Michigan Basketball: 5 things we learned against Wayne State

Caleb Houstan’s shot will come, we’ve just got to be patient

One of the things that stuck out to me during the game was Caleb Houstan’s communication and commitment to defense. Although he did score 10 points, Houstan’s 3-point shot was pretty ineffective throughout the night. That’s ok though.

The missed shots were all wide open, so it’s not like he was taking super contested shots and missing. He’ll make those when it really counts in the W-L category. He’s only still a freshman, and freshmen have growing pains of adjusting to the college game.

With that being said, I liked Houstan’s communication with all of the other starters like Eli Brooks and Hunter Dickinson on where to be and commitment to the defensive side of the ball.

There were many times when Houstan contested a WSU player’s shot and got a steal or deflection from it. This in turn led to a fast-break opportunity and Houstan was always one of the first Michigan guys back down the court to try to cash in on the fast break.

This doesn’t even mention all of the times Houstan acted as the ball-handler and tried to make plays for others. He didn’t just stand on the 3-point line the entire time. When he saw his shot wasn’t falling, he helped the team out in other ways. You’ve got to love his team-first mentality.