Driving to the basket questions

I don't think anybody should be drinking and driving.

tonight was just an absolute joke no matter what they did

So many of our drives seem to end in blocked shots, because it doesn't look like we go up strong. Maybe it's fear of drawing a charge.  We go up, then when the help defender comes, we try to go up and under and end up with an easy shot to block because it's released down low, or we fade away from the basket and end up with a fadeaway jumper rather than a layup attempt. 

We also don't seem to be very good at dishing the ball in the lane at the end of drives when the help defender leaves his man.  It just isn't a strong point for our guards.

I'd rather see McGary develop a post game where he can create offensive chances for himself, and create a threat of an inside/outside game to create open looks for the shooters. We take a lot of slightly contested perimeter shots because our guards are good enough to create some space with their ballhandling, but ball movement in terms of crisp passing seems to be lacking overall. 

The worst game we've played all season. We've started games just as bad (it's a trend) but we've been able to come back. Let's hope we play the neutral sites in the tournament more like home and less like the road. Going to be tough to get a one seed now, need to win basically every game or win the BTT.

trey may very well be the best player in cbb, but the fact that he is so small hurts michigan against physical teams. considering refs don't call handchecking in the big ten, the key to shutting down our offense is to get in burkes pants, and take advantage of his small stature to keep him out of the paint. this is why i question burke's potential in the nba. 

While this teams offensive efficiency has been off the charts, I'm starting to see how much they miss Smot, and his ability to pull bigs out of the paint. He might not have always hit on his 3's but he cleared the lane for other players.

We rely too much on the jump shot and difficult layups... We need to penetrate better (no homo) and get easier looks and create fast break buckets by playing good defense.

They just seemed deflated. It's a young team grinding through the BIG. I think if they have some time to rest they'll be a much better team but I'm not sure if they'll get that opportunity.

They don't avoid contact to avoid injury, they avoid contact so they don't commit a charge foul. The charge call is becomming a bigger part of the game and, in my opinion, is getting called a lot more frequently. I don't think they are avoiding contact because of injury.

Team's regressed.  GR3 especially.  The easiest way to get to the bucket with the ball without drawing a charge is to get an offensive rebound.  MSU had 14, UM had 6.   Take all of the horrible shooting and fouls and charges aside, and there's your stat that defines this game, and the flaw with Beilin Ball - rebounding.  Coincidentally, rebounding is the what Izzo Ball revolves around.  

I still see us beating Staee at home because Beilin will adjust on the boards, and THJ won't shoot 1 for 11 and GR3 can't possibly play worse, though he's put together several stinkers in a row recently.

Reason I hate State isn't because they're good.  It's because they have such an insane focus on solving Michigan.  They rarely win anything, but one thing they're always good for is presenting the formula to the country for how to beat Michigan.  Just as Narduzzi's contain did with Denard, so too Izzo here.  They won't win crap this year or next, but hey, they beat Michigan - all that counts to them.

          THJ is worse than Burke at it, but both struggle to deal with bigs contesting their shots.  THJ should be better, given his height.  Burke's stuggles are actually less than I would expect given his stature. There are small players who are great at finishing at the rim, guys like Tony Parker or Chris Paul.  But those players make use of a (1) lot of head fakes (2)  lateral motion to use the rim to block the blocker and (3) shots with a lot of "English", which are just hard to get good at. 

One thing to watch with Burke is whether he is using his short/mid-range game of floaters and pull-up jumpers.  Both Paul and Parker are excellent at both of those, but effective use of a short range floater really helps open up the small distances that let smaller guys finish, IMHO.  Using a short-range shot like lets your defender know that he can't just run down toward the hoop as fast as he can once you've initiated your drive, because if you do pull up he'll foul or leave you wide open.  That slows-up the on ball defender and helps open up the lane.  

To take another NBA example, this is how Rondo is able to attack the basket.  He's fast, but not blazing like Parker was early in his career.  He has a terrible (but improving) jumper.  He can't jump out of the building.  So how does he effective get to the basket?  He uses short range, though not right at the rim, shots. Once you check up to try and guard those the shots right at the rim open up.

Is it just me or should GRIII have come out a few more times in the past four games? He looks bad and plays weak, but he never seems to come out of the game. He's a huge liability out there due to his lack of ability to score.

The Dribble Weave/Handoff around the perimeter doesn't help. This has seemingly become our offense and It's easy to defend, really. Teams lately have stepped up and hedged the handoff pushing our offense back to half court. Teams have also begun to switch on screens around the perimeter and we continue to handoff which leads to more stagnant offensive flow.



What happened to the multitude of backdoor cuts we used to run? I'm not saying we were Princeton but we use to drive and cut, or drive and kick. We haven't done much of this the past several weeks and its becoming a major issue.

Keep in mind I don't have a high baskeball iq. Our offense appears too predictable sometimes. Two guys camped out at the wings for threes, most times a pick and roll or high screen. Most times it works, especially at home or a neutral court, but not against a tough defense and refs who let physical play go. Why not do more triple screens to get a hot shooter a better shot. They run it every now and then, but maybe I don't have the eyes to see it being run more than when our offense went cold and turnover happy. I would like to see better drives to the hoop from Robinson, who has gone AWOLon offense in the past 3 games.

I'd suggest the M1A1/2 Abrams.

The offense we're running is a variation of the old UCLA high post offense which they ran during the early Wooden years.Beileins version became famous when he had a center at WV named Pitznoggle who could hit the 3 from top of the key.Absent that threat the def. 5 man can sag which clogs up the middle and narrows driving lanes.That and the absense of any players who can drive to the rim with contact makes our offense very easy to defend.We needed 15 threes to beat OSU at home in OT by 2,we are in more trouble   than you think folks.