College Hoops Thread

Submitted by Jordan2323 on December 9th, 2020 at 5:40 PM

Clemson putting it on Maryland right now. Wisconsin beating Rhode Island bad at halftime. Michigan plays on FS1 at 6 pm against a good 3 point shooting Toledo team.  Some more Bigten/ACC tournament games tonight. 

Interesting discussion during the game where they were talking about Clemson going 12 deep into their rotation. They talked about how FSU has been doing it the last 5-6 years under Hamilton and being successful. A valuable style if you have the talent to play that many. 

Basketball

UMinSF

December 9th, 2020 at 6:48 PM ^

Boy, this was a terrific half of basketball. Michigan looks really solid on both ends - I like the defensive intensity, and offensively I love the way we started right off attacking the basket with our bigs - opens up great shot opportunities for everyone else.

Michigan's got great size, lots of scoring options and enough athleticism - the one missing element is a great handle/distributor at point. 

This team is really fun to watch.

Joined: 04/06/2009

MGoPoints: 18205

UMinSF

December 9th, 2020 at 7:01 PM ^

I disagree with many here about Franz. He's obviously struggling with his outside shot, but I think he does a good job flowing in the offense, occasionally attacking the basket and hitting the boards. 

He still flashes grace and skill that's eye-popping.

I kind of like that he's not forcing things, letting the game come to him.

Defensively, his long arms really disrupt.

He's still gotta get stronger, and he makes mental errors like any kid; he'll get there.

When he regains confidence in his shot he'll be fine. 

Joined: 04/06/2009

MGoPoints: 18205

Qmatic

December 9th, 2020 at 7:23 PM ^

I’ll be first to say, when Christopher went to ASU and Todd de-committed I thought “Dickinson as the jewel of the class is a bit underwhelming”

Ill eat my lemon

Joined: 01/09/2013

MGoPoints: 33124

TheCube

December 9th, 2020 at 7:29 PM ^

TBF Dickinson under Beilein wouldn’t be doing any of this shit either. For all of JB’s coaching prowess, big men-centric basketball was not his priority or forte. Juwan has shown great flexibility w regards to his roster composition so far in his tenure over the last year. 

Joined: 12/19/2018

MGoPoints: 31597

Frank Chuck

December 10th, 2020 at 12:22 AM ^

I'll be *that* guy and toot my own horn.

I actually did see Hunter Dickinson as the crown jewel of this class (even when Josh Christopher to Michigan seemed like a lock) for 3 reasons:

- When Juwan Howard was hired, I wondered if he would try for the modern NBA big man or go for  true post players (as UNC has done through Dean Smith's disciple Roy Williams).

I'm of the opinion that every Michigan team should have a stretch 4/5 (like Wagner) *and* a post player (like McGary). Hence, such a team would have size, versatility, and a potentially dominant rebounding frontcourt. (Two of my criticisms of Beilein were (1) our average rebounding *and* (2) his unwillingness to use 2 big man line-ups.)

- Dickinson was/is very polished with a dominant back-to-the-basket game. I fell in love with what I saw on highlight tapes and the ESPN showcase games. (Ex: He outperformed 5 star USC freshman Evan Mobley in a national spotlight game.) Remember when Michigan was pursuing Walker Kessler? On a different board, I said that I preferred Dickinson because he was likely to stay 2-3 years. This leads to my next point...

- Josh Christopher is a OAD. And unless that OAD is the level of a Anthony Davis or Zion Williamson or Derrick Rose, they don't lead a team to a Final Four. (Yes, I realize that Duke didn't reach the Final Four with Zion but that wasn't Zion's fault. Coach K seemed to trust RJ Barrett over Zion with the game on the line which proved to be a mistake.) I'm a broken record about this: experience matters in sports especially in college athletics. (That's what made the Fab Five such a huge revelation for the nation. They would go toe-to-toe with many experienced teams and often beat them.)

-----

While Dickinson is dominating offensively, I've actually somewhat impressed by his defense in spurts. At times, he smothers PnRs and drives. (Caveats about competition apply. PSU will give us a much better indication of where he - and really the entire team - truly is.)

Joined: 05/01/2015

MGoPoints: 15916