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WATCH: Michigan assistant Kyle Church, Danny Wolf, Vladislav Goldin, Nimari Burnett preview Michigan State

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•02/19/25•

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Kyle Church
Michigan Wolverines basketball assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church worked under Dusty May at Florida Atlantic. (Photo by Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines basketball assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church, graduate center Vladislav Goldin, junior forward/center Danny Wolf and graduate guard Nimari Burnett met with the media Wednesday afternoon ahead of their team’s game against Michigan State.

Watch videos of their sessions with the media below.

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Assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church

Graduate center Vladislav Goldin

Junior forward/center Danny Wolf

Graduate guard Nimari Burnett

Michigan State runs in transition — after makes and misses — and a key for the Wolverines will be to limit their opportunities to half court possessions as much as possible.

“Absolutely,” Church said. “It jumps off the page at you. They’re elite in transition, as they are every year for the last however long [head] Coach [Tom] Izzo has been there.

“They just run so fast — all five of them. Obviously, their point guard catches the ball on the run. The wings are sprinting the wings, and the first big down puts pressure on the rim. It’s extremely difficult to guard. They’re as disciplined as any team I’ve ever seen at making it every single possession, trying to get up the floor as fast as possible.

“We definitely have our hands full.”

Church was asked about the difference between seeing it on film and living it when Michigan and Michigan State to face off. There will be a difference, and the Wolverines have to adjust on Friday night.

“Our guys, a lot of them have played in this league and have played against Michigan State. But everybody I’ve talked to said, ‘You’re gonna be blown away at how fast they run. You just can’t replicate it. So obviously, just trying to explain. We showed them clips last night, they’re gonna see more today, more tomorrow, more on game day. Just try to prepare ourselves mentally for what we’re up against, and then those first four minutes, I think, will be eye opening, but hopefully we can settle in quickly.”

Michigan likes to run itself, so it will still look to play fast as well, sticking to its own game.

“We want to get up and down the floor, too,” Church pointed out. “We have a bunch of good ball handlers, a bunch of good athletes in transition. So we’re great playing at that pace. Obviously, they are as well.

“I think we’ve done a really nice job showing that we can adjust to the game, where if it gets bogged down in the half court, we have obviously two seven-foot options that are tremendous and some guards that can make plays. But also, in the open floor we’re really dangerous, as well.

“The biggest thing is just taking what the game gives us, and just making sure we get them in the half court.”

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