3 Predictions for Michigan Basketball against Ball State

No significant rotation changes

After his 19-point performance against Oakland, many Michigan basketball fans are calling for Hunter Dickinson to get the start at center and there’s really no debate that he deserves it.

So far, in 21.5 minutes per game, Dickinson is scoring 15 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out 2.5 assists. He’s also shooting 67 percent from the field and 71 percent from the line.

If you want to take it even further, Dickinson is also tied for the lead in win shares with Isaiah Livers and in terms of win shares per 40 minutes and player efficiency rating, Dickinson is far and away the top guy on Michigan’s roster.

Yet, that doesn’t necessarily mean we will see major changes tonight or even Dickinson inserted into the starting lineup. For instance, if you want to know who is third in win shares and second in player efficiency, it’s Brandon Johns, but he probably won’t start tonight either.

At some point though, Dickinson will enter the starting five, as he is clearly one of the Wolverines top five players. But he’s already averaging nine minutes more than Davis and that should only continue.

Davis can score down low and in 8-10 minutes a night, he can be a really effective player. But at least by the start of the Big Ten season, Dickinson needs to be in the starting lineup and for that matter, Johns should really see more minutes.

Tonight though, I would expect the same 10 guys to play.

Terrance Williams flashed in his first two games and even though Zeb Jackson didn’t do a ton with his eight minutes, it will be good to get him acclimated, especially during this pandemic when anyone could test positive at any time.