Michigan Basketball: 2020-21 keys for Wolverines to win at Purdue Boilermakers
By Adam Childs
1. Don’t force it on offense
The Wolverines offense is one of the best in the Big Ten and when they are moving the ball around it is extremely tough to stop. But occasionally they try and force things and that is when the offense starts to sputter.
Against Maryland, Hunter Dickinson did a great job of recognizing the double-team and finding his open teammates for good looks. Austin Davis did the same thing, but at times they have forced the ball up when they dump inside.
That was the problem against Minnesota, They weren’t patient and took bad shots all game long and that led to a lot of misses. It rubbed off to when they did get open shots as they never got into any sort of rhythm.
Mike Smith has also been a very good point guard for Michigan this year, but he at times tries to force the action and it doesn’t work. When he sits back and runs the offense and then takes the open shot the Wolverines are explosive.
The other thing with not forcing the offense is that the turnovers go down. The Wolverines have turned the ball over more this year and still one, but the games they have really struggled have been the ones where they were sloppy with their passes and didn’t make the right read.
They tried to make the unnecessary pass and it hasn’t worked out. When they take care of the ball this is a well-oiled machine. If Michigan can stay patient as they did against Maryland they should be able to score on Purdue.