Much like every other basketball coach this early in the season, first-year Michigan basketball boss Dusty May is trying to figure out the positives and negatives of his team’s play.
Heading into a contest against Tarleton State on Thursday in Ann Arbor, Mich., May is happy with his team’s balanced scoring and 3-1 record.
However, he also has lamented Michigan’s turnover problems (17.8 per game) and a lack of offensive rebounds for a roster he says is “the sixth-biggest team in the country.”
Most of all, May is still searching for an identity out of his team.
“I was speaking to a coaching friend — a very, very successful coaching friend slash mentor — and I told him that I don’t feel like we have an identity yet on either side of the ball,” May said. “His response was, ‘You’re not supposed to. You’re four games in. You have a new team, you have to win in the margins now, you have to figure this stuff out. You may not have an identity until conference play.'”
A roster with only three players back from last season, Michigan will try and continue to figure out its identity against Tarleton State, which is off to a 1-4 start. The Texans were picked to finish sixth in the Western Athletic Conference.
“We’re going to keep fighting the good fight and keep getting better every day,” May said. “No team is going to be perfect this time of year. So once again, it comes down to can you fix your issues and solve your problems? If we’re still doing this in January, February, then we haven’t done a very good job as a staff.”
Four Michigan players are averaging double-figure scoring in the early going: Tre Donaldson (14 points per game), Nimari Burnett (11.8), Danny Wolf (11.5) and Roddy Gayle Jr. (10.5). Wolf adds a team-best 9.5 rebounds per contest.
Tarleton State, which is coming off a 104-41 loss at Baylor on Sunday, is coached by former Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie.
It’s somewhat of a rebuilding year for Tarleton State, which lost all five of its starters from a team that went 16-4 in WAC play last season and finished 25-10.
Bubu Benjamin is the only Texan averaging double figures this season, at 15 points per game. Joseph Martinez had a team-best 11 points at Baylor.
The Wolverines and Texans have met once previously, with Michigan prevailing 65-54 at Ann Arbor in 2021.