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Dusty May: ‘We have a much higher ceiling than we’ve played’

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•about 10 hours•

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Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May and his team are 8-2 in conference play. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May and his team are 8-2 in conference play. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Michigan gutted out an ugly, 66-63 win at Rutgers despite getting beaten in the hustle areas and not protecting the ball well (again). Head coach Dusty May was happy with the win, of course, but also made it clear he has higher expectations of his team. 

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That’s five games in a row now in which the Wolverines didn’t play their best basketball. Some might say teams have “figured Michigan out,” but May isn’t buying it.

“These road games are tough to [leave] feeling good about yourself. We didn’t play anywhere near our best,” May said. “Rutgers didn’t either, but we found a way on the road. 

“I’m just being honest … we all put a lot of time and effort into our craft. We want to perform well; we want to play well. One of the most difficult things is just trying to get guys to give it all to their teammates when it’s not going well for them, just know it’s going to come around if you continue to work. Honor the process.”

Those teams that continue to enjoy coming to the gym and find a way to have joy in it every day — “they enjoy their teammates’ company, enjoy their teammates’ success” — are usually the teams that take off, May noted. This is the second time in two games he’s mentioned keeping his team together, an indication that maybe they still have some work to do in that area. 

At the same time, he knows what he saw in the first half of the year. When they’re at their best, they’re extremely hard to beat. 

“We’re still optimistic we’ve got a big, big jump to make as a group,” May insisted. “We’ve been up and down all year … I don’t want to say been up and down because we’ve been fairly consistent, had some bumps in the road, but we still think we have a much higher ceiling than we’ve played. I don’t think that’s just me having a lot of confidence in the guys in our locker room. 

“The first 10 wins I think we won all of them with a sizable point differential. Now, the last couple have been one- or two-possession games. We’re going into tournament formats, very meaningful games in February and March, and we’ll have to be able to grind some out. You have to be able to win some with scoring, some with defense.”

And some by winning the effort areas when those aren’t working, which is still a work in progress. Rutgers was “extremely aggressive” and quicker to the rebounds and loose balls, May said, adding it was “maybe the biggest disappointment of the game” along with turnovers. May seemed resigned about the latter in his postgame presser, noting they can’t spend any more time on it than they have. 

At the same time, he knows they can be better rebounders and limit opponents’ possessions — the Scarlet Knights had 21 more shots than Michigan yesterday — and that they have it in them. 

“The last five minutes down the stretch, winning time, Danny Wolf went and got some big rebounds,” May said. “We communicated switches well, forced relatively tough shots for the most part …

“We have a lot of guys who can play really good basketball the next couple months. I’m just excited to see these guys continue to grow. They have great attitudes, come to work every day. We’ve just got to find a way to continue to improve this month.”

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