Michigan basketball's 'pretty good start' built around staying consistent on a daily basis

Saddi Washington has learned a number of valuable lessons from various mentors over the years.

However as the Michigan basketball assistant coach answered questions Thursday ahead of his team's Friday matchup with Long Beach State (7 p.m., BTN+), there was one that immediately came to mind as he assessed the team's start.

"You're never as good as you think you are and you're never as bad as you think you are," Washington said. "It's just trying to find that balance. Thus far, fortunately for us we've been able to get off to a pretty good start and we still feel like we have a lot of growth in us."

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To call the Wolverines' 3-0 open to the the season "a pretty good start" is putting it mildly.

U-M returns from its first road game — an 89-73 victory over St. John's — win with a great deal of confidence. Michigan has won its first three games by an average of 23.7 points while scoring at least 85 points in each — the first time the program has done so in three straight games since a four-game spurt in the 2012-13 season.

Perhaps the most encouraging sign for the Wolverines has been that a different player has set a career high in scoring in all three games. In the season opener against UNC-Asheville, Dug McDaniel scored 22 — he topped that on Monday worth 26 points against the Red Storm. (Olivier Nkamhoua's 25-point effort against Asheville was just two shy of his best at Tennessee.)

In Game 2, against Youngstown State, Will Tschetter stole the show. The redshirt sophomore had never scored more than eight, then went off for a cool 20 against the Penguins. Red-hot to start the season, Tschetter enters Friday shooting 14-for-18, with seven of those makes coming on nine 3-point tries.

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Then, on Monday, Alabama transfer Nimari Burnett scored 21 points, all in the first half, to help the Wolverines build a double-digit lead at the break.

"Winning is what you do this for," Nkamhoua said Thursday. "It's definitely great to see those results and it's always gonna be a boost in confidence, it assures you the work you have been putting in, you're receiving something from that and you're actually seeing the results, able to take tangible steps forward."

Terrance Williams II has also been key to the early success. Named a captain a season ago, Williams struggled, shooting a career-low 25% on 3-pointers while averaging 6.1 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. He topped 11 points just once all year — in the second game of the 2022-23 season.

In 2023-24, however, Williams has scored at least 12 points in all three games, while shooting 7-for-15 on 3s. He's averaging 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds.

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"It's been awesome for him," Washington said. "That kid put the work in last year. Him reflecting how his season went last season, it is now clear he put a tremendous amount of work in in tweaking his game, his body and the results are what you see now.

"Not only that, but he's using his voice more in terms of leadership. He's a fourth-year guy who's been in the program, been part of a lot of wins and championships and so it's really kind of the natural progression for him."

It's not perfect for Michigan even as it has climbed up to No. 23 in the KenPom rankings despite being without head coach Juwan Howard (heart surgery), point guard Jaelin Llewellyn (ACL) and forward Jace Howard (stress fracture).

The Wolverines gave up a staggering 27 offensive rebounds to the Red Storm on Monday; that doesn't bode well for Friday's matchup with Beach athletics, which ranked No. 26 on the offensive glass last year.

"I was like '(Expletive), we have to go against another group of young men who just relentlessly crash the boards.' " Washington said. "You've got to put an emphasis on it, but it's a fine line trying to drill it in practice this time of years because you're trying to maintain health and freshness.

"But at the same time it's something that we have talked about pretty much daily."

Washington pointed out one reason for the excess offensive rebounds allowed is because the Wolverines are holding opponents to 37% shooting from the field — there have simply been more opportunities.

The Wolverines haven't only addressed the importance of rebounding; they're also aiming for consistency in general in practice, the film room, rehab with trainers or, most importantly, during games, with new faces learning new roles this year.

So far, so good, but U-M knows there's a difference between nonconference games in November and the brunt of Big Ten games in February. For U-M to reach those games while still succeeding will require doing the little things daily.

"Consistency is easiest when everybody's looking out for each other," Nkamhoua said. "It's hard to be consistent when you are out there on your own. So we just have to have our brother's back."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball's 'pretty good' start the result of consistency