Michigan basketball ‘won’t panic’ over early turnover issues

Anyone expecting a near-perfect product from day one simply wasn’t realistic.

After all, there have been a lot of changes for Michigan basketball over the past eight months. Add in a new coaching staff led by Dusty May, six incoming transfers and three true freshmen and it creates a new program with different concepts and schemes than any player other than Vlad Goldin had seen.

The result? An up and down start that showed both the obvious benefits as well as the early problems. On Friday, in front of a bustling, sold-out Crisler Center, UM showcased both in a 76-64 victory over Jamie Dixon and a TCU program that has made three straight NCAA tournament appearances.

“It was active,” said Nimari Burnett, one of the few returning players, comparing the atmosphere to what he experienced last year. “Loud, engaged, the fans were having fun watching us put in a good effort. … It’s great to see, I can’t wait for even more people to come out as the season progresses.”

Michigan mixed an efficient offense that shot 50 percent from the floor (26 for 52) and 37.5 percent from long range (9 for 24), with a stifling defense that held TCU to 34.4 percent from total shots (22 for -64) and a paltry 26.3% from 3 (5 for 19).

The only problem – and it was glaring – was that Michigan committed a season-worst 21 turnovers. Of those, 16 came in the first half, and of those, 12 came in the first 15 minutes. Still, even without protecting the ball, Michigan went into the locker room with a lead of three, and it was able to clean things up from there.

UM made less than a third of those errors after the break and while it was frustrating at times for Michigan’s new boss, it also wasn’t the first time he’d seen something like that.

“From day one, we try to play at a really fast pace,” May said. “In our first two years (at FAU), we were very poor at turning the basketball over and we were basically worst to first with the same players.

“It’s pretty much the same thing: We’re encouraging them to play a lot faster than they ever have. Decisions are quicker, they’re seeing bigger bodies…more length, more speed. We’re so I’m not going to panic, I’m just going to tighten up a little bit.”

Understandable, for now

On their surface, the twists almost all looked different.

The game started with a turnover when a half-court lob by Burnett failed to reach Goldin (who was limited to just eight points and eight rebounds).

At the end of the half, UM gave away the ball when Will Tschetter simply lost his grip while trying to dribble behind the back. There were also mid-court giveaways, trips and 3-second calls sprinkled throughout.

Still, May said he feels like he’s seen many of the same mistakes. LJ Cason had his first “freshman game”, as he committed two early turnovers when driving in the lane and simply lost a handle; his only stats in the game were four turnovers.

Rubin Jones also lost control of the ball in a similar fashion later, while Goldin and Wolf also lost the ball several times.

“There are certain themes,” May said. “Over-penetration is something we need to correct immediately because we’re putting ourselves in danger. It just comes with more repetitions, decision-making and getting used to the game, but we’re confident we’ll get back to it soon. the end of the year and we will have a significant improvement compared to our current situation.

As Tre Donaldson, who finished with 14 points (all in the second half), explained, turnovers are going to happen: “Part of the game,” the point guard noted.

No one expects UM to not give it up.

When Wolf — who had 14 points and 14 rebounds with two shifts and four turnovers — added to his team-high 15 in part because he slipped, no one will blame him.

However, passes thrown a little too far, like Roddy Gayle Jr.’s attempt to Will Tschetter, can be corrected with just a little repetition.

“Sometimes we try to hit the home run,” Donaldson said. “Sometimes we just have to simplify things. We can’t control if we slip or if a guy just makes a good defensive play, that’s part of the game. … You just have to take pride in taking care of the ball.”

It’s more like that

UM certainly seemed to show that pride after the break.

The Wolverines committed just five turnovers in the final 20 minutes, and just one in the final 10.

“Probably just self-awareness,” May said. “I’m going to take all the blame right from the start, maybe we’ll clean up some things from the game plan, maybe have a little more condensed offensive attack.”

With four days to prepare, May said, UM spent so much time on its own plans and strategies that the coach may have slightly underimpressed what TCU can do defensively.

This showed up early and often, but of course much of this is intentional for the month of May.

No, not the turnovers or Sunday’s loss to Wake Forest, but the early bumps? Yeah. UM has already seen several styles of play, learning from each.

“That’s the beautiful thing about our season,” May said. “Seeing all these different defenses and when we play Michigan State or Wisconsin or whatever, we’ll be able to refer to what type of defense TCU played or how Wake Forest was on the glass, stuff like that. So as long as we are aware of learning and integrating these things into long term development, all of these games will help us pay dividends and help us win these games later when they really matter.

“They really matter now, but when they really really matter.”