Michigan men’s basketball finds itself two games back of Michigan State which leads the Big Ten Conference. After playing like one of the best teams in the entire country, the Wolverines find themselves in some uncharted territory under first-year head coach, Dusty May. Michigan has lost two of its last four games and its two wins came by a combined eight points to two bottom-feeders in the Big Ten.
But the 15-5 (7-2) Wolverines have a chance to right some wrongs in the coming days. Michigan will play at Rutgers on Saturday before hosting a talented Oregon team. Neither game may come easy to a Michigan team that has struggled turning the ball over. But the thing going for the Wolverines is the fact they have multiple, elite scorers. Both big men, Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf, can get hot any game. Point guard Tre Donaldson and guard Nimari Burnett have both been hot as of late and can score at any level.
With Michigan having so much talent on the roster, 247Sports’ Eric Bossi picked Michigan as an unranked team that could make some noise come March in the NCAA Tournament.
“It hasn’t taken long for Dusty May to erase many of the painful memories of the Juwan Howard era at Michigan,” Bossi wrote. After taking FAU to unprecedented heights, he’s ahead of schedule on his rebuild of the Wolverines.
“Making the trip to Ann Arbor with May was FAU transfer Vlad Goldin and he’s proven to be a formidable alongside Yale transfer Danny Wolf in the Wolverines twin towers offense. Goldin is immovable in the paint while Wolf has captured the imagination of college hoops fans thanks to his rare combination of size and creative playmaking with the ball in his hands. Figuring out how to deal with that duo – especially with a short turnaround between first and second-round games – isn’t going to be easy come March.
“Auburn transfer Tre Donaldson is emerging as a dangerous floor general and his ability to shoot from deep helps to keep the floor spaced for the 14-feet of centers they have roaming the floor. Veteran Nimari Burnett finally seems to have found his place in the world and is another valuable piece when it comes to spacing the floor.
“Small ball teams that can spread the Wolverines out defensively are a bit worrisome, but overall, this looks like a team that no top-four seed is going to want any piece of in the second round of the tournament.”
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