3. Where Michigan’s defense stacks up early on
This sounds quite outlandish but hear me out on this. Michigan basketball played a really good game defensively for about 3/4’s of the game. Michigan fell asleep at the wheel and that cannot happen again, even against lesser competition.
Prairie View A&M has a player named Jawaun Daniels who is an absolute dog. Jawaun is averaging 20 points and 3 boards a game shooting about 50% from the field. Michigan needs to contain him all throughout the game in order to limit Prairie View A&M’s success.
While this is not a big test by any stretch of the imagination, this is something that is going to be a focal point to watch during the game. It’s imperative that Michigan develops the ability to defend the perimeter against legit shooters early on.
Normally we would not be having a conversation like this early on, because we know Michigan is a defensive team. But with such a young roster, the average age of the roster is about 19-20 years old… All certainties can be thrown out the window.