The Ace Pod 3.8: Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars
This episode, as always, is brought to you by the law offices of E. Jason Blankenship, who may be socially distanced from the courthouse but is still taking on clients. You can find his new website here.
You can follow Connor on Twitter and subscribe to his newsletter, A Lonely Impulse of Delight, that includes literary analysis of Calvin & Hobbes and, blissfully, nothing about Michigan athletics. Dan is not a writer but he is @ThiccStauskas on Twitter. If you’d like to hear more, the two co-host the newly titled Yet Another Michigan Football Podcast. Alex Cook you know from his writings here, and his blog about The Grand Castle.
[Writeup after the jump]
SEGMENT ONE: POST-WISCONSIN CACKLING
Alex is happy to be talking hoops. He gives his thoughts on the Wisconsin game while I fail to locate my pants. Then we answer questions about the scariest Big Ten teams left on the schedule, what areas of their game current players have improved the most, and where Franz Wagner slots in among the best defenders in recent memory.
SEGMENT TWO: THE ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION IS GONZAGA
More hoops questions! Is the team peaking too early? What flaws could a good opponent exploit? What happened to Terrance Williams’ minutes? Who’s the last freshman in football or hoops to be as pleasant a surprise as Hunter Dickinson? A bit of contention on this next one: would you trade Mike Smith for X? Is Naz Hillmon gonna win NPOY honors? Listen as we hopefully give the correct takes.
SEGMENT THREE: FINE, SOME FOOTBALL
Quick (we promise!) reactions to Harbaugh’s retention, Mike Hart’s hiring, and Mike MacDonald as a college DC. We answer one (one!) football question. Then I kick everyone out, dim the lights, and…
SEGMENT FOUR: SLOW JAMMING THE FANCYSTATS
It’s baaaaaaaaaaaaack.
Songs:
“Ya Mama” — Fatboy Slim
“The Line” — D’Angelo
“Never, Never Gonna Give You Up (Instrumental)” — Barry White
Download:
Link.
“That’s a tough verb conjugation there, Dan.”
January 14th, 2021 at 8:23 AM ^
Impressive frosh: Mike Hart.
January 14th, 2021 at 8:36 AM ^
Same year Henne was a freshman, too.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:02 AM ^
The statistical overview of how Michigan nearly lost the Oakland game I think is instructive in what a loss looks like. Michigan turned the ball over like crazy and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn (including 1-10 from 3 for Chaundee Brown). So look for teams that make us uncomfortable on offense by using defensive pressure to force turnovers from our ballhandlers and a poor shot distribution from our scorers.
- Indiana may be an interesting matchup. They can throw an NBA athlete in Trayce Jackson-Davis at Dickinson, and they are a good defensive team in general, though they are pretty terrible on offense.
- Illinois has Ayo Dosunmu who is a tough matchup for our guards and Cockburn who is a match for Dickinson. But our lineups should work as Illinois is big at the 1 and 5 but not at other positions (they essentially play 4 guards). Chaundee Brown seems like the obvious answer for Dosunmu but I'm not sure what it looks like when Brooks is on him when the starting lineup is out there. I think Michigan should be able to attack from the wings pretty easily as Illinois doesn't have any answers for Michigan's length from Wagner and Livers.
- Iowa of course has the potential to outscore anyone, but they don't have the ability to defend us either. The biggest concern would be foul trouble for Dickinson here.
- One thing I noticed from the Wisconsin game is how much we bullied Tyler Wahl. We repeatedly harrased him on both ends of the floor. When there is a matchup that we like, we will not back down from exploiting it over and over again. Win with cruelty.
- Looking nationally, I caught some of the Texas-Texas Tech game last night and both teams impressed me with their athleticism and suddenness. Of course, neither could run an offensive set to save their lives. They both wasted so many possessions jacking up shots on offense, though they did have some shot makers who are able to make some of the junk. I prefer Michigan's brand of basketball and am biased to think that it would prevail over a team like this with more athleticism, but I can see how someone like that could frustrate us.
- Villanova is another example of a 5 out team that is efficient offensively, but they lack rim protection or a big body to defend Hunter Dickinson at all.
- It's easy to like a lot of the matchups Michigan has, and we really should enjoy this team the rest of the way.
By the way, for anyone who hasn't seen her yet, Paige Bueckers is the real deal. She's averaging something like 19-6-5-3 as a freshman, seven games into her career. The only downside so far is that her assist to turnover ratio is "only" 1.5.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:30 AM ^
I'm not too worried about the Oakland game because the shows it improves constantly. Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northwestern each game they played better. At this point, I think this team is complete. We have a very good true point guard an excellent true center and four very good to excellent wing players (or brooks is better identified as a combo guard?), each with their own unique strengths for lineup versatility. That means any weakness the opponent has we can exploit.
Short of a super team like perhaps Gonzaga and baylor are (haven't seen them play) i don't think anyone can beat us, certainly not in the conference. Wisconsin was the most solid all around team in the conference and we blew the doors off them, not because of any weaknesses wisconsin had, but because they aren't amazing in anything either. Just will have to wait until the national tournament for a real test. Iowa doesn't scare me, at worst Garza might get the better of Dickinson and we beat them everywhere else on the floor.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:44 AM ^
Iggy was a helluva frosh. Unforgettable
January 14th, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
Absolutely love Simpson. But you’re bananas to take him over Smith on this team given his offensive limitations. Ace is absolutely right.
January 14th, 2021 at 1:58 PM ^
If we can meld Simpson's defensive prowess with Mike Smith's offensive game with some size, we have a pretty damn PG. Either way, Michigan was fortunate to have both Simpson and Smith at PG and both have been damn good for Michigan!
January 14th, 2021 at 1:21 PM ^
I don't understand the love for Terrance Williams... he looks lost and frantic every time he is on the floor. Zeb Jackson looks far more game ready.
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