In what I intend to be a weekly/bi-weekly column, this piece aims to expand on weekly trends for the basketball team relative to season expectations (in this case) or progression/regression as compared to prior weeks.

In short, you can use this analysis as sort of a stock report for the hoops squad in terms of individual + team performance, sets and lineups.

 

THREE UP

Hunter Dickinson, the short roller. Off-season chatter surrounding Dickinson focused on his ability to go over the left shoulder as a counter to defenses sitting on his left hand while also expanding his shooting range beyond the arch.

Hunter has flashed the ability to hit triples and go right during the first two games, but his abilities as a short-roller in the ballscreen game has been the most pleasant surprise early on.

I beat the drum during the off-season on my view that getting Dickinson more easy baskets as a roll-man was more important to team success than three-point shooting or developing a right hand. The logic behind that is Hunter may take 1-2 triples per game and perhaps use his right a few times a night, but utilizing him as a short-roller is something Juwan Howard can dial up 10-15 times in any given contest.

It's obviously early, but the returns on Dickinson as a short-roll man have been promising. He looks very adept at the floater 7-10 feet from the basket that we so often see Bam Adebayo go to in the NBA. Perhaps even more impressive, is the playmaking we've seen from HD in the short-roll game. The second possession in the clip above sees Dickinson make an NBA level read + pass to find Brooks for a wide-open triple. That was reminiscent of what Draymond Green does for the Warriors. 

This has the look of a go-to weapon for Michigan that puts the defense in a pinch because of Hunter's gravity as a finisher. The defense is forced to choose between HD getting a short floater or collapsing on him early and taking their chances with kickouts to weakside shooters. Eli Brooks and Caleb Houstan could be huge beneficiaries if this promising start continues in the short-roll game. 

 

Eli Brooks, the playmaker. The super-senior has been known as a rock-solid fixture in Michigan's backcourt for the last few years. In NBA terminology, he is the quintessential connector. Generally known as a catch-and-shoot type in the half-court offense with the occasional transition dunk, Brooks was really impressive as a shot-creator for others against Buffalo. 

We need a bigger sample here, as super-senior guards don't generally become good on-ball types in a fifth year, but perhaps year three in Juwan Howard's system is when things clicked for his shot-creation chops. If Eli's emergence as a playmaker for others in the ballscreen game is a consistent thing, the concerns regarding a backup guard (both the PG and SG spots have been talking points) are alleviated to a large degree.

Rather than searching for answers in terms of personnel, it becomes a matter of Juwan Howard staggering his lineups to have Brooks on the court during all non-Jones minutes when the games are truly meaningful. This is beneficial to the team on both ends of the court, as Bufkin hasn't looked up to speed defensively just yet and I'm not sure you want Nunez/Williams out there defending SGs for large chunks of the game.

 

Moussa Diabate's versatility. The mainstream recruiting profiles for Diabate essentially read "elite athlete that will be a rim-runner, roll-man and switchable rim-protector". So far Moussa, has been much more than that. While others may have undersold his passing/ball-skills, your author has been enamored with those facets of his game for quite some time. This was a big part of the equation for me being a bit higher on Diabate in relation to his more renowned 5-star teammate (more on that below).

Moussa's passing ability both on the roll and from the post has been nothing short of outstanding for a freshman big. Hitting weakside shooters on the short-roll and waiting until traffic clears to find shooters on kickouts from the block was eye-opening stuff as seen below:

The passing is undeniably the most intriguing offensive component of his game for the team so far, as it makes interchangeable high-low Horns action with Dickinson a more plausible scenario. But there have been some nice flashes with his face-up game off the bounce as well.

Diabate has looked solid putting the ball on the floor for a few dribbles from both the elbow and the wing. He's going to be quicker than 98% of the people defending him and his ability to blow-by is a potential weapon. Buffalo is a bit undersized/quicker than the bigs we'll see from teams such as Purdue/Illinois/MSU/Wisconsin and the agility advantage is still evident. Imagine traditional bigs such as Edey/Williams/Cockburn/Hauser attempting to stay with him off the bounce. 

Finally, I don't need to say much regarding the defensive versatility. The clip below speaks volumes. On an island, Moussa beats Jeenathan Williams to the spot, forces him to give up the ball and then top-locks him to force a deflection after Buffalo attempts to give him the ball back.

For a team that may project to struggle a bit with athletic shot-creators with size, Diabate may very well be an X-factor. He is the most naturally gifted defender on the team, with a tantalizing mix of size/length/agility. If the team runs into a matchup issue(think Jaden Ivey types), Moussa is definitely a guy I'd look to given his physical abilities. If he can quickly get up to speed on the various coverages/assignments, he has a chance to be one of the best defenders in America as a freshman. 

[AFTER THE JUMP, treys down]

 

THREE DOWN

When Charity Goes Wrong. I'm going to spare you visual evidence of what amounts to a brick-laying tutorial, but shooting 56.5% from the charity stripe on 62 attempts so far ain't it folks. 

Some of this is the natural tradeoff that comes with fielding a bigger/more athletic team, but I can't imagine the FT shooting will be that poor moving forward. That said, consistently winning at the rim>perimeter shooting in my opinion. Provided the charity stripe adventures hover around 70%, that's a tradeoff I like in the long run. 

 

Caleb Houstan's Defense. The prize of the 2021 class was touted as a high-IQ versatile defender by 247. Your author was wary about the lack of agility/overall athleticism, but thought his size/length could make him a solid defender against catch-and-shoot types.

It's still far too early to make conclusions, given the general struggles of freshman on defense. But I'd be lying to say I'm not concerned given the issues against Buffalo.

I think its probably safe to assume Houstan will never fall in the category of wing-stopper. But Michigan doesn't need him to be that. Caleb just needs to play good off-ball defense and make smart rotations to be a net-neutral defensively. 

 

The injury bug. Minor injuries/bugs have caused Eli Brooks, Frankie Collins and Zeb Jackson to miss varying stints of practice/game action to the start the season. With so many new parts to the team, it would be great to get everyone at full strength to see what Juwan Howard has at his disposal. It's difficult to settle in on a rotation when potential rotational players have yet to see the court in a real game.