It’s very common for teams to struggle shooting from the perimeter in the Final Four because of the change in depth perception that comes with playing in a football stadium. However, that didn’t seem to effect the No. 1-seeded Michigan Wolverines, as they shot an impressive 12-for-27 from three-point territory in a 91-73 win over the No. 1-seed Arizona Wildcats on Saturday.
Michigan has quality shooters, but head coach Dusty May thought of something to help prepare his team for the depth perception.
His thought — take the team to the Big House.
Prior to departing for the Final Four last week, the Wolverines went to Michigan Stadium and took shots on an outdoor basketball hoop in an effort to prepare for the uniqueness of playing in a stadium.
“We got a chance to go out there. It wasn’t like a real workout. Well, Will Tschetter actually did work out there, but it was just kind of us being out there to get used to the depth perception of playing in a football stadium,” guard Roddy Gayle Jr. told the media. “We just took a few shots to get used to what it would feel like. I think it was a game-changer for us.”
The Wolverines have shot at a high level throughout the NCAA Tournament, but it was difficult to know if that would translate to playing in such a different environment at Lucas Oil Stadium. It certainly didn’t appear like Michigan was bothered by the change in scenery, as its four most prolific three-point shooters combined to shoot 11-for-19 from beyond the arc.
“I think what gave us confidence and comfortability was getting reps in here on Thursday, and before we came to Indy, we were shooting at the Big House,” guard Nimari Burnett said. “We had a rim out there to get a feel of what it would be like here. We’ve also gotten a lot of reps throughout the last two days, so come game time, we were very prepared.”
In addition to Burnett and Gayle knocking down a three-pointer in the win vs Arizona, Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney and Yaxel Lendeborg were all red-hot as well. McKenney led the way with 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting from three-point range, while Cadeau had 13 points on 3-for-7 from beyond the arc and Lendeborg added 11 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from deep.
There’s definitely no guarantee the hot shooting will continue against No. 2-seed UConn in the National Championship, but whatever the Wolverines have been doing is clearly working recently. Michigan is shooting 44.5 percent from three and have made double-digit three-pointers in the NCAA Tournament.
From going over to the Big House to getting thousands of shots up at the stadium in the days leading up to the game, the pregame work proved to be very critical for the Wolverines in the Final Four. We’ll see if that continues against UConn, but a recent trip to Michigan Stadium played a major role in terms of preparation and team bonding.
“It was a sunny, warm day. I had my shirt off. I was vibing out there man,” Tschetter said. “It felt like I was back home on the farm shooting hoops.”
