Offseason workouts tipped off in Ann Arbor on Monday, as this year’s new look Michigan team came together officially for the first time.
Wolverine assistant coach Justin Joyner joined Brian Boesch on MGoBlue’s Defend the Block podcast this week to discuss the start of workouts, Michigan’s roster, and what the Wolverines can carry over from last season.
Here’s a recap of what Joyner had to say about the roster, the defense, and more.
On the defense:
“I think as a finished product, we were good. I think we’re 12th in KenPom defensively, that’s a great mark for us to hit.
“Separately, though, I think we learned a lot about our team as the season went and, for me, coming from the St Mary’s background, we are very much do what we do. This is how we’re going to guard. This is what we’re going to do, I think, at this level, and certainly in this landscape of college basketball, where the roster turnover is so great, I think it’s important for you to be able to be flexible in your approach on both sides of the ball.
“Then the level of play consistently within the Big Ten. It’s going to force you to be a little bit deceptive in your coverage. It’s going to force you to be a little bit outside the box in your methodology. Guys like Braden Smith, you can’t give them the same look every time. So you’ve got to be able to switch it up and keep teams off balance day to day, game to game,”
On defensive carryover:
“I think obviously the switching was good for us. It allows us to be a little bit more disruptive, but I also think just the ability to have a great understanding of the league, of the physicality of the league, of how the league’s officiated, the environments on the road, I think it allows you to at least prepare your team in a better sense.”
On the incoming bigs:
“Just the ability to be deep, have a real depth within our roster, is really important. Those guys give us a chance to have real depth, certainly those three adds — Yax, Morez and Aday — gives you a really deep front line, with obviously, Will Tschetter and Oscar Goodman as well.
“Our front line is deep, and I think you have to be able to play big in college basketball. We saw that last year with Danny and Vlad. Danny was a little bit more of a perimeter-type big. We’ll have to play a little bit differently, but I think Yax can certainly do both: play on the perimeter, play in the post, and do some things like that.
“But just the depth, the size, the physicality, the athleticism, I love the fact that they’re all a little bit different inside. Morez is different from Aday, Aday is different from Yax. So we have some versatility on the front line.”
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