I’m honestly expecting some doom and gloom takes from the fan base here, but I’m on the optimistic side of things. Losing to 3 of the best teams in the country by a combined 10 points, two of which came away from Crisler, gives me hope. I trust Juwan and the process. Go Blue. 

Bufkin is blossoming into a star and he and Jett together are a great 1-2 punch on the perimeter. That combined with a typical Dickinson outing would have gotten it done tonight. We definitely have potential to make some noise in the Big Ten. 

Bacot owns Hunter. 2 years running.

Dickinson has not improved significantly from his freshman year. His outside shooting is a little better, but defensively he is worse. Some of that is because he does not have a backup who can fill in respectably enough for him to be really aggressive on defense. But ultimately he is just limited on defense and offensively he is prone to choking when the clutch bucket is needed. 

The Michigan basketball Juwan era beats bad teams and loses to good teams...definition of mediocre.  Some are ok with that since Harbaugh has the fb team rolling.  I think we should be better than an average Big Ten team considering the tradition of the 89 champs/fab 5/Beilien era combined with Crisler and rabid fanbase.  

Yeah HD looked pretty bad out there, sloppy AF, Bacot schooled him. Maybe Reed should start for a game or two and see if HD can pull himself together. HD plays no defense. Really great to see Bufkin blossoming though, and Jett looks good too. Jett >> Houstan. 

Didn't we recruit Seth Trimble? I seem to recall that. He doesn't seem to be doing much for them. 

I like the narrative of playing the big 3 games close so maybe Michigan is going to be competitive in B1G play and beyond. 
 

Then the other narrative of barely beating EMU, Ohio, Jackson St, and Lipscomb says maybe Michigan doesn’t have a coherent defensive philosophy, has a personnel and rotation problem, and a giant leadership problem. 

I feel bad for Juwan because I think he's a pure coach but I think he's better suited for the pros, where veteran players don't make bonehead decisions. And they don't screw up defensive rotations or miss wide open shots he draws up. 

Being a college coach is just so much bullshit to deal with. And I think Juwan handles the vast majority of it well but he came up in the pros where he didn't have to deal with getting kids admitted and eligible or a devastating injury to his starting point guard (in the NBA, you can just sign or trade for another one). And the college game is constantly changing and the landscape is very different from what it was just a few years ago when he was hired. 

It's a bummer they couldn't get one of these Ws vs Virginia, Kentucky or UNC. But they still have a lot of ability and can put it together and make a run. The B1G is the real season and that starts now. 

I turned on the TV earlier today and the Michigan/North Carolina game was on. I was confused for a second and then realized it was the 2018 game. I was completely blown away by how fast and athletic Michigan looked. Also, very organized, disciplined and sharp passing, defense, … really in everything they did. When I watched this year’s game later the difference was like night and day.

I don’t mean this as a shot at the coaching staff. I thought 2018 North Carolina also looked much better than 2022 N Carolina.  I’m wondering if seeing these same teams 4 years later allows us to see the change resulting from the new realities of college basketball. Look at Michigan’s situation: they’ve lost guys to the portal and the NBA that would now be the experienced leaders of the team. We brought in guys from the portal who are experienced but don’t know the other players or the basic ideas of the team offense/defense. Last year clearly pointed out the problem. They had two freshmen who had great potential but were very raw and they just beginning to catch on to things and they are gone. Now we’ve got a mish-mash of young guys and transfers trying to get familiar with everything and each other.

I am a huge Juwan fan dating back to his days with the Fab 5. And until this season, I have been one of his biggest defenders (even after the ugly altercation incident last year). That said, I am really losing confidence in his ability to manage this program properly. He is lacking in so many areas:

1. Roster construction seems to be the most glaring weakness. In modern basketball, the team is only as good as it’s point guard play. How is it possible that we had a grant total of 2 PG in the roster; an up-transfer (who was playing abysmally prior to his injury) and a true freshman?  We also have very few reliable perimeter scorers. In his 4th year, this is juwan’s roster and he is responsible for it. 
 

2. Player development is also sorely lacking. Hunter Dickenson has regressed each of the past 2 years, especially on defense. TWill has regressed. Last year, John’s regressed. I have seen very little in terms of player development from year to year. Even look at Moussa and Houston; these guys were NBA caliber players and Juwan got very little production out of them. 
 

3. Defense has been a huge weakness. It was also a weakness under Beilein, but he had the sense to bring in what was effectively a defensive coordinator. Juwan needs to revamp his staff after this season to bring in a defensive expert. 
 

4. Team mentality seems to be lacking. Second straight year of playing down to poor competition and being unable to really hang with better teams. 
 

5. Generally speaking, I love Juwan’s demeanor - he exudes passion and love for the university and team. And the players seem to love him. But, we’ve seen his temper on the sideline erupt numerous times in a manner that comes off poorly and which might cost the team. It’s enough of a pattern that there is reason to be concerned. 
 

This is not to say that I want Juwan to be fired. I’d love to see him succeed.  But, changes need to be made. He absolutely needs to revamp his staff with an eye towards player development and defensive philosophy. He also needs to reconsider his approach to recruitment to focus on building a roster that is more appropriate for the modern game. 

The sad reality is that Juwan is not doing a good job, and isn’t in control of emotions. I’d be stunned if he’s still here in 2 years. Plus, Hunter’s trash talking and fake tough guy routine is wearing really thin….just play the game man

I guess I disagree with the entire HD take in this thread and the story.   When he and Bacot were on equal foul footing, Bacot didn’t do that much.  He did all of his damage a) in the last 7 minutes of the first half when HD was out and b) early in the 2nd half when HD was clearly trying not to pick up his 3rd foul.
 

once Bacot got called for 2 2nd half fouls, he also got very quiet.   Both were very active in making their teammates better on offense.  
 

The emphasis on HD’s TOs is pretty weak too.   He had one where he recovered for that outstanding block.   The travel looked awkward but was a bad call.  (And Bacot had a blatant travel not called where he hopped on landed on the same foot!?!  Bilas called that a great move, BTW).  And the 3rd was the offensive foul, which given how the game was called wasn’t a terrible play.   

Everyone’s opinion ultimately comes down to that one play. If the refs call Bacot for leveling Bufkin while being a full 90 degrees from square (that’s an illegal screen anywhere else on the court) and HD doesn’t get the initial PF, he plays the rest of  the first half and Bacot goes to the half with 6 points with UM up 10 (ok, no real basis for the lead)

was HD great tonight?   Of course not.  But he was plus 3, UM’s second best number, even while playing afraid of the refs for large portions of the game.    

This feels like the 2015-2016 era of michigan basketball.

I believe there are brighter days ahead if Coach Howard makes the necessary changes.

I’m less concerned with these close losses and more concerned with the close wins to bad teams. Good teams beat the crap out of bad teams and win some of the tough games. 

Their liabilities on defense are glaring and good teams will expose them like last night. 

Although we shot well last night, I sure miss a team full of shooters. 

It's always funny how, when we win comfortably, all the comments are positive, and when we lose, everybody's apocalyptic. I'm not even mocking -- I feel the same!

To some extent, the results this year are unsurprising. Everyone saw our problems at point guard ... and then Llewellyn goes down. The good news is that Dug is getting some serious PT that he wouldn't have so early in his career, and perhaps he'll be genuinely ready earlier than he would have otherwise. Still ... this is a weakness in the team that we all knew about even before the season started, and it's not a really a player development issue.

One other thing to note: We all focus so much on Michigan we tend to forget that other teams experience serious ups and downs as well. Anyone see what Iowa did last night? Can you imagine the tone on this board had that happened to us?

This team is a train wreck..They are Weak Soft not tough and cant close...its a VERY dissapointing team and NOT up to Michigan standards...Thank God for Football as BB is a wreck

First MBB game I watched this year. UNC played like an old Beliein team with more talent. Michigan played with enormous inconsistency. I see an undisciplined team. Lots of turnovers, not enough ball movement. That terrible sequence late when Dickinson left his man to go to the paint, enabling a critical wide open shot. Not impressed at all. Juwan may be a great recruiter, but I'm not seeing great fundamentals.