The symbiosis of Hunter Dickinson and the rest of Michigan’s offense

Following the Michigan men’s basketball team’s crucial win over Indiana, a reporter asked Dickinson whether he was surprised by how much space he had at the top of the key. A smile crept across Dickinson’s face as the 7-foot-1 All-American leaned back in his chair and twisted the cap off his water bottle.

“People still aren’t respecting the jumper yet,” Dickinson said. “That’s fine. I’m cool with it. Keep leaving me.”

Intrigued, Williams reached for the box score printout next to the duo’s microphone.

“How many threes did you hit, bro?” Williams asked, tracking his finger along Dickinson’s row until seeing he shot 3-for-4 from deep. “75 percent.”

Williams’ face lit up as he made eye contact with Dickinson.

“Yeah, I know. Just trying to get the 3-point percentage up,” Dickinson joked.

The childhood friends and DMV area natives, who played AAU basketball together on Team Takeover, both played a major part in Michigan’s win over the Hoosiers. Dickinson scored a game-high 25 points on 9-for-12 shooting, while Williams’ 10 first-half points kept a sputtering Michigan offense afloat during Indiana’s run.

It was Dickinson’s fourth time reaching the 20-point mark in his last five games, though he missed a game at Illinois two weeks ago due to conditioning and stamina concerns after the Wolverines’ COVID-19 outbreak. It was his first game on the bench since he was a high school underclassman, and Michigan’s offense suffered in his absence.

But in the two games since, Dickinson has picked up where he left off. He averaged 23 points, 7.5 rebounds and five assists this past week, guiding the Wolverines to victories over Maryland and Indiana. He also set a new career-high with six assists against the Terrapins. Between the two games, Dickinson converted on 19 of his 26 shots from the field, including a 4-for-6 clip from beyond the arc.

On Monday, he earned his first career Big Ten Player of the Week selection for his efforts.

“Obviously, we expect a lot out of him,” Michigan assistant coach Saddi Washington said Tuesday. “We’re going to play through him and he’s one of our leaders. With that comes more expectations, and he challenges himself to be great, not only in this league but nationally. We are well aware. When he’s good, typically we’re good. But that’s what you would expect from a player of his caliber.”

In the grand scheme of the Wolverines’ season, Dickinson’s offensive outburst coincides with Michigan’s inflection point. From Nov. 13 to Dec. 11, he averaged 13.6 points and scored at least 20 only once during a nine-game stretch. The team struggled mightily across the board.

Over the Wolverines’ last five games, however, Dickinson is averaging 21 points. And perhaps more importantly, he’s shooting an efficient 65% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc.

On Tuesday, freshman point guard Frankie Collins credited last week’s two wins to the Wolverines’ improved assertiveness.

“I just feel like all of us, we’re all winners and no one likes to lose,” Collins said. “So when it’s time to figure things out, I just felt like we all wanted to figure it out so bad. I feel like teams were punching us in the mouth first and we weren’t reacting the way we wanted to. … If we punch them in the mouth first, we’ll be perfectly fine. And lately that’s what we’ve been doing.”

That starts at the top with Dickinson. Michigan has made a clear effort to get him post touches early in games, and he’s making the most of them. His interior success creates double teams and defensive collapses around the rim, which opens up space for others.

And when the Wolverines are hitting their shots, that creates a symbiotic relationship within their offense. Caleb Houstan, for instance, shot 8-for-11 from deep this week, forcing defenses to commit to stopping either Michigan’s outside shooting or Dickinson’s interior dominance. It’s easy to pick one, but nearly impossible to prevent both.

As the Wolverines attempt to make an NCAA Tournament push, Dickinson’s evolution could be the key to taking the next step.

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