, we'd have some growing pains. We've got guys that didn't play tonight that we're very confident could've helped us win this game. We've only had our group together for a couple weeks where we've had full practices, but it makes our practices competitive. Our second lineup continues to give us a jolt of energy almost every single game. I think every game but one this year, our second unit has been extremely productive, statistically and intangibly. We have a lot of weapons. We have a lot of good players. And when we find our rhythm together, like I said, we still have a long way to go. But this guy here (Danny Wolf) to the right, he's such a unique talent. If you can play all over the court like he can — and we're still figuring out different ways to use him and Vlad (Goldin) together and separate. And we're getting good guard play as well. It's a fun challenge to figure out the best way for us to play. And fortunately we've got a really smart and tough group. And so, we're a little better today than we were yesterday.
On how much Michigan trusts Danny Wolf
Obviously Danny, there was a lot of conversation about, 'How's he going to do this? How's he going to do that?' And he was committed to it from day one. The game changes when he's at the 4 versus when he's at the 5, offensively and defensively. He's guarding points, he's guarding 2s and 3s, and there have been a few times this year when he did a good job, but old center habits kind of crept in. But he just stayed the course. He's in the film room. And there aren't very many guys that I've seen, as I've watched games on television, that I wouldn't feel like he would force them to make a very difficult shot. He's 7 feet, he's mobile, and he's getting more and more aggressive and trusting himself because he works every single day in practice, in the weight room, and in every facet of the game. So this is just a starting point. Because our guys have got great work ethic and work capacity.
On what Michigan has shown defensively
Well we think to be a championship-level program. And we're a long way from that. You have to be really sound on both sides of the basketball. On certain nights, your defense has to carry you. On other nights, the offense can maybe carry the load. I thought we defended the first half. I thought the score wasn't indicative of how well we were playing defensively. I think they scored nine points: there was a banked three, a very friendly roll three, and then a botched assignment late-clock three. And so we felt like we defended even better than the score indicated. But that's us botching the last 30 seconds of a half, us not capitalizing on free throws. Just shows how we have a lot of room for growth.
On philosophy of calling a timeout versus letting the team play through it
I always err on trusting our guys and our conditioning. And so I personally like when the game loosens up as opposed to being choppy. And the last five minutes, we made it choppy. And these guys make great decisions and plays. So once again, you have to go and play both ways. I err on keeping it opened up. And sometimes it burns you and sometimes you're able to separate and not be in a six- or eight-point game in the last three minutes, four minutes, whatever the case. So we're still figuring out the best way for us to play. Each night it might be a little bit different. But we have a lot of capable playmakers. And when you figure out what matchups to go on and what's our competitive advantage that game, and we can find it in the flow, then we're going to be able to do both. We can control, run a little bit of clock and continue to wear them out, but also score efficiently at the end. But our defense was impressive tonight.
On if Vlad Goldin had a 3-pointer in his arsenal
He shoots them in practice. Obviously in 2024, all big men are aware that most centers on the planet are shooting threes, so he's been working on them for two years. But we want him to shoot those if he falls into them. We don't want him hunting those, because obviously you see what a presence he is in the paint, and obviously with Danny making four of them tonight, it was nice to see his first one go in, because I think he's one of the better shooters in college basketball, so it's still another weapon that we're going to be able to utilize. And then that opens up the paint even more for Vlad. When we're at our best, it's going to be a lot of moving parts with Roddy Gayle attacking and getting fouled and Tre Donaldson in the open court especially, but I do think our guys are having much better awareness of their teammates and what they're doing well, and also realizing we don't need to hit any home runs because of our roster. The talent and depth of our roster, we can single most teams to death, and then when we need to hit a double or a triple or a home run, we can do that as well.
On if he likes the early-season tournaments
I like them because we got a chance to play two really good programs that play contrasting styles. And if you're going to play in the NCAA Tournament, it's a quick turn, so it's a good lesson going forward with your preparation and your scouting. And because of our style of play, we probably don't have to spend as much time as most on scouting. I like it. We're away, I think our guys have grown together even more, simply just by being in an isolated environment for a week, and when you have good guys, usually you grow and enjoy that company together because they're such quality people. Their families and coaches have done an amazing job with the group in our locker room.
Closing statement
I want to finish with one thing. As I look as the stat sheet and see Nimari Burnett, Roddy Gayle and Rubin Jones stat line, and in my mind they played an amazing game and made winning play after winning play, and they don't have a great stat line, Roddy obviously did two nights ago, and that's a testament to them, once again, playing winning basketball and that's how our team's going to be built. They're going to have big nights. We're going to have a different best player every night. I want to tip my cap to those three guys. I thought they made winning play after winning play.
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