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

The Michigan basketball program, like all U-M sports teams, is currently on a pause that is set to last until Feb. 7. The shutdown is the result of positive tests for the SAR-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant by individuals "linked to the athletic department." It has not been reported that any of the positive tests have stemmed from head coach Juwan Howard's team.

The Wolverines are ranked No. 4 in the country, hold a 13-1 overall record and sit atop the Big Ten standings at 8-1 in league play. Michigan had just come off a 17-point victory at Purdue Jan. 22 before the pause was put in place.

Now, Michigan can't practice, meet in person or play games until the seventh of the month. The next scheduled contest is against Illinois Feb. 11 at Crisler Center.

Associate head coach Phil Martelli, while appearing on the 'Inside Michigan Basketball' radio show Monday night, expressed some concern for the players — not just on the court, but how they are dealing mentally with the current halt.

"This is a bit unnerving because I don’t know what to think of the mental health of the players," Martellii said. "Down the line, you can talk about the physical and the play and the joy that we were having and how cohesively we were playing. But it’s unnerving to think of young guys sitting in a room and they finish their classes online and then they’re used to being in the facility at 1:30. And they [usually] have a rhythm to their day."

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"I read a lot and people talk about when routines are broken, that’s an issue. It’s a little bit numbing, to be honest. Everybody gave up Christmas and sacrificed a lot and only recently got to have families in the stands. So it’s a little bit numb when you think about, ‘I have no control over this.’ And I’m talking about the individual player. No individual player or member of our program has control over this.

"Early in the fall, [Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] Dr. [Anthony] Fauci said, ‘The virus is in charge,’ and this is clearly another example of the virus being in charge, directly affecting us."

Only after thinking of the players' mental health does Martelli shift his focus to the actual on-court product. Michigan was playing the best basketball out of any team in the conference, with the Wolverines being the odds-on favorite to win the regular-season title and ascending as a national championship contender.

"I spend a lot of my time wondering, well, we were playing great basketball, and we have such solid individuals — not just on the team, but the support staff, the coaching staff," Martelli said. "And my prayer is always that when we come back — and not if we come back, when we come back — if we can get that cohesiveness going right away, because it’s been special.

"And it has certainly — I hope, for the fanbase — been somewhat of an uplifting moment to watch these guys play basketball, because it’s been a joy to be with them."

Martelli lauded Howard for keeping the players engaged even during these tough times. The squad has joined together on Zoom calls, even with motivational speaker and author Jon Gordon over the weekend.

The coaches have also been meeting virtually with individuals and groups to study film — all in an effort to make sure Michigan can get back to playing as close as possible to how it was before being forced into isolation. Strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson has mapped out workouts for the Wolverines, and they're told to send in videos to the team of them completing their exercises.

"At the end of the day, sitting in their dorm rooms or their apartments, that’s somebody’s son," Martelli said. "And we treat them that way. And at this moment in time, it’s not about me. It’s about them and us."

And that's where the focus continues to lie. Martelli went on to say he has a tough time even looking ahead to future games on the schedule before the shutdown is over.

Michigan freshman center Hunter Dickinson is leading the Wolverines in scoring (15.1 points per game) and rebounds (7.2 boards per outing). After scoring in double figures each of his first 11 college games, Dickinson has been held to a total of 20 points in his last three tilts, with teams almost constantly throwing two defenders at him. As a result, Dickinson has committed 12 turnovers in the last three games.

Martelli said that during a film session over the weekend, Dickinson admitted he felt "ambushed" in the team's lone setback of the season Jan. 16 at Minnesota, with the Gophers trying to make him uncomfortable and force him into mistakes by sending double teams. He gave the ball away five times in the loss.

For Dickinson, the mission is now to embrace being doubled and make the right read, as he's no longer flying under the radar on the opposition's scouting reports.

"He’s one of those guys where, ‘Hunter, you’re no longer like fourth or fifth on the scouting report; you could be No. 1 on the scouting report, and if they think they can take you away and make us a jump-shooting team, every night your jumper’s not going to go in,'" Martelli said.

"I think he settled in. He’s never been a volume guy anyway, anytime in his career. But he was really terrific and I think, if I remember correctly, in the Purdue game, he might’ve been a plus-22. Limited number of shots, he had some foul trouble. He and [fifth-year senior forward] Austin [Davis] did a really nice job of scoring the ball in that game, but Hunter’s not a ‘me’ kind of player.

"I think the more the double teams that we see ... his brilliance is in passing the ball. We’re going to see more and more of that as teams decide, well we’re either going to double team or let him get his and take away some of the perimeter players."

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