College game slowing down for Michigan basketball freshman Frankie Collins
Michigan basketball has started to peel back the layers of freshman point guard Frankie Collins, who appears poised to be a key player throughout the season.
With DeVante’ Jones struggling to start the year, Collins has been looked at to give Michigan good minutes on the court. That can be a lot for a true freshman that is still raw and learning. However, more minutes means more experience.
RELATED: Wolverine TV: Frankie Collins, Phil Martelli preview game vs. San Diego State
“The more I get out there, the more it slows down,” Collins told the media on Friday morning.
He has been putting in the work with the Michigan coaching staff and “point guard whisperer” Howard Eisley. The Wolverines want him to stay patient and protect the basketball.
“We’ve studied a lot of film,” Collins said. “We talk a lot. The main thing I’ve focused on is keeping my dribble alive as I go in the paint. Being patient and being the point guard and the coach on the floor.”
He plays an explosive game and is one of the best pure athletes on the Michigan roster, but that much energy can be hard to bottle in a freshman. Collins does not see it that way.
“It’s not a hard thing to do,” Collins said. “You just have to be patient coming from high school to college. It’s just a different level of patience.”
Michigan basketball associate head coach Phil Martelli is seeing strides from the freshman point guard. Collins has played double-digit minutes in each of the last three games and the experience is starting to pile up. It has not looked like too much to handle for him.
“These last couple of games, I think you’re exactly right,” Martelli said. “Like it’s not too big [for him]. He does carry himself in a way, even in the way he walks into practice, the way he goes through practice.
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“I think that the insistence with him is last year when people saw him play on those national settings in the high school games, I think one of the things that came out was that he was relentless on defense. We need that, and he has been told that. Not criticizing, but let’s take this up to another level. Let’s not be safe. Let’s get up there, and let’s put pressure on their ball as much as they’re putting pressure on our ball.
“His growth to me — yes, he has to become a better shooter, that will be reps and a little alteration in his form, and we want to make sure that he becomes an elite foul shooter and that he becomes, in the affectionate term, a pitbull on defense. And last year at this time, Mike Smith wasn’t a pitbull. And then Juwan Howard stayed on him, every minute of every day of every practice and of every game, and it changed and that’s the same that we will expect from Frankie.”
Collins and the rest of his teammates are working to self-correct, but they are not hitting the panic button on a 4-3 start. The expectations are high, but nobody is feeling the heat just yet.
“I don’t think it’s pressure,” Collins said. “We just have to adjust a little and get the hang of things. It’s a long season so we have time. Right now, we’re figuring things out, watching film, talking to each other, being a team and staying together. That’s all that matters.”
Michigan basketball’s next test comes in the form of a visit from San Diego State on Saturday afternoon at Crisler Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
