The Wolverines secured a much needed Q1 victory with a road drubbing of Iowa over the weekend. Michigan put together the most complete two-way performance of the season against a Hawkeye team that came into the contest as a top-20 adjusted offense per both Torvik and Kenpom. 

Let's take a look under the hood to examine what went into the blowout.

Defensive Rebounding

I differ from most when assessing the primary defensive issues that have plagued Michigan early this season. The lack of timely off-ball rotations and lapses in transition defense certainly loom large in the defensive woes, but not at the top of the list in my opinion. 

The Wolverines have been horrid in terms of finishing possessions, checking in with the #224 DReb rate per Torvik. To put this in perspective, Michigan's Dreb rate has been below 70 four games this season. That is absolutely mindblowing considering the Wolverines play two bigs for large portions of games. 

In the win against Iowa, the Wolverines came up with 78.8% of the available defensive rebounds and it paid massive dividends in aiding the defense. 

Will Tschetter was a massive part of this victory, pulling down 35.8% of the available defensive rebounds during his time on the floor. Let's take a look at some of his best work in the clip below. 

After beating Sandfort to the spot, watch Will take young Payton for a ride from the left side of the paint before dropping him off outside the paint on the right side. The box-out was so good that Tschetter was barely forced to jump in order to secure the rebound. That's premium cheddar right there.

Now let's take a look at the guards getting into the action. First up, Nimari Burnett.

After Tarris forces a wild fadeaway, Nkamhoua does a fairly good job of boxing-out Ladji Dembele, but to no avail. Dembele comes up with not one, but two, offensive rebounds in the same possession. 

Look at the :18 mark in the clip. Burnett is forced to switch on Dembele after the screen. Iowa spots this and hits him with the entry pass on the mismatch. But Nimari does a good job using his length to contest the jumphook. He nearly finishes the possession himself, as he left the ground quicker than Dembele on the rebound attempt. A scrum ensues and Michigan is able to regain possession. These sort of efforts are critical for team defense. 

[AFTER THE JUMP more Cheese, a face-up five and the bench mob]

Dug McDaniel also had some moments on the defensive glass, none better than the possession clipped below.

Iowa attacking in transition and Burnett does a good job in slowing down McCaffery to force an off-balance runner. Dug is sandwiched between 3 Hawkeyes and still comes up with the board. Tarris does a great job changing ends and carries a defender with him and it's a 3-on-1 at this point. McDaniel finds Nimari on the right wing for three. Five point swing.

Olivier Nkamhoua is likely Michigan's best defensive rebounder and the clip below is a good reason why.

Ben Krikke gets a step on Olivier after getting him a cross-screen followed by a down-screen. Burnett then switches and Krikke gets him off his feet with a shot-fake. Nkamhoua contests the shot then gives another effort while sandwiched between three defenders to prevent the easy putback. At times, it's not about what a guy does, but moreso what the opposition is not able to do. This is one of those instances. Multiple efforts are the best friend of a big. 

Face-Up Five

Tarris Reed has struggled as primarily a post option in half-court settings, with a team-worst 23.8 TO rate. While the Wolverines did look to post him up a bit in the early going, some of that usage shifted to a perimeter shot-creator as seen in the clip below. 

That jab-step + rip through was perfected by all-time great Kobe Bryant and notably used recently by Moussa Diabate. It takes great footwork and timing. Quite impressive for a college sophomore with that type of physique/frame.

And the coaching staff must being seeing enough in practice to implement this. This fake DHO + dribble drive below is done with intent.

This is supposed to be a Zoom action set. Dug typically comes off the double stagger screens to get the DHO from Reed, but look at Tarris closely around the :05 mark. He's already getting into his motion to attack the basket and Dug hasn't even come off the initial screen from Williams. 

The Zoom action setup was functionally window dressing to get Reed in a true 1-on-1 situation on the perimeter where the staff felt he had an advantage. And that would prove to be correct. Tarris gets a half-step on Freeman and then gets into his chest to bully him for a layup. More of this please. 

Bench Production

As mentioned above, Will Tschetter was pivotal and likely had his best performance of the season. In addition to his rebounding efforts, he also had a very nice game offensively. 

Michigan running a variant of Chin action that doesn't produce a good look. This flows into a ballscreen game between Nimari and Nkamhoua. As Olivier rolls, Krikke bumps to buy Sandfort some time on the show + recover defensive approach. Burnett makes the perfect read with precision timing and Will pays it off with the triple. 

That is exactly what the staff envisioned when recruiting Tschetter. A stretch big that can punish the opposition for overplaying the paint.

Tray Jackson has struggled offensively in the early going this season. He can't buy a triple and he's been turnover prone as well. He did a really good job playing under control against Iowa and flashed some self-creation chops. 

That's a legit 6'8 wing blowing by a smaller player before finishing through contact over an outstretched big.

And the flashes weren't limited to the offensive end. Again, the sheer athletic tools immediate pop-out on this clip. 

After losing Perkins off-ball for a nanosecond, look at the recovery speed and quick elevation to block the shot. Tray provides a nice combination of size/shot-creation/athleticism that the roster sorely lacks from the wing position. Turning flashes into more consistent play would help the Wolverines a lot, as there isn't really anyone else on the roster with this level of two-way ceiling.