The basketball team appears to be turning the corner after strong performances in three consecutive games. A road win against a top-50 Kenpom team in Indiana has the Wolverines 33rd per the NET rankings and firmly on the bubble per ESPN's latest bracketology. 

THREE UP

Effort. Effort. Effort. The increased intensity from the entire roster starting with the Illinois game has been abundantly obvious to anyone with eyes. There aren't any fancy stats to point to, but take a look at this clip from seldom-used Jace Howard and tell me it doesn't set the tone:

That play by Howard has epitomized the sort of spirit this team has played with over the last three contests. Michigan is now the aggressor in terms of hitting the floor for loose balls, seeking out box-outs and dictating pace on both ends. Moussa Diabate generally brings more hustle than anyone on the floor, but when he's doing this up 12 with under five minutes remaining, it has to resonate with the rest of the team. 

Indeed, the want it more factor has trickled down the roster. Hunter Dickinson has supreme skill, but he's not necessarily known as a guy that's going all out. The All-American big man has now joined the party. In the clip below, Michigan is in a zone press and Dickinson covers more than 20 feet of ground to come up with a deflection + TO that leads to a transition bucket 99% of the time. When a plodding 7-footer is giving you that, the team is going to win a lot of games. 

The thing about wanting it more is that it can't generally be quantified. On most occasions there's no credit in the box score for hitting the floor first, the deflection where your teammate gets credit for the steal or the tie-up that allows the team to gain/retain possession. But undoubtedly, it does impact winning.

Hello, Caleb Houstan. Prior to Maryland, Houstan largely struggled on both ends of the court to put it mildly. The last two games? The former 5-star is living up to his billing as a premier shooter by going 8/11 from distance while averaging 17.5 points on 68.4% from the field overall.

The key to unlocking Houstan's perimeter shotmaking prowess seems to be time. Credit to our own Alex Drain here, as months ago he suggested Caleb may need more time to get his shot off considering it's essentially a set shot. This appears to be the case, as Houstan is getting WIDE open looks from distance over the last two games and connecting at a very high level. 

While the shooting is something this roster unquestionably needs from him, he's also starting to flash some progress defensively. Look at Houstan in the chaser spot here. He's trailing Kopp off the screen, Moussa correctly switches while Caleb tags Jackson-Davis as he dives to the rim. Deflection that leads to a TO.

If he's just an average defender while being a 35+ shooter from distance the rest of the season, Michigan's chances of making some noise down the stretch increase exponentially. 

[AFTER THE JUMP, it's a good thing when this column only has one down!]

Hunter Dickinson, stretch big. Michigan's leading man is starting to make good on the projections of him as a threat from three. He's 4/6 from distance over the last two games with several more midrange jumpers for good measure. 

A pick-and-pop threat gives opposing defenses an additional wrinkle to gameplan for. Perhaps the biggest benefit to this though, it may open things up for Moussa Diabate to be fully optimized by sucking out the opposition's best rim protector while Moussa has room to use his increasingly potent post + face-up game.

THREE DOWN

Eli Brooks, generally. The Wolverine senior is having a rough go of it in conference play, averaging 8.2ppg while shooting 28.6% from distance and 38% overall. Everyone goes though shooting slumps, but the shoot/pass decisions have been a bit baffling at times in recent games as well. Take a look at this possession. Eli fails to hug the first ballscreen, doesn't wait on the re-screen, gains no advantage because of it, then tries a jump pass that leads to a TO. 

Perhaps more concerning, the defense has fallen off a cliff in terms of impact. Synergy has Brooks in the 13th percentile, giving up 1.007 PPP as a primary defender as of today, while defending more possessions (146) than anyone on the team. While there is definitely some noise with any individual defensive metric, it's hard to ignore the eyes. Eli gets scored on a lot despite being in the right place at the right time. Opposing coaches have figured out that Brooks is a guy you just go at rather than trying to place him in ballscreens with heavy volume. 

The silver lining? When Eli is your fourth/fifth best player the odds of the team being good increase (right now). Conversely, having Brooks as your second option probably indicates the team isn't very good (December-early January).