Early on in Michigan’s 90-77 Sweet 16 win over Alabama on Friday night in Chicago, color commentator Steve Lappas started asking the same question that loomed large in Dusty May’s mind heading into this season: ‘Can Aday Mara play in this game?’
In the first half, Michigan’s 7-foot-4 center struggled to keep up with Nate Oats’s blistering pace and five-out offense. In the second half, Michigan slowed the game and pulled away. But the Mara problem Alabama presented might be the key to derailing the Wolverines’ national title run.
Some team may be able to pull it off, but that team is not Tennessee, Michigan’s opponent in the Midwest Regional Final on Sunday.
Alabama played Michigan’s three-big lineup off the floor on Friday night
From the moment he put his roster together, May couldn’t have been sure that his three-big lineup with Mara, Morez Johnson Jr., and Yaxel Lendeborg would work. Mara’s passing and Lendeborg’s continued development as a ball-handler and three-point shooter made it not just possible, but one of the most dominant lineups in the country…