Good post defense relies on ball pressure, too. Post entry passes can be made more difficult if the ball pressue is effective. Combination of post D players not "allowing" the O player great post position and effective ball pressure on wings/entry passer is a good combo.

Mo, even with a high foul rate, needs to be able to play through mistakes. M has a senior that is allowed to make a crapload of them while still getting 20 shots a night. /hyperbole.

Good write up. 

Can't wait until he is gone. I'm sure he's a nice kid and all, but I can't stand watching him play. 

I'm still not convinced the kid can jump over two nickels stacked on each other. So unathletic. 

Beilein's (accurate in my view, esp if he actually can shoot) quote, "We have to really find minutes for him" is more reason why I'm annoyed by our game against Mt Saint Mary's: that's a team where there is no reason Zak Irvin should be playing 40 minutes. We should be seeing more of what Teske can, and can't, do.

If Ibi Watson is not ready, sub out Irvin and go with some combo of Wagner/Donnal/Teske for 5 or so minutes at the 4 and 5. Play zone (or whatever you have to do) on defense and then come up with an offense package that works the inside. Get creative. It might be choatic and messy, but I'm not the one who loaded the team with big men. You've got 'em, use 'em.

Also, unless something majorly changes, Wagner and Donnal should not split minutes -- instead of 18 and 18, it should be 20-22 Wagner and 14-16 Donnal (if not more, depending upon results). We need to win now and build for next year, and playing Wagner more (esp since Donnal's supposed 3-pt shooting prowess is not an in-game thing) is the way to do it.

What I can't understand is that after 4 years of working with a strength and conditioning coach a player can have zero muscle definition. Virtually every play gets bigger and stronger. I don't like to criticize players but Mark just seems soft and uninterested. Maybe it is confidence?

Mark Donnal looks majestic AF in that photo

They are what they are.

better defender based on season to date, although it was a lot closer against VT. Some of that could just be that Donnal had a bad game or it could be that (hopefully) Wagner is getting better. I don't think you can make a fair or accurate case based on one game.

Having said that, I would love to see Wagner's minutes increase due to his offensive skill set. He can score from the outside as well as take his man off the dribble. We need his scoring. He could also improve his rebounding a lot.

I have been on the Teske bandwagon for a couple of weeks. He is way ahead of where I thought he would be at this point and I think he needs and deserves more playing time. He could easily be our number 2 center by the latter part of the season, or at least an equal #2. At 7'1", he presents a  problem for the opposition and is a disruptive force.

post-game, except--oddly--from Dylan himself. Leave Wagner in. Should have been left in. Let him learn on the floor.

Would love to also hear some takes on the philosophical/coaching differences between hunkering down for stops at the end of the game and continuing to emphasize running your offense. Seems to me that when you do the former, especially with a Beilein team, you run into the danger of going into a shell and getting very tight (see end of OSU/I mean VT game the other night).

Just to gloat a little re: Teske: told ya.

I

haven't watched much basketball this year, but what I have watched hasn't made me change my opinion of Donnal.  He is a terrible defender and he turns easy dunks into kick outs because he is soooo slow to go to the basket.

at the title and the photograph. 

 

a lot of moments of accepting deep post position too, which is always a prescription for disaster. 

And a lot of examples of being unacceptably soft. 

Not every possession was bad, but if he continues to play like this, he should be strictly a role player who only plays if he shows a ferocity and a zest for contact when he gets into the game. I know we don't like to foul (boy did that not work out in that game), but you've got to play with some more intent than that. I was a bench player on a great team in HS and while it wasn't like I was trying to give them out, I considered those five fouls five opportunities to put the hurt on someone. Bench kamikaze - without being out of control, but giving without trying to pace yourself or being too careful is a role and it's the only role he's fit for. I played every second I got like it was my last because honestly, I was a bench player, who gave a fuck if I got in foul trouble or got tired? 

At 0:46 might be an example for why Beilein doesn't play Wagner as much. Wagner starts by turning his head, and his man cuts behind him. He quickly realizes this, and finds his man again but there is no excuse for his positioning here. Maybe he thinks he should not be on his man to be ready to help in the lane, but the guy with the ball hasn't yet even made a move on Walton, so there is no need to help on the drive. The ball gets kicked to the corner and Wagner is left in no man's land. He isn't behind his man to protect the basket, and he isn't fronting his man to prevent any kind of pass. The ball gets passed quickly to his man and Wagner is way behind the play. Luckily his man doesn't see the baseline wide open and spin for a quick basket. Also, notice how Wilson has to come help because of Wagner's poor positioning. Luckily the guy with the ball can't kick the ball out because the VT player in the corner doesn't flare closer to the baseline. This allows Irvin to play the passing lanes of both his man and the guy in the corner. This forces the guy with the ball to put up a contested layup between 2 defenders. Notice how Wagner's initial poor positioning from the beginning of the possession causes him to be behind his man. No one else on Michigan can get back to help rebound quick enough because they all executed their defense properly while Wagner didn't. Wagner's poor positioning (again caused from earlier in the possession) compromised his teammates from being in position to help on the boards quick enough. The way the rebound bounced, Wagner would have had the best shot at the rebound if he had been between his man and the basket. Wilson had been taken out of the play because he had to help contest the initial shot. VT gets the offensive board, and once again Wagner can't effectively challenge the put back because he is behind his man. This is just one mistake from just one game, and Wagner will learn, but this possession indicates his current lack of awareness and understanding of certain defensive fundamentals. Again, he will get better, and I believe he should play more, but I understand why Beilein could be frustrated.

What about the effect on other players? Are there different guards and wings who get more minutes alongside one or the other.  

Mo might be doing a good job on his own man, but maybe Donnal's help defense opens up more matchup opportunities at the other positions?