Positives and negatives from Michigan Basketball’s exhibition win

Michigan basketball won its second game of the exhibition tour and here are some positives as well as some negatives for the Wolverines. 

The Michigan basketball team spent the second part of its trip to Europe in Athens and took on a U22 team from the club of Olympiacos.

Michigan rolled to victory against a much easier opponent than the one the Wolverines faced in France last week. However, it was a 95-62 win all the same.

Jaelin Llewellyn was the leading scorer for the Wolverines with 18 points. He shot really well from the free throw line and made a triple on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. He also dished out three assists and had just one turnover.

Hunter Dickinson scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds. But he’s the one guy the Wolverines don’t need to see anything from on this trip. They know what he can do.

As far as the rest of the roster, here are some positives and negatives from the win over U22 Olympiacos with the box score via UMHoops.

Positives for Michigan basketball

Llewellyn has been a huge positive and he looks like everything Michigan wanted him to be in the transfer portal. He’s attacking the basket, distributing, and shooting the ball well. The point guard position as a whole has been solid as Dug McDaniel went 3-for-5 from the field with a made 3-pointer, three assists, and three rebounds compared to two turnovers.

If Dug was a little taller, he would have been a five-star prospect. But he’s under 6-foot tall. Yet, he’s a competitor and a winner and I wouldn’t be surprised if he played more than expected.

Isaiah Barnes had another solid night off the bench. He played more minutes than any bench player and scored 10 points in 18 minutes. He was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and so far, he’s the guy who’s improved his stock the most.

I also liked that Jett Howard buried four triples. He’s made seven in two games. He hasn’t done much else in terms of rebounds or steals or any of that but if he can make shots, the rest will come. He scored 16 points in 21 minutes and I’ll take that.

Negatives

It’s hard to be really negative on this trip but through two games, Kobe Bufkin hasn’t made a 3-pointer and was 2-of-9 from the field in the second game. He also committed four personal fouls.

Neither of those things is a good sign. Bufkin needs to be consistent on both ends of the floor or why shouldn’t Barnes at least get a shot? Dug could play more minutes and allow Llewellyn to play off the ball a bit. Jace Howard is an option two as a combo wing.

Terrance Williams also hasn’t set the world on fire and was 0-for-7 at the free throw line. That’s worrisome even in an exhibition. Bufkin and Williams were two guys expected to play key roles this season so it would be nice to see them produce some quality minutes.