Men's basketball: thoughts from Las Vegas
1. T-Mobile Arena: Being on the strip I was expecting a bit more. From the outside it looks modern and has some interesting lightning. Inside? Not impressed. Very spartan and generic. Our seats were about half way up in the lower section (2) which was a Michigan section. Seats about equivalent to where I sit at Crisler. However they were a long way away from the floor. We went to check out the upper deck on Friday night (it was closed Sunday) and you are waaaayyyy up there. I would rank T-Mobile behind LCA, Bankers Life (the best IMO) and even Chicago Stadium. The late great Palace of Auburn Hills was far better than this place.
2. The Event: they carried on with a boxing theme ("main event") complete with championship belt and the ring of the boxing bell at timeouts. The in arena music was overpowering to the point of being painful. The timeout entertainment acts were lame. Included a race to play a tic tac toe game. It is obvious people don't know how to play that anymore. . The constant plea from the DJ to "make some noise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" was tiring. The ends of the upper bowl were blocked out on Friday night and the entire upper bowl was blocked off tonight. Oh and $16 cans of beer.
3. The game: Tonight (Arizona) was tough to watch. Michigan was exposed at the point as well as our forwards. Not sure what Caleb Houstan is bringing that keeps him starting and playing major minutes. Both Frankie Collins and Kobe at least played with some needed energy and I would give one of them a shot at staring pg and would start Diabate at forward over Houstan. Was disappointed in so many Michigan fans bailing out with almost 5 minutes to go.
November 22nd, 2021 at 2:00 AM ^
Shame on those Michigan fans not staying to watch one of the most pathetic performances this program has seen in years!
On a more serious note, Caleb Houstan is currently the least productive top-10 freshmen in the Sagarin era. Yikes.
November 22nd, 2021 at 2:15 AM ^
It's falling apart before it got built.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:39 AM ^
Nope.
November 22nd, 2021 at 11:17 AM ^
Lol.. your comments age well.. it's fun to read.
November 22nd, 2021 at 12:44 PM ^
Where were those fans going? Not like there's much else going on around there.
November 22nd, 2021 at 2:17 AM ^
This team better improve before B1G play or they will not come close winning the conference!
November 22nd, 2021 at 2:54 AM ^
KenPom Ranking of Opponents thus far...
Losses
Arizona #20 KenPom (neutral floor)
Seton Hall #31 KenPom (home)
Wins
Buffalo #80 (home)
UNLV #124 (neutral)
Prairie View A&M #249 (neutral)
What's it going to be like when we play hostile road environments?? I'd say they have some work to do be a tournament team before they can think about winning the conference.
November 22nd, 2021 at 6:09 AM ^
I feel a spin on the Playoffs? gif is needed here. The team was overrated based on previous success and assumed talent coming in. They were wrong. My concern right now is MSU and Michigan actually swapping expectations for reality.
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:17 AM ^
Very astute observation.
November 22nd, 2021 at 2:28 AM ^
Eh ... We're a foot ... bask ... Hockey. We're a hockey school.
November 22nd, 2021 at 3:54 AM ^
Notre Dame would like a word.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:00 AM ^
Enough with this saying. Just enjoy the programs success. It will vary year to year. At least we have all 3 sports where were ranked. Football exceeded expectations from just about everyone and is likely headed to the Rose bowl. Basketball shouldve made it to the final 4 last year and lost 4 pros and 1 very productive player off the bench. Why cant we just be an all 3 sport school, sick of that saying.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:27 AM ^
What is wrong with football right now?
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:52 AM ^
Can't risk jinxing anything before The Game.
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:41 AM ^
So fucking lame to see this meme after any loss in any sport.
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:50 AM ^
Well the latest is that we're a women's soccer school.
November 22nd, 2021 at 5:13 AM ^
$16 cans of beer… too expensive to throw.
November 22nd, 2021 at 6:54 AM ^
A comforting thought is that Juwan Howard is the head coach. Many of the players came here because of him, not because he isn't here. No doubt he will pull them together and attain the potential that each is expecting, not to mention the potential that fans are expecting. Go Blue!
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:42 AM ^
“ Not because he isn’t here “
What?
November 22nd, 2021 at 6:57 AM ^
It's early. Calm down. I'd rather be a well oiled machine in March than November. There are lots of freshmen, and it'll take time for them to understand the system. I'm not worried at all... yet. If we're playing like this late December, then I'll start to worry.
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:34 AM ^
Agree. But this may take longer than December for the team to get things figured out.
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:46 AM ^
Understand the system? We couldn't make a pass, catch a pass, hit the rim, or get a shot off before time expired.
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:12 AM ^
The current recipe to beat Michigan is to clog the lane and force them to shoot outside, which they currently cannot do.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:55 AM ^
Unfortunately, it isn't that they aren't hitting their shots from 3 (which they're not, obviously). They are refusing to even attempt them. Hence, doubling Dickinson every time he touches the ball only to dish it out to the perimeter and not even getting a shot off. I've seen more pump faked 3pt attempts this year in five games than all of the previous 3 years combined. Johns and Williams keep pumping from 3 and then driving into the lane that is already packed because the defense is doubling Dickinson in the paint.
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:11 AM ^
Nobody looked like they actually w as noted to shoot anything other than a layup. It was disturbing to see how many passes were made out of what should have been a shot attempt instead.
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:20 AM ^
Is Caleb Houstan the new Adrien Nunez? Jace Howard and Jaron Faulds shot 100% from the field.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:58 AM ^
I think Houstan isn't being played to his strengths. I know he is versatile, but with the spacing issues the team is having currently, I would like to see him take on more of a Livers role of patrolling the perimeter off the ball looking for kickouts. He is driving WAY more than he should be right now.
November 22nd, 2021 at 10:25 AM ^
…. because his 3 pt shots aren’t falling, so he seems to have lost confidence and is trying to create off the dribble which is not his forte. And because his shots aren’t falling he’s not scoring which makes his defensive liabilities even more pronounced.
November 22nd, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
I mean, he's been driving too much all year IMO
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:21 AM ^
OP's point #2 is a good description of much of Vegas: Cheesy, overpriced, noisy.
But, there's lots to like about the area, too. Some of it's off-strip.
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:32 AM ^
Why isn't Zeb playing? He hit a couple huge 3s in last years NCAAs.
November 22nd, 2021 at 10:26 AM ^
He’s hurt
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:33 AM ^
Wow what a dissapointment this team has turned out to be aleady..I wad just shiocked at how BAD they were
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:38 AM ^
All the flipping drama queens on this board. For Pete's sake, this team is young. Super young. You lost a shit ton of talent last year. There will be growth. Juwan has shown he is a good coach and w fantastic recruiter.
So basically calm down, everything is going to be alright
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:29 AM ^
I’m kind of sick of hearing how young this team is. We start a 5th year senior, another senior, a senior who is 23, and a sophomore who is a preseason all American. Newsflash: That ain’t that young. That’s probably more experienced than 70 percent of teams. If you want to say this team is still gelling due to new roles and new pieces coming in, ok. But stop crying about how we are so young we can’t possibly compete with anyone right now.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:57 AM ^
Alright you're right but let's break it down just for fun.
- Jones is struggling, unsure if it's because he isn't gelling with the team or if it's Howard's coaching style or if it's because he was overrated.
- Houstan is really struggling. I'd chalk it up to him being a freshman and having a hard time picking up the speed of the college game.
- Brandon Johns is Brandon Johns at this point.
- Bufkin and Collins haven't seen the floor enough to know how effective they can be. I do know at this point there is a lot of holes in both of their games.
- Dickinson is Dickinson. Last night he learned how life will be in the NBA. A lot of what made him effective last year what Michigan and shooters to space the floor.
- Michigan's shooting sucks so far. Eli is the only one I trust to hit 3.
- They are young. Bufkin, Diabete, Houstan, and now Collins are starting to see significant playing time.
- They'll improve. The season is young. Strange things happen. Let's try to cheer them on and not be dunderheads
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:02 AM ^
#6 all day. The domino effect of not being able to shoot the ball is that Dickinson has no room to operate. Also, they are passing up open looks or semi-open looks constantly. Houstan dishing on a wide open three to attempt a tough pass to Dickinson down low yesterday as an easy example. Johns and Williams pump faking threes for eternity also.
November 22nd, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
Lol, you missed a true freshman that is starting. And the first 4 guys off the bench are 3 true freshmen and a true sophomore, which the true sophomore usually plays more than the senior you mentioned that starts. That means 6 out of your top 9 in the rotation are either true freshmen or true sophomores. You realize that more than just starters play, right? And that having 4 true freshmen out of your top 9 players means almost half of your contributors are playing in their 5th college game ever, right?
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:43 AM ^
Here's a thought. They fuckin' suck.
But it's ok. You're dealing with a lot of youth. It's very raw. And this was a strange tournament. Games getting over at 3 am and then this for a follow through.
The Seton Hall game was more unnerving than this one. No excuse to lose that game.
Martelli is going to coach them up.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:51 AM ^
Not sure why but your initial response really made me laugh.
A few thoughts:
- Winning pre-B1G non-conf games are a SOS luxury but have little negative effects, only rankings and if you give a shit about rankings in November, well you're an idiot.
- Howard is going to try to mix up the rotations early with a young team and yeah, it's not always going to be smooth. Although it doesn't seem like were running actual offensive sets unless Brooks it setting them up.
- God help yes with a shooter. Really could use a sniper from 3 if we're going to shoot this poorly. Anytime Houstan.
- D Jones was known for his defense and up-temp, fast break play but he's fouling a lot for PG and that's going to limit his aggressiveness late in games.
We good though.
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:43 AM ^
My kingdom for a Wagner, any Wagner!
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:10 AM ^
How about this one:
This guy might have some eligibility also:
November 22nd, 2021 at 7:45 AM ^
Jones will settle in. Houstan will figure it out. Johns looks completely lost. Get the growing pains out of the way early.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:04 AM ^
Having been at both Vegas games, my opinion is Offense needs 4 out to create closer spacing for perimeter passing. Opposition is overplaying passing lanes, and this would open up interior for back cuts. Agree that Frankie brings energy and extreme upside at the PG. He and Kobe need more mins, let Caleb and Devante watch for a bit.. processing things from the bench is helpful - especially if the team finds success with the other lineup.
On defense, we didnt switch up looks until late in 2nd half when they went to zone. And that worked for 1 possession, then there were 3 drives that ended in alley oop dunks. Maybe go back to drop coverage and figure out how to defend weak-side, pack the paint to restrict movement.
I trust Coach Howard & the assistants to keep tweaking things, building up confidence in the younger guys.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:32 AM ^
Agreed. There are no indications that those who are here bitching and whining have even an elementary understanding of the profound nuance that enters this great game. The staff is working with an extensive rebuild situation...this newness includes everyone and every aspect of the game. Juwan is an elite college coach-and so is his staff. I expect the "switch" to flip at some point and when it does we will all be smiling.
November 22nd, 2021 at 10:14 AM ^
Sure but there's some basic things like missing open 3s that are not going well. Of course, I'm fully confident we'll have a reversion to the mean. Just has not been a good stretch of games to start the season.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:15 AM ^
Team is very young, and recruiting stars got them ranked too highly.
They got a serious reality check on the hype.
Couple of observations
Johns just doesn't have a game.
Hunter is a very good college player, got a glimpse of his limited abilities against better athletes, NBA reality check.
Freshmen will improve by BIG season
Guard play should work itself out, plenty of options.
This board was talking powerhouse smack all off season, dial it back and let them develop.
November 22nd, 2021 at 8:50 AM ^
Zeb Jackson gone?? Anyone.....?
November 22nd, 2021 at 9:07 AM ^
Listen, I love Howard and the future he's going to have here but for some reason watching this game all I could of is Beilein. How he would have absolutely punished this Arizona team with his patented style. Three pointers, low turnovers, FT shooting, execution. Super athletic teams like Arizona used to always struggle against Michigan, now we are the super talented team with no other identity than dump it down low and some highlight dunks.
Again, just interesting how Michigan has completely changed since Beilein left.