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Dusty May takes unique approach in Michigan film session: 'We're all in there looking for a better way'

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfieabout 15 hours

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Will Tschetter Danny Wolf
Michigan Wolverines basketball forwards Will Tschetter and Danny Wolf had big games against Arkansas. (Photo by Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images)

Michigan Wolverines basketball gathered in the team room at the William Davidson Player Development Center last week to watch the film from an 89-87 loss to Arkansas.

Last Tuesday, the Maize and Blue got up 15, fell behind by 18 and came back to make it a one-point game late, but a shot to tie at the buzzer by junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. fell short. Michigan left Madison Square Garden feeling like it let one slip away, and gone was the seven-game win streak that they walked into the Jimmy V Classic with.

It’s not that Arkansas isn’t a good team with loads of talent. The disappointment stems from self-inflicted wounds the Wolverines continue to commit. Michigan turned the ball over 17 times and allowed 12 offensive rebounds. Arkansas shot 8 percent worse than Michigan from the field but took 6 more field goals, and that was just about the difference.

Head coach Dusty May showed his team every single turnover and Arkansas offensive rebound in an attempt to clean up the mistakes before Wednesday’s game against undefeated Oklahoma.

“We’re big at, ‘Let’s fix this thing.’ And all the other details, let’s show them in small groups — the point guards together, maybe two of the point guards together watch each other’s clips,” the head coach said on the ‘Inside Michigan Basketball’ radio show. “But the things our team needs to do as a whole, we watch those together.

“But no, that was the most extensive. We’ve shown how maybe we’ve been throwing one-handed passes, so ‘let’s fix this.’ We don’t think the brain can think about five or six things. One or two things at a time. We show ‘em one or two things.”

This was a special case, though, and shows just how much of a sense of urgency the staff has to make corrections.

“It was alarming,” May admitted. “We went through the rebounding, and there were four or five of them, rebounds that came directly to us, and maybe it was two guys on the same team knocked it out of each other’s hand, and then Arkansas made us pay with a three. Those are the ones you don’t want to harp on too much, other than we just gotta have a lot more determination to come up with those basketballs.

“And then there were a handful where we didn’t play with enough physicality and we missed block outs. Even when we made the contact, it wasn’t aggressive enough.

“So then the turnovers, the same thing. You just see so many different ways. There were some that should be simple to fix, and then there are others that are just the cost of doing business. If you slip, if you step on the line with your heel occasionally, we live with those things.”

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Michigan ranks 333rd nationally in turnover rate, giving the ball away on 21.4 percent of possessions. On the rebounding front, opponents are grabbing 32.6 percent of their own missed shots, a rate that checks in 278th in the country.

“Our film room, we talk about it a lot, it’s not a place to protect our egos, to drop our heads,” May continued. “It’s about finding solutions, and we’re all in there looking for a better way to do things.

“As you’ll get to know our staff, if we don’t do something well and 15 guys aren’t doing it well, then it’s not on them; it’s on us. Now, 14 of them are doing it well and one’s not, he probably needs to pick up the pace a little bit.”

That’s why, it seems, it’s all hands on deck in Michigan’s attempt to improve its weaknesses.

It’s fair to point out how many strengths the Wolverines have, though. They’re 8-2 with both losses coming by two points. They rank 39th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency and 15th on defense, and they’re in the top 10 in opponent assist rate. Michigan has three more non-conference games left: Oklahoma in Charlotte and home games against Purdue Fort Wayne (Dec. 22) and Western Kentucky (Dec. 29).

May has been pleased with how the non-conference slate has gone for Michigan.

“It’s given us a lot of what we needed: different styles of play, different types of team — old teams, young teams,” he stated. “I like where we are. I like the spirit of our team. I feel like we’re getting better. I think our guys have great self awareness to what we all need to do together to improve. 

“With that being said, obviously losing these two games that we were in position to win are tough, but we also won some that we were in position to lose at the end of the game. We’ve gotta continue to grow in the details and the very, very smallest parts of the game in order to take the next step. And on the nights the shots aren’t going in, you still find a way to win.”

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