Michigan Basketball: Evaluating Franz Wagner in the Battle 4 Atlantis

Championship Game vs. #8 Gonzaga – 25 MINS, 10 PTS, 4 REBS, 2 STLS

This seemed to be the game where Wagner was able to find a way to put everything that he had learned from the previous two games, and put up a rather impressive 25 minutes of play.

On the other hand, there were also a play in particular that showed that Wagner is still getting used to playing with his new teammates, in which he elected to take the ball to the basket for a layup, rather than throwing an alley-oop to Isaiah Livers:

Clearly, once Wagner gets accustomed to playing with the starting five and the rest of his teammates, he will be able to showcase his underrated abilities as a passer, something that we have seen glimpses of, due to his high basketball IQ.

The freshman ended the night with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals while shooting 50% from the field. The attention of the first two games may have been Wagner’s capabilities as a catch-and-shooter, Wagner really impressed with his ability as a slasher, being able to take the ball to the basket with ease, as seen on this play:

Diagnosis: With so many players on Michigan’s roster playing tremendous from tip-off to the final buzzer, Wagner did not have to force anything against the Bulldogs. Instead, Wagner stayed patient, and continued his strong defensive play, while also maintaining very efficient offensively.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, Michigan basketball was still able to pull away with the ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ title, despite Wagner still shrugging some of the rust that he had.

There were certainly a lot of flashes of Franz’s abilities, and with more game-action and reps in practice, the sky is the limit for Wagner, and certainly has the potential to lead this program, much like his older brother did during his days wearing the Maize and Blue.