Michigan basketball: Phil Martelli – No worries about point guard position
Michigan basketball faded late in a 67-65 home loss to Seton Hall Tuesday night, causing a sleepless night for head coach Juwan Howard. The offense got bogged down in the last 15 minutes and the defense suffered, too, when guys missed shots.
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Freshman Caleb Houstan was one who was out of sorts, going 1-for-9 from the floor. He lost his place on defense a few times, too, due to communication issues.
Michigan assistant Phil Martelli expressed zero concern about the sharpshooter. He pulled him aside after practice, in fact, to tell him the 1-for-9 only meant he’d be 8-for-9 another night. He’s that confident in his ability.
Most of the fan base’s angst, though, was directed at point guard DeVante’ Jones. Jones turned it over three times and finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, but it was a chore setting up the offense. Martelli insisted he was ‘extraordinarily confident’ in the position going forward based on what he’s seen of Jones over the last few months.
Jones fouled out Monday and has been in foul trouble a few times already this season. That might be the coaches’ biggest concern with him.
“I think now we are going back and looking … one of the little wrinkles I saw somewhere where maybe in his 80 games at Coastal [Carolina], 40 plus he had more than three fouls,” Martelli said. “We have to find out what that’s all about without getting him mental. We don’t want him out there thinking he’s got to be overly cautious.
“But I think his rebounding is extraordinary. We have to stay on and stay with him in terms of pace, but we’re in great shape at that position with DeVante’ Jones.”
Jones’ struggles led to halfcourt woes for the Michigan offense, too. Howard said he’d check the film to see why sophomore Hunter Dickinson (18 points) only had one shot attempt after the 13-minute mark. It turned out the lack of flow was a big culprit, Martelli reported.
“If you look at the game, that was a stretch where we kind of came out, didn’t play with enough pace … weren’t getting the ball down the floor,” Martelli said. “We weren’t flowing. You guys all know when you see this team, it’s beautiful basketball when it’s a flow. When it gets to be in the mud, so to speak, people can surround Hunter.”
Especially when they aren’t shooting the ball well. Michigan made only three triples out of 15, the first with 11 minutes remaining in the game.
“So, the court was very, very compacted. Certainly, that was an issue,” Martelli said. “The calls were the same; the execution maybe was a bit off. We have to improve in that area. We have to become a better screening team.
“But certainly, the calls — we are well aware of where our bread needs to be buttered. Basically, for that 28, 29, 30 minutes, [Dickinson] was a stone cold All-American in that game. But we need it for 40, and we need to be talking about it after a win. Could he get more touches, or does he become a better sharer of the ball, which hasn’t been an issue this year? He’s done a really nice job with that.”
He’ll get even more opportunities with that when Jones improves, as Martelli predicts he will. They’ll get their next chance Friday night when the Wolverines take on UNLV in Las Vegas.
