Just a week ago, Michigan basketball looked like a lost cause. The Wolverines had lost three in a row and were coming off of a 17-point loss against Michigan State in which Michigan looked like it didn't want to play. There was no fight in the team, and they looked content with ending the season.
Since then, it's been a complete 180; a turnaround that almost nobody expected. Michigan trounced Purdue, beating them by 18 points in a dominant showing, and then turned around and beat Maryland on a last Tre Donaldson layup.
The Maryland game perfectly summarizes the return of the Michigan basketball team we saw earlier in the year - the Wolverines played extremely well and built a 15 point lead and appeared to be on the way to a dominant win. When some questionable calls and big shots by Maryland made it a game again, the Wolverines fought back, refusing to give in. The Michigan of just last week would've lost that game.
So what's changed?
There are two big differences I've noticed: better passing and more intensity. Michigan is now averaging 16.2 assists per game. Against Purdue, they had 25 assists on 30 field goals. Against Maryland, 17 assists on 31 baskets. During Michigan's three-game losing skid to end the season, they had 10 assists on 19 field goals against MSU, 16 assists on 29 field goals against Maryland (pretty good), and just nine assists on 28 field goals against Illinois.
Yes, it's a small sample size, but their passing has clearly improved. Not only are they getting more assists, but they're making more intelligent passes. While the Wolverines struggled with turnovers against Maryland, far fewer of those turnovers came on errant passes.
As was shared on the broadcast yesterday, in practice, Dusty May enforced a one dribble rule, forcing the team to make more passes and rely less on the dribble. That has been fully on display. There have been far fewer occurrences of Tre Donaldson or Danny Wolf just dribbling around the 3-point line for 15 seconds. Michigan basketball is moving the ball and is playing unselfish basketball on offense.
The other major change has been intensity. These guys are playing like they have something to prove. I mean, look at Roddy Gayle in the past two games. He's been flying all over the court, giving his all every second of the game. The 3-pointer hasn't been falling for Gayle, so he's been taking the ball to the rim with intensity, and it has helped this team tremendously. His movement without the ball has been great.
Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin have also stepped up in a big way, as is evidenced by Michigan basketball out-rebounding Maryland 47-18. Those numbers are unheard of. Just a week ago, we were talking about how Michigan was having the same rebounding issues that they've had all year. When Michigan and Maryland played just over a week ago, the rebounding battle was 39-37 Michigan. What a turnaround.
Whatever clicked with this team, it's been amazing to watch these past few days. Let's hope they can continue this run against Wisconsin, bring a banner to Ann Arbor, and then stay hot going into the NCAA Tournament. Go blue!