Re: The System Coach Howard has been running mystery
At Coach Howard's intro press conference, he was asked by a journalist what system he was going to run.
He didn't provide any info and basically said his competition would find out when they play against his team.
Some writers, talkers, and doubtful critics ran with it as proof he was a bad hire and a reason to hedge the Hope I'm proved wrong position.
So, after a 7-0 record, which includes quite a FEW wins over some quality opponents and 2 Top 10 wins NConsecutive days with basically no prep time in his initial month of competition....
Have they found out what his system is or tried to explain it yet? Or can anybody explain it in a way that could've been laid out in that unmistakably emotional press conference?
His system seems pretty unpredictable to me; one in which everyone on the floor is involved and a threat to shoot at anytime. Solid, Impressive, and judging from most early reports and rankings...extremely effective.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:38 PM ^
Triangle 2 Box and Run and Gun Power Zone Read Basketball on Wood system
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:51 PM ^
Spider 2Y Banana
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:59 PM ^
Omaha.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
Hot ROUTE HOT ROUTE!
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:30 PM ^
Single engine press to meco!!!!
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:05 PM ^
65 Toss Power Trap!!
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:24 PM ^
Danny, I need that ball
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^
Thanks, guys. Funniest string in months.
Basketball on wood is so subtle and so hilarious.
Howard runs double swing fab five four on 23 skidoo Michigan Man
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:37 PM ^
Tacko Fall! Tacko Fall!
December 3rd, 2019 at 7:52 AM ^
OP knew he could count on the mgoblog regulars to clear this up.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:40 PM ^
Who says a team needs to have one system. Practice everything, figure out what suits your players, mix it up during the game.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:40 PM ^
It's the one where you win a lot of games
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:43 PM ^
Titlegore
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
Let's see...
Beat Creighton, who's generally a pretty good team? Check.
Beat a pretty decent Iowa State team? Check
Defeat two top ten teams in two days (both of which will probably do very good for the rest of the season) and do it with a convincing lead? Check
I call that "pretty good"
I'm no B-Ball expert, but Howard seems to be doing what we all wanted Beilein (as good as he was) to do here: use the 3pt shot as a prominent option but also be able to score on the inside as well. They adapt and they make plays.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:53 PM ^
As purely a fan watching on TV ... the differences that stand out now from the past are:
1. The team runs when it has a chance.
2. There does not seem to be a minimum number of passes when on the offensive end - it looks like many people on the floor (sometimes all five) seem to have the green light to shoot if they are open and feel confident they can hit it.
3. Jon Teske is more aggressive in the low post.
4. When the subs come in, especially for Xavier Simpson, there is no left up - there is no "B-team set" - they run the same offense and play the same defense.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:03 PM ^
biggest differences i see:
1. teske gets a lot more low post touches; not just a screener on the pick and roll anymore
2. a lot more dribble drives by almost everyone, even castleton; not just simpson and mathews last year
3. teske stays closer to the hoop on D; almost no hard hedging at the top of the key.
4. they still don't run as much as i would like them to considering their depth now.
i think the D and wagner will only get better. Go Blue!
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:47 PM ^
5. There is no more autobench with 2 fouls in the first half. I think we have had more players foul out in 7 games than Beilein had all last year.
December 3rd, 2019 at 7:10 AM ^
Yes there is an auto bench with 2 fouls in the first half. Both Simpson and Teske were auto benched in the Bahamas in two separate games.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
I wouldn't call 2 instances "auto bench." JB did it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Howard has shown in some instances he's willing to let them try to play through foul trouble, hence the fouling out.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:46 AM ^
Who has stayed in the game with 2 fouls in the first half? He did let Livers and Simpson play through with 4 in the 2nd half, but he has put players on the bench with 2 in the first. Pretty sure he did that with Wagner against ISU also.
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
6. Let athletes be athletes. To me it seems like our offense is less rigid this year.
7. Let the team have fun. Be like Juan. I think 90% of the difference between last year and this year is the players want to play for this coach. The JP and JB situation has been discussed ad mortem, but watching the team last year felt stressful. It does not with JH. Not even a little. Win or lose it just feels fun and as a young Michigan man at the helm, not as fleeting.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
As long as it doesn't include floor slapping I'm down
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:17 PM ^
What's wrong with slapping the floor? How else do you kill the mosquitos hanging out down there?
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:49 PM ^
It’s the let’s tell the world how to beat Michigan package
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:57 PM ^
No one needs to tell me how to beat my package
December 3rd, 2019 at 1:37 AM ^
^Logged in just to upvote this comment
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:50 PM ^
Defensively, he wants to almost eliminate realistic 3 point attempts, and use the bigs as more of a rim deterrent than they were under Beilein. He will flat give you 12 foot jumpers. You can have them, he doesn’t care.
Offensively, it is less scheme and more philosophy. He doesn’t want anybody to be afraid to try and make a play. He sees passivity as the ultimate enemy. As far as Xs and Os, he runs less complex “sets” than Beilein but is still very dependent on the high screen and roll to initiate the action.
He has proven that he knows what he is doing, he was a good hire, but we are making everything right now. It isn’t sustainable. We are easily a likely Sweet 16 team but this ride will get much bumpier at some point.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
Just let me enjoy it..
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:55 PM ^
I feel the same way about sustainability, but it seems like we have SO MANY guys who can shoot...they cant possibly ALL go cold at once can they?
Plus we dont really have Franz yet. Hes going to add more scoring punch in the event someone else tails off.
It feels to me like Brooks or DDJ are the likeliest to "return to earth", but we have other options at their spots.
December 3rd, 2019 at 7:33 AM ^
Jinxy, jinxy!!!
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:31 AM ^
Maybe we could be like 2018 nova and make everything all year
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:51 PM ^
chin sets on offense, ala princeton. retained a bunch of beilein stuff, but more driving to the hole.
switching b/w man and zone on D, with a 'sag' on D in the middle to force longer 2 pt shots - this last part was discussed recently i think on the front page somewhere.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
Throw in a little understated dose of confidence, ease and dare I say a bit (not yet an overdose) of swagger.
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:57 PM ^
Re:swagger....bench mob is doing ok, but they have room to step up their game.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
Throw in a double click of save too!
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:54 PM ^
just my impression, but on offense a lot of it looks like it heavily incorporates a pick and roll base with read & react principles given the amount of back cutting and the offensive freedom referenced by isaiah livers in a recent interview. we definitely get into a lot of pick & roll sets to start off, then when those don't work it looks like a lot of work has been put into the ball handlers decision-making, as that seems to have improved a lot overall in spite of X's turnovers. if that initial pick / pop / drive action doesn't lead to something really open like a corner 3, we tend to enter it to the big or just reset while wings back cut. it's opened up a lot of creative freedom most obviously for X, Eli, DDJ, and Livers, but everyone overall. it's very pacy and focused on players having the freedom to make quick decisions. very modern, very NBA.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:42 PM ^
Good ballpark summary... and very heavy on the "very modern, very NBA". Because they have been freed to play so fearlessly, attack at every opportunity-at any time within the possession this increases the difficulty of defending them exponentially. ..and further opens up the opportunities for their teammates. This sets up a great, healthy emotional state of mind for playing well.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
Is it a rent free system?
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:03 PM ^
football on hardwood
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:16 PM ^
I'm excited to see what the team looks like later in the season, what changes Howard and staff make offensively and defensively. Teams will have a lot of film on them and will figure out ways to defend them and score on them. What stuff they come up with to counter the other teams is what I cant wait to see.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:56 PM ^
Actually, this is the beauty of this free flowing "system"-you can scout this to your little hearts content and not find a good, straight forward answer. Here, you are relegated to picking your poison. With Teske and the other bigs you have to defend inside. You can pack it in and hope all those snipers go cold enough to keep you in the game-but when the snipers are unconscious out there and being given the green light when they cross the half court line...holy cow-did you see DDJ drain that thirty footer the other day...and he did not even bat an eye about taking it.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^
Pretty sure it's Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:44 PM ^
I feel like everyone with an "intelligent" response already watched the HoopVision video that was linked in the board and on the front page. I could be wrong cuz I ain't 'telligent 'bout no hoops.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:44 PM ^
It maybe turns out running NBA stuff is better than all those touted college systems?
Beginning to wonder if NBA assistants would be near-universally better coaches than all these revered old white dudes in the NCAA.
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:06 AM ^
Why does it matter than the revered old dudes are white?
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:45 PM ^
No more auto-bench.
That alone earns my everlasting gratitude.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
Wrong, both Teske and Simpson were auto-benched last week in the Bahamas when they got foul #2 in the first half.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:50 PM ^
It's the Win System™
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:40 PM ^
Nice try, Coach Mack...
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:08 PM ^
The D.E.N.N.I.S. system. Works every time!
