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thewolverines24
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Michigan hosts Youngstown State at the Crisler Center this evening (6:30 p.m., BTN) for another tricky test against one of the more interesting mid-major programs in the country.
Jerrod Calhoun has reinvented his program with a combination of the transfer portal and investment in name, image, and likeness infrastructure. They're the defending regular season Horizon League champs, but the Penguins were forced to completely re-tool their roster this offseason. They bring in 11 new players, but they were able to do that in a way that wasn?t possible for a mid-major school a decade ago.
The Penguins lost their opener at Louisiana on Monday night, but their best basketball is likely ahead of them.
KEYS
Transition defense: Youngstown State will push the pace whenever it has the opportunity, and that transition attack has two advantages. It creates some easy points when the opponent fails to stop the ball in transition. More importantly, YSU will look to attack quickly in the halfcourt when teams are still unsettled, struggling to communicate, or crossmatched in suboptimal assignments. Both elements should provide an excellent early-season defensive test for Michigan.
Establish size: Youngstown State?s frontcourt features a unique combination of versatility, athleticism, and shooting, but at the Horizon League level. It is a mid-major frontcourt, and Michigan needs its high-major frontcourt to dominate inside. Olivier Nkamhoua and Tarris Reed Jr. are also versatile bigs; they are just bigger, stronger, and more athletic.
Zone offense: The first zone game of the season is enough to make you a bit queasy. You spend so much time in the preseason installing your base offense, but then you play a team that plays zone under the bright lights of a real game, and you are never sure how it?ll play out. The good news is that YSU already showed a ton of the zone, so it is unlikely to be a complete curve ball (like last year?s loss to Central Michigan). Michigan has shot it well in the preseason, but facing a zone defense tests your shooting confidence in new ways.
BOTTOM LINE
This is one of the most challenging games on the schedule to preview (and scout), but it is also a game you want to play in the first week of the season. Youngstown State is still figuring things out ? evident by shooting 9% from 3-point range and turning it over on 23% of its possessions in the opener ? but this is a roster that is talented enough to win a lot of games in the Horizon League this year. It will age well, as far as buy games go.
KenPom pegs the Wolverines as 83-66 favorites, giving the Penguins a 7% chance at the road upset.
GO BLUE!
Jerrod Calhoun has reinvented his program with a combination of the transfer portal and investment in name, image, and likeness infrastructure. They're the defending regular season Horizon League champs, but the Penguins were forced to completely re-tool their roster this offseason. They bring in 11 new players, but they were able to do that in a way that wasn?t possible for a mid-major school a decade ago.
The Penguins lost their opener at Louisiana on Monday night, but their best basketball is likely ahead of them.
KEYS
Transition defense: Youngstown State will push the pace whenever it has the opportunity, and that transition attack has two advantages. It creates some easy points when the opponent fails to stop the ball in transition. More importantly, YSU will look to attack quickly in the halfcourt when teams are still unsettled, struggling to communicate, or crossmatched in suboptimal assignments. Both elements should provide an excellent early-season defensive test for Michigan.
Establish size: Youngstown State?s frontcourt features a unique combination of versatility, athleticism, and shooting, but at the Horizon League level. It is a mid-major frontcourt, and Michigan needs its high-major frontcourt to dominate inside. Olivier Nkamhoua and Tarris Reed Jr. are also versatile bigs; they are just bigger, stronger, and more athletic.
Zone offense: The first zone game of the season is enough to make you a bit queasy. You spend so much time in the preseason installing your base offense, but then you play a team that plays zone under the bright lights of a real game, and you are never sure how it?ll play out. The good news is that YSU already showed a ton of the zone, so it is unlikely to be a complete curve ball (like last year?s loss to Central Michigan). Michigan has shot it well in the preseason, but facing a zone defense tests your shooting confidence in new ways.
BOTTOM LINE
This is one of the most challenging games on the schedule to preview (and scout), but it is also a game you want to play in the first week of the season. Youngstown State is still figuring things out ? evident by shooting 9% from 3-point range and turning it over on 23% of its possessions in the opener ? but this is a roster that is talented enough to win a lot of games in the Horizon League this year. It will age well, as far as buy games go.
KenPom pegs the Wolverines as 83-66 favorites, giving the Penguins a 7% chance at the road upset.
GO BLUE!
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