What a way to start the year. We raised a banner, honored the players, and won an important game. Now with the 2020-2021 season fully behind us, it’s time to analyze Michigan basketball’s performance against Buffalo. While some people may focus on the free-throw shooting or the amount of made threes, I think those will improve as the season progresses with time and practice. I personally believe the following points will be big emphases in practice since the players need to be more aware :
1. Help Defense
Buffalo and in particular Jeenathan Williams had a lot of driving lanes and easy kick-outs for three-point attempts. Buffalo shot a poor 5-28 (17.9%) from three, but they had plenty of good looks from behind the arc. I can attribute this to the positioning and ball-watching on multiple possessions. The following pictures showed some positioning that allowed Buffalo to get better looks.
Notice in the below picture, Eli Brooks’ positioning is perfect when he is playing the help gap. He is high enough in the gap between the ball and his man where he deters a direct pass to the man in the corner. Although #11 for Buffalo scores on this play, he made an incredibly difficult shot over solid defense.
The following picture shows Caleb Houstan’s positioning as he was in a similar spot as Brooks was in the prior picture. While this is just one example, Houstan, as well as his younger teammates, often got caught in disadvantageous positions because they were too low in their gaps. In this play, the point guard for Buffalo #10 made a direct pass from the top of the key to Houstan’s man in the corner. Houstan in multiple situations over helped or was found watching
the ball which allowed a few more open shots for Buffalo. Houstan needs to be higher in the gap and not allow a direct pass from that distance to happen in the first place in this play.
Practicing this help defense will help Michigan to deter three-point shots and force more difficult attempts from opponents. The young players have the physical tools and potential to become a defensive force, but they need to develop more defensive awareness to become an elite defensive team.
2. Weak Side Movement on Ball Screens
Hunter Dickinson had 27 points and 6 rebounds on Wednesday. He was his usual dominant force in the paint, providing a consistent and efficient scoring threat for the Wolverines. However, I think he could have scored more since Michigan needs more movement off the ball while Dickinson was involved in the ball screen. When Dickinson set screens, Buffalo’s defenders watched the screening action without paying attention to the people they were guarding.
Weakside movement while the ball screen happens is extremely important to freeing up other players as well as Hunter. In particular, I noticed one play that they had great weak side movement and got an incredibly easy shot. This needs to be done more by the team to open up other players outside of Dickinson.
In this image, notice when the ball screen occurs, Devante Jones moves away from his initial spot in the corner. His defender and the man guarding Terrance Williams (#5) both stare at the ball screen. The focus on the screen allowed Jones to move freely.
Jones moving to the top of the key opened up a new avenue for Brooks. The defense collapsed on Eli and he passed it to Jones at the top of the key. Notice how the defense totally focuses on Dickinson in the paint and how open Jones gets. I circled Jones in the below picture but unfortunately Big Ten Network’s horrendous new scoreboard blocks a majority of the play.
The focus on Dickinson made Buffalo over-commit to the paint and gave Jones an opportunity. In this play, he had a wide-open jump shot, but Buffalo rotated quickly back to him. His movement not only gave him an open shot but also provided a better angle for him to feed Dickinson in the paint for an easy hook shot. The defender had to come all the way from the corner and reacted too late and Michigan got a bucket to seal the game.
If Michigan can do this sort of movement more when ball screens occur, then they will create so many more opportunities and easier shots for their stars.
3. Defensive Rebounding
Michigan rebounded 70% of the misses that Buffalo had in the game yesterday. They had 28 out of 40 available rebounds for the team. The team struggled a bit with rebounding on long misses and tough shots that Buffalo took. To rebound well, it helps to be athletic, but the main factor in rebounding is positioning and boxing out. Understanding your situation and when to go for the rebound have become essential in preventing easy baskets. On the following play, Brandon Johns got caught trying to box his man out, but not actually pushing him away from the basket.
Johns sees his man go to the basket as the ball gets shot. He correctly identifies the man crashing the basket and goes to meet him in a box out to prevent the offensive rebound. One of the mantras that I heard a lot while I played was “hit and go get”. As a defender, you need to hit the guy you are boxing out and then go get the ball. On this play, Johns makes contact, but does not drive the man away from the basket.
Notice how #34 goes straight to the basket with Johns on his side. Brandon needs to establish himself and push #34 away from the basket and not allow a direct path to the front of the rim. This play was short and hard to catch when watching the game, but these little details matter.
Summary
These three areas for improvement will be key to Michigan’s success in the long run. It’s impossible to play a perfect game every time you step on the floor. I personally thought Michigan played a strong game dealing with foul trouble especially in the first half. Playing a lot of young guys who still need to establish themselves gave me new excitement to see their growth throughout the season. Coach Howard does a great job making sure these kids feel comfortable while they are on the floor, and the freshman will build confidence as they learn from their mistakes. The tiniest improvements like the ones I mentioned above can make the difference in close games.
On to Prairie View A&M on Saturday.
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