John Beilein: Michigan PG Tre Donaldson should be more ball dominant, 'run this team'

The two Michigan Wolverines basketball big men — junior Danny Wolf and graduate Vladislav Goldin — have garnered a lot of the headlines this season, leading their team to a 15-5 start. The duo is at the top of scouting reports now, though, with opponents doing whatever they can to stop the 4-5 ball screen and prevent them from getting into the paint.

Michigan is looking for counters when opponents (at least try to) take away Wolf (12 points per game) and Goldin (15.7), who are averaging a combined 27.7 points per game. Junior guard Tre Donaldson has been one of the go-to players, but he’s had an up-and-down season.

No two-game stretch is a better example of the highs and lows than his last two appearances. Donaldson turned the ball over 6 times compared to 1 assist in a 91-64 loss at Purdue Friday night. But on Monday back in Ann Arbor, Donaldson dropped 21 and dished 7 assists with no turnovers. He scored or assisted on Michigan’s final nine points on a 9-0 run to beat Penn State 76-72.

Former Michigan head coach John Beilein, now a Big Ten Network analyst, believes Donaldson needs to run the team and be more of a focal point.

“He did not have a good game at Purdue, and that’s a unique place to go in and try to win,” Beilein said on ‘The HUGE Show’ with host Bill Simonson. “They were down 19-2, and he’s the point guard. He can’t let that happen. So he really responded in this game by making some tough plays — either assists or that big jumper at the end.”

Michigan trailed by five points with less than two minutes left, before Donaldson took over and led the team to victory.

“They were down three and didn’t have the ball until they made that great comeback,” Beilein said. “That was a great win for them — just get it, because the schedule doesn’t get any easier for them now.”

Michigan has Rutgers Saturday in Piscataway, but the schedule gets much as February ramps up.

At 7-foot-0, Wolf is a unique player. He averages 9.8 rebounds per game, and many times he brings the ball up the floor, playing like a point forward. He has a 23.6-percent assist rate but has struggled with turnovers, averaging 3.7 per game.

Beilein is a believer that guard play can carry a team in crucial moments, including on the road — and turning to Donaldson more could be an answer.

“I think what they have to be careful of is having Danny just handle the ball too much,” the former Michigan coach said. “Tre Donaldson is too good, and there have gotta be spots where Danny brings the ball up the floor and gets off the ball and comes back and gets it, just like you do with a great point guard. But him dominating the ball a little bit too much [means] one of the better point guards in the Big Ten is standing in the corner.

“But he’s gotta be used because he’s such a good passer, Danny Wolf, and Goldin is such a good rim threat, and he can throw it over people or shoot over people on switches. But right now, he’s probably gotta give it up more and let Tre run this team, and then pick his spots.”

Michigan won its first three Big Ten road games — at Wisconsin, USC and UCLA — but has lost its last two (Minnesota and Purdue). The Wolverines have protected home court but need to steal some games on the road to compete for the Big Ten championship.

“It’s not easy, and that’s guard play,” Beilein said of playing in hostile environments. “I don’t care how good you are inside — the guard’s gotta handle it. You’re bringing the ball up the court at some of these places … and they gotta go to Nebraska, they gotta go to Michigan State.

“You gotta just be ready for it, maybe even get a couple wins, but it is hard. You just can’t lose at home, because it’s so hard to get a road win.”

Michigan has won all 10 of its home games in its first season with head coach Dusty May at the helm. The Wolverines have had five-straight sell-outs, and the noise was deafening at the end of the Penn State game. That comes on the heels of some quiet environments last season, with U-M finishing with an 8-24 record.

“When it drops off, it drops off hard,” Beilein said. “When I came there in 2007, our first game, there were 4,000 people at the game. I took my son out of his senior year of high school, Andy, brought him to Ann Arbor, and he’s sitting there going, ‘Why did we come here? There’s nobody that even likes basketball.’ So it takes a while to rebuild it. He’s rebuilt it quick. It took me three or four years. This has been amazing, so happy for him.

“But now, they’re getting into February, they got a couple Michigan State games and Illinois and Purdue again. They’re in for it, and let’s see where it goes. Whatever it is, prepare them for the tournament — for the Big Ten Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament.”