Sports

Elliot Cadeau Put Michigan First By Executing Big Brain Plan To Have Awful Game On Purpose

#Michigan Wolverines
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© Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images


Elliot Cadeau was not the star in Michigan’s Final Four win over Arizona on Saturday night, at least not on the stat sheet. In fact, on paper, it appeared he had a truly awful night shooting the basketball.

Dusty May drew it up that way. Cadeau executed the plan to perfection. He purposely posted terrible numbers to achieve the best possible result.

The Wolverines advanced to the national title game with a blowout win over the Wildcats. The 91-73 final score actually made the game seem closer than it really was.

Michigan was up by 16 at halftime. Its lead grew to 30 before Arizona closed the gap in garbage time. The Wolverines believed in their head coach’s approach, even if it meant making sacrifices.

Elliot Cadeau had a good, bad night.

The point guard recorded a final line of 13 points and 10 assists. He shot just 29% from the field with the majority of those misses coming from close range.

Dusty May commented on that performance after the fact. He says the stats were misleading.

“A couple of those (misses) were passes off the backboard,” the coach clarified.

He explained that the team went away from the typical lob passes to counteract Arizona’s size inside. It, instead, relied on Cadeau making high arching passes off the backboard which ricocheted into the hands of Michigan bigs.

As a result, Cadeau’s night looked average. His teammates were the beneficiaries, Aday Mara in particular.

The center scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Three of those boards were off the offensive glass. A couple might’ve actually been assists from Cadeau, at least in Dusty May’s mind.

“(It’s) something May saw in film,” said assistant Mike Boynton. “Elliot is a wizard with the ball in his hands. He four missed shots credited to him that were passes.”

Elliot Cadeau sacrificed his stat line to get the win. Had his coaching staff not let the media in on the secret, most would’ve continued believing he struggled offensively.

He didn’t mind. The team was the most important thing. The unselfishness has Michigan playing for a national title.