Michigan Basketball: Takeaways and grades from win at Nebraska

Michigan is finding a formula on offense

The Wolverines aren’t going to make 15 3-pointers every game. But, Michigan has proven it can shoot the ball much better than we thought early in the season.

Michigan has started running some different sets and is becoming less reliant on ball screens. It just wasn’t effective early in the season. Dickinson adding the pick and pop to his arsenal with the perimeter shot adds another wrinkle and DeVante Jones did just have his best night with eight assists and zero turnovers, but still, there was less ball screen action.

Part of that is because last year, the first pass after the ball screen was to Franz Wagner or Isaiah Livers, which put him in a position to attack. As Caleb Houstan matures more, he can become that outlet but his game, in terms of attacking off the dribble, is still developing.

We saw it took Franz until his second year to become a consistent offensive force. But like last season, it seems like guys are starting to understand their roles.

DeVante Jones is starting to figure things out and is making good decisions with the ball. He’s still the best passer of any guard and Michigan basketball is going to need that.

Eli Brooks is also starting to settle into less of a scoring role. Don’t get me wrong, he’s perfect as the 3-4 option, but he can’t be No. 1 or No. 2. That’s gotta be Dickinson and Houstan.