'I was just really impressed': John Beilein talks first impressions of Michigan basketball, his favorite stat from opener

Michigan Wolverines basketball almost couldn’t have been more impressive than it was in a 121-78 win over Oakland Monday night, opening the season with a bang.

Legendary former Michigan head coach John Beilein was watching, and beyond impressed with how it looked and the group second-year head man Dusty May has put together.

“They have such experience, like last year, a Sweet 16 team and on the verge of going to an Elite Eight game and things like that,” Beilein said on ‘The HUGE Show,’ a statewide radio broadcast hosted by Bill Simonson. “They were good last year. The experience, you can’t discount it. I’m counting here that, what, there are four seniors, and Burnett is in his sixth year, really, and then two juniors and one freshman gets on the court, and he’s a dang good one. They have the experience, they have the size.”

And they have the point guard. Junior Elliot Cadeau, a transfer from North Carolina, put up 7 shot attempts, making 2 of them, but was a willing facilitator with 12 assists to only 1 turnover. He had more assists than Oakland as a team (11), and there have been only 12 performances in program history where a Wolverine had more than Cadeau dished out Monday.

“Here was the most impressive stat last night that you didn’t see very much last year, and that was their new point guard, Elliot Cadeau, had 12 assists, 1 turnover,” Beilein said. “I don’t even care if he scores. He just wants to play the right way, and he made a couple plays that I said, ‘That’s stuff that the elite guys do.’ They see the floor in slow motion while everyone else sees it fast.

“I was just really impressed with everything they got.

“I was always a big assist:turnover ratio [guy]. One of the first stats I looked at — 29 assists and just 8 turnovers. They had 29 assists on 45 buckets. That’s really good for a team that some of them are introducing themselves to each other.”

Michigan’s size stood out against Oakland. The Wolverines shot 73.4 percent on twos and got 20 dunks/layups.

“Oakland has had a lot of success over the years. I think that they’re learning the defense from [head] Coach [Greg Kampe], who’s played a lot of zone,” Beilein noted. “I think a compact zone would probably be the way to play. They played an extended zone, and Michigan is too tall. You can see over people.”

Michigan was a bit short-handed Monday, without sophomore guard L.J. Cason, who figures to be a big part of the rotation coming off the bench, but Beilein liked the way things operated.

“Here’s another thing: Eight guys. They’re playing eight guys,” Beilein said. “I think they might get to nine later on. But right now, eight guys played the big minutes. When you have an eight-man rotation like that, there’s a lot of familiarity with the way you play and with each other. That can really work.”

Trey McKenney could be a ‘superstar’

Michigan freshman guard Trey McKenney was one of the stories of the night, dropping 21 points in his debut. He made 6 of his 8 three-point attempts, after struggling in the two exhibition games, but showed up in the first game that mattered.

“I have had guys that were great shooters that have come in and their first couple of games as freshmen, they couldn’t make a basket,” Beilein said. “Every guy that I’ve ever had that comes in and comes off the bench and starts knocking down threes in his first game has been, 90 percent of the time, an elite superstar.

“[Nik] Stauskas came in and did it. Duncan Robinson came in and did it. Tim Hardaway [Jr.] came in and did it. That is really telling when a kid just shakes off those nerves. 

“Something I never did that I think is a great idea, playing St. John’s and Cincinnati in these new exempted games early. Great idea, because when they saw the Oakland personnel, it was like, OK, let’s go hoop.”

Michigan a legit national title contender

Beilein agreed with Simonson that Michigan is a legitimate national title contender.

“It’s really a heck of a roster,” the former Michigan coach said. “It really is. Dusty understands it. With all of this talent, they’ve got to prioritize culture first to make this work.

“But I believe they understand, they probably have felt, wow, we’ve got quite a team here and we can beat anybody and, in fact, win a national championship. That’s got to be the attitude, but they’ve got to put in that work to get that done, because there are probably 20 other teams that it’s a realistic goal for them.

“I’m really impressed, but experience, experience, experience. Whenever we had experienced teams, we were good. Whenever we had a bunch of freshmen and sophomores playing, it was, OK, wait until next year and just develop them. They don’t have any of that. They’ve got experience everywhere. I’m so impressed. Really good team.”

As a result of having all the ingredients, Michigan will have to continue to grow while staying humble to actually ensure those pieces amount to a successful season.

“We’ve got Wake [Forest] coming up [Tuesday in Detroit],” Beilein said. “Dusty’s got a really tough schedule, so we’ll find out early, but I would root for them — I know this sounds weird — to lose early so that they can understand how hard this is and that the little things make a big difference. He really has a tough schedule — much tougher than I think I ever played. I’d have to look at the metrics, but really tough schedule, and they’ll be ready in March if they can stay healthy.”