on 2K sports Kevin Harlan here alongside Greg Anthony and Chris Webber T.A David Aldridge is on our sideline hey take it away thank you Kevin in this era of player empowerment it's often the Stars prerogative to change teams and so often they choose the destination markets for the small Market teams that leaves one option draft your Superstar and build around him quickly because guys that clock is ticking faster than ever it always does thank you D.A and for a look at how the competition Stacks up right now these the new Power Rankings they tell a great story they're obviously disappointed with how things are going momentum working right now against them well seeing where this home team is right now they're just right now outperforming those pre-season predictions and that's because they're getting help from some unlikely sources so the Wolverines starting five for teams with a lot of new players Greg this time of year can be a real challenge sure can and just getting on the same page takes some time and then you have to build that trust weathering the storms together will help [Music] it'll be the Wolverines off the tip right against Brooks pulls up on the elbow that's good on the jump shot and the lack of effort to fight over the screen there makes often you have to be willing to put in the world outside Thomas unloads from 13. that one doesn't go now the Wolverines take it the other way yeah and they lost the season series to this squad last time around maybe a little extra motivation tonight to show they've improved foreign clutch Brooks outside fix the shoe leans oh good on the shot a bit long that time his interior scoring is one of the things that drives their offense don't expect him to miss me at all from 13 Brooks grabs the board I'm so Brooks will bring it up for the Wolverines yeah tough game on the road the guys you're defending obviously comfortable shooting in their own building you've got to find a way to break their Rhythm you got to be locked in on the road I mean when there's no cohesiveness on defense you're in danger [Applause] great pass to set up the land and once he got to the 10 I think he was surprised to find himself that wide open he had very little resistance and we had to bring much faster help than that and that goes and they'll keep possessions here's Mr fundamentals [Applause] the first quarter oh trying for it and out of bounds as the Wolverines gained possession the Wolverines have gone two or three here to start out the game Jones looking for an opening [Applause] Barnes outside out to the right wing inside Jones locket six in a screen on Irving here's Jones the 18-footer is right on the mark and here in the first approaching three minutes played [Applause] for fundamentals started by Jackson here's Mr fundamentals [Applause] to end the cold streak and that one is off and so the first quarter is in the books he hits the Wolverines up by six after this break we'll be back with the start of the second quarter on and for those of you just tuning in the second quarter of action is where we're at right now and taking a look at the Wolverines performance here guys what have they been doing or not doing what we saw in that first quarter they won their matchups defensively yeah they really got after it I mean they made life extremely difficult from the shoes which is why they hold his lead and the home team has possession they Trail by six in a moment now to reset the lineups courtesy of Gatorade all fueled up for the second quarter of basketball they've got Smith Fighters out there with Tufts and it's Osborne in the powerful to the inside the kid down to right down to five on the shot clock inside Thomas jacks up a three drills the three-pointer Thomas got himself going with the triple his first basket of the game because we see all these teams make all these moves to bring in Big Time talent but how important is chemistry between those players once they are sharing the same locker room but it's funny because chemistry doesn't show up on the stat sheet nor in Analytics Wisconsin hold you accountable support you and some of you enjoy the journey two minutes remaining in the first half takes it inside off on the layup man you don't see this fella flow many layers now they can see like that first personal battles of all teams making some changes here Wolverine substitution right here in the second quarter with a little over a minute gone yes it's a captain clutch on the wing Brooks guarded by right to shoot and right pulls it down there's Cleveland down it goes jamming that one home oh and he went for the two-hander on the slam using some muscle some urgency from him there sure Brooks against right now here's Brooks the layup off Target right looking around right set the screen driving in that's tipped this is the pass to Kenny and the layup is good Brooks has got his first points of the night you can learn a lot by watching him operate in their offense and for those of you just joining us we're almost two and a half minutes into the second quarter and that one good in that race the floater is one of the toughest shots in the game the Wolverines leading by three and right pulls it down drawn three of their first five shots to drop here in the second quarter pass to Thomas [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] releases and a great job by the Deacon testing that shot to portion the best and that'll do it for the first half of the competitive game so far Wolverines lead by three and we'll be back right after halftime to get the third quarter underway welcome the first half is in the books so let's check out the top performers for each team I mean who doesn't love a five-star matchup like this both players showing their competitive Matrix igniting their teammates fire with these performances expect this level of play to continue in the second half I have to applaud their offensive consistency they're not wasting possession or taking bad shots that's a testament to their Patriots their discipline they're focusing on playing intelligent basketball thank you for being with us now let's send it to Kevin Harlan for the second half tip foreign that first half we saw a pretty tight battle we'll soon find out what sort of adjustments were discussed during the half and so in the game for the Wolverine [Applause] and it's right missing the Wolverines leading by three I'm ten feet out trained for two points yes being a disaster it's 25 from the field so far a shot off that time nice D from Brooks is it to Canada and he goes strong with the one-handed Jam the knee just kind of stepping aside and letting him get to the rim there's a reason she a the lead is what it is right now the coaching staff has to be upset you can't give the opposition it's a great move and he catches the defense completely off guard if you'd like to see a little more energy coming out of halftime or the defensive foreign [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Applause] he had a strong showing last season fourth in blocks and he was just a machine at the charity strike top five in the league in free throw percentage and he was a shot blocking machine last season for sure as you said top five in the league he gave ground to absolutely no one foreign basketball just over a minute played so far Jones against right right and here is Barnes still looking for his first bucket in this one shot clock at five foreign [Applause] and you know what he's just not on his hand no doubt about it their deficit isn't totally on him but he has not been an asset for his team it's not easy to keep him from converting those I mean the D has to be airtight took him no time at all on that one and it's six points for the Monster uh the timing couldn't have been better on that assist [Applause] 51 seconds left in the third here's Jackson banged in off the glass Jackson's got his first two points and they're beginning to just flat out fall apart defensively right now especially on the interior [Applause] [Music] Ballard that one's not going to go the Wolverines leading by four a little over two and a half minutes off the clock in this final half of play over to the left wing Jones up top [Applause] outside Jackson there's the screen the Wolverines need to get a shot that's exactly what you need to do The Wolverine shooting their first free throws of this number one and one of the highlights last year for this group was the fact that they were so efficient from the charity strike that's a huge Factor take a break take a break two shots foreign [Applause] [Applause] good on both oh not many players with the more steady hand at the free throw line in this fellow here's the three and we've watched three so far in this one with the score it's the Wolverines up six and right after this we'll bring you the star to the final quarter right here on 2K sports [Music] how about a look at today's State pharmacist of the game and he may not be known as a pass first guy playing out of the two guard spot but he shows here that he can Dole out an assist or two when he needs to no need for hero ball there I mean you just need to make the right basketball play outstanding dish that time foreign ers [Applause] six-point game so with Thomas sitting on the bench this is who Scott Brooks has out there they've got Mr fundamentals Smith is out there with flash then there's Irving and it's Osborne into the center position Brooks missing us he hasn't chipped in with many points tonight the good thing he has the guys around him he's carried away huh you can't get that one to fall how the Wolverines take it the other way now here's Brooks he's covered closely for the rebound just 26 percent out there a terrible showing from an offense capable of much better Connor good in the assist goes to Irving yeah nothing too fancy just getting the job done when they need to make every possession count [Applause] one minute now puts it up from 15. he gets them one and the Wolverines Levi six and the lack of effort to fight over the screen there makes that an easy shot we've seen this all too often you have to be willing Mr fundamentals passes to Osborne [Applause] here's Mr fundamentals Brooks covering here's Wilkes misses off the right iron the Wolverines leading by six now to Brooks no good with the way up drawn one or three from the field to start the fourth quarter here's Mr fundamentals and we're around two minutes into the fourth quarter here Master Wilkes outside Irving oh good on the three the 47 pretty South bounce pass Collins he dishes it to Brooks over Urban Brooks outside and so they choose to intentionally fight First Team Battle Wolverine substitution [Applause] they go to the intentional Channel [Applause] Jones [Applause] take a break take a break two shot [Applause] it's the first that makes it a seven point lead so it's both teams making substitutions here thank you the second one is good getting both at the line and it's an eight-point game thank you [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] foreign [Applause] checked in foreign 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter of this one right side Thomas [Music] no good that time guys they can just sit on the ball here if they want to they have earned this win right against Brooks and so it's the Wolverines with the win and it will win a comfortable win in what was the legendary it really was you know it's never going to be courtesy problem