The Michigan Basketball program announced on Saturday that backup point guard L.J. Cason would miss the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL suffered in the Big Ten regular-season championship-winning game at Illinois on Friday night.
Cason was in the middle of a great sophomore season in which he averaged 8.4 points, 2.4 assists, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game, while shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from three. Those shooting numbers are a huge improvement from the 36.8 percent overall and 24.6 from beyond the arc he shot last year as a true freshman.
The injury will have a ripple effect on the entire team, as head coach Dusty May will have to figure out how to work his rotations without the player that college basketball expert Jon Rothstein refers to as “the best backup point guard in college basketball.”
Rothstein expanded on his thoughts on Cason’s injury and what it may mean for the Wolverines as we approach March Madness. He began by discussing his displeasure of seeing good teams lose a key member, like Texas Tech losing JT Toppin and BYU losing Richie Saunders. And while he admitted Cason’s injury isn’t as significant as those others, it’s still one that will have a major impact on Michigan.
“Michigan suffered a substantial, substantial blow, in my opinion, on Saturday when the news came out that L.J. Cason, Michigan’s backup point guard, is going to miss the remainder of the 25-26 season due to a torn ACL,” Rothstein said. “L.J. Cason had separated himself as the best backup point guard in college basketball. And when I had Brad Underwood (on the show) prior to Illinois’ game against Michigan on Friday night, he reaffirmed the sentiment and said Michigan was a better offensive team when it went to its bench with L.J. Cason in the game.
“Now that rotation goes down to eight. Now all of a sudden, Michigan does not have a stalwart backup point guard. Now all of a sudden, Michigan does not have somebody to give you offense off the bench. And now the pressure becomes that much more obviously immense on Elliot Cadeau, who I think unequivocally is now the biggest key to whether or not Michigan can go to the Final Four and win a national championship in Indianapolis.
“It’s not a blow that Michigan can’t get through, but it is a blow. Michigan is not the same team as it was prior to the Illinois game losing L.J. Cason.”
I think Rothstein nailed this. Things are going to look a lot different for the Wolverines with Cason sidelined, and they won’t have that Vinny “Microwave” Johnson type of player to come off the bench, lead the attack and hit some perimeter shots when they were needed.
As Rothstein mentioned, Cadeau will be leaned on much more the rest of the year, but he won’t be able to do it all. As I proposed on The Feed, I think Michigan should also give some minutes to Yaxel Lendeborg in a true “point forward” role. Having Lendeborg in this role for a few minutes here and there per game would give opponents in March Madness some different looks they may not be as well prepared to take on. Lendeborg is the second-best distributor on the team behind Cadeau — he averages 3.3 assists per game, just one spot behind Cadeau’s 5.5 — while only averaging 1.2 turnovers each game.
In this scenario, May would be able to keep Trey McKenney at shooting guard — where he has been at his best this season — have Nimari Burnett or Roddy Gayle Jr. at the wing, and then Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara as your bigs, per usual. This lineup with Cadeau on the bench would have solid size, shooting and defense. And while it would be devoid of a traditional facilitator, keep in mind Michigan would only have to lean on this lineup for 5-10 minutes each game.
So yes, while Michigan’s chance of winning the national title became more challenging without Cason, it is certainly still attainable.