Michigan Wolverines Basketball: LSU's Will Wade Knows U-M Is A Huge Test
LSU is playing its best basketball of the season, and head coach Will Wade knows his team will have to take up even another notch to beat No. 1 seed Michigan Monday night. The Wolverines are without forward Isaiah Livers, but the Tigers are athletic and capable.
The backcourt of Javonte Smart and Cam Thomas is big and talented and capable of getting to the rim, and Wade will turn them loose against a Michigan team that has had a tougher time slowing dribble penetration in recent weeks. But the LSU coach was most pleased about his defense in a win over St. Bonaventure after holding the Bonnies to 61 points.
"We were getting stops. That's what I was more excited about," he said. "The offense always comes around; we scored 76 points on a great team. I think we had four points in the first eight minutes of the game, [but] the offense always comes around for us.
"It's about getting stops and rebounding, which is what we did a great job of, and I knew as long as we were getting stops and getting rebounds, we were going to be in pretty good shape. So, I was focusing on the positive with that and just get our guys to calm down and let's get some easy ones on offense."
Smart hit a triple that got them going, and they never looked back.
Michigan is a different animal, Wade admitted. He's anxious to see how his group does against the No. 1 seed.
“It's been a long night and early morning of preparations. They’re big, they’re physical ... they’re 6-9, seven foot across the front line," Wade said Sunday. "Their point guard [senior Mike Smith] controls the game. He does a great job. He’s similar to [Auburn's] Sharife Cooper in our league. He shoots the ball really well, so it will be a big challenge.
"We’re going to have to keep them off the glass, which has been an issue for us. They’re a No. 1 seed for a reason. They’re top 10 in the country both offensively and defensively. I think they have the sixth best offense and seventh best defense."
The Tigers crash the glass themselves and are one of the more athletic teams U-M will have faced this year. They Wolverines will need to get some easy ones with their size inside — freshman Hunter Dickinson is the guy there, though U-M has been force feeding junior Brandon Johns and fifth-year senior Austin Davis recently, too — and play as well defensively as they have all year.
Wade knows U-M's size will be a challenge.
"Dickinson’s a tremendous player, [Franz] Wagner’s going to be a first round draft pick," Wade said. "They’re very well coached. They run great stuff on offense; they play mostly man and some zone and press some after free throws. There are a lot of things we need to prepare for in a short amount of time.”
---
• 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