Below is a transcription of the conversation, that has been edited for clarity. 

Q: There has been lots of debate around who is Michigan’s best player. In your opinion, who is Michigan’s best player and why?

Aria Gerson: I think that Michigan’s best player is probably (junior center) Jon Teske, because he is obviously very good defensively, at center. He has a lot of length (Teske is 7 foot, 1 inch), and he does it usually without fouling, which is really a plus. He can also score too. He’s had a couple of games where he’s had 17 points. He just does everything I think. He’s especially important to Michigan because they don’t have a ton of good backup options. You can tell when he’s not on the floor, there’s a big difference between what they look like with him and without him.

Q: Nationally, John Beilein’s teams have always had a reputation for running great motion offense, but not necessarily guarding well. This year, Michigan ranks second in Ken Pomeroy’s Adjusted Defensive rankings. What has changed this season?

Gerson: Going back to last season, Michigan hired an assistant named Luke Yaklich, from Illinois State. Yaklich is kind of the defensive coordinator, if you will, of Michigan. He has just been very good, pushing defense, making sure they contest every shot, all those kinds of things. At the same time, it’s also the personnel that Michigan has. Obviously, (junior point guard) Zavier Simpson is not a great shooter, but he’s a very good defensive player and that’s just the player he is. So, it’s also just Beilein and Yaklich being conscious of that, knowing how to get the most out of their players that they have right now, it’s good to focus more on defense. 

Q: For MSU fans that only remember (sophomore guard) Jordan Poole from his miracle shot to beat Houston in the tournament last year, what has he brought to this current Wolverine team?

Gerson: He is probably the best threat from deep on the team. He has gone through a little bit of a slump lately, but he’s still the one that you probably want to be shooting threes. But, also, his defense has improved a lot since last year. Last year, he didn’t actually start most games because his defense wasn’t very good. That’s improved a lot at the shooting guard position. 

He can also get to the basket, he can do all kinds of other things for the team as well. He’s kind of been a little bit overlooked this season, I think personally because he still hasn’t had those eye-popping stats (Poole averages 13.1 points per game), but he does a lot. He does things that other people on the team don’t do. He is a good shooter, he shoots well from the free throw line. So, he’s very valuable in that regard. 

Q: Michigan’s offense has been what has betrayed them in their rare losses this season. What has gone wrong in those games?

Gerson: One thing is cold shooting. Poole has had a couple of games where he hasn’t shot well. (Redshirt junior forward) Charles Matthews has a tendency to take a lot of these mid-range shots that are tough twos, and sometimes those don’t fall. So, obviously that’s bad.

Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske, a lot of teams will play off them, try to get them to shoot threes. Beilein, he preaches that you gotta shoot it when you’re open, he’s not gonna tell them to not shoot it. Neither of them are very good shooters. There are some times where the other team will make Zavier Simpson take, like, seven threes, and he misses all of them. Obviously, that’s not gonna be a very good offensive game. It’s mostly just the shooting, that can be very hot and cold (Michigan has shot 28 percent from three-point range in their three losses this season). 

Q: What does Michigan need to do to get a win at Crisler on Sunday?

Gerson: I think the biggest thing, and this is the narrative that is pushed constantly, but Zavier Simpson on defense has to shut down (MSU junior point guard) Cassius Winston. Obviously, that’s a pretty hyped-up point guard battle. If he can do that on the defensive end, that gives Michigan a chance for their offense to stay in the game. 

Somebody needs to hit some shots, it doesn’t matter who it is, if it’s Poole, if it’s (freshman forward Ignas) Brazdeikis, if it’s even Simpson or Teske. There needs to be some threes that fall, because if nobody is hitting anything, you’re not gonna beat a team like Michigan State. 

The other thing is they need to not be in foul trouble, because Michigan’s bench is not very deep. Especially if someone like Teske gets in foul trouble, it’s pretty bad, because there’s not a reliable backup center option.

Score prediction: Michigan 65-62.

The Spartans and Wolverines tip off at 3:45 p.m on Sunday.