Michigan coach Dusty May updates Danny Wolf health status, discusses what makes a good road team
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines basketball junior forward/center Danny Wolf was limping toward the end and after U-M’s 91-75 victory over Washington Sunday at Crisler Center. However, head coach Dusty May isn’t worried about his status heading into Thursday’s game against Minnesota.
“As of now, just day by day,” May said of Wolf. “I think he came back in and squeezed off a three, so he seemed fine a couple minutes later.”
The 7-foot-0, 250-pound Wolf is a Yale transfer who’s one of the Wolverines’ most important pieces. He’s averaging 12.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, shooting 67.4 percent from inside the arc and 34.8 percent from beyond it.
Michigan is 5-0 in Big Ten play, standing tied atop the conference standings with in-state foe Michigan State. Besides those two teams and Purdue at 5-1, every other Big Ten program has multiple losses in league play. It’s early, but the Wolverines are one of the top contenders for the title. But while it’s a goal of the team to win it, May and Co. aren’t placing much emphasis on it right now, taking a game-by-game approach instead.
“Now, no. Absolutely not,” May said when asked how much the team discusses winning the big ten. “It’s, ‘How do we find a way to play as well as we can, one possession at a time, against Minnesota?’
“Before the season, we liked our team. I’m not someone that just says I think we can do this if I don’t believe it. Now, I do air on the side of appreciating our players and our staff, and believing in them. So there might be a little bit of, I guess, just bias, because the guys are on your team.
“But yeah, we felt like we had a group that could compete with anyone in the country. Now, can we beat everyone on any night? We have no idea. We haven’t proven that yet. But we did like our pieces. We felt like we were unique. We felt like we could play a different style that teams didn’t see every night, which makes it difficult to prepare. As you guys know, once you get into Big Ten season, there’s not a lot of preparation you can do.”
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Michigan is 3-0 in true road games this season, with victories over Wisconsin, USC and UCLA. According to T-Rank, the Wolverines are the fifth-most efficient road team in the nation, and May even told his team in his postgame speech Sunday that they’re performing better in other teams’ gyms.
May explained what makes a good road team, and why Michigan has those ingredients.
“Defending and rebounding, first and foremost,” May noted. “And then making sure we’re getting great looks. We’ve started off, I think, the last two road games shooting the ball well. I think Wisconsin — I can’t remember the start of Wisconsin, it seems like a year ago … and then we’ve shot the ball well from three, they’ve adjusted and we’ve been able to take advantage of the rim and the paint.
“Playing sound basketball. Obviously, we don’t have the crowd to energize us at times, but I think maturity of our group is something else that stands out. We have a group that’s been pretty steady every single game, of playing a certain way.”
On the road, Michigan is shooting 59.6 percent on twos and 40.3 percent on threes. Opponents, meanwhile, have made only 21.5 percent of their three-point looks.
The Wolverines and Minnesota will tip off at 7 p.m. ET Thursday night in Minneapolis. Michigan is a 12-point favorite, according to Kenpom.
