Michigan basketball offense takes a step forward with Big Ten play on tap

Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard continues to experiment with his lineups. He’ll likely have to do more tweaking in the early part of the season. The offense has looked better much of the time with freshman point guard Frankie Collins on the floor instead of veteran transfer DeVante’ Jones, and freshman Moussa Diabate won’t play Tuesday at Nebraska. 

Diabate has been starting in place of senior Brandon Johns. He left early in Saturday’s 72-58 win over San Diego State due to illness and won’t play tonight.

“A lot of those things you can’t control. We’ve been dealing with a lot,” Howard said, noting it wasn’t limited to his team but the entire word dealing with a pandemic.

Though Diabate is not suffering from COVID-19, he’s in healing mode.

“I just pray that he gets healthy,” Howard said. “I’m not concerned about how fast he gets back on the floor to play. I know he’s concerned because he’s such a fierce competitor. 

“I just want Moussa, health-wise, whenever he’s able to return, he returns at 110 percent healthy. There’s no rush to get him back, but I will say this — we truly miss him and, obviously, we need him.”

The Michigan offense ran better than it has in some time, though, in the win over the Aztecs. The spacing was better, and the actions were outstanding. 

It helps a lot, of course, when you have a point guard (Collins) able to get two feet in the lane and when shooters are making their shots. Michigan freshman Caleb Houstan enjoyed his best shooting game of the year in making three triples. Sophomore big man Hunter Dickinson even stepped out for three from the top of the key, which seems to be a sweet spot for him. 

“Hunter made some really good shots. He’s been working on it all offseason … summertime He’s also worked on it with me during the season. The key, like I always tell Hunter, is to stay in it. No need to fade back, no need to walk back when you shoot it. He’s been working on just dialing into that muscle memory. He got open looks, and he took what the defense gave him.

“Caleb … some would consider him a shooter. That’s not exactly what makes a complete player. That’s what we’re developing. Caleb being the best version of himself but, at the same time, to develop the all-around game as far as playing elite-level basketball. On the offensive end, it entails times where we use him in ball screens. At times, you’re going to be using him in dribble handoffs … there are sets going to be run for him with catch-and-shoot. There are times in transition where he will be able to read the defense and make a play for himself or for one of his teammates.”

But the pace was what was most inspiring, he said. There was much better movement, and the ball didn’t stick. Houstan and Collins in particular were more aggressive in looking to attack, joining Michigan fifth-year senior Eli Brooks, and others were open when they did. 

They’d put a lot of time into it before the San Diego State game, Howard said, and it was ‘inspiring’ for the coach to watch. 

“Guys really got out and were dialed into what makes us special,” he said, noting he knew there could be some growing paints. “It takes a lot of time to develop a lot of our read and react type of situations that we look for within the pace of our transition as well as, overall, within our offensive half-court sets. 

“I don’t expect for our guys to pick it up right away, especially when you talk about guys coming from different systems. Whether it’s from a different program on a collegiate level or from high school level, it takes time to develop it. With that, we all want instant results right away. As we continue to keep building it and growing, I’ve always said that we will always get better and better game-by-game and day-by-day in practice.”

They looked better Saturday. They’ll need to be even better starting Big Ten play Tuesday night at Nebraska.