Wolverine TV podcast: Talking Michigan's tournament résumé, previewing two-game road stretch
On this episode of the podcast, TheWolverine.com’s Clayton Sayfie and On3 hoops analyst and former Michigan basketball player Ant Wright preview the Wolverines’ upcoming two road games at Iowa Thursday and at Wisconsin Sunday afternoon, discuss the team’s resume and NCAA Tournament chances and more.
Facing Iowa’s high-octane offense will be a tough challenge for the Maize and Blue, as we discuss on the episode. The Hawkeyes tout sophomore forward Keegan Murray, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at over 23 points per game, and play at the second-fastest tempo in the Big Ten and are the fourth-most efficient team in the country on offense, per Kenpom.com. The Iowa defense isn’t impressive whatsoever, but they do play zone on nearly 20 percent of possessions, so Michigan must be ready to face a variety of looks.
Sunday’s matchup will be similar in that Wisconsin has its own Big Ten Player of the Year (and national player of the year) candidate in sophomore guard Johnny Davis. The Badgers are much more balanced, with their defense grading out higher than their offense. Both teams are clean offensively, ranking No. 1 and No. 2 in fewest turnovers, so Michigan will be tasked with matching that style of play and making the most of every possession.
The Maize and Blue then have a four-game home stand that starts with next Wednesday’s showdown with Rutgers, which has won four straight contests against top-17 teams, including a victory over Illinois Wednesday evening. Many believe Michigan needs to win four more regular-season games, plus maybe one in the Big Ten Tournament, to likely make it in the NCAA Tournament field. Stealing one of the next two and then protecting home court before the regular-season finale at Ohio State is crucial. ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi doesn’t have Michigan in his projected bracket, meaning there is plenty of work to do in the last seven contests before the conference tournament in Indianapolis.
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Sayfie and Wright break all of that down and go in depth on Michigan basketball in the podcast, which you can watch or listen to below.
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