Michigan HC Dusty May on scheduling tough games: 'I don't care what my Wiki record is'
ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines went to Greensboro, N.C. on Sunday and lost a tough 72-70 game to Wake Forest on a semi-neutral floor, giving Dusty May era its first taste of defeat. While there was no shortage of things to improve or clean up, and perhaps that’s the biggest silver lining to come out of an early-season setback against a prospective tournament squad.
“Everything’s a slight concern, at least,” May told the media during his Monday session. “So yes, we’ve got to fix it. But once again, we’re fortunate that we’re being exposed in these areas now because we have an opportunity to fix it.
“In basketball, we play so many games, and in football now, it’s not catastrophic to lose a game. But if we choose to respond the right way, then it will be worth it. If we continue down the same path, then we’ll learn the hard way.”
The showdown with Wake Forest was the first in a two-game series between this year and next. The Demon Deacons will make a return trip to Michigan next season with a neutral site game set for Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. But in the more immediate future, TCU comes to town on Friday for the first of a home-and-home series, and May will continue to schedule in this manner.
“They’re less common because… well, I’m not going to say why it’s less common, every situation is different,” May said. For us, I don’t really care what my wiki record is or whatever. I have no idea how many games we’ve won or we’ve lost. I know that we lost our last game.
“These games are good for the game of basketball. They’re good for our players. They’re good for television. They’re good for our universities. They bring attention and eyes. They’re good for recruiting. And so, why wouldn’t we play them? The NCAA Tournament has proven that if you play as competitive a schedule as possible, they’re going to give you the benefit of the doubt.
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“All those things add up to it being wise for us to play as many games as we can like this. And you know, at the end of the year I may be kicking myself, but right now, we think it’s going to help us improve.”
Sunday’s game was a perfect example of that, and a reason why the semi-neutral site games can build a muscle memory for down the road, as well. Michigan was happy with the look it got, even in defeat.
“It felt like an NCAA tournament game,” May said. “You’re in a big arena with a different backdrop and the lighting’s different and you’re playing a really good team. That was like a tournament game where you’re at a venue where the other team brought a lot more fans than you, so it just had a different feel, a different type of energy.
“It’s on national television, so all those things are great. Now next year, they’ll come to Detroit, and we’ll have a chance to play in a different environment, different type of game, so it just made sense on a lot of fronts, and we want to play as many of these power level teams as we can, because it’s a different game.”
Michigan is back in action Thursday against TCU at 6 p.m. from Crisler Center.
