Michigan Basketball: 3 keys for the Wolverines against Holy Cross
By Adam Childs
Get Charles Matthews Going
After flirting with the NBA draft Matthews came back to Michigan to hopefully improve his draft stock. Coach John Beilein and the rest of the Wolverines were happy to have him back and the hope was his play in the NCAA tournament would carry over and he would be the leader on this team.
Obviously, one game is too quick to make a judgment on anything but Matthews was not very good against Norfolk State on Tuesday. Matthews scored 10 points but did not hit a shot from outside (0-4) or from the free throw line as we mentioned earlier.
Mattews has shown to be a very mental player in that when he is playing well he plays very well, but when he gets cold it can carry on for many games. Yes, this is just the second game of the year, but if he has another poor game, it could stretch into 5 or more games.
The Wolverines need Matthews playing well as the offense runs smoothly when he is hitting his shots. They do not need him to be a huge three-point threat but he needs to be able to hit his mid-range jumpers and get to the rim. He does a good job getting to the line and those shots need to fall also.
If Matthews can play well against the Crusaders then it should bode well for Michigan heading into next Wednesday’s game at Villanova.
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Holy Cross definitely presents more of a problem for the Wolverines than Norfolk State did, but Michigan should have little problem in this game. If they can slow Butler and Benzan and get Matthews going this could be a blowout. Michigan’s defense will continue to show the commitment from last year and the Wolverines pull away in the second half after a closer than expected first.