Everything Yaxel Lendeborg told the media during his offseason availability

On the level of talent the team has

Yeah, I feel like we have assets everywhere. One through five. Elliot’s super explosive guard. Pass-first guard, too, which is amazing. He’s great for a lot of guys. Nimari, best shooter I’ve ever seen in my eyes, to be honest. Roddy Gayle, he’s a bulldog. He can do everything on the court. He’s great. Morez, super athlete. Aday, I’m still in shock every time I see him, you know. He’s one of the best, like, top guys I’ve met in my life. So, you know, those are just to name a few. This team is very athletic, very versatile, very unselfish. So, it’s great to be a part of it.

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On picking his spots versus being a facilitator on this team

Yeah, I haven’t been shooting as much. I’ve just been trying to figure out where I can be or where my teammates will be first before I start trying to get into my, you know, scoring mode. So I’m just having a great time passing the ball. Throwing lobs to Morez and Aday has been great. Kicking out to Nimari, Elliot, Roddy, those guys, it’s been amazing, you know. So, I’ll figure out my scoring spots sooner or later.

On whether it’s easy to lean into passing when you’re on a deep team

Yeah, passing is my favorite thing to do anyway. So, I came in here to try to be pass first anyway. So, it’s been a pretty easy adjustment for me.

On the depth of the roster

Yeah, you can never get too much with the team. We’re still diverse, you know. We have a lot of assets, like I was saying. Morez today, he can play four or five either way. Aday is a surprisingly very good passer. Something I wasn’t expecting, but he’s been throwing a lot of good passes. So, that’s good to see. Will, three, four, two man, whatever you need, great shooter. Was not expecting that either. You know, I’ve been super surprised with how the team is going and just excited.

On his thoughts on the frontcourt

Actually, we’re going to be the best frontcourt in the game. Big ten, NCAA, whatever it needs to be. I have high hopes for us today, and I feel like we’re going to do the best we can to deliver.

On the confidence the team can make a deep tournament run

Yeah, man, it’s growing. It’s growing a lot. I’m full of faith in these guys and really, really important guys that I can lean on. So, it’s been great.

On what he wants to prove this year after receiving NBA feedback

My aggressiveness, playing through contact, initiating contact as well. Those are the three things that I’ve heard the most. My shooting as well, that’s something that’s been coming along pretty well, so I have no doubts in that, but aggressiveness is number one on my board.

On Trey McKenney

Yeah, no, he doesn’t feel like a freshman. He’s not built like a freshman. Super skilled scorer, super good defensively as well, super strong. It’s very interesting to be a part of that, just playing with him. I’m excited to see what he can do during the season, and I have high hopes for him as well.

On what has surprised him about the culture

How genuine everybody is. Every day we lift, the whole staff is in there lifting with us, which is something I’ve never expected. That’s amazing. There’s a lot of energy coming in. Nobody’s doing it like us, and nobody’s doing it like us. It’s interesting to be a part of. The music choice as well. Everybody still has the same kind of music, which is good, too. Nice little vibe in the weight room. It’s all been great.

On the key to adjusting to Michigan

My competitiveness and edge. This whole group is real competitive. First day of practice, they kind of just dug into me. I was trying to go for a layup. I’m getting bumped up my spine. I’m like, oh, you guys are on edge 100%. It’s just something that’s been taking a little bit of getting used to. I’m managing. I’m getting a little better. A lot of communication with the older guys has been great for me, too.

On whether he’s embracing being the best in the conference and country

Yeah, I feel like there’s no pressure either. I feel like we have a great group, a group that is capable of doing that. I feel like we 100% can do that as long as we get connected.

On outside shooting being an issue and how he would respond to that

For us, no. Everybody was talking about Elliot’s shooting. It’s something I’ve been surprised with. Seeing him now, he’s been shooting the ball very well. I don’t know if it was confidence last year or the year before, but I feel like he’s going to have a great shooting year this year. The whole team can shoot. Everybody’s in here every day putting up shots the most I’ve ever seen as well. So I have high hopes for us.

On his favorite NBA player

My favorite player is Kyrie. I can’t model my game like him. Nobody can be like him. Some of them I’m trying to model my game after is like Nas Reed, DeMarre Carroll. Just trying to be able to be versatile off the dribble and still care for my teammates. Hopefully, I can get to that level one day.

On the overall impression of talent

It’s an A+. It’s crazy. I was speaking about Aday earlier. His passing skills have been amazing. I’m still surprised how tall he is every single day. It’s crazy. We do layup drills, and I’m trying to take a layup. I’m thinking it’s a good layup. He comes out of nowhere, blocks it, and I’m like, okay. How do I score on him? It’s very interesting. I’m really happy. Morez as well, super athlete. My height jumping like 40 inches off the ground, it’s been crazy.

On going up against Morez Johnson Jr’s. physicality

That’s been interesting as well. We’ve been playing pickup early in the years, and it’s just been a brute force. Trying to bump him off the spot was really tough. I got him a couple times now, so that’s something I get to brag on. It’s been fun playing against him.

On being comfortable with Dusty May’s pace of play

He wants to play super fast. It’s been interesting because I feel like everybody can handle it to a certain extent. Those guys that can’t, they get the ball up quickly, so that’s been great. We’ve been moving the ball very well as well, so I’m super excited.

On the wingspan of the frontcourt

Oh, all of us. Oh, yeah, man, man. Coach Boynton was talking to us. Eagle eyes or eagle wings, something like that. It’s been pretty tough. Just seeing it when we all stayed up was like, wow, how are you guys going to score like this? Hopefully we can import that into the game and do the best we can to be the best defensive team we can be.

On his impression of the freshmen

Winters is a great shooter. Trey does not look like a freshman at all, so it’s been very interesting. I love playing with Winters, a guy that can get off as quick as he can, as quick as possible. I feel like he’s going to be a 40% shooter. It’s been great. I’ve been really happy, and Ricky as well. Ricky’s been pretty good, too. Super strong, super athletic, super fast. He plays with a lot of energy all the time, too, so it’s been great.

On what made him want to play at Michigan

The culture. Seeing what Danny Wolf and Vlad were doing, coming from basically the same level as me, has been great. The role that Wolf played, too, was just something that I wanted to be a part of.

On teams he’s looking forward to playing

Yeah, Michigan State is number one. I definitely want to play that game. I’ve been hearing a lot about them. They went 0-2 last year. We’re going to look to go 2-0 this year. So I have that game marked on my calendar for sure.

On what is said on the MSU game

Back-and-forth talk. There hasn’t been much social media talk with the players, but I know I’ve seen a lot of posts on TikTok, and they’ve been talking smack about us, so I’m excited. First play, I’m talking smack to whoever on the court. It’s going to be fun.

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