Frankie has to be the starter

Not turning the ball over and keeping his head up when driving to the hoop also helps. 

But yeah, I agree.

He will be going forward. I think there was a large enough chunk of game time today to (once again) show what a difference he makes compared to Jones. This will be the point that changes things, IMO

I agree. The team seems better with Frankie at the helm. 

Things sure looked better with Frankie but didn't I read a game or so ago that his defense isn't as strong as Jones? His D seemed fine to me. We'll see what that stats say.

No question about it after today

Today's plus/minus:

Jones -3

Collins +16

Nuff said.

Agree Frankie played really well.  Important to be able to make free throws as a starting point guard.

From the start, the two biggest teamwide issues I have seen are driving to the hoop without a plan and defensive busts. They cleaned up both of those quite a bit today, although there was still some poor defensive movement at times when plays broke down.

Collins played really well and the intensity seemed back for the whole team as a result.  Will have to improve at the charity stripe but looks like the best option there.  No offense to Jones but he just doesn't look athletic enough to play at this level right now and so he makes a lot of mistakes.

Is this where snowflakes are gonna go? Eh sure.

Collins received the keys to the offense in the 2nd half, and it's clear that this is the best for Michigan now and in the future. He's just brings an energy and motion that Jones clearly lacks and though he's still a work in progress scoring wise, his willingness to attack makes him the clear guy moving forward. His inclusion seemed to bring everyone to life including...

Houstan with his first game where he really showed off his 5 star ability. 4 for 5 from deep is going to make him a plus on the floor even as he work out how to defend at the college level. Felt like he was more engaged this game, which is a good sign for sure.

Dickinson: still the guy. Played essentially the whole game, as opposed to his foul filled game against UNC. Felt like the ball moved through him on many of our strong possessions. Nice to see a bounce back performance, and splashed a couple of 3s as well for good measure.

Bottom line is with Collins on the floor and Jones off, everything just seems to function better offensively, and the defensive engagement seems to tie closely to our offensive performance. Can't wait to get Diabate into the mix: Collins, Eli, Houstan, Diabate, Dickinson feels like the finishing group to watch assuming Houstan and Collins continue to progress, particularly if the Diabate/Dickinson can at least provide some spacing threat.

Still don't think this team should be ranked given just how poor Arizona/UNC was, but frankly (pun intended) I think it'll be good for this team to earn their due with Collins on the floor. The improvement today was great to see, and I think there's a path forward for this team to be strong that I didn't see with Jones at the helm.

After this game, you gotta start Collins. Collins runs the offense so much better, collapses the defense, and finds open shooters like Jones can't. His stop/start athleticism and quickness also puts defenders on skates. This team needs to manufacture good 3 point shot looks and Collins does not while Jones can't

Yes. He has the ability and the attitude to be a winner. He will make the offense easier for everyone. 

But, but , but all of the people earlier were saying how we were all wrong and only the coaches can see obvious stuff. 

I'm glad Houstan played a bit better. I really hope they work with him on finishing at the rim. He needs some floaters or crafty moves like the right hand finish because he lacks explosion at the finish. But I'm glad he played well. 

Frankie is clearly the starter unless and everyone sees it. Go on! 

Love that HD got so many minutes. He needs to be the focal point and I'd play him a lot. 

I'd love to see Bufkin grab some minutes at the two because he can also stretch the floor, and I think Brooks is being asked to do too much at times, and his shooting is suffering a bit. 

I’m sure Jones is a good dude, but he hasn’t looked good in any game yet this year (his 8-7-9 or whatever “near triple double” people were hot about came with like five fouls and five turnovers).  Even if Frankie was playing equally as poorly, you need to start him because, IMHO, the odds of a freshmen making strides are much higher than those of a super senior.

Jones would have to be playing much better than Collins to justify playing over him and I think that’s clearly not the case (even without emphasizing the huge  disparity today).  However, I don’t begrudge Howard for trying Jones for a while— a freshman pg is a fickle mistress, but it’s what the teams needs.

He certainly made the case for playing time. I don't mind seeing him eased in like this. Today was a big win, and he's the future.

Still hoping Johns gets his confidence back. It's almost painful when he gets the ball beyond the arc and clearly hesitates to shoot.

Even the one he made suggested the problem, in his oversized reaction to making one.

We're still going to need Jones to contribute. I don't particularly like it but I sort of understand what coach is doing.

It’s beyond obvious at this point. If Frankie didn’t play nearly as much today, this game takes a different direction. He’s needed for what this team lacks right now and that is energy, defense and ball movement. His ability to get into areas and move people around and facilitate ball rotation are solely needed. Jones is a quality back up at this point to provide stability as Frankie matures. Hopefully Zeb and or Kobe will come along as well. 

And all the people said, "Amen!"

Jiminy Ricketts!

I'm just leaving the game. I agree I think this will be the game we look back on as when JH gave the keys to Collins. I think coach gave Jones a big enough sample size to see if he could ever relax and play the position . 

Also really interesting It seems like JH never made a substitution the final 15 minutes of game. 

Frankie is electric!  Doesn't really know what he is doing yet, can't shoot a lick, but great athleticism, can get us easy baskets.  Got into the lane for a layup, had a steal for a dunk, these are the kinds of easy hoops we have been lacking.  Plus, the threat of him getting to the rim opens up the floor.  Clearly a better choice than Jones.

Houstan  much better, he and others hit a few threes and, what do you know, Hunter starts to get some scores in the lane.  Zeb got a few minutes, looked lost out there, still too soon to draw a firm conclusion, but would not be surprised if he transfers, with Dug coming in next year.

Now let's see if Juwan reads the message boards, figures out that Frankie has to get most of the point guard minutes...

#FreeFrankie

Jones has become the second coming of Dan Pelakoudas….for you long time fans

I wouldn’t be surprised if Jones ends up behind Jackson in the guard rotation by the end of the year, and Jackson looked a bit lost this game.  

We were +17 with Frankie in the game and -3 with Jones.  Juwan has to see this, right?

Seeing Collins play more minutes today makes me thankful yet again for Juwan. Not a coach that insists on a square peg in a round hole ala Hoke/Borges with Denard under center or RichRod with running zone read with Threet. See if Jones can be the scorer he was advertised as when coming. Ball handling is kind of a thing for a PG. 

The cool thing about Dickinson's three-pointers is that they were straight money. They didn't hit rim, swirl around- swish every time.