Michigan bench continues to struggle with consistent offensive production

Dusty May talked a pretty big game about the depth of his squad entering the season:

“I think today, probably nine (players) would get sustained minutes, would be considered in the rotation,” Wolverines coach May said Oct. 18 at Michigan Media Day. “Or that they’ve all played at a level that you would consider them starters to an extent.”

Throughout the preseason, May continued to stress the immense depth of the No. 21 Michigan men’s basketball team — believing there were nine starter-quality players on the roster. And for the early portion of the season, this looked like it was true.

Freshman guard L.J. Cason was seeing extended minutes at the backup point guard position, and his knack for putting the ball in the basket was a welcome benefit. He scored double-digit points in three of the Wolverines’ first four games, seemingly positing himself as a bench scoring option. Sophomore forward Sam Walters, too, appeared to be a go-to option for May off the bench, showcasing his flamethrower from deep. 

Alongside veterans, graduate guard Rubin Jones and redshirt junior forward Will Tschetter, May’s strong claim had some evidence to back it up. But now, nearing the midway point of conference play, Michigan’s offensive bench production has sputtered.

Cason hasn’t seen much action on the court since fellow freshman guard Justin Pippen returned from injury, and even Pippen only gets sparse minutes. Walters is working through a 3-point shooting slump, and Jones is still trying to get going this season.  

Of the Wolverines’ 84.9 points per contest, their bench is producing just 21.1 of those. Moreover, that production has no leader at its head — there is no one player who has proven that Michigan can turn to them in a pinch to pick up a meaningful offensive load. 

“Our bench kind of dipped off a little bit recently,” Walters said Dec. 29. “ … We kind of talked about it, we need to get our bench back. … When the starters come out, we want to make sure we continue what they’ve been doing, and even maybe sometimes we can progress it.”

Take a game like Sunday’s against Northwestern, for example. One of the Wolverines’ go-to guys in junior forward Danny Wolf went 0-for-7 from the floor, and Michigan’s offense struggled to find its stride because of it. Against the weaker Wildcats, the Wolverines still pulled out the overtime win, but against more stringent competition, that might not be the case.

May is confident that the bench unit’s time is still coming, though, and when their time comes, they’ll have to be ready. 

“We still have a few guys on the bench that they’re going to have their moments,” May said Jan. 19. “And we’re going to need every one of them.”

May’s expectations for the Michigan bench were extremely tall — nine starter-quality players is a high bar. So far, however, the production has been inconsistent. With the Wolverines at their best, they do in fact have nine reliable players. But when they aren’t, upsets like the one in Minnesota or scares like Northwestern begin to creep up.

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