Area 50-1 has moved on from Michigan, but the Wolverines can still use the pick-and-roll with their new bigs. Today, we discuss how May and his staff could get creative with Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara and Morez Johnson:
We know that Michigan head coach Dusty May loves a ball-screen heavy offense, with actions off of those ball screens being a fundamental principle of his offenses before stepping foot in Ann Arbor.
Michigan’s top two scorers last season — Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf — are preparing for the NBA Draft. With Area 50-1 moving on, the Wolverines won’t be able to count on the 19.8 points the front-court duo combined to average this past season.
The two big men were consistent sources of offense for the Wolverines, with a lot of points coming from ball screens involving Goldin, Wolf or both players. When it was rolling, that Area 50-1 pick-and-roll was nearly impossible to stop.
Adaptability to his personnel is perhaps May’s greatest strength, so we know that Michigan won’t be trying to shove square pegs into round holes to replace that scoring. That said, Michigan has tons of a new front-court options — and one returning option — that could thrive off of ball screens and sets off of them.
Let’s break down Michigan’s options out of the ball screen with those bigs to preview what we could see when the season starts in just over six months.
Yaxel Lendeborg
Unlike the other bigs below, Lendeborg will likely have the ball in his hands to start ball screen sets, and it’s easy to see why.
While it’s not a one-to-one replacement, Lendeborg is the most obvious candidate to take over Wolf’s roll as a playmaking big man. May compared the two on a recent podcast with Brian Boesch, highlighting a key skill that makes Lendeborg a versatile tool in the pick-and-roll, both as a screen setter and as a ball handler (bolded quote done by me).
“We think we can play him all over the board,” May said on Yaxel. “The one thing about Yax, we think he’ll be able to unlock some playmaking ability here…he’ll be able to use his speed and his quickness, but the one thing about Yax is when he draws two, the ball comes out of his hands better than probably anyone we’ve recruited in the last several years, where he just has a really good feel for playing team basketball.”
Lendeborg can be used as a screen setter who can pop out for a three above the break or roll into a post-up against a smaller defender, but his strength as a passer makes him a lethal weapon in Michigan’s offense. He can get the most out of Michigan’s other bigs, or kick out to the open shooter in certain sets.
Lendeborg can get to the rim without needing a screen, but giving him a screen adds wrinkles to Michigan’s offense. Just as Michigan did with Wolf, I’d expect Lendeborg will be encouraged to make home run passes and be a lead ball handler.
Morez Johnson Jr.
Johnson is a much more traditional big than Lendeborg, and his biggest strength is easily his rebounding ability. Watching Big Ten teams a lot this past season, May and his staff knew they wanted to pursue Johnson early into the off-season.
“By playing these teams and watching as much ball as we do, it doesn’t take us long to decide who we want once they go into the portal.” May said in that same podcast. “Morez was an extremely expedited recruiting process.”
Johnson runs the floor really well in transition, and when he doesn’t beat his man down the floor, he can set a screen for Lendeborg, Elliot Cadeau or another ball handler off the wing to roll to the rim.
Johnson rolling hard and being a threat to score around the rim not only gives him easy buckets, but it also creates opportunities for shooters as defenses shift to cover him.
Aday Mara
Mara thrived in the pick-and-roll with Spain in FIBA play, scoring around the rim and showing off solid footwork from a young age, especially for a 7-foot-3 big man.
As is often the case with big men, Mara went through a bit of a learning curve early into his UCLA tenure, but started to put it all together mid-way through last season.
“When you watch Aday play, the last half of the year, he really took his game to another level and had some really bright moments,” May said of Aday.
Mara gives Michigan’s ball handlers a lob threat, forcing the defense to contest and potentially drawing a lot of fouls. His rim running fits well alongside Lendeborg or the last big on this list.
Mara, like Johnson, has never attempted a three at the collegiate level, but after Goldin was encouraged to expand his range last season, the Wolverines could do something similar with these two bigs. While neither big made more than 61.2 percent of their free throws last season, I’d guess at least one of these bigs, if not both, will be pushed to attempt elbow jumpers or threes above the break.
Returnee Will Tschetter
Tschetter is going to get a lot of playing time in his senior season, being that he’s a versatile big who can guard 4’s and 5’s and hit threes; May was very complimentary of his defense on that same podcast. He thrived next to Wolf on offense, so I’d be interested to see how Tschetter looks next to Lendeborg.
Expanding on that, I’d be curious to see what Michigan looks like going smaller with Lendeborg at the 4 and Tschetter at the 5, a look Michigan could use against the right opponent or when Johnson and Mara are in foul trouble. In that pairing, Tschetter would have space to work in the lane and could pop out for a quick three off of a screen.