After a 6-7 year run where small-ball was fashionable (coinciding with the Golden State Warrior dynasty), basketball is once again trending toward size/length/athleticism since 2020. At the NBA level, guys under 6'3 are being phased out in favor of taller initiators/ballhandlers. And most notably, in four of the last five seasons, the average 2 point attempt is yielding more points than the average 3 point attempt. As it relates to college hoops, there were only 35 teams that fielded lineups with an average height of 6'6 during the 2019-2020 season. Fast forward to the 2025-2026 season, and a whopping 94 teams now have an average lineup height of 6'6 and above. And with the increased usage of two and three-big lineups in CBB, the importance of offensive rebounding and second-chance efficiency is now a staple of top-50 offenses across the country. Big Boy Ball is back.
During pre-season most had reservations about the possibility of two and three-big lineups featuring Mara/Johnson/Lendeborg/Tschetter, but as Michigan sits at the very top of the NET rankings, those concerns no longer exist. The Wolverines are the only team in the nation to sport a top-5 offense and top-5 defense for both Torvik and KenPom and it's clear the driving factor is Dusty May leaning into Big Boy Ball as the primary consideration in roster construction. While Michigan can dissect opponents in a plethora of ways, sheer frontcourt size is the most lethal (and sustainable) weapon in the arsenal. Owning the rim is the floor........and the ceiling.
Defense
As I always say, opponent rim volume (deterrence) and opponent rim efficiency (conversion) are the two most critical factors for defensive prowess at any level of hoops. Michigan is quite simply a juggernaut at preventing rim attempts, as opponents only get 16.8% of their total FGAs at the rim (deterrence) in half-court scenarios, which is 100th percentile nationally. In contrast, 34.6% of opponent FGAs come on midrange 2s. This is how a sizable portion of opponent possessions look:
When the Wolverines do allow a rim attempt, opponents are converting a measly 52.7% in the half-court, which is good for 98th percentile in the country. Let's go into the mind of Villanova guard Acaden Lewis, one of the better freshman in the country. You have 6'10 Morez Johnson on an island and undoubtedly this is an easy blow-by, right? Not so much, as Morez beats Lewis to the spot and utilizes the length advantage by staying vertical and coming up with a block.
Imagine an opposing player that must contend with the size/length/shotblocking prowess of Yaxel Lendeborg, and you're fortunate enough to carve out a tiny bit of space by getting into Lendeborg's chest.....................your reward is waiting for you at the rim in 6'10 Morez Johnson (6.3% block rate) and 7'3 Aday Mara (with a 12.3% block rate!).
The starting group featuring three bigs in Yaxel/Morez/Aday is Michigan's best unit on a reasonable sample (97 possessions is tiny in relation to NBA standards, but it the most frequently used group for Dusty May). For context that lineup is a raw +45.5 NET (88th percentile) and when adjusted for the quality of opposing lineups, the starters are sporting a +54.3 Observed Efficiency Margin. Total dominance fueled by size/length/athleticism and manifests in the form of defensive disruption. The starting five has a 39% Hakeem Percentage (sum of block percentage and steal percentage), good for 95th percentile in the country.
Offense
The starting group hasn't necessarily been dominant offensively (120 ORtg/64th percentile), but it doesn't have to be given the defense. An undervalued component of the offensive success is how well Michigan's bigs change ends. Look at the possession below against LaSalle. The Wolverines force a midrange jumper after Johnson perfectly funnels his assignment to Aday Mara. LaSalle converts off a lucky bounce and Morez has the ball in his hands with 18:25 left. Yaxel sprints so fast that he's not even visible on the screen with 18:23 on the clock as Mara hauls ass to get great positioning on the left block.
You may have also noticed in the clip above that Lendeborg's entry pass quite literally leads Aday into an uncontested layup. The passing ability of the bigs is another critical factor that makes the three-headed monster work. We all know about Mara's elite playmaking chops, so rather than state the obvious, let's touch on how Morez Johnson has been a surprisingly adept passer. Coming into the season, most thought of him as a tough-nosed player that is functionally limited to finishing dumpoffs and putbacks. But the playmaking ability has definitely been a revelation.
And what about this pass out of the short-roll? Morez takes a dribble to force Jovic (#38) to commit, which maximizes the space for Lendeborg. He identifies Freeman (#6) sniffing out the lob to Burnett (he's backpedaling), stops on a dime and delivers a precision pass to Yaxel.
Over the last few games we've seen an uptick in Lendeborg's on-ball duties and he's been impressive as a jumbo initiator (this will be very appealing to the NBA). That's a tight window pocket pass that hits Aday in stride for an easy layup. Yaxel posted an assist percentage of 37 in both the Maryland and LaSalle games and it's clear he's a really good playmaker.
The half-court offense was a bit rough at times in the early portions of the season. The Wolverines lacked structured offense on a consistent basis as it relates to post-play specifically, as Coach May adapted to having three bigs on the court simultaneously. We've seen a rise in both overall half-court structured offense rate and post offense in general. Look at this possession against Maryland.
And then we have this wizardry out of the Horns base that generally sees an Iverson cut. Rather than Yaxel executing the Iverson cut, he rejects that action, with Johnson flipping the screen angle and setting a flare screen on a befuddled Grant-Foster (#7). Showing standard base action as window dressing, then getting into a progression/variant that directly exploits the opposition is what we have here. And that is one of the most effective forms of coaching/scheme in my view.