Michigan basketball put on a dominant masterclass against Arizona to advance to the national title game, and head coach Dusty May pulled out everything he had. Usually, you know what a team is going to do at this point of the season with so much film, but May made a major change in the Final Four that may have sealed the game for the Wolverines before they probably stepped on the court.
One of the things that he did was have them practice at their football stadium, according to Kyle Tucker of 247Sports.
“Dusty May had his team prep for the dome by shooting at Michigan's football stadium. And to avoid throwing bad lobs against Arizona, instructed his point guard to throw passes off the backboard. Evil genius,” Tucker wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Heading to the game, May and the coaching staff were also worried about throwing lob passes against Arizona and their ability to affect them with their length. To combat that, they told their guards to throw the ball off the backboard to make it easier for their bigs.
Elliot Cadeau shot 5-for-17, but May says that some of those were passes off the backboard. It was a good idea from May and the coaching staff, and it led them to a big victory.
It will be interesting to see if May pulls out something new for the national title game, but he doesn't have that many days to do so, compared to the time he had to prepare for the Final Four.
