“That’s probably been the biggest jump for us — how well we’re rebounding the ball,” Michigan basketball coach Dusty May said on Monday, Feb. 9.
Michigan basketball analytics guru Jacob Kohn assessed the Wolverines' play a few weeks into the season.
At this time, the Wolverines were undefeated, ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, in the midst of winning nine of 10 games by at least 25 points or more undefeated and had rolled Power Four teams such as Gonzaga, Villanova and Auburn.
Still, Kohn cited one key area for U-M to improve: rebounding, as it ranked No. 51 in the nation in offensive rebounding rate at 36% despite not having faced particularly tough Big Ten competition.
"I mean, I think we can be really, really good," Kohn told the Free Press. "Better than we have been."
He was right.
Although the rate has actually gone down – U-M is now grabbing 35.9% of its offensive misses – the Wolverines have been doing it against tougher foes and are among the Big Ten's top teams, at No. 3 in the conference in offensive board rate during league play per KenPom. O defense, they're firmly in the top half of the conference at No. 7, thanks to grabbing 69.7% of their opponents' misses.
“That’s probably been the biggest jump for us — how well we’re rebounding the ball,” coach Dusty May said Monday, Feb. 9. “Yaxel had 14 rebounds yesterday [against Ohio State] and six offensive a couple games ago. Those are extra possessions.
"We chart offensive rebounds as defensive stops. ... So those are important for so many reasons, but to give ourselves that many extra possessions is if we can continue to do that, we're going to be a tough out."
Michigan dominated then-No. 5 Nebraska on the glass, 35-23, on Jan. 27 and tied then-No. 8 Michigan State (perhaps the best rebounding team in the country), 36-36, on Jan. 30. It then manhandled Penn State last week, including a ridiculous 24-4 edge in the first half and dominated Ohio State on Sunday. Lendeborg (14), Morez Johnson Jr. (12) and Aday Mara (6) alone combined for 32 boards – one more than OSU as a whole (31).
During the Wolverines' active eight-game win streak, they have not been outrebounded.
“We feel like we’re playing good ball,” May said. “There was a time a few weeks ago, I don’t know if it was complacency, that time of the year. I mean, our season is six months long.
"But we like the way we're playing now. We like our energy. We love our approach, and most importantly, I said it yesterday in the locker room, our guys look like they're having fun playing ball. In February, that's not always the case."
Michigan has a chance to continue to build its rebounding confidence this week when it visits Northwestern on Wednesday (8:30 p.m., Big Ten Network). The Wildcats are near the bottom of the Big Ten both in the standings and on the glass, ranking No. 15 (out of 18 teams) in offensive boards (25.6%) and No. 13 on the defensive glass (allowing second chances on 33.1% of misses).
Michigan has won 22 of its 23 games – the best start in the history of the program – to boost its attitude. But there's also buy-in from top to bottom.
Eight Wolverines have led the team in scoring at least once this season. Nine players are averaging at least 15 minutes per night while only one, Lendeborg, is playing more than 25 per game. That has kept the team fresh and engaged, which is also key to the Wolverines' second surge of the year.
By improving at one of the few areas the team wasn't elite at during the first half of the season, it's only feeding more confidence into a group that looks like a lock as a 1-seed for March Madness.
“We’re extremely excited to be in position to compete and play in very meaningful games in February,” May said. “It seems like we’re continuing to improve our connectivity, and our chemistry is also improving. That’s a good sign.”
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball: 'Biggest jump' in rebounding has team surging
Category: General Sports
