Howard & Double Teams is the New Beilein Autobench Snowflake Thread
January 9th, 2020 at 9:41 PM ^
Another career night for an opposition player. Defense has fallen off quite a bit.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:53 PM ^
In 4 B1G games, 3 teams have seen one of their dudes have a career night. I liked it (no double team) w Iowa as they love the 3. Tonight? Not so much - they can’t shoot and Teske was giving up point blank shots. Should have doubled much earlier.
Great night for Williams, but man, Teske had been decent in the past on the ball.
He got owned tonight
January 9th, 2020 at 10:01 PM ^
As a contrarian - Williams made about 5-6 shots v Teske that were well defended, including that underhand Bob Cousy bullshit.
He had a hell of a game - but thank goodness reality set in.
Gutsy win - Go Blue!
January 10th, 2020 at 10:57 AM ^
Williams was Kevin McHale redux.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:10 PM ^
Gotta second Mike Damone, Williams was in the freakin zone and we should have run under the dribble several times, doubling him just briefly, it throws off the rhythm slightly. Almost lost the game because of this.
January 9th, 2020 at 11:01 PM ^
Purdue didn’t crack a point per possession. Individual stats are meaningless if the overall offensive output comes in below mediocre
January 10th, 2020 at 2:09 AM ^
Yea this is getting lost in the shuffle of Williams having a 40 minute...call it what you want
January 10th, 2020 at 9:25 AM ^
True but Purdue has had some terrible offensive games recently. So would it have been even lower if they had doubled more?
I go agree with some others here though. I only got to see a long highlight package but a lot of those shots weren't easy. Not like he was just backing down Teske and turning and tossing it in from 2 feet out.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:46 PM ^
Teske just needed to stop giving him the baseline. It was BBQ chicken every time. He had less success going the other way. Credit to him tho, he made some tough well contested shots too.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:48 PM ^
If he got it deep on the left block, it was a wrap!
January 9th, 2020 at 9:54 PM ^
A lot of those were really bad shots that just so happened to go in. I doubt he'll be able to replicate tonight's success if he continues to throw awkward shots like that up. Teske played him pretty well but luck was really on his side.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:00 PM ^
i mostly agree, but teske really didn't do a good job denying williams the ball. the kid did have a religious experience, but teske needs to do better maintaining his activity level on defense. i noticed that in OT, when teske was more active with hands & feet in preventing the initial post, williams didn't score for a couple possessions, one being a turnover. still... that williams kid was a highlander tonight.
January 10th, 2020 at 12:29 PM ^
The guy made all manner of shots. He couldn't miss. Three that stand out:
- Underhand shot (really where did that come from)
- Step back three pointer
- Fadeaway along the baseline
The three pointer especially did it. Williams is not a three point shooter but he was feeling it last night. Teske contested everything but he just kept making them.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:46 PM ^
I am no basketball savant and even I was like, shouldn't we be doubling the guy scoring all the points?
January 9th, 2020 at 9:51 PM ^
Don’t sell yourself short - you may be the exact guy that this coaching staff needs to consult.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:10 PM ^
Yeah, I know nothing about basketball and even I thought we should be doubling. In fact, I had the idea that we could have all five guys guarding the ball and then they'd never score. I don't know why Coach Howard hasn't tried it yet; if he had my intellect, we'd be undefeated right now.
January 10th, 2020 at 6:52 AM ^
5 defenders on the ball. I remember what it was like to watch 6 year olds play soccer. Very effective strategy, I think you're on to something.
January 10th, 2020 at 8:41 AM ^
I was yelling that at the TV for most of the game. Doesn't seem that complicated, especially when most of their team could hit a shot.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:46 PM ^
The team has heart. Simpson is a fucking bulldog. Fought like hell. Clutch shots to put it in OT and then double OT. Wagner w/ a hell of a defensive play to prevent my brain from imploding. DDJ played very well down the stretch, I thought (he should start over Brooks).
This game was a must win w/ two-straight away games coming up and the B1G being as stacked as it is. They sent the fans home happy. They deserve a lot of credit for their performance.
But! W/ Haarms, their leading scorer, out of the game, this should have never gone to 2 OT. W/ Haarms against Illinois, Purdue scored all of 37 points all game. In the 2nd half alone, w/o Haarms, they scored 34. Howard letting Williams almost beat them—like he allowed Pritchard to beat him last month in a game Michigan should have won—was awful. And the missed free throws were awful. AND FUCK THE REFS! I don’t even except biased calls to go our way at home. But please stop fucking us over. Almost won Purdue the game by themselves in 2OT.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:47 PM ^
Unless my replay was bad, I don’t think Wagner blocked that last shot. The dude just completely biffed it.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:55 PM ^
Correct. The rim blocked it
January 9th, 2020 at 10:21 PM ^
Thanks rim.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:04 PM ^
Still affected the shot.
Edit: Weirdly, ESPN in their play-by-play says that Wagner blocked the shit, as does their highlight of the play. I wonder if box scores from other places will count that as a block, too.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:36 PM ^
I think he knew that the clock was about to run out and was trying to get it out of his hands, and basically short-armed it. If he goes up for a layup or dunk he might not have gotten it off.
Makes up for the James Harden step-back 3 with a 7-footer in his face at the shot clock buzzer for his second 3 of the year.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:49 PM ^
Haarms going down was the best thing that could have happened to Purdue. They may have just discovered an absolute beast.
If Haarms stays in this game, he eats up half the touches and that dude never has the game he has.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:01 PM ^
Gonna disagree there. Without Haarms, their rim protection was reduced to nothing.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:00 PM ^
Besides the terrible elbow to the chest that was called a block, I thought the refs were good
January 9th, 2020 at 10:11 PM ^
Purdue had a chance to make it a one-possession game at the end of 2OT with an atrocious OOB call that they didn't overturn. There were a couple other soft fouls called in the 2OT only to swallow their whistle when Williams bowled Brooks over to get his 20th rebound (which lead to a Purdue 3).
January 9th, 2020 at 10:50 PM ^
That's the problem, you don't want good refs at home. You want crappy ones who get intimidated.
The refs gave us plently of leeway on the ball out of bounds on a rebound. That's usually my measure.
January 9th, 2020 at 11:58 PM ^
Yup, refs were fine. But people here freak out if there is an evenly called game at Crisler because they think the league is out to screw the team when on the road.
January 10th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
Williams with only 2 fouls = refs not "fine." Not even close. He easily racked up at least 4 obvious calls in the first half alone. And officiating even worse when Teske's fouls were touch fouls.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:31 PM ^
This game was probably a template for the upcoming non-Neb., non-NW schedule, at least until Livers gets back. Nothing is going to come easy. Maybe win a couple games with good shooting, maybe win a couple with defense or poor opponent shooting, maybe win a couple with grit like tonight. Just get enough Ws so that we can still be in a position for a #5 or #6 seed when Livers comes back. As Brian pointed out yesterday, if we go 11-9 in the BIG, that might do it.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:48 PM ^
That big white guy for Purdue just couldn’t seem to get out of haarms way today..
January 9th, 2020 at 9:53 PM ^
I laughed way too hard at this.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:48 PM ^
Why can’t you be happy?
January 9th, 2020 at 9:51 PM ^
Because we are Michigan fans
January 9th, 2020 at 9:55 PM ^
No shit. He’s got 5 posts bitching about double teams and feels the need to start an OP on the same topic. We won. Drink.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:03 PM ^
Relax bro. You’re on a site that still uses the Harbaugh to Oakland meme 5 years after the fact.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:05 PM ^
Not relevant, but okay
January 9th, 2020 at 11:51 PM ^
Oakland is always in play.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:19 PM ^
Seriously. In case OP hadn't noticed, on any given night in the B1G this season, anyone can win.
We won tonight, and it's way better than having lost.
Have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:28 PM ^
Rofl y’all are so uptight it’s hilarious. My thread isn’t negative. I’m relieved to shit we won. Every coach has an annoying habit fans bitch about. Seems like we found Juwans like we did with Beilein and autobenching.
Christ...
January 9th, 2020 at 9:49 PM ^
How is it that big men look like all-Americans against us? Teske is a very skilled and large defender. These guys seem to make everything, despite the low-quality looks that Teske allows them.
Foul trouble plays a role - as the backups area huge downgrade, but still...
January 9th, 2020 at 9:51 PM ^
Kid got into a rhythm against Davis and Castleton and treated Teske like a turnstile afterward.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:50 PM ^
It was only a matter of time before Williams’ arms wore out.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:53 PM ^
I didn't think that leaving Teske one on one (and not in foul trouble) was the worst decision in the world. You definitely don't want to give open spot up threes to Purdue. Teske's a good defender, a senior, and smart. If anything, I would've just told him he had fouls to use and to go ahead and grab him if he gets inside position off the spin/pivot. Make him shoot two with his 45% FT. Doubling opens up a whole can of worms.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:32 PM ^
My thought exactly regarding the ‘foul the 45% FT shooter’ sentiment. Although Williams did hit 2 straight FTs, knocked down his 2nd 3 pointer of the year, and dropped a step back 17 footer with Teske up in his business. He had an out of body experience.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:53 PM ^
Honestly, it is hard to be frustrated about Teske's defense. Besides a few easy ones, that dude made a TON of difficult shots, not to mention a fadeaway freaking three pointer. Otherwise, Teske did everything he could.
January 10th, 2020 at 8:43 AM ^
The kid shot close to 60% and most of his shots were point blank at the rim. I come from the thought process that a layup is highly more efficient than a 3. So even if you give up a wide open three the odds of it falling are still less than Williams scoring down low. Plus outside of Stefanovic none of those guys are great outside shooters...we could’ve treated Eastern like teams do X and invite him to shoot jumpers. Besides they didn’t need to run a hard double, just scrape down to have him get out of his rhythm. He was too comfortable backing down Teske.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:55 PM ^
Takeaways I see:
1. DDJ needs to start and play 34+ minutes a game. He plays in your face D, another solid ball handler, can create for others with Z. Fair shooter. I like his game. Can’t say that for many on this team lol. He will have bumps, but you live with it.
2. The bench needs to be shorter from start to finish. Like 7/8. Nunez shouldn’t play. Davis/Castleton only when Teske needs breaks or foul trouble. Basically Z, Brooks, Johns, Wagner, and DDJ 4 of those 5 on the court at all times if no foul trouble or injuries. They are college guys. They can handle it. JB did this for years. Kudos to Howard to do this in 2nd/OT’s.
3. Howard has to find a way to get Brooks involved early. He plays really well or awful, not much middle. Howard and staff have to try and find ways to get him going early if they can.
4. We miss Livers. I think if he comes back, Z/DDJ/Livers/Wagner/Teske is a pretty good 5. Don’t like the bench, but Brooks and Livers can be the main 7.
5. Every game will be a grind. Just gotta do enough winning to keep the program on the “up” and make the tourney. I think that will get guys like Todd/Christopher to sign on the commit line. Not that we are playing for next year, but I look like it we kind of are to get these freshman to sign.