One Michigan unsung hero already making tons of 'invisible plays'
The Michigan Wolverines are close to their debut season under head coach Dusty May who should feature a roster with contributions coming from several different places.
One of the most understated roles could come from graduate transfer guard Rubin Jones, who scored only five points in the team’s two exhibition games last week. Despite the offensive numbers, the things he does that do not show up in the box score might be most valuable to Michigan.
“The new term in basketball is invisible plays,” head coach Dusty May said this week. “They used to be winning plays, they used to be intangibles, whatever you want to call it. Ruben makes a lot of invisible plays that may not be assists, but those deflections in the gap turn into a layup for Will Tschetter. Taking the ball out quickly after a made basket, the response after a make could be something where you don’t get a stat for it.
“But when you watch the film, and usually the championship level teams I’ve been a part of, there’s usually a couple guys immediately after the game, thinking, man, he just played okay. Then you go back and watch the film, and you say, wow, he made so many invisible plays. He made the quick swing instead of trying to beat his man every time. Or he crashed a glass and took on two guys, and therefore someone else got the tip in. Just those things that the casual fan or in the flow of the game, you may not notice every time, but when you watch the film, Ruben makes a lot of those plays.”
Jones was among the first targeted by May as he shaped Michigan in his image after he spent four years with the Mean Green. He’s coming off a career season, averaging 12.1 points per game with 3.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 39.6% from the floor and 41.6% in 2023-24. He is a career 36.6% three-point shooter but shot 40.6% during his freshman year.
“Coach Drew [Williamson] hit me up and then immediately after that Coach May came into the picture,” Jones said of his portal recruitment this summer. “[A lot of schools were calling], but it’s a difference when a head coach is actually calling you every day, telling you, ‘I want you here.’ That’s what really made the difference. I already knew he was a good person from playing against him so much. And I never really saw him lose his cool on the sideline.
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“I’m really observant. I really pay attention to people and never really saw him lose his cool. My coach at North Texas was really close with Coach May and he always put in good words before I even thought about hitting the portal. So I already knew what he was kind of about, but it’s just amazing just having it right in front of you.”
Jones projects to be one of Michigan’s defensive tone-setters, which should offset any other concerns about what he could bring offensively.
“Since I was young, I always had a knack for defending,” Jones said. “I always loved defending. I actually grew up playing against my big brother every single day, and he was beating me every single day.”
“So it started; that’s how I basically got into basketball, trying to figure out a way to stop my big brother from scoring on me. So he would be like… ‘You step back, you stay back, I’m going to shoot it. If you come up, I’m going to go right by you.’ So I had to kind of figure out a balance of, ‘How can I beat him?’”
