Michigan forward Olivier Nkamhoua talks 'lethal' ball screen with Dug McDaniel, playing alongside Tarris Reed Jr.
This offseason, Michigan Wolverines basketball added former Tennessee forward Olivier Nkamhoua, the second-best power forward in the transfer portal per On3. Nkamhoua is an athletic big man who has had immense success as a post-up player. He also passes well for his position, with a 17.6-percent assist rate last season, ranking third on the Volunteers.
Nkamhoua believes his ability in the ball-screen game will be easily translatable to Michigan. Being able to play in pick-and-roll situations is essential to the Wolverines’ offense (they led the Big Ten with 26.3 ball-screen plays per game last season, per Synergy).
Sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel was responsible for 401 of those ball-screen possessions, producing 0.975 points per possession. Nkamhoua is confident he and McDaniel will be a formidable tandem.
“Honestly, I’m a very adaptable player, and I think that’s great,” Nkamhoua said on the ‘Defend The Block’ podcast with Brian
Boesch . “But watching this team and watching the pieces, I think me and Dug are going to be lethal in the ball screen, because we can create in any situation.
“If he wants to get to the cup, I can stay back. If we both are getting to the cup, we have the pick-and-roll lob on the low passes, we have that short roll game. We can even run slips and get him down hill really easily.”
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Nkamhoua — who averaged 10.8 points and 5 rebounds per game while shooting 55.2 percent on twos and 33.3 percent on threes last season — will be paired in the Michigan front court with sophomore Tarris Reed Jr., who’s projected to man the center spot. With Nkamhoua’s passing prowess and feel for the game, the he thinks the duo will thrive.
“Playing with a big like T-Reed, I can space the floor and give him room to operate down low, but then at the same time because of his size, speed and athleticism, if I catch it on the block and I go to work and his guy goes to help out, I can drop it off and I know that’s an easy dunk,” Nkamhoua explained.
“I know we can play off of each other really well. I’ll be able to feed him on the block, and that’ll turn into vice versa, where he’ll learn how to feed me on the block. He’s still young, he can learn those things, and I see it in his game.”
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The power forward spot was Michigan’s weakest position last season. But with the addition of Nkamhoua and Seton Hall forward Tray Jackson, plus returning starter Terrance Williams II and others, there are a lot of options for the wing/forward spots.
“With guys like even Terrance Williams, I feel like there’s a lot of his game that I can help grow,” Nkamhoua said of the Michigan senior. “We can go at each other in practice, I can help him grow his confidence, and I think me and him will help on the court together on both of those wings.
“Tray coming in as a transfer is going to be able to mesh well with me as well. We’re both agile, big wings, but I can be the more physical version and he can be the more agile moving version.”
The new-look Michigan team began summer practices in late June. The group is full of hungry players who are beginning to mesh.
“I just feel like everybody on this team right now is fitting really well together, and as we get to know each other and be around each other more, we can all help each other grow and get better,” Nkamhoua said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to.
“I’m trying to have the best year of my life, and I’m trying to see everybody on this team have that same type of year.”
