Michigan's Franz Wagner: 'We Haven't Played Our Best Yet'

Michigan Wolverines basketball, along with the rest of the U-M athletic department, is currently on a pause that is set to last until Feb. 7. The Wolverines are not scheduled to play again until Feb. 11 against Illinois, though that game will be canceled, as TheWolverine.com first reported Wednesday.

In an interview with U-M radio play-by-play man Brian Boesch on the 'Defend The Block' podcast, sophomore wing Franz Wagner admitted the first few days of the shutdown, which began Jan. 23, were frustrating, especially amidst a 13-1 season for the Maize and Blue that has seen zero reported positive cases of COVID-19 within the team.

"I don’t think anybody has ever done a two-week pause like that, where you can’t work out as a team," Wagner said. "I think all we can really do is stay positive and try to make the most out of each day. I think [head] Coach Juwan [Howard] and the rest of the coaches do a great job of keeping us together. I think we got the best out of at least this week so far, and we’ve got another week to go."

RELATED: Michigan Basketball ITF EXTRA: U-M Likely Won't Play Next Week

RELATED: Phil Martelli Talks 'Unnerving' Shutdown, Hunter Dickinson's Progression

Wagner missed the end of preseason practices ahead of his freshman season in 2019-20, as well as the first four games of the campaign with a wrist injury. He knows what it's like to work himself back into 'game shape,' and he said the process really does require being on the hardwood and playing in game-like situations, something the Wolverines are unable to currently do.

"The biggest difference is that you don’t know what’s happening out there on the court," Wagner revealed. "That’s a very underestimated part of the game, that you have to react a lot more. You can run as long as you want, but you can really not imitate that.

"All the cutting, the jumping, the little jumps, the quick sprints — stuff like that — you can’t really imitate. And during that, you still have to focus on the game, and that takes energy, too. Those are all things that we gotta do. I think the coaches are going to do a good job once we can get back and get into practices to prepare us for that.

"But we’ll see, it’s definitely going to be a challenge getting back. ... It’s not going to be easy. If everybody does their job this next week, we should be ready to go."

Wagner is averaging 12 points per game on 49.6 percent shooting overall and 31.8 percent from three-point land. He's also adding 7.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per contest, and has been lauded by Howard and others for being a stellar two-way player, with his defense also being a strong suit.

"I think I’ve played good. I think I can play better," Wagner said, assessing his season to this point. "But defensively I think I’ve made a huge jump from last year. I think you can see my body is stronger, I feel a lot quicker out there, more comfortable bumping people and taking contact and stuff like that, which I think is really good.

"Offensively, it’s just making right decisions. I think the shot is going to come. I work hard on that. But making my decisions in the game and also being okay with not being the leading scorer or whatever it is, because we have so many good players, that’s just how it’s going to be this year."

Just like Wagner identified areas he can improve in, he did the same when speaking of the entire team. Even though the squad is ranked No. 4 in the country and is at the top of the Big Ten standings by three games in the loss column, Wagner knows they can be better.

"I think everybody knows their role up to this point, and I also think we still got a lot more to improve upon, and [we] definitely haven’t played our best [yet]," Wagner said. "Those are all good signs at this point in the season."

Wagner is one of three players averaging double-digit points per game, with freshman center Hunter Dickinson (15.1) and senior forward Isaiah Livers (14.6) being the other two. Also in the starting lineup, the Wolverines have fifth-year senior point guard Mike Smith, the Big Ten's leading assist man at 5.6 helpers per game, sophomore guard Eli Brooks, who has been described as a "glue guy." And off the bench, senior guard Chaundee Brown adds a high-level shooting ability at nearly 40 percent from long range.

The options offensively seem almost endless on a given night, and Wagner is not surprised at how it has all played out.

"Once we scrimmaged in the summer or early in the fall, I was like, ‘Yeah, we got a lot of weapons, especially offensively,'" Wagner said.

"Chaundee, if he hits his shot, is a super threat offensively. I think a lot of people forget Eli a couple times, because he just doesn’t force anything and is so valuable to the team. I think Mike’s done a great job of kinda keeping us in rhythm on offense, picking and choosing when he’s aggressive and when he looks for other people.

"I kinda knew that we had a lot more shooters than last year, and I think I kinda anticipated that it’s going to be a more balanced team."

Wagner was asked to break down the games of several of his teammates. Here is what he said about Dickinson, Brooks and Smith.

• On Dickinson: "Just having a super dominant player inside has opened up a lot for everybody else. He does a great job of not forcing stuff. When he had 20, 19, whatever he had in the first couple games, it never felt like he took too many shots. I think that was very good.

"Even before the Minnesota game, a lot of teams double-teamed him, but nobody talked about it because he didn’t really struggle with it. I think Hunter does a really good job of sharing the basketball. But just going up to the hoop, I always say his biggest strength is that he doesn’t think too much and he just goes out there and does his thing.

"We talked about what happened in the Minnesota game, and that’s definitely one of the key points, but like you saw in the last couple games, he’s done a great job of adjusting to that. And now if he only scores 12 points, we talk about how bad a game he had. That should tell you how good of a season he’s had so far."

• On Brooks: "He guards the best player every single game. I was very surprised and disappointed that he wasn’t chosen for it, for the defensive player award [watch lists]. I think he’s the best defender on the team.

"I think he does so many little things that people that don’t really watch the game won’t notice. I think you can’t talk too much about Eli, how good he is defensively. I just looked at his stats the other day, I think it was like 0.6 per possession [that he is allowing], which is just elite. That’s just the one side of the ball.

"On the other side, he doesn’t force anything, but he cuts, he moves without the ball, that opens up so much more for the attackers. I watch him play in the pick-and-roll, see what I can get from his game. I love playing with Eli. He’s a super smart player and he does a lot that help out a lot of other people."

• On Smith: "Mike definitely has a different role than he had last year [at Columbia]. He’s very smart, and I think he knew that coming in, that he wasn’t going to shoot 22 shots or whatever he shot last year.

"But I think he’s done a phenomenal job defensively; I think a lot of people really underestimate him on that side of the floor. In the ball screens, even off the ball, I think he’s improved a lot since the first time we played in the summer.

"Like I said, offensively, he can shoot. I don’t know what his percentage is right now, but it’s in the high 40s. That’s pretty damn elite. He can shoot, he can pass, make plays off the dribble — anything that you want from a point guard."

---

• Talk about this article inside The Fort

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine

• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett

• Like us on Facebook