Michigan is coming off a huge week, getting a monkey off their back with their first win over Notre Dame under Kim Barnes Arico in South Bend, then following it up with a pasting of Wright State to move to 4-0 on the season. They moved up five spots to 19th in the AP poll, putting them in a tight pack with the rest of the projected top of the Big Ten:

Northwestern, oddly, chose only to schedule three non-conference games and their initial season opener against Bradley was subsequently canceled, so they still haven't played a game.

The Wolverines finish out their non-conference schedule against Butler tomorrow afternoon. They'll then get a healthy break before opening Big Ten season at Illinois on December 19th.

The Frontcourt Is Feasting

Nebraska transfer Leigha Brown has fit in seamlessly [Scott]

Adding Nebraska transfer and reigning Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year Leigha Brown has turned Michigan's starting frontcourt from dangerous to deadly. Naz Hillmon and the two Browns (Leigha and Hailey) are combining for 54.8 points, 19.1 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game while shooting 64.5% on twos and 11-for-21 on threes. They've all been important pieces on defense, too. Both the traditional and advanced stats are eye-popping. From Her Hoop Stats:

All three are excellent players in their own right; their respective skill sets also elevate each other's play because of how well they fit together.

Hillmon is the main star and primary paint presence, especially on post-ups and the boards. Hailey Brown is the most perimeter-oriented, splitting her attempts near-evenly between twos (16) and threes (15), and she's been a productive rim protector and solid defensive rebounder. Leigha Brown fills the gaps in between, showing a high level of comfort as both a shooter and passer from the high post. Her shot chart shows off her midrange game, via Synergy:

She can get to the rim and finishes there really well; Hillmon spends so much time down there, though, that extending that threat out to 15 feet is critical.

The frontcourt was the primary driver of the Notre Dame victory, combining for 52 of M's 76 points while chipping in 22 rebounds, five assists, eight(!) blocks, and two steals. They played 113 of a possible 120 minutes; Hailey Brown never left the court. Part of the huge minutes load is because last year's backup center and breakout candidate Izabel Varejao is still stuck in Brazil because of pandemic-related travel issues. Part of it is because they're simply dominating right now.

[Hit THE JUMP for the frontcourt in GIFs, Amy Dilk's quietly excellent game, and the Butler preview.]

You can see the way the three players fit together in this clip. The Irish are playing their usual zone, so Hillmon flashes to the middle and receives a pass from Leigha Brown, who's popped out to the perimeter from the high post. Hillmon draws instant attention from all five defenders, so she whips a pass to Hailey Brown, who's able to corral a ball that doesn't exactly hit her in the shooting pocket and still drill a three before her defender can recover:

While Hailey is hitting the shot, Leigha is making a hard cut to both give Hillmon another option and get into offensive rebounding position if a shot goes up. She never stops working. That shows up in halfcourt and also in transition on both ends of the floor. Here's Leigha recording a chasedown fast break block—after nearly getting a hand on the pass—then leading the transition charge the other way and finding Hailey for an open three against an unsettled defense:

One of the reasons Hailey is so open? Hillmon charges full-speed down the floor and pulls in the defender who should be finding Hailey instead. Hillmon's constant hustle is another big part of this offense; it adds to her gravity because anywhere from two to four (sometimes even all five) defenders need to constantly be aware of where she's at and where she's headed.

Hillmon draws all that attention because it seemingly requires an entire team to keep her from scoring in the paint. Sometimes that isn't even enough:

That's a great post entry pass from Amy Dilk, too. More on her soon.

Finally, Hailey Brown is Not Just A Shooter™. A lot of stretch bigs with low two-point attempt totals have a great shooting percentage because they only take wide open shots inside the arc. That's not the case here. Brown has a legit post game:

Again, note Hillmon's gravity; when she cuts across the paint, she takes Notre Dame's center with her and keeps her attention for an extra beat when the ball is reversed to the other side of the court, which provides space for Hailey to cut and catch the ball in great position. The catch, patient spin, and finish through contact (this was an and-one) are all Brown, though.

Dilk, Dishing

ope just gonna sneak that by ya there [Scott]

Amy Dilk entered the program in 2018 as a consensus top-50 recruit (and a five-star on ESPN) and almost immediately stepped into the starting point guard job. She's started 65 of 67 games as a Wolverines while leading the squad in assists both years and turning into a double-digit scorer as a sophomore.

She could be a frustrating player to watch, however. At her best, Dilk was a walking mismatch at 6'0; a few inches taller than your average college point guard on the women's side, she could see over the defense to get passes into the post, knock down threes, and make plays in transition. Turnovers were the fly in the ointment; Dilk's turnover rate was 22.8% last season and her career assist-to-turnover ratio was 1.29:1 entering this year.

Dilk has turned a corner. In the first three games, she had 17 assists and only three turnovers, one in each game; that included a seven-assist outing in South Bend. She had five assists and five turnovers against Wright State on Sunday but that felt like an anomaly in a blowout win that got sloppy on both ends. Her assist rate has jumped from 24.8% to 31.4% while her turnover rate is down to 19.0% and would've been a lot lower before Sunday. That A:TO ratio is up to 2.75:1.

Her entry passes have been sharp, as shown in the last section. She's also been able to break down defenses on drive-and-kicks because she's more decisive. Not a lot of point guards have the size to so naturally pull off this rip-and-go baseline kickout with ND's frontcourt collapsing in:

Easy corner three.

The addition of Leigha Brown and emergence of others in the supporting cast has lessened Dilk's scoring load; she had six points against the Irish and is averaging 8.5 in 2020-21, fifth on the team behind the other four starters (Akienreh Johnson is the other). She's attempting 2.6 fewer shots than last year. Her efficiency should be on the way up, though. Her two-point percentage has jumped five points to a solid 47.8%, which is in the 58th percentile in WBB. Her 1-for-7 start from beyond the arc is an outlier for the 36% career three-point shooter.

She's learned when to attack, which has cut out a lot of the uglier turnovers and also led to some impressive buckets. I love this push and floater off a made basket when she realizes an ND player has fallen down:

That's a good shot to get, especially with M's offensive rebounding, and it's a deflating one to see go down if you're the opponent.

Dilk is on pace for a breakout year if she can keep her fouls under control. She's picked up four fouls in three of the team's four games, which has limited her to 26.2 minutes per game. The offense is noticeably worse when she's not out there to run it. The reserves are better-suited playing off the ball, though Nolan and Danielle Rauch can handle the point in a pinch, while top-50 freshman Meghan Fiso could emerge into a viable option but has only played a handful of minutes so far. Dilk was significantly less foul-prone in her first two seasons, so this is likely a small sample issue that'll go away, and then we could really see her numbers take off.

Mini-Preview: Butler

Butler opened the season jumping right into Big East play—or, at least, they did after their opener against Seton Hall was canceled last week—and they've had about as tough a start as you could imagine. They lost 73-52 to Providence and 88-41(!!) to Creighton, both at home. The Friars are 3-3 this season; the Blue Jays are 1-3. Now they travel to Michigan and #15 Indiana before heading to Storrs to resume conference play with UConn. Oof.

Starting wing Naira Caceras opted out of the season after two games, joining reserve guard Jamilyn Robinson. The Bulldogs suited up only nine healthy players last weekend. Caceras wasn't just one of the nine, she was third on the team in scoring and rebounding and first in assists and steals. They're still shorthanded heading into this weekend:

The Bulldogs do not expect Micah Scheetz, Genesis Parker, or Oumou Toure to play against Michigan.

Junior JuCO transfer Okako Adika, a 6'0 wing, is the focal point of the team to a remarkable degree. She's averaging 16.5 points, nine more than #2 scorer Upe Atosu, a 5'9 guard. Clemson transfer Jaia Robinson is listed in the projected starting lineup after missing all of last season and, as best I can tell, the first two games due to injury; she was a solid bench player for the Tigers and could give a needed boost.

This looks like a blowout win for Michigan barring something weird. Much worse teams have handled Butler with ease and one of their top players opted out after two games. They look to be in for a tough year.