MBB Upcoming Game against UCF
Interesting tidbit I just caught. We're playing UCF on Sunday in Men's Hoops and I think I assumed that would be a relatively easy game. Well, interesting enough, they had their first game last night and knocked off Auburn.
After the Oakland game, I'll be interested to see how we do against a quality-ish opponent and I thought we might have to wait until we host NC State next week but looks like we could get a good test this weekend against UCF. Wouldn't be shocked, whatever way it goes, that UCF ends up being a Quad 2 win (according to Bart Torvik)
Looking forward to the team's response this week against Ball State and UCF.
December 1st, 2020 at 11:26 AM ^
Sorry, Ribs. I'm not a very good lip reader. So, I don't know what you're trying to tell us.
December 1st, 2020 at 12:24 PM ^
Edit-
December 1st, 2020 at 10:47 AM ^
I didn't see much of the 1st half, but from what I saw..... we were terribly unprepared to face Zone D..... Once we figured out getting the ball to Dickinson was to solution (because he either scored or dished to a slasher for an easy bucket) it wasn't that much an issue.
I'm guessing had we figured that out in the 1st half, it wouldn't have been a close game.
Juwan is still a new coach, i'm betting he doesn't fail to prepare for Zone D again.....
December 1st, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
Youre right
The team usually lives or dies by the 3. Howard changed that tone and the offensive approach when everybody outside of Livers was broke from 3. Changing an offensive approach in the game is a nice change of pace.
The defense was suspect though, but I fully assume that will catch up with more playing time.
We cant forget that these guys are playing in a lifeless arena. The team is young but will continue to gel. Howard seems like a coach who will put his best team on the floor while playing to their strengths. Thats a sign of a good coach
December 1st, 2020 at 2:50 PM ^
Well, literally every college basketball team outside of maybe MSU lives and dies by the three, whatever that means.
You miss open looks in todays game, you lose. However, OU did a good job of preventing them.
Also, you make it sound like Juwan Howard reminding and reviewing the 2-3 offense at halftime is some magic thing that Beilein wouldn't do.... high school freshman teams have the 'let's review our 2-3 offense' halftimes.
December 1st, 2020 at 3:48 PM ^
What people clearly don’t get is most teams you play through the year play man in college. Facing Zones early on can be problematic especially in a season with limited practice time. And Kampe is a great coach he didn’t sit in the same boring 2-3 he switched it up on Michigan. As a season progresses you see Zones, who don’t have the required length from players, start to fizzle out in college. Look at what happened when Juwan went to the 2-3. Oakland struggled big time.
What Juwan ran against the Zone wasnt the issue. It was stupid ass decision making against the zone by our guards that was the issue. First guards refused to get into gaps. One time Brooks did and it led to a Dickinson dunk. The rest of the time the guards were content on chucking 3s. Go watch again Michigan would get 2 middle or short corner post touches that led to great shots/dunks then Brown would come down and Chuck a 3 followed by someone else doing it mostly Franz(he is pressing).
December 1st, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
This isn’t the wishbone or a triple option offense in football. Teams will go zone periodically during games just to change up looks, especially out of time outs...so this notion that it shocked them I don’t agree with. You’re other point was more spot on, the decision making is what doomed them. They all have been playing basketball for most of their lives, individually as well as collectively they should’ve reacted better to the zone.
December 1st, 2020 at 5:18 PM ^
No I think my whole point is spot on and no where did I say it shocked them.
Early on zones can be tough because of practice time and game reps and they peter out through the year. College teams just don’t spend a ton of time going against a zone in practice because they tend not to see enough all year unless you have a team playing it exclusively in your league
Let me ask you this if you have two games a week and 20 total hours of practice time how much time are you spending on Zone stuff when you might see it 5 total poessions in each week?
And yes the decision making is what ultimately doomed them but I’m not surprised they struggled against it in their 2nd game
December 1st, 2020 at 6:02 PM ^
imo, smith's foul trouble was a big factor here. i think he would have broken down that zone much better than brooks.
December 2nd, 2020 at 7:54 AM ^
Yes teams practice against it and yes they’ll see it more this season...once again the zone isn’t some novel concept that only Oakland runs, Michigan ran it in the same game! So if they practiced it on defense, I’m positive they practiced zone breakers on offense. Teams will now run zone more against Michigan because it befuddled them in this game. It would be foolish for them not to work on it now in the days after.
December 2nd, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
I hope teams do exactly what you said and try to run a zone when it’s not what they normally work on. Michigan will eat it up! A non zone team trying to consistently play zone with have gaps all over the place!
December 1st, 2020 at 4:49 PM ^
Lazy passes and missed open threes - I think it should be clear that this year everyone needs to be prepared to play or you are going to lose to underdogs.
If they go up against a good zone team again they are going to have to score from the free throw line and not just rely on getting it to Dickinson the paint. I haven't seen him catch and pop from outside yet but hopefully he has that in his game.
December 1st, 2020 at 11:37 AM ^
Also don’t forget about that one guy who made 5 or 6 threes in the second half.
December 1st, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
there's a divincenzo in every bunch.....
December 1st, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
It's a good win for UCF and thus Michigan's SOS, but keep in mind Auburn isn't going to be good this year. They were expected to take a major step back this year (lost something like their top 6 scorers from last year) and 5 star freshman Sharife Cooper is sitting out due to NCAA eligibility questions.
So far Auburn's 1-2 with their only win a 5 point OT win over St. Joe's, which went 6-26 last year.
On the other hand BGSU pulled out an OT win @ App St. last night, a game they were projected to lose on KenPom.
December 1st, 2020 at 11:22 AM ^
Agreed on all fronts. I certainly wasn't suggesting that Auburn is going to be at the level they were last year by any means. But as you say, it's a good win for UCF and thus, good for our SOS.
I also noticed that NC State has had two really convincing wins (against sub-par competition). I'll be interested to see how they perform against UConn this weekend.
December 1st, 2020 at 11:27 AM ^
Surprised pearl didn't put that bag to work and get a bunch of 5 stars!
December 1st, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
Uh, I know you are kidding, but that's kinda what got them where they are now.
December 1st, 2020 at 1:45 PM ^
I was going to put that UCF win in perspective as well, but well done. It doesn't guarantee anything but Auburn is by far not a BB juggernaut. These tests, win or lose, are very valuable going forward while boosting our SOS.
December 1st, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
But on the flipside Oakland is getting smoked by Purdue. Oakland has played 5 games now and we were the only right one so far.
December 1st, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
Would have loved to have seen Dickinson face off against a UCF team with Tacko Fall.
December 1st, 2020 at 3:16 PM ^
I would not have loved to see that. Tacko Fall is a beast. Not that Dickinson isn't, but Fall is like 7'6". I remember the great game he had in the 2019 NCAA Tournament against Duke, the one in which Dawkins' would-be game-winning putback rimmed out as time expired.
Fun fact: Tacko Fall was a great student who majored in computer science at UCF.
December 1st, 2020 at 12:30 PM ^
They still have Aubrey Dawkins?
December 1st, 2020 at 1:14 PM ^
No -- he has moved on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_Dawkins
December 1st, 2020 at 1:17 PM ^
No Dawkins and a VERY young team. We're talking, two upperclassmen, young....
December 1st, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
In looking at this roster, lots of length but lacking quick feet, I would hope that Michigan works on developing some zone defenses that keep certain people in position to take advantage of their strengths and minimize their vulnerabilities. One of the great zone defenses is the 1-3-1 as it allows you to have great on ball pressure while mitigating penetration at the same time-all the while keeping a rim protector in place. Having Dickinson low, Franz in the middle with Livers and Brown on the wings-OMG...offensive hell. I want to see this or a 1-2-2 worked on...1-3-1 is greatly preferred.
Otherwise, it is time to start consolidating, condensing the player rotations and refining the execution. This game is so heavily nuanced and, in this regard, the players need to know exactly what they can expect from their on-floor teammates. A well-oiled basketball team gets down to a 7 or 8 player rotation...time to head this direction.
December 1st, 2020 at 1:01 PM ^
I dont see any way that you can get the rotation down to 7 right now. Livers, Franz, Brown, Brooks, Smith, Johns and Dickinson are locks for minutes. Thats 7 already. Davis is still starting as of the last game. Terrance Williams has been lethally efficient in his time on the court. I guess if you reduce Davis and Zeb down to 5 or so minutes a game then you are down to 8 because I would keep letting Williams play.
December 1st, 2020 at 1:45 PM ^
While I want Davis to be used in limited but strategic ways and Zeb to be out of the rotation in any meaningful games....this is the type of game when you actually want the rotation to be deeper. Granted....you want to have a lead first. My hope is that we pull ahead early in this game and can then give guys like Williams, Zeb, and Johns more run.
For NC State? I hope we're down to a 9-man rotation with Davis being match-up dependent and Williams used for a spark for short stretches.
December 1st, 2020 at 4:53 PM ^
Yeah, we really do have a good team to run a zone D this year.
December 1st, 2020 at 4:24 PM ^
Hmmm...
Oakland vs. Purdue is now in progress and, well...
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/gametracker/live/NCAAB_20201201_OAK@PURDUE/
On a side note: what insane kind of schedule is Oakland playing? This is their FIFTH game!
December 1st, 2020 at 4:32 PM ^
Oakland getting blitzed by Purdue today isn't a great sign going forward. We are their only close game.