The Michigan Wolverines have built their identity this season around one undeniable fact - they’ve got the biggest frontcourt in college basketball. And it’s not just for show.
Sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr., graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg, and 7-foot-3 junior center Aday Mara make up what’s been dubbed the Wolverines’ “Big 3,” and they’ve started almost every game together. Between them, they account for nearly half of Michigan’s nightly scoring.
But make no mistake - their real impact isn’t measured in points. It’s measured in stops, rejections, and sheer intimidation in the paint.
What’s fueled Michigan’s rise to a historic start isn’t flashy offense - it’s a defense that’s been nothing short of suffocating. Statistically, they’re elite.
We’re talking No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency, opponent 2-point percentage, and opponent 2-point distance. Add in a top-10 block percentage, and you’ve got a group that’s not just big - they’re dominant.
The defensive strategy? Simple, but brutally effective: clog the paint.
With so much size, Michigan dares teams to try their luck inside. The Wolverines are willing to give up some pressure on the perimeter, particularly by allowing Mara - or occasionally Johnson - to sag off his man and prioritize rim protection.
It’s a calculated tradeoff that’s worked more often than not.
But like any scheme, it has its cracks. And those cracks started to show.
From the jump, head coach Dusty May knew the perimeter could be a soft spot, particularly with Mara. At 7-foot-3, Mara’s natural habitat is under the rim, not chasing shooters around the arc.
May even referenced the infamous Fairleigh Dickinson upset over Purdue, where a bench big with a cold shooting history suddenly lit it up from deep. The lesson?
You can’t afford to ignore shooting bigs, no matter what the scouting report says.
That warning came to life in Michigan’s season opener, when Oakland forward Tuburu Naivalurua knocked down three open threes - each one with Mara caught a step slow. To his credit, Mara adjusted. Over the following games, he showed quicker closeouts and even mixed in some “Kornet contests” - those high-hand challenges from a distance that at least give shooters something to think about.
And for a stretch, it worked. Michigan stuck with its drop coverage - switching one through four while keeping Mara deep - and the system held up.
Even against stretch bigs like Gonzaga’s Graham Ike, the Wolverines stayed the course. Sometimes, it came down to luck - opposing bigs just didn’t hit their shots.
But the structure held.
That was until Penn State found the weak spot. The Nittany Lions’ 7-footer Ivan Jurić knocked down two of five from deep, and while the rest of the team struggled from long range, Michigan barely escaped with a 74-72 win. The Big 3 wasn’t as impactful that night, and it nearly cost them.
Then came Wisconsin - and the blueprint for how to beat Michigan became crystal clear.
The Badgers rolled out two bigs in Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-foot-10) and Nolan Winter (7-foot), both of whom aren’t afraid to step out and shoot. Combined, they average five 3-point attempts per game. And against Michigan, they didn’t just shoot - they scorched.
Bieliauskas hit five threes, most of them wide open. Winter added three more.
Together, they went 8-for-14 from beyond the arc. This wasn’t a fluke.
These weren’t bench guys having the night of their lives. These were proven shooters executing a game plan - and Michigan’s defense wasn’t ready to adjust quickly enough.
To their credit, the Wolverines tried to pivot. After Bieliauskas drilled his fourth triple, Michigan shifted into a zone.
But the adjustment came too late and lacked the discipline needed to stop the bleeding. One simple drive collapsed the zone, and Bieliauskas was left alone at the top of the key to bury his fifth three.
Now, let’s be clear - Michigan’s drop coverage is still working. Statistically, they’re the best defense in the country.
But every scheme has its tradeoffs, and the Wolverines’ willingness to let bigs shoot from deep is a risk that teams are starting to exploit. Against opponents with stretch bigs who can actually knock down shots, that risk becomes a glaring vulnerability.
So what’s the answer?
It might be time to lean more on the versatility of Johnson and Lendeborg. Both are more mobile than Mara and have shown they can defend a wide range of players.
Lendeborg especially has taken on tough assignments all season, regardless of position. Using him or Johnson to shadow hot-shooting bigs - rather than leaving them to Mara in drop coverage - could be key to tightening things up.
There’s no need to hit the panic button - not yet. In Big Ten play, Michigan’s size and system still give them a massive edge.
But come March, when one bad matchup can end your season, the margin for error shrinks fast. The Wolverines have the personnel.
They have the coaching. But they’ll need to be quicker with in-game adjustments, especially when the threes start falling from unexpected places.
Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned from past tournaments, it’s that all it takes is one stretch big getting hot to turn a national title contender into a cautionary tale.