Oakland fans, there is some good news that came out of the 92-48 loss to the Michigan Wolverines on Sunday. The Golden Grizzlies are still 0-0.
In the charity exhibition at Little Casers Arena, Oakland looked overmatched. A seemingly vastly improved Michigan team dominated the contest from start to finish, with Oakland looking disjointed on offense most of the night and struggling to put stops together all game.
The big number was beyond the arc. Oakland shot 2-30 from three, while Michigan made 15 of 35, that’s good for a 45 to 6 margin from three-point land. You will not win many games that way.
Looking deeper at the shooting numbers on Oakland’s side, this should not be a result that sends doomsday scenarios throughout the fanbase.
Proven shooters like DQ Cole and Jayson Woodrich combined for 2-20 from deep, while another marksman in Malcolm Christie added an 0-3 as well. This performance from these three will most likely be looked back on as an anomaly, rather than the norm.
Woodrich, however, had a nice night. He led Oakland with 18 points and was scoring his buckets in a variety of ways that was not seen in his four years at Cleveland State. He was showing his prowess off the dribble, getting to the free throw line, and looked comfortable with the ball all night.
David Allen Mukeba looked to be a reliable interior threat as well. Going against one of the most imposing frontcourts in the country, Mukeba was not fazed. He used his body to finish five of his eight looks, good for 11 points. After losing Trey Townsend and Chris Conway, this was a relief for Oakland fans to see a scoring threat inside.
The bench did not provide much support as the game went on, as they made two baskets all night. Jaylen Jones struggled getting things set, the freshman were freshman playing in their first big game, the Hoth brothers also struggled. Deng Majak made a few free throws and didn’t look physically overwhelmed, which was a plus.
Defensively, Oakland did not have it. Two strengths of last year’s team were its three-point defense, and it’s rebounding. Oakland gave up 15 threes and was outrebounded 52-33. Losing a leader on that side like Isaiah Jones is going to be a hit to the team’s defense early in the year, and yesterday showed that it is a work in progress on that side, just like everything else. There is nothing in the Horizon League that mirrors Michigan’s size, so going up against the biggest and the best early can only prove to help in the long run.
The only real takeaway you can have from this game is that Oakland needs to be better. The good news is that they will. Last season’s exhibition season began with a loss to non-D1 Walsh, two years ago was a one possession squeaker at Rochester University, the year before that was a home loss to Eastern Michigan in a charity game, and a 52-point loss to Xavier began the 2020-2021 regular season. Those four seasons have seen Oakland make two Horizon League championship games, win a league regular season and tournament title, advance in the NCAA Tournament and avoid a losing conference season. That amasses to a 69-61 record, 48-31 in the conference.
Greg Kampe’s message was the same for all of those seasons, and it is no different for the 2024-2025 version of the Golden Grizzlies. All that matters is putting yourself in the best position possible to win in March, and none of those opening stinkers affected that ability. This one will most likely not as well.
The exhibition season is not over too, as Oakland travels across the city to NAIA Rochester Christian University. It should be a wild environment at Garth Pleasant Arena on Friday night, with play starting at 7pm ET.
