What is the story about?
College basketball season is right around the corner, and the Michigan men’s basketball team has been working hard all offseason long to prepare for the grind that is Big Ten basketball.
Maize n Brew got to interview every scholarship player on the roster on Tuesday during the team’s annual Media Day, and we’ll have stories with those interviews coming in the next few weeks. We also got to watch Michigan’s practice at Crisler Center.
Media members were able to observe practice from the stands at mid-court.
We weren’t able to live tweet or post live videos from that session, but I kept a running list of notes and observations from what I saw from each player on the roster.
Here are those notes:
- In an unusual development, head coach Dusty May was rather coy when asked about the high expectations for this squad. Instead of flat out saying that championships are the standard, he said, “I don’t see why we can’t compete with every team in the country every single night…I love our team, I think we have a really high ceiling.”
- May also said Roddy Gayle Jr. has moved into a primary playmaker role, with Elliot Cadeau and Yaxel Lendeborg often leading the offense. Cadeau was most often the primary point guard in the team sessions. Lendeborg played great defense and moved the ball well, but didn’t get the ball a whole lot in the team sessions. He wasn’t as ball-dominant in Tuesday’s practice as he seemed to be at UAB, but I would guess that’s an intentional choice by Michigan’s staff.
- May mentioned for the first time since he was an assistant at Florida, he feels he has a team with true lob threats. He mentioned three players in particular — Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara and Malick Kordel.
- The four returning players who got minutes last season — Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter, Gayle and L.J. Cason — have all improved drastically, per May. Before tweaking his ankle recently, Cason has looked “significantly better” since last season. Cason said he learned a lot from his time practicing with Team USA this summer, and he finally got his braces off. “No more busted lips,” Cason said with a chuckle.
- Speaking of Team USA, Johnson just got done representing his country. He said he learned a lot from that experience defensively and that his role as a defender, rebounder and lob threat prepared him for Michigan.
- Johnson did not participate in this practice, as we were told that he is dealing with a minor injury. He didn’t get into specifics but it was downplayed by May, so it sounds like he’ll be ready to go for the season.
- My biggest takeaway from practice — this team is going to be a LOT better defensively, and assistant coach Akeem Miskdeen said as much. Granted, defense is often ahead of the offense this time of year, but all the transfers are good defenders. There are athletes everywhere, and almost every guard is switchable. The rim protection is great, and there is length in the passing lanes — it’s going to be tough to score on these guys.
- Will Tschetter and Nimari Burnett look noticeably skinnier. And it’s not a bad skinny either, as they both still have lean muscle mass. Tschetter played more wing in this practice than I’ve seen him play before, and in terms of body transformation, he has made the biggest strides out of the returning players.
- In the 5-on-5 practice session, my biggest takeaway was how confident Gayle looked. He was attacking the rim and went right at the 7-footers, even finishing a floater over Mara to win a set for the Maize group. Whatever he was struggling with last season appears to be past him.
- Trey McKenney is down 18 pounds since the offseason started, and we saw that in the team sessions today. He was light on his feet, stayed in front of guys on defense, and rotated well. He also knocked down a few threes and fought for a lot of rebounds.
- Calling it now, and this might be a hot take, but I think he’ll be Michigan’s best player by the time the season is over.
- There’s a lot to like about Kordel, and he gave thoughtful answers about his time playing handball, but he said he clearly likes playing basketball more. He’s still a little raw, and he’s maybe a step slow offensively, but the tools are there for him to be a reliable big. He also told me he’s increased his vertical by half an inch (34 inches) since I saw him get a new max on Friday.
- Speaking of the bigs, Mara is HUGE. His length can not be overstated — he swarms incoming passes and gets his hands on the ball a ton. Multiple assistants said this team can be better when it comes to defending the rim, and Mara appears to be a big part of that.
- Obviously we can’t extrapolate how a whole season will go based off a two-hour practice, but in terms of shooting, I’d say Tschetter and McKenney knocked down the most shots. True freshman Winters Grady also wasn’t afraid to fire, and he attacked the rim well in 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 drills. He’s an excellent scorer, and I see why multiple coaches said he’s going to contribute right away this year.
- Speaking of first-year players, Ricky Liburd told me he’s most likely going to redshirt. He’s a great athlete and a good ball handler, but he did seem a step behind everyone else.
- Redshirt freshman Oscar Goodman didn’t play a lot in the team drills, but he looks noticeably stronger since last season. The funniest quote of the day came from him — when asked by Tschetter for the team’s social media page if he considers himself a redhead or a strawberry blonde, Goodman said “redhead for sure.”
Do you find this article useful?
