J.P. Estrella dominates early, but fouls keep him off the floor late

J.P. Estrella practiced for this. Mike Boynton Jr. made sure of it.

With the “gravity point” of Michigan’s offense, Moustapha Thiam, out with an illness for the Wolverines’ season opener against Oakland on Monday, someone else would have to step up and play the 5 in his stead.

Boynton chose Estrella, slotting Oscar Goodman into the starting lineup to fill Estrella’s usual spot at power forward. Standing at 6-foot-11 and 240 pounds, Estrella almost always played with another big at Tennessee, but he’s learning to play both spots at Michigan, even flipping roles with Moustapha Thiam at times.

“We can actually flip Moustapha and J.P. on who’s the five and who’s the four, and we actually toyed with that this week,” Boynton said at Michigan Media Day Oct. 22. “Moustapha has been the four almost exclusively, and JP has been the five. … We feel confident that we’ve gotten guys there over the course of the season (before), and we feel like J.P.’s work ethic and intelligence will get them there as well.”

If Estrella’s time on the floor Monday was any indication, Boynton’s confidence was not misplaced. In 22 minutes on the floor primarily as the Wolverines’ center, Estrella racked up 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting and tallied a team-leading 12 rebounds.