A strong week for the Wolverines with a convincing win over a top-50 Kenpom team in San Diego State and total dominance in the B10 opener versus Nebraska gives off much better vibes for the trajectory of this team.

THREE UP

Hunter Dickinson, on the block. Juwan Howard went back to his bread and butter the last two games with a heavy dose of the All-American operating in the post and the results were rather impressive. The sophomore stud averaged 19 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists per contest in the aforementioned games. 

More importantly, I wasn't a huge fan of Michigan's early season inclination to run the five-out/Delay action set because it doesn't optimize the team's most potent weapon, Hunter's gravity in the paint. Most CBB fans (and analysts for that matter) generally use the word spacing to simply convey what they really want aesthetically, three-point shooting from a big. 

Theoretical spacing isn't really the benchmark though, that would be gravity. In simple terms gravity means the opposition is so consumed with a particular skillset that extra attention is dedicated to deter it. In scouting terminology, this is known as collapsing the defense. And this is much more important to generating quality looks in relation to any hypothetical spacing. 

Watch the clips above, particularly where the video is paused on each possession. Dickinson has 4-5 defenders within 5 feet of him in an effort to deter an easy bucket. Hunter is a great passer, and when this happens he finds teammates with skip passes.

This is the key to Michigan getting great shot quality. A skip means finding a teammate two passes away rather than one. And when that happens the defense is in full scramble mode because the recovery distance is simply too far to rotate under control. Look at how great the looks are in the clip above. It doesn't get any better than that because Dickinson is functionally using his gravity to create easy shots for teammates that can't necessarily create for themselves.

For a team that doesn't really have a heavy rotational perimeter player capable of beating defenders one-on-one, Dickinson's gravity is the move. Operating on the block just makes life a lot easier for our perimeter players that are off-ball types by nature and it creates driving lanes that aren't there otherwise. More of this, please. 

Zeb Jackson, perimeter defender. The most intriguing takeaway from the Nebraska game for me was the defensive prowess of the sophomore. With Jones (and Collins/Brooks to a lesser extent) getting abused repeatedly by Alonzo Verge, Juwan tested Jackson on that assignment and he passed with flying colors.

The takeaway here is that Jones/Brooks/Houstan can't really contain dribble penetration against legit perimeter scorers. The reason is quite simple, those players simply lack the requisite size/length/athleticism to do so. Zeb possesses all of those assets and if he can be a consistent perimeter defender for 10-15 minutes a night it can take Michigan from an above-average defensive team to a great one (more analysis on this below).

Collective Wing production. This one doesn't need any film/nuance, as the numbers speak volumes. In two games against UNC and Arizona, Caleb Houstan and Terrance Williams totaled 19 points, 11 rebounds and shot 2/12 from distance...........combined.

In the matchup against Nebraska, the tandem went off for 38 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Did I mention the wing-duo combined to shoot 7/10 beyond the arch? It's not likely those two ever combine for that level of production during a single game again, but half/two-thirds of that production in any game probably means a Wolverine win in most instances. 

[AFTER THE JUMP, only two down this week!]

Perimeter defense, generally. The Wolverine defense has been much better the last 2 games, but we have tons of trouble containing pro-ish guards that can create off the dribble.  For context, Michigan is giving up 1.07ppp in isolation (5th percentile in the country) and is 23rd percentile nationally in defending the P+R ballhandler. In total, those two play-types account for 153 of Michigan's defensive possessions (22% of all possessions on defense).

As mentioned above, Zeb Jackson can mitigate this issue if his flashes of defense become a regular thing. Absent that though, I'm afraid the Washingtons, Juzangs, Jeenathans and Verges of the world are likely to give Michigan a lot of problems because our backcourt personnel isn't really equipped to stop them. 

DeVante Jones' scoring. The transfer guard has scored a grand total of 17 points...........over the last 5 games. Juwan Howard probably doesn't need Jones scoring more than 10-11 points a game, but the PG spot simply needs more scoring punch from a kid logging almost 24 minutes per night during that five game stint.

DeVante doesn't get much lift on his jumper, so he's never going to be a Mike Smith type with pull-ups. I think the more critical part of his scoring package is his floater game. He scored on this shot-type at an absurd clip last season and it's something that compliments his playmaking chops (which has been impressive) in ballacreen action quite well.