Michigan overpowers Oakland’s zone in 92-48 victory in exhibition

DETROIT — Probing against Oakland’s signature 1-3-1 zone, junior guard Tre Donaldson saw an opportunity — he tossed a lob to the paint for senior center Vlad Goldin who brought the alley-oop down hard to open the scoring. 

The Dusty May era at Michigan had officially begun.

In an exhibition bout at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, the Wolverines’ men’s basketball team picked apart the Golden Grizzlies all evening, winning 92-48. Michigan surgically maneuvered around the zone and Oakland had no response in the 40-point blowout. 

The alley-oop was conspicuous foreshadowing. The Grizzlies’ zone wasn’t going to hold a Michigan offense full of willing sharpshooters quiet. Seldom used at the college level, Oakland’s zone notoriously wreaks havoc against unsuspecting teams. Grizzlies coach Greg Kampe utilizes the defense to defend against 3-pointers, but Sunday, it left fairly large holes behind the arc: most notably in the corner.

“You know what our zone does well is take the 3-point shot away,” Kampe said. “… Obviously, we don’t know what we’re doing in it yet if we give up 35 threes when the zone’s designed to take the three away.”

Just over six minutes into the game, the Wolverines quickly swung the ball around the top of the key, getting the Grizzlies’ defense stretched out to the wings. With the zone spread thin, junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. whipped the ball to sophomore forward Sam Walters in the right corner. Fresh off the bench, Walters knocked home the triple, putting Michigan up 13-7. The flood gates creaked open.

Another three from Walters, a layup from redshirt senior Will Tschetter and a 3-pointer from freshman guard L.J. Cason gave the Wolverines a 24-12 lead midway through the first half. The floodgates were certainly open now.

Walters made himself particularly comfortable in both corners, knocking down three 3-pointers from below the break in the first half. But Michigan’s entire offense was comfortable. Donaldson consistently pushed the break, earning several easy layups in transition, and Gayle got to the middle and converted close to the rim.

“It’s fun. I mean, just to see us being able to play fast, it opens up the court so much,” Donaldson said. “And then if they slow us down, they slow us down. But Coach preaches to me to play fast and help other guys get open.”

For emphasis on a fairly dominant first half, Gayle hoisted a left-wing 3-pointer and watched it sink through the net as the buzzer sounded, giving his squad a commanding 48-26 lead entering the break.

The Wolverines’ offense returned right back to form out of halftime. Graduate guard Rubin Jones swooped in through a confused zone box-out for a put-back dunk and hit a wide open corner three for his first five points of the evening, extending Michigan’s healthy cushion.

The Wolverines appeared to be making a statement in the second half: Instead of the onslaught of 3-pointers — they already showed they could do that much — they attacked the rim. Getting the ball to the high-post flasher for dump downs to Goldin and crashing the glass hard, Michigan’s intent on getting the ball inside for easy buckets in the paint was clear. 

On the Wolverines’ offensive possessions, the ball was never stagnant. As soon as a player touched the ball, it moved to the next spot, diffusing Oakland’s zone and leading to several easy buckets and a well-balanced offensive attack.

“(We had) 21 assists on 34 made field goals,” May said. “So very pleased with the way we shared the ball in our locker room, in our coach’s office.”

The Grizzlies didn’t deviate from their zone, though, so Michigan didn’t stop picking it apart with corner threes. With just under ten minutes remaining, Donaldson found Walters in the corner and he, once again, hit nothing but nylon. Donaldson joined in on the action too, hitting one from nearly the same spot on the very next possession to put the Wolverines up by 28.

Michigan coasted home, punishing the discombobulated zone. The Wolverines played with pace and poise, just as May had hoped. They may not face many more zones this season, but if they do, they just proved they can pick one apart.

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