In our first live-action glimpse at the 2018-19 Michigan basketball team, the Wolverines showed terrific balance in their easy exhibition win over Northwood. Six players saw the floor for at least 20 minutes - the starters Zavier Simpson, Jordan Poole, Charles Matthews, Ignas Brazdeikis, and Jon Teske, as well as sixth man Isaiah Livers - and each scored between 11 and 13 points. After a slow start and a handful of empty possessions, the Michigan offense eventually warmed up and coasted to a 90-58 win.

There isn't a whole lot to be said about how the game itself played out: Northwood held a slight lead five minutes into the game, gave up a 21-4 run, and was unable to cut the deficit to single digits after that. Michigan led by 15 at halftime and a flurry of fast break dunks helped put the game away for good in the second half. Trey McBride led all scorers with 16 points for the [checks notes] Timberwolves, but it was as lopsided as an exhibition should be.

Despite the level of competition, there's some useful information that can be gleaned from this game. The contours of the core rotation looked to be pretty clear, based on Beilein's substitution patterns in both halves. Brazdeikis will have to fight off Livers to hold onto his starting spot, but the two are both likely to play extensive minutes. Austin Davis was unsurprisingly the backup at the five, with Brandon Johns getting minutes as the third center (and also playing a few minutes alongside Davis at the four). Eli Brooks seems to be the primary backup at both guard spots ahead of freshmen David DeJulius and Adrien Nunez; DeJulius played a bit in the first half and Nunez (as well as fellow freshman Colin Castleton) didn't get in the game until garbage time.

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It's nice to finally get a data point (however debatable its usefulness actually is), and there were largely few surprises with regards to how everyone looked. Most notable was the shot distribution for the Wolverines: John Beilein's teams have consistently attempted over 40% of their shots from three, but this outfit only attempted 11 of their 60 shots (18%) from behind the arc. While a couple of those shot attempts came on pick-and-pops (Teske hit one from the top of the key, as did Matthews on sort of a scrambled possession), most ball-screens resulted in hard rolls to the rim, a departure from Michigan's variable looks with Moe Wagner at the five. It was also far rarer for Michigan to drive-and-kick for open looks behind the arc; more often, the Wolverines attacked the rim or took floaters in the paint.

The defense was predictably solid - good communication, sound coverages on ball-screens, plenty of steals and deflections, so on and so forth. As Beilein pointed out during the halftime interview, many of Northwood's points came on second chances (some with scrambled defenses) and live-ball Michigan turnovers, and that trend continued in the second half. The Timberwolves also put up 11 points in garbage time, after the entirety of Michigan's main rotation exited the game for good. It was basically what you'd expect from a potentially elite defense against a D-2 team.

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Based on Michigan's trip to Europe and this game, Brazdeikis will be a key scoring option. His performance tonight fit the scouting report: he was aggressive getting downhill with or without screens (committing a few charges in the process), was ambidextrous driving and finishing, and made several baskets through contact. He was pretty efficient even though he missed his only three-point attempt (and passed up a couple of possible looks from deep), got tunnel vision while attacking the basket and didn't record an assist. He looked comfortable in the system on both ends, and Beilein will rely on him a lot this season.

The other Wolverine wings - Matthews and Livers - played as expected. Matthews's game looked the same and he was a little inefficient, despite shooting 4-5 on free throws. He was a little off - an airballed corner three, a giveaway on a drive because of a loose handle, and a missed layup right at the rim - but his line of 13-6-3 was pretty good. Livers was the main beneficiary of Michigan's steals, as he had multiple alley-oops and transition dunks in the second half. He was a little more aggressive in the half court (scoring in the post and committing an offensive foul on a drive) than last season, played his customarily solid defense, and led the team in rebounds.

Michigan's new starting backcourt of Simpson and Poole played well, as each totaled seven assists (with the third guard, Brooks, chipping in four). Z was a terror on the defensive end and was credited with six steals, most of which led to easy baskets on the other end. He had a few nice dishes on pick-and-rolls, including one to Davis for an easy dunk, but he was more inclined to get all the way to the rim and finish. Z was 2-3 on free throws.

Poole had a beautiful sequence of dribbles, including a spin move, into a baseline jumper and also hit a three while being fouled, but it was encouraging to see him display more of an all-around game. In addition to the seven assists, he was disruptive on the defensive end, forcing multiple turnovers in the first half. The student announcers also relayed some crucial information from a pregame interview with Poole: apparently his cat wakes up at 7 AM every day.

The aforementioned Teske three was the highlight of the day for the big men. Michigan's new starting center wasn't quite as impactful as expected as a rim protector against this level of competition, but he converted some nice pick-and-roll opportunities and had two offensive rebounds. Davis gave up three fouls in twelve minutes, including one when he couldn't move his feet quickly enough to corral a driver coming off a screen, leading to an and-one. Johns saw his first minutes at the five and it looked predictably unnatural for him to play in that role (for example, he bit hard on a drive and gave up an easy layup as a result), but minutes will probably be available for him there.

As for everyone else, Brooks had some nice minutes and knocked in Michigan's first three of the game late in the first half. His comfort within the offense relative to DeJulius will keep him ahead in the pecking order for at least a while, if not for the whole season. DeJulius got some playing time in the first half, but his impact was minimal in this game. Castleton was quite skinny but had a nice contested bucket in the post - as the fourth center, he still seems quite likely to redshirt.