2018-19 indiana #1

Things discussed:

• Craig can beat Joe Simon one-on-one.
• Greg Mattison is off to make his money, takes his integrity with him. Michigan absolutely would have had him; this was an Urban Meyer move.
• Dispelling the Mattison myths: No he didn't underrecruit Zach Harrison. No, Big Foot isn't buried under this studio.
• The Game is a business: how much do the fans care?
• Hoops: Developing the bench. Johns! Still skittish as an offensive player, but boards and athleticism and blocks, oh my!
• Poole now the 3rd dragon. Iggy isn't a black hole anymore.
• Is this a national championship team? They're beating very high expectations.
• Big Ten basketball: It's Michigan-Michigan State. No awful teams in the league; Rutgers is 100ish and beat Ohio State. McQuaid shut down Carsen Edwards.
• Sam: "X has no hope against Cassius Winston-*wink*"

You can catch the entire episode on Michigan Insider's podcast stream on Podbean.

Segment two is here. Segment three is here.

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link
• What's with the theme music?

Michigan's lost 99/100 to Ohio State we're all insane; can we please talk some basketball?

This show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan nobody would get our jokes. Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, and Lantana Hummus

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1. The Brandon Johns Game: Indiana

starts at 1:00

Hey there Brandon Johns. Do we like him better than Davis? M offense devolved to a lot of heroball when he was in. Poole showing off his 19- and 20-foot game, and the thing he did to McBob.

2. The Jordan Poole Game: Penn State

starts at 1:00

Turnover fest was always going to be Michigan’s once they could get a run, and they did it with transition and a lot more help defense. Zavier Simpson kept their efficient PG to 44(!) ORtg.

3. Seth's Ace's Hockey Podcast

starts at 1:00

It was a long goal. A very long goal.

4. Around the Big Ten with Alex Cook

starts at 1:00

State spent the week without Langford, proved they’re right with Michigan on top of the league, plausible one seed. Minnesota-Wisconsin out-Big Ten’d Michigan-Penn State. Happ taken out of the game. Wisconsin doesn’t have the role players to complement Trice and Happ. Iowa plays you up to them, still can’t play defense, won an urgent game vs. Nebraska, who was just as desperate. Illinois is terrible, but are they really Rutgers-terrible?

MUSIC

• "Candy (Drippin' Like Water)"—Snoop Dogg et al.
• "Squid Song"—Rathergood
• "Fear of Heights"—Apollo Sunshine
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link (right-click/save-as)
• What's with the theme music?

I like the fact that I'm not the guy who sounds like a cynical dick anymore

1/6/2019 – Michigan 74, Indiana 63 – 15-0, 4-0 Big Ten

Midway through the Penn State game Jordan Poole poked a pass into the PSU backcourt, corralled the ball before it got out of bounds, and attacked PSU's center with a nasty step-through that drew an appreciative "aouww" from play-by-play guy Jason Benetti. Poole got fouled, giving Dan Dakich the opportunity to neatly define Poole's ineffable Poole-ness:

Great commentary on Jordan Poole #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/4JkO4zrd11

— Daniel Pinedo (@dpgoodness) January 4, 2019

"I guarantee you that he played so much basketball without a coach, or without a ref, or without a scoreboard. Just playing. Where out of bounds is the grass, or out of bounds is the street … there's such a difference between guys who just play and guys who are manufactured by a trainer."

Nobody will ever accuse Jordan Poole of being manufactured. His newly-activated driving game doesn't go in straight lines. It wanders all over the neighborhood like a Family Circus comic, leaving the befuddled in his wake. Watch question marks sprout from the heads of Indiana defenders:

You are something special, @umichbball's Jordan Poole. pic.twitter.com/sDW9is0pgn

— Michigan On BTN (@MichiganOnBTN) January 6, 2019

Watch four different Indiana defenders form an honor guard for him as he swoops to the rim:

Jordan Poole slicing through IU's d pic.twitter.com/bolMxvTGW6

— Adam Bowman (@imAdamBowman) January 6, 2019

Watch this guy's best Nick Ward impression:

Poole toi de là pic.twitter.com/v1EgR2hAQD

— NCAA France (@ncaafrance) January 7, 2019

In one buttoned-down Bob Knight sense that last clip is not the right play. The right play is the kickout to an open 40% three point shooter in the corner. The off the dribble semi-contested jumper is a worse shot. The laws of math say pass. The laws of coaches with slicked-back hair and anger issues say pass.

The laws of basketball demand otherwise, and Jordan Poole is ruled by those and those alone. To not complete the highlight would be the gravest sin. To not take the heat check is unthinkable, because the heat check might go down. And then! And then, well, I mean. You know. The entire arena collapses, overdosed on swag.

This, I think, is what John Beilein meant last year when he said that Poole was a strange player for him to coach. His career has been built by taking limited athletes and drilling them on the basics until they're the kind of regimented outfit that never finishes outside the top 10 in turnover rate. There's a certain mechanical aspect to what Michigan does. This is completely, obviously fine. But with limited exceptions its the system that makes the players go. These days NBA evaluations of Michigan players come with Beilein-is-too-good-at-systems disclaimers.

Poole does stuff that makes your palms itch. Then the shot goes in and you have to pretend that you were on board with the departmental reorganization all along. Yes sir, promoting a technical superstar who's worn the same silvery sweatpants for four years to management is a good idea. Yes sir, that contested NBA three with 20 seconds on the shot clock was within the bounds of the gameplan. Carry on.

You can't yell at a guy for shot selection when he's hitting 60%/47%. Half of those threes are from NBA range. In four Big Ten games Poole is 17/21(!) from two. As the season moves along here his usage is ticking upwards and his efficiency is holding steady.

The swag is approaching uncontained levels. So Poole's a weird guy to coach when you've spent your career being the best fundamentals coach in basketball. But you can't tamp down the swag and expect Poole to remain Poole. A tame unicorn is just a horse.

[After THE JUMP: Brandon Johns reporting for duty]