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thewolverines24
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KEYS
Get Hunter Dickinson the ball: Villanova will make it very hard to get the ball to Hunter Dickinson, but Villanova will also have a tough time stopping Hunter Dickinson from scoring if he can catch the ball on the block. Dickinson was Michigan?s KenPom MVP in its first two NCAA Tournament games this season, and it?s hard to see a path to the Wolverines winning this game without Dickinson doing that again.
Villanova will front the post aggressively and dig with its guards but it generally isn?t a team that brings a hard double team. Jay Wright is also regarded as a coach who will stick to his core philosophies so it will be very interesting to see if a potential hot start for Dickinson changes anything in Villanova?s approach.
Hope that zone defense works: Michigan is going to have some real issues guarding Villanova in man-to-man. The Wildcats will put Moussa Diabate and Hunter Dickinson into difficult spots and have the size in the backcourt that can shoot over Michigan?s guards. They run a ton of ball screens and Michigan?s ball screen defense is ?below average? at best. Michigan has shown some bits of improvement, but ball screen-heavy teams have caused problems for this group all season ? especially with a pick-and-pop threat.
All of that is to say that Michigan is probably going to have to play its 2-3 matchup zone. I?m not completely convinced that Michigan?s zone is ?good? but it has worked at different points this season when nothing else would. It?s a bit like rolling the dice, but it is a gamble that Michigan is going to have to make. Despite being a perimeter-oriented team, Villanova scores in just the 22nd percentile against zone defense this season.
Create some extra possessions: Villanova is an elite game management team. They don?t get sped up, control the pace, don?t turn the ball over, and are okay on the defensive glass (187th on the year, but 3rd in the Big East). Somewhere along the way, Michigan has to find a few baskets that break that game control recipe. That could mean forcing a few turnovers that lead to transition buckets or crashing the offensive glass for a few extra scores. Infusing a bit of tempo or offensive rebounding into the game could help U-M tip the scales beyond just possession-for-possession deliberate basketball.
Hit open threes: Villanova isn?t afraid to send help against drives, dig against post-ups, and will give up its fair share of 3-point attempts. The Wildcats are ranked 321st in 3-point volume allowed while Michigan is ranked 301st in 3-point volume. Whether the Wolverines can take and make more threes than average will go a long way toward keeping pace with the Villanova offense.
Find an outlier scorer: Dickinson is going to get his shots and points, but Michigan also needs someone else to step up with a big game. In week one, it was Eli Brooks. Against Villanova?s switch every defense, it might end up being someone else. Maybe that means Frankie Collins or DeVante? Jones scoring some big isolation buckets or Caleb Houstan heating up from three, but someone needs a double-digit scoring performance to balance out the offensive load.
GO BLUE!!!
KEYS
Get Hunter Dickinson the ball: Villanova will make it very hard to get the ball to Hunter Dickinson, but Villanova will also have a tough time stopping Hunter Dickinson from scoring if he can catch the ball on the block. Dickinson was Michigan?s KenPom MVP in its first two NCAA Tournament games this season, and it?s hard to see a path to the Wolverines winning this game without Dickinson doing that again.
Villanova will front the post aggressively and dig with its guards but it generally isn?t a team that brings a hard double team. Jay Wright is also regarded as a coach who will stick to his core philosophies so it will be very interesting to see if a potential hot start for Dickinson changes anything in Villanova?s approach.
Hope that zone defense works: Michigan is going to have some real issues guarding Villanova in man-to-man. The Wildcats will put Moussa Diabate and Hunter Dickinson into difficult spots and have the size in the backcourt that can shoot over Michigan?s guards. They run a ton of ball screens and Michigan?s ball screen defense is ?below average? at best. Michigan has shown some bits of improvement, but ball screen-heavy teams have caused problems for this group all season ? especially with a pick-and-pop threat.
All of that is to say that Michigan is probably going to have to play its 2-3 matchup zone. I?m not completely convinced that Michigan?s zone is ?good? but it has worked at different points this season when nothing else would. It?s a bit like rolling the dice, but it is a gamble that Michigan is going to have to make. Despite being a perimeter-oriented team, Villanova scores in just the 22nd percentile against zone defense this season.
Create some extra possessions: Villanova is an elite game management team. They don?t get sped up, control the pace, don?t turn the ball over, and are okay on the defensive glass (187th on the year, but 3rd in the Big East). Somewhere along the way, Michigan has to find a few baskets that break that game control recipe. That could mean forcing a few turnovers that lead to transition buckets or crashing the offensive glass for a few extra scores. Infusing a bit of tempo or offensive rebounding into the game could help U-M tip the scales beyond just possession-for-possession deliberate basketball.
Hit open threes: Villanova isn?t afraid to send help against drives, dig against post-ups, and will give up its fair share of 3-point attempts. The Wildcats are ranked 321st in 3-point volume allowed while Michigan is ranked 301st in 3-point volume. Whether the Wolverines can take and make more threes than average will go a long way toward keeping pace with the Villanova offense.
Find an outlier scorer: Dickinson is going to get his shots and points, but Michigan also needs someone else to step up with a big game. In week one, it was Eli Brooks. Against Villanova?s switch every defense, it might end up being someone else. Maybe that means Frankie Collins or DeVante? Jones scoring some big isolation buckets or Caleb Houstan heating up from three, but someone needs a double-digit scoring performance to balance out the offensive load.
GO BLUE!!!
