The Michigan Wolverines use a super-sized lineup more often than not a season ago, with Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin being the team’s two leading scorers. But occasionally, Dusty May used an even bigger lineup, playing a 6-foot-8 Will Tschetter at the 3 for parts of Big Ten play.
Per KenPom lineup data, Tschetter, Wolf, and Goldin shared the floor as part of Michigan’s ninth-most-used lineup alongside Tre Donaldson and Nimari Burnett. Those five shared the floor 3.1 percent of the time, which is more
time than you think when you add up all the minutes in a season.
Even though Wolf and Goldin have moved on, Michigan has the personnel to use a super-sized lineup again. With Tschetter back and Michigan bringing in Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson, Aday Mara and Malick Kordel, the Wolverines have depth in the frontcourt. And with the versatility of Lendeborg, Tschetter and Johnson, they have the luxury of being creative.
Jon Rothstein — one of the most plugged-in insiders in college hoops — reported last month that Lendeborg, Johnson and Mara could share the floor at times this season.
Being able to use that lineup hinges on Lendeborg creating plays for his teammates and running the pick-and-roll like Wolf did.
“I thought after we signed Yaxel, it would be a tall task that we’d have to really fit some things together. After coaching Yax this summer and fall, he’s a guard,” May said of Lendeborg at Big Ten Media Days. “He’s played some point guard duties, he’s guarded point guards — he actually guards point guards better than he does 5 men in my opinion. He’s got a real unique skillset and he loves to pass it.
“He overpasses, and usually that helps with chemistry and the locker room. Everyone on our team is very unselfish.”
It’s not as simple as Lendeborg doing the exact same things offensively that Wolf did. While they are similar, Lendeborg has some different strengths the Wolverines can lean on.
“There will be some similarities, I think with Yaxel, we’ll try to get him downhill a little bit more,” May said. “Our bigs aren’t the same … Aday is a lot different than Vlad. We will use it but it’s not going to look like it did last year, those two make it work.”
These lineups also force Johnson — who is currently limited with an undisclosed injury — to play more at the 4. Johnson played some 4 last season at Illinois, but he’s trying to expand his game and showcase he can guard 1-5.
“Playing with (Team) USA in the mini-camps and the tryouts and stuff like that, I played with a couple other people that were taller than me,” Johnson told Maize n Brew. “Tomi (Ivisic) is like 7-foot-2 — I played with him last year. Played this summer with Danny Jacobsen at Purdue, had a few sessions where I played with bigs that were taller than me, played against them. But it’s different coming in every day and playing against two people that got 4-5 inches on you.
“I’m more used to (the 4) now, I started doing it after January playing with (Ivisic). I got some reps in playing the 4 before I went down with injury, and I did a little bit of it (in the) postseason.”
Like Wolf and Goldin, Michigan’s coaching staff has been working hard to expand Johnson’s game, and going against 7-footers in practice is only going to help him.
“(Johnson’s) last practice was by far his best, and it’s tough because when he’s going against Aday, he’s 7-foot-3,” May said. “So he’s learning to finish around, through, over one of the better rim protectors in the league. I thought his decision-making this summer came a long way, and it was more just the reps of putting it in his hands. And I said in practice in the summer, we’re in experiment mode, not in win mode, so I thought he did a good job of orchestrating offense and being a ball mover … he looked a lot more comfortable towards the end of the summer than the beginning.”
All this depth in the backcourt has several benefits for the Wolverines:
- That versatility gives the Wolverines insurance if and when foul trouble strikes
- Michigan will be able to play more above the rim, adding another wrinkle to the offense and increasing scoring upside
- Opposing teams will be forced to try and match Michigan’s size, which could mean Michigan has the chance to exploit inexperienced bigs. The Wolverines will oftentimes have the size advantage and should be able to go to town on mismatches
- Michigan’s rim protection gets better, and the Wolverines will have more length to throw at opposing offenses
We know May likes to think outside the box. He’s not going to show his cards and say this lineup will be used a lot, but Michigan has the personnel and versatility to use this lineup more than 3.1 percent of the time.
“I’ve always been obsessed with just studying good offensive basketball,” May said. “I just remember thinking with pick-and-roll offense if you have a versatile offensive player coming off a screen and if you have a physical defender that can create the space needed, playing over the top is just a much more efficient way of playing.”
