WATCH: Dusty May discusses practice improvement, previews Michigan vs. Wake Forest

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines basketball head coach Dusty May met with the media Monday morning to recap the last several days of practice and look ahead to Tuesday evening’s game against Wake Forest at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Watch video of May’s press conference in the player at the top of the article.

Key quotes from Michigan coach Dusty May

• On Michigan’s last week of practice and what he’s seen on film from Wake Forest: “I feel like we’re a much better basketball team than we were one week ago. We did some good things at home, especially shooting the basketball, but after analyzing the film, we knew we had a lot to clean up and build upon. We’re certainly better than we were.

“Wake is going to be a very challenging matchup for us. They’re physical like Cincinnati. They’re going to push us off of our spots. So, obviously, our ability to take care of the basketball is going to be pivotal. They also have smaller, versatile bigs, and as the first three games have shown us, that’s been a little bit of a hole in our defense.

“We’ve got great size, and on the other end, we’ve been able to take advantage of that size around the rim, but on the defensive end, we’ve got to find a way to contain these small, versatile, athletic wing type of bigs. And so it’s just another good test for us going forward.”

• On if he gleaned anything from Oakland hanging in a tight game at Purdue, considering Michigan just played the Golden Grizzlies: “I told Coach Kampe right after the game, I said, obviously a lot went well for us that night, and he thanked us for playing. Look, it’s difficult now. You watch high-major teams, how many money games was Michigan playing five years ago versus now? How many money games did Duke play five years ago versus now? There aren’t very many — I think we have three or four this year, which is probably half of what it was a couple years ago. So, these games are dwindling for a number of reasons. He just continued to thank us for playing Oakland. “It’s cool. Oakland — a lot of our donors and fans are in that area, so it’s a good game for us from a sentimental, I guess, aspect.

But, more importantly, I think that game’s going to help our metrics late in the year. We were very fortunate last year, Cleveland State we played really well and had a big win, and they went on to have a heck of a year. Miami of Ohio, I believe, won the MAC regular season. So, these games, if you can get the right money games — buy games, whatever you want to call them — and then win the games and do what you’re supposed to do on your home court and then those teams are also really good and they’re going to continue to get better, which Oakland does. Teams like us and them, with [Michigan’s] switching defense, the nuances with new teams are picked up gradually. You can’t simulate all of the things that you’re going to see.

“So, we’re very confident that, that Oakland game will be a very good metric game at the end of the year, because they’re going to improve and also they’re really talented. They’ve got good players, man. That front line is got to be one of the best in their league, and then they have some dynamic guards and shooting. so, I think they’re a well-built roster. Obviously, Coach Kampe has been doing this for a few days and knows what he’s going. We’ve heard they’re well-funded, they have a good plan. I think that game’s going to help us throughout the year.”