Opening Statement

We're extremely excited to play in front of our fans in Detroit at LCA for a great cause as well. It's been a long offseason, I think for everyone in college basketball. So now it's an opportunity for us to turn our attention to the most important thing, which is the players playing games and we couldn't be more excited.

Well, Chef, that's an interesting question because, you know, I think that the game itself has changed so much in the last, you know, two, three years and the advent of the Transfer Portal, the advent of the NIL has completely shifted college basketball and college athletics in a greater seismic shift than anything that's ever happened in my 47 years in college basketball. Having said that, I think personally I've changed, you know, periodically through my career. I think we all do.

On what playing this game means for the program

From our point of view, we're simply, we're excited to see our team play. Obviously Oakland, the success, the history and tradition that Coach Kampe's built there. They play a different style, which will prepare us for, you know, Big Ten play, some of the teams in our league to play zone. But more than anything else, just the more our guys can play together, the more beneficial it's going to be. We're a work in progress. We haven't had our roster together for practice because of injuries and illnesses and whatnot. So just to see where we are for October, I wish we could have played this a week earlier just to see what the team looks like together. So, you know, we're doing a lot of observation, a lot of learning ourselves now. So there's really no other expectations than to go out and play as hard as we possibly can and develop the on-court chemistry that you need on game nights because, you know, obviously there's a big difference between your performance and the preparation that goes into it. So, me personally, I'm just excited to see our guys perform in front of the fans and also to start establishing our identity as a program.

On how this game came about

From our point of view, every scheduling decision comes down to, is it good for our guys, our players? Is it good for our program? And then is it good for the game of basketball And I think Coach and I would both love to continue to grow the game in our area to attract more fans to our universities to represent our schools. And so it made sense on all fronts. And now with the Big Ten expanding across the country, we didn't want to travel too far. So it made sense on all fronts. And then factor in Oakland's magical run last year and the first opportunity for us to play in Michigan to be an LCA was just unique on all fronts. As far as the charitable components, we looked at a few out of Ann Arbor that, you know, we're very close with, but it made more sense to go with a group out of Detroit to benefit those in the area we were playing. So, you know, like I said, we're proud. Our guys, it was a great team bonding experience. It was nice to see the Oakland guys at the warehouse. Things like that are, you know, we're building memories. We're building relationships. We're building connections. And I think things like that, you know, are going to pay dividends later on. But more than anything, there's really no downside to the game. I should say the only downside is typically we would have played a scrimmage. We could have played about 60 or 80 minutes. But with being a true game, we'll only get to play 40. So that's the only downside.

On whether the whole roster will be availabe

Justin Pippen will be held out and then we have a few others that are day-to-day. Fortunately, they're all just knick-knack injuries. I think most college players now, it seems like most teams are having these same issues. And because our season's so long, because our most meaningful games are in February, March, and hopefully April, that we're definitely not playing guys through minor injuries and we'd like for them to get back to being a hundred percent. So I think all of us, we're all works in progress. We have guys, we're still trying to learn them and them learn us. So, but yeah, we'll be close to it. Just missing one freshman going as of today.

On the strengths and weaknesses of the team and what has impressed him the most about the team coming together

I'll start with the latter. They've been very intentional with each other as far as developing relationships, as far as how to communicate with each other, and also just earning each other's trust and by being reliable, by being dependable. As far as what that we've done that the staff's really liked or appreciated, we share the ball. We have a team that puts in the time in the gym. They put the elbow grease in. As far as the things that are concerning, you know, you never know how well you're going to rebound the ball and take care of it until you see someone else. So I think those are probably the two things that keep a lot of us coaches up at night, just wondering and until you've done it, you don't know. But overall, we've just been pleased with how well our group has worked together.

On the things he's looking for out of his program in the first year and how Vlad Goldin fits into that

Well, Vlad obviously is an anchor on a lot of fronts for us. He's a hard worker. He's a great teammate. He sacrifices for his teammates literally every day, every possession of the game. He wants to win. He wants to support his guys. As far as the other things, absolutely. Michigan's a place that we, you know, we learned it from Coach Beilen. He's spoken with us several times, and the theme of all his messages is that you have to get guys that are right for Michigan. And so we have to recruit players that want to be students at Michigan, that want to represent this place and fall in line with the culture here. And so as far as us as a staff, we need to be around guys that are high achievers. They want to be the best they can be. They want to achieve greatness, and they want to chase that every single day on the court, in the classroom. And we really, really have a growth mindset. Very, very little what we do is outcome-based. And so we have to have guys that want to chase the same things we do, and that's daily improvement.

On John Beilein and former players being around the program

Well, obviously they're a great resource for our players and their development, and it ties you to something great. When you see the amount of NBA players and Big Ten champions that have walked in the same locker room, have walked down the same halls as you, it's inspiring. For me personally, I was always a Coach Beilein fan even before I knew him. I followed his teams. I studied the way he did things offensively, defensively, his tactics, and then just seeing how invested he is in Michigan and how much this program means to him. And he's been a great resource, whether it's learning new things or just reaffirming what we already thought. But just to see how much success that the program had in very recent times, it gives you hope that you can get back there sooner than later.

On Rubin Jones and Trey Donaldson playing together in the backcourt

I can see them definitely playing together at times. Trey's been our primary ball handler in practice with L.J. Case on getting the secondary duties on the other team. Reuben's just a guy that you can kind of plug into any spot. He shot the ball really well. He's had a few minor injuries, so he doesn't have the volume that Trey does right now in practice, which hopefully throughout the season will be very beneficial. But Rubin's just a guy that I think we can plug and play in any situation, big lineups, small lineups, and then he'll be a playmaker. And we don't typically play like I think a lot of teams do with the traditional point guard. We like to have three or four different, I guess, and even Danny Wolf has been a, he's been a primary handler in our offense. So we like to have multiple guys. The point guard obviously has to get us organized and be the voice on the court. But for the most part, we like to have three or four guys out there like those two that can dribble past, shoot, and make decisions.

On how Oakland's unique zone helps Michigan

Well, when you're, when you're, when we've played exhibitions, we've always tried to play teams that are a little bit different than everyone else. And we try to, if we try to play a little bit differently defensively, if there's a tie, then what are the fewer teams do? That way our opponents aren't seeing it every day in practice or seeing it regularly in practice. So we thought the zone, obviously they do a great job of getting you out of rhythm. They're different shots, different spots, different rhythm shots than you're going to get most of your other games. And we're going to see a few other teams. So we did think we'll be able to refer back to some of the lessons we learned in this game later on. And that's why the exhibitions are so important. We don't want to go play ourselves. We could do that in practice. So we want someone that has a contrasting style. And our goal is to be one of the most efficient offenses in the country. And if we don't get second shots, if you don't get second and third shots, then you're not going to be that. No matter how well you shoot it, no matter how well you get the paint, whatever the case, if you don't offensive rebound and get extra possessions, get more shots, you're not going to be an elite offensive efficiency team. So it's a battle of wills, hopefully with our size and our shooting ability, we'll be able to get on the offensive glass and things like that. But like Coach said, you never know until you play the games. And that's why we're so excited to see where we are.

On Oakland and Michigan playing each other regularly

We've actually already discussed it, Griffin. With us, I don't know the longevity of the Jordan Brand Classic and some of these other events, but this is a great gauge for us this first year to see how it goes, to see how well-supported. But it makes a lot of sense on a lot of fronts from our end. But with the ever- changing college basketball landscape, it's hard to commit right now, but we're definitely intrigued going forward.

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