Michigan had a celebratory red-eye flight home from Los Angeles last night after knocking off USC and UCLA over the last week. The Wolverines are now 4-0 and outshot the Bruins on their home floor in crunch time for an emphatic 19-point road victory.
That means it is time for Five Key Plays from the victory, albeit with a twist. For the first time, we have a guest narrator for all five clips. UCLA head coach Mick Cronin’s commentary has been added to each video, breaking down how the Wolverines made plays, how his players — often specified by name — didn’t, and even how he would have done a better job in some instances.
1. Vlad Goldin sets the tone
It only took a few possessions to understand how the Vlad Goldin vs. Tyler Bilodeau matchup would play out. Even before these two dunks, Goldin imposed himself in the paint. I think the matchup was settled when Bilodeau was whistled for a foul inside the first minute and then didn’t even attempt to contest Goldin’s next finish on a ball screen find from Wolf.
Those two plays don’t pack the punch of Goldin’s back-to-back dunks, but the damage was done. Mad Vlad smelled blood in the water and never looked back en route to another career night.
Goldin finished with 36 points on 18 shots and dominated the paint on both ends of the court for the rest of the night. His scoring has come primarily from rolls, cuts and putbacks this year, but he scored 11 points out of pure post-ups on Tuesday, his most in a game this season.
His growth as a post-up scorer (and passer) could open up a whole new set of actions for Michigan to allow Danny Wolf to play off of Goldin instead of vice versa.
Dusty May Promo!
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