Wolverine TV: Phil Martelli, Will Tschetter talk Michigan defensive struggles, Indiana, more
Michigan Wolverines basketball associate and interim head coach Phil Martelli and redshirt sophomore forward Will Tschetter met with the media Monday morning ahead of Tuesday night’s matchup with Indiana. Watch video of Martelli in the player at the top of the screen and Tschetter in the embed below.
Earlier in the season, Martelli said that Michigan was going to have to be a balanced scoring team. That has held true in multiple games. But in others, sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel has been able to take over, including with 33 points with 7 made three-pointers and a Kenpom MVP honor in an overtime loss to Oregon Saturday (86-83).
Martelli was asked how valuable it is to have someone who can carry Michigan from a scoring perspective.
“It’s a catch 22 to me,” Martelli responded. “His performance was spectacular, for sure. But as you go back and watch, was it that we weren’t able to create offense elsewhere? You’re not getting that every single night, but it was spectacular, particularly on the road. It was big buckets. And at the end of the day, I scratched my head — I didn’t know that he had taken 21 shots.
“Our strength isn’t that … for right now, the seven guys that are getting in can all score the ball. So, we have to learn offense that equals that kind of balance and not just lean on spectacular play.
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“We are not game planning — and I don’t mean this in a smart ass way — but we are not game planning for him to get 30 against Indiana, because one thing Indiana can really, really, really do is they really guard the ball. It’s a terrific defense that they have. And now, he puts himself at the top of everybody’s scouting report, so now does he become a distributor, and when he distributes, who confidently picks up that ability to score the ball?”
Michigan has allowed over 1.1 points per possession in its last three games and ranks 125th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per Kenpom. Martelli knows that side of the floor has to improve.
“We have foundations in this program,” Martelli said. “One of them is trust. And our close-outs are a little bit indicative that I’m just not sure — I’m just not sure that I can get there, I’m just not sure that somebody has my back. And I think in players’ minds sometimes, well, the jumper, there’s a chance he can miss, but the layup or the dunk, that’s really going to expose me.
“The team that we use is ‘daily vitamins.’ We have to keep the daily vitamins going every single day. It starts with keeping the ball in front of us and stop getting cracks in our defense — on top of our transition defense, which has gotten better. But still, we need stops to create more offense.”
