The Extra Pass: What to worry about, and what not to, after Michigan’s opener

Extra Pass, a new weekly Thursday column for UM Hoops+ subscribers.

You can only fit so much into recaps and previews, so this column is a catch-all for everything else on my mind. As the Report Card shifts into more of a data feature this year, this column will take over the weekly analysis it used to provide.

The Report Card structure felt too rigid and overlapped too much with my recap thoughts, especially the next day. This will be an ever-evolving space to talk about anything related to Michigan basketball that week. Sometimes it’ll be a straight column, other days it’ll be a deep dive into one player or topic, and on others we’ll use some kind of structure.

To kick things off, we’re introducing the Panic Meter—a look at some of Michigan’s early-season problems and whether they are worth worrying about.

Defensive rebounding

Panic Meter3.5/5It will improve, but probably won’t be a strength.

My biggest rebounding concern is that I don’t see an easy way to fix it. Moustapha Thiam and JP Estrella will get Michigan to a point where its defensive rebounding is good enough, but there’s no real “go-getter” with a nose for the ball who can turn this into a great rebounding team.

Brandon McCoy Jr. was supposed to be that guy. Before his injury, Mike Boynton Jr. called him one of the best rebounding guards he’d coached. He had the burst, the nose for the ball, and the wingspan. Most importantly, he could grab rebounds and turn them into transition opportunities.

The inability to close out defensive possessions is part of the issue, but the downstream impact on the offense matters too. Michigan’s ability to turn a clean rebound into early offense was a key to its recent success.

The Wolverines had multiple players who could grab a rebound and push the ball. They were elite at hit-ahead passes and getting into offensive actions before opposing defenses could get set. Even when these aren’t pure fast-break baskets, Michigan can find a mismatch or an open look that comes from its pace — an early post-up, a perimeter mismatch, or an open three.

When you struggle to secure clean defensive rebounds, or can only get them from your bigs, it’s a lot harder to keep that tempo.