I Just Deleted My First Draft and Started Over

Michigan was supposed to play their first game in ten days tomorrow, opening the Big Ten season against Illinois. I was partway through a preview of that game and the following Penn State matchup—trying to get ahead of the holidays here—when the program announced the Illini game is postponed because of "COVID-19-related concerns":

The University of Michigan women's basketball team's game at Illinois scheduled for Saturday (Dec. 19) has been postponed due to COVID-19-related concerns within the program. The decision was made by the Michigan Athletic Department in consultation with medical professionals.

Both institutions will work with the Big Ten Conference to identify potential rescheduling options later this season.

A makeup game is probably going to have to wait for the latter portion of the season. The Wolverines are playing every three or four days from New Year's Eve through mid-February. There's a gap between February 11th and 18th and they could possibly squeeze in a game early on in the first week of March; otherwise the schedule is packed.

Meanwhile, we'll have to wait and see if this impacts Wednesday afternoon's scheduled home game against Penn State. Hopefully everyone is healthy and able to return to the court as soon as possible; alternatively, the powers that be could stop these farcical seasons that unnecessarily risk the health of every athlete and staffer involved in the name of money, but that's never going to happen.

[Hit THE JUMP for Maddie Nolan doing everything.]

Maddie Nolan Defies Explanation

shoot, pass, rebound, defend, whatever you need [JD Scott]

While Michigan features a potential National Player of the Year candidate and several more traditionally productive players, Maddie Nolan most often draws my attention when she's on the court. That's largely due to her effort, as the 5'9 sophomore guard—the third-shortest player on the team—is a classic gritty scrapper high-motor glue player, to jam together just a few of the words most commonly used to describe her. She's hard to ignore whether filling in as a spot starter or providing a spark off the bench.

Nolan is still primarily a spot-up shooter on offense, attempting 13 of her 21 shots from downtown. She's been money from deep, going 6/13, and has shown some expansion of her repertoire. Here she takes advantage of Notre Dame's zone by moving to the corner on an overload set, getting a defender to commit to closing out on the corner three, then relocating before splashing the shot:

That's harder than she makes it look.

Nolan has also been one of the team's most reliable facilitators, something they generally lack outside of starting point Amy Dilk. Nolan makes smart decisions both on the break and in halfcourt sets. This is a nice entry pass from the corner to lead Naz Hillmon into a layup, the preferred end-point of most every Michigan halfcourt play. This, meanwhile, is a great early find after rebounding a missed free throw to generate a layup out of nothing:

She's even generated six points on three pick-and-roll possessions, too small a sample to draw any real conclusions from but a glint of promise nonetheless.

Nolan's most impressive work, though, is done on the glass. My favorite stat from early in the season is no longer true: Nolan now trails Hillmon in offensive rebound rate, merely posting an 11.1 OR% (second on the team) to Hillmon's remarkable 15.5%. Nolan, however, has a decided edge on the defensive glass and barely trails Hillmon in the share of total rebounds she grabs while on the floor. This is absurd:

Nolan regularly boxes out and snatches boards from true bigs. Hailey Brown provides help on a shooter on this play, leaving Nolan to slide over and help on the glass. Notre Dame's center, who's 6'3, attacks the glass but is stymied by Nolan's positioning:

She denied a cutter right before the rebound, too.

To top everything off, Nolan's been excellent closing out on shooters this season, which is often her primary defensive responsibility; she's gotten out to contest six of the eight spot-up jumpers attempted by her defensive matchup, according to Synergy, and only one has gone down. That's particularly impressive for someone who also contributes as much as she does on the glass; she moves in and out of the paint quickly and reads plays well. She even has a pair of blocks this season.

Next time you turn on a game, whenever that may be, take your eye off the ball and watch Nolan. You won't lack for entertainment.