Last season, to the unobserved, Michigan appeared to have an extremely poor season. However, it was due to the entire starting five turning pro from the national championship game, not to mention our few upperclassmen (Caris LeVert & Derrick Walton) getting hurt during the season.
The AP poll respected our down the stretch effort, our coach’s resume, and the pretty damn good returning roster enough to rank us 25th entering the year.
According to ESPN.com, in our first game of the season, “No. 25 Michigan led from the start against Division II Northern Michigan, cruising to a 70-44 victory Friday night.”
We led ten at halftime, then pulled away, led by LeVert’s 18. “We’re all still knocking off some jitters, knocking off some rust,” LeVert said. “But I think our defense is up to par right now. As soon as our offense catches up, and it will soon, I think we’ll be a really good team.”
That’s the key, just like with our Pistons. Early on, you haven’t really jelled with your mates yet, so the offense will come. Just keep hustling hard and playing defense, and you’ll win games.