deandre haynes

3/8/2020 – Michigan 70, Maryland 83 – 19-12, 10-10 Big Ten

Maryland is not known for looking particularly… uh… coached even when they're pretty good. Your author has taken in many of their games this season, one in which they won a share of the title in the toughest Big Ten ever. Despite the results the number one thing I've thought during these games is DO SOMETHING! RUN A PLAY!

This is a common experience.

Mark Turgeon is one of the better coaches in college basketball. Also, he has like three plays, maximum

— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) March 1, 2020

Does Turgeon not have, like, plays

— Drew Magary (@drewmagary) March 1, 2020

In situations like these it's always wise to self-administer a Dunning-Krueger check. I am not a basketball coach. I am an amateur internet basketball sleuth.

Am I out of touch? Nope! It's the children who are wrong.

Mark Turgeon: "Guys, we've played six [games] in 13 [days.] That was a tough stretch for us, okay? So we haven't really had a lot of practice time — and I'm not making excuses, better team won — but we have like five plays that we can run."

— Andy Kostka (@afkostka) December 11, 2019

The perception is in fact reality. Matt Painter takes guys who look like NAIA dudes and has them run in Mandelbrot loops until some guy's open in the corner; Mark Turgeon runs pick and roll, the end.

So it felt pretty bad in the first half when Michigan was struggling to find shots against a Maryland team that was doing some things on offense that weren't "I dunno dribble around and jack something up." Then the TV cut to a Maryland huddle, which featured DeAndre Haynes exhorting the Terrapins about something or other while Mark Turgeon looked on. He was probably thinking "man, DeAndre is doing a really good job."

Cold comfort, but at least the world made a little more sense.

[After THE JUMP: same old story]

Illinois State to the Final Four [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Talkin' 'bout Yak. Sam Webb interviews Illinois State head coach Dan Muller, who actively tried to get his assistants the jobs at Michigan they in fact got:

“I was talking to him about the next step in his career and what he wanted to do, what his aspirations were as a coach, and how I could help,” Muller recalled. “He said, ‘hey, what do you think about Michigan?’ And I said, ‘I think that would be a great place for you. Have you ever met Coach Beilein? (He said), ‘no.’ I said, ‘okay look, in this business I am going to tell you the odds are you won't get the job because you've never met him. A lot of times coaches hire guys that they know or have met at least.’ I said, ‘if you want, I'll call him and just see.’"

“I called Coach Beilein that day and left him a message. He called me back a couple days later and said thank you very much, but I've got a couple of guys I think I'm going to hire. I actually recommended DeAndre Haynes, also, who was on my staff. I said, ‘coach that's fine. If anything changes give me a call. I think both of these guys would be terrific for you.’

That is incredible on many levels. Beilein listened to a cold call about a couple of guys he didn't know, did the requisite research to bridge that gap, and hired both of the Illinois State guys on offer. And the guy who'd hired them in the first place and saw them build a team that absolutely should have gotten an at-large NCAA bid in the MVC was selfless enough to kick that process off.

Additional YAK. Yahoo's Jeff Eisenberg has another long feature on Michigan's defensive coordinator:

The first priority Yaklich drilled into his team before Saturday’s game was to take away Florida State’s vaunted transition attack. The Wolverines responded by not surrendering a single fast-break point to a Seminoles team that scored 14 two nights earlier against Gonzaga.

The second point of emphasis from Yaklich was keeping Florida State from generating second-chance points. Michigan held the Seminoles below their season average in offensive rebounding percentage despite playing four guards for most of the game.

Yaklich’s final objective was to successfully foil Florida State’s pick-and-roll game and force the Seminoles to win the game shooting contested jumpers. The Wolverines fought over screens, made crisp rotations and recovered to shooters quickly, contributing to the Seminoles scoring almost nothing easy at the rim from start to finish.

“You have to take away the roll man against Florida State,” Yaklich said. “They’re so big and long. You watch them on video, and they’re throwing dunks in from five or six feet away. We just had to stop their momentum to the basket and then it’s the effort we always talk about on defense of getting back to the shooters.

“We have a phrase that we yell every day in practice every time a ball screen is set, and that’s “Do your job.” That means you’ve got to sprint to where you’re supposed to be right away. Those practice habits helped.”

Uh… what? Yahoo collects a bunch of coach quotes about the Final Four teams, and the guy talking about Michigan is a little cheesed off at the end:

Prediction: Loyola can beat their asses. Everyone saying this is a mismatch is wrong. Loyola has a bunch of like pieces, which screws up Michigan’s offense. It’s going to be a defensive-type game, which means that anyone can win. Look at the teams Michigan feasted on: Texas A&M, Purdue, Michigan State and Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament. If you play big like those teams, they are going to annihilate you. If you switch and junk it up and play almost guerrilla-warfare coverage on defense, they’ll struggle to score. If you can switch, which Loyola does 1 through 4, this game will be close.

I have a lot of problems with these assertions. One: Nebraska switches one through five better than anyone else in the Big Ten because Isaiah Roby is an elite defender. Two: Loyola's center is a plodder who's extremely ill-suited to switching. Three: who cares about switching 1-4? How many PG-SF pick and rolls do we think Michigan is running?

Also this was a bit of an odd assertion:

One thing we noticed was that they’re unbelievably handsy and grabby. I was almost taken aback at how physical they are. You don’t expect it. It’s going to be a physical game, you have to be ready to fight in the streets.

Can't say I've noticed a FIGHT IN THE STREETS kind of defense except for that one game against MSU, but I guess that's the word on the street. Mostly they just contest stuff. That doesn't make them WVU.

Best friends forever. Tim Hardaway Jr drew up a play for Trey Burke during Burke's 40-point double-double:

Hornacek let Hardaway Jr. draw this play up ... AND IT WORKED PERFECTLY. pic.twitter.com/m3VHfg2q0P

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 27, 2018

Of course it was a long two off the dribble.

Speaking of. Burke as Allen Iverson is happening:

The Knicks gave up 137 points to lose… but hey, Trey Burke! Pay no attention to his reliance on midrange jumpers.

Doubling down. Myron Medcalf managed to write a 3,000 word story about the rise of the three pointer in college basketball without a single one of them being "Beilein." Michigan is in the Final Four! Beilein's had one team in the last 15 years that wasn't in the 90th percentile in 3P%! Pittsnogle! Pittsnogle.

Instead, Medcalf's 3,000 word story includes quotes from Jaren Jackson, Miles Bridges, and Tom Izzo. I'm not even mad. I'm impressed.

Minnesota makes a hire. The Gophers' new hockey coach is St Cloud State's Bob Motzko. Motzko was SCSU's head coach for 13 years, during which the Huskies made 8 tourney appearances, including five of the last six years. Motzko never paid off his regular season success in the tourney as he reached just one Frozen Four and didn't get to the title game, but worst tourney in sports, etc. He's now got access to the biggest talent base in college hockey—seems like a pretty good hire.

Etc.: Miles Bridges declares for draft, hires agent, avoids going 1-5 against Michigan. Saban admits some offers aren't committable, which is fine. ESPN on Wagner. Baumgardner on the building blocks. Top talent now almost entirely avoids college soccer. Regional photo feature. The Great Tennessee Coaching Search Dump. Nick Boka profiled. Franz Wagner highlights.

The Michigan Insider's Josh Henschke got the scoop last night on Michigan's assistant coaching search: John Beilein has reportedly hired Illinois State assistant DeAndre Haynes for one of the two open spots. Haynes hasn't actually coached for ISU; he was hired there in May, and Beilein obviously coveted him if he was willing to put another program into such a tough spot.

When Billy Donlon departed, multiple hoops insiders mentioned that Beilein would try to fill the two open spots with an experienced coach and a younger up-and-comer. Haynes fits the latter bill with the added benefit of being a local guy. A standout point guard at Detroit Southwestern, he went on to be a four-year starter for Kent State and won MAC player of the year as a senior. He left KSU as their all-time leader in assists and steals before spending six season playing pro ball overseas.

After his playing career, Haynes returned to Kent State as an assistant in 2012, spending four seasons in that role before taking the same position on Toledo's bench last season when the Rockets offered a contract he couldn't turn down after he'd previously passed on opportunities to leave his alma mater. He's coached under a couple successful mid-major coaches in Tod Kowalczyk and Rob Senderoff.

ISU planned to have Haynes focus on coaching their guards, and he could have a similar role at Michigan. The other assistant coach spot remains open. Director of Player Personnel Chris Hunter will presumably continue to serve as an interim assistant with permission to recruit until that spot is filled.

Haynes may not be a big name, but he's about the same age as LaVall Jordan and Bacari Alexander were when Beilein hired that pair. That worked out alright.