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Though it\u2019s been said to death, it\u2019s still true: the No. 4 Michigan men\u2019s basketball team has the biggest frontcourt in the nation.<\/p>\n
Aptly dubbed the Wolverines\u2019 \u2018Big 3,\u2019 the pair of 6-foot-9 forwards sophomore Morez Johnson Jr. and graduate Yaxel Lendeborg alongside 7-foot-3 junior center Aday Mara have started nearly every game for Michigan. Making up 42% of the Wolverines\u2019 nightly scoring, this trio embodies the meaning of the word \u2018juggernaut.\u2019<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not the Big 3\u2019s offense that\u2019s pushed Michigan to a historical start, rather it\u2019s their steel-curtain interior defense. Defensively, the Wolverines are second to none, at least when you consider the stats \u2014 first in adjusted defense, opponent 2-point percentage and opponent 2-point distance, and top 10 in block percentage, per KenPom<\/a>.<\/p>\n With such size in its starting lineup, an obvious defensive scheme was drawn up: clog the paint. Force your typically smaller opponents to not just drive through you, force them to go over you. Give up a bit of your 3-point pressure by letting your center \u2014 usually Mara and sometimes Johnson \u2014 slack off his man a little and follow every player into the paint for an undeniable advantage under the rim.<\/p>\n