Beilen's Offense/Defense substitutions

Submitted by MGoBender on

I know there's a snowflake thread, but this is a legit topic that would otherwise get buried there. I'll be providing some mini-analysis as well, so hopefully this is not deemed "repetitive."

I saw a couple people post things like 'What's the deal with Morgan?" and "McGary had a good game," and then people wonder why Beilein didn't run with one player or the other.

From what I see, we have two players that are defensively raw (McGary and Stauskas). Let's start with McGary:

In the first half, OSU really pushed their lead up in no small part due to McGary's poor hedge of ball screens. McGary came into the game with 15:20 to go in the second half. The score was 9-3 OSU. The defensive possessions went as follows:

  • Aaron Craft scores on drive off of ball screen. McGary fails to hedge and fails to stay in front of Craft. (11-3 OSU)
  • 4 seconds into the shot clock McGary again fails to hedge and lets Craft get into the lane. This time he's nowhere near the ball screen . (13-3 OSU, 13:55)

Michigan calls a timeout and McGary is pulled for Jordan Morgan.

For the almost the rest of the game, whenever McGary was in the game, we went into some kind of zone.  In the second half Jordan Morgan defended the pick and roll excellently. He is great at hedging the screen and forcing the ball handler into a tough split/pass or just backing out of the screen. I know this is not sexy, but the dude is great at it and that is why he is such a valuable player.

McGary has a way to go defensively. A long way. He's said things like "I had never stepped foot in a weight room before getting here" and I bet he really hasn't had to play tough defense either. It will come, but it will take time.

Stauskas is the other defensive liability at the moment. I'll admit I naturally pay more attention to the big men, but it would appear that Stauskas troubles are two fold (feel free to correct me or expand if you've paid more attention). Stauskas does not have the foot speed to stay in front of smaller 2s/3s. This problem seems to be compounded by his tendency to have incorrect defensive spacing - he often comes over too far on help and can be late on rotations.

Of course, Stauskas' shot selection didn't help to keep him on the floor. If he's taking poor shots and not converting, LeVert is clearly the better defender.

I love games like this because if you know a little bit about basketball you get some insight into how good John Beilein is at his job. He got creative to find ways to keep McGary on the court even though he was a defensive liability in defending the pick and roll. He played the defense for offense game late and I think we have a clear idea of the game plan going forward with Morgan/McGary and Stauskas/LeVert. Of course, Horford is a wildcard in there. It will be interesting to see how the freshmen develop over the course of B10 play.

GOLBOGM

January 13th, 2013 at 6:43 PM ^

Teams can easily go on runs at home- it just so happened OSU went on one to start the game.

After we got down by 20 we played very well.  To only lose by 3 on the road to a top opponent- especially after being down by 20- and having everyone essentially play a subpar game (save Albrecht) is not a bad thing.  Hardaway sucked for the first 30 minutes, Burke played very poorly and made some bad decisions throughout the game, Stauskas was unbelievably bad on both ends, and GRIII was ehhh.  To have that type of day and lose by 3 to a top 25 team on the road is no huge deal.

Everyone freaking out needs to relax and put it in perspective.  Undefeated talk is over- #1 may come in time- I care about Big Ten champs and a final four run- those things are still very possible so relax.  Big test against Minnesota coming up- if we look shaky in that then maybe we aren't an elite team yet (unable to beat the other top guys on the road)- otherwise I'm not sure why your outlook for this team should be any different than it was before the game...

FrankMurphy

January 13th, 2013 at 7:16 PM ^

This.

When we went down by 21, I started thinking that maybe this team isn't as elite as their ranking and record suggest. But by clawing their way back to tie it up after basically not showing up in the first half, they proved that they may very well be.

Nobody goes undefeated, and this isn't football where one loss can kill your title hopes. Give or take an inch from Burke's 3-point shot with 13 seconds left and we steal this game despite having played poorly for most of it. I'm still just as excited about this team as I was before the game.  

Dutch Ferbert

January 13th, 2013 at 7:26 PM ^

But it sucks to lose to OSU. This type of game would have felt better against some other B1G teams.

I am proud of the way they fought back and think they still can win the B1G and NCAA tournament. Sometimes a team can learn more from a loss than a victory, and luckily a basketball team can afford to lose a few, unlike football.

moffle

January 13th, 2013 at 7:44 PM ^

Yeah, I don't think people are freaking out that we lost a game. People are upset because

  1. It's OSU.
  2. It was a shot at being ranked number 1 (as meaningless as that may ultimately be).
  3. If we had pulled it off after the way the first 10 minutes went, it would have been glorious.
  4. It's OSU.
  5. It's still OSU.

DeepBlue83

January 13th, 2013 at 7:27 PM ^

And it's not just this game. This is two games in a row that our offense has been hogtied by a good defense. Poor 3 point shooting, minimal assists and general sloppy play and lack of poise killed us in this game and would have lost the last game if we'd been playing anybody decent. Elite is the way Indiana played yesterday. Until we prove that we can play really well against a strong Big Ten opponent, we can't be considered in that category. And if we don't win at least one of our next two road games, our chance of winning the Big Ten is pretty much zero, because IU won't be losing those games.

orobs

January 13th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^

Good analysis, but I think Mcgary makes up for what he lacks on defense with his help defense and shot blocking ability. Dude is gonna be a monster when he has better awareness

OmarDontScare

January 13th, 2013 at 7:05 PM ^

Forget Xs and Os. We just gotta be dawgs. We're better than anyone we'll play. Just gotta let em know

trueblueintexas

January 13th, 2013 at 7:05 PM ^

I posted this in the other thread but it bothers me enough I'll say it again. The two biggest issues on defense are 1) Stauskas still learning, the effort is there. 2) more importantly, Burke routinely is late rotating on his assignments due to lack of effort. It's not because he doesn't know where to go, because he is going in the right direction, he just doesn't hustle. You can make all the arguments about his offense outweighing his defense, but you are going to play some close games to win a National Championship and the D is more important than the O in those games.

Rather be on BA

January 13th, 2013 at 7:12 PM ^

I agree.  I don't know if Burke is saving energy for the offensive end or what, because he is perfectly capable of playing excellent defense, but he consistently shows a lack of effort on the defensive end.  I love the guy and wouldn't trade him for anyone else in the country but he needs to turn it up a notch or two on defense for this team to reach it's full potential and for his draft stock to be maximized.

The Shredder

January 13th, 2013 at 7:07 PM ^

Mcgary will be better next year when he loses some weight. He still looks a bit heavey. Once he gets an off season and gets stronger he will be better at getting out on the hedge. 

FrankMurphy

January 13th, 2013 at 7:25 PM ^

McGary is going to be a beast next year when he has a full offseason of practice and conditioning under his belt. Kid has a very high ceiling and may just yet earn his recruiting ranking. He's not at all polished, but you can tell that he has a ton of talent. I'm excited to see what Beilein can do with him. 

B-Nut-GoBlue

January 13th, 2013 at 7:13 PM ^

Good post and material.  Hedging I think is the word of the season.

Jordan is very good at hedging the ball screens; all year it's been good.  I've half expected his presence to get exploited against better competetion but he continues to be great in this part of the game.  McGary does have a ways to go but I half agree he can make up for it with the reboudning; it's probably not so cut and dry that he "makes up for his inconsistent defense" but it's fair to say he's a great rebounder but definietly has work to do on actual defending.

I've been wondering about Stauskas, too.  I can't quite put my finger on why he seems to not be good on defense but footspeed might be what it is.  He can be quick with the ball and maybe that's why I haven't thought of speed/agility as the underlying issue.  He'll get better, as you say, spacing and things aren't there and some technique/fundamentals will alone boost his defensive game.

I won't give my overall insight into the game because it's collectively been said amongst people on here already.  I think the team is just fine.  I half-way like this loss and the way it happened as it has the chance to become an eye-opener to this team, in a few ways.  Great way to come back and get into the game, competetively.  One loss isn't the end of the world and again, will help mature this team (even though the younger members of this team were the ones who seemed to not be phased by this game).

B-Nut-GoBlue

January 13th, 2013 at 8:37 PM ^

Yep.  I agree (I'm hoping that if he truly was believing in his own hype that these past few games have brought him back to earth, so to speak).  He's also going to need to at some point develop that shot from a dribble i.e. create his own shots off the dribble, versus being open on a wing and being assisted most of his shots.  That won't and doesn't need to happen this year but down the road it will add to his game.  All this said, he's still a pretty damn good basketball player and great asset to this team.  I also like what I see in how he interacts with coach Beilein on the bench/from the floor.  He always seems astute and taking in of everything Beilien is telling him/coaching him (versus shruggin shoulders, talking back, etc.).

tasnyder01

January 14th, 2013 at 12:37 AM ^

You'd be surprised how much quick hand-speed can make up for poor footspeed on the offensive end.  On offense, you just need to read a defensive misstep, turn and go. And with his shooting ability, a lot of people close out too fast on him (read: misstep), so he can just turn his shoulder and dribble through. 

On Defense, however, you can't just wait for a misstep. You need to constantly be in good position, because any of YOUR missteps can lead to lay-ups. This renders hand-speed less important. 

The gist is that it's his shooting and surprisingly good dribbling ability that make him look quick on the offensive end, while his foot-speed makes him look slower on D.

MGoBender

January 13th, 2013 at 7:31 PM ^

Which I think is a major result of Beilein going to a 2-3. That allowed McGary to stay around the basket and do what he does best: shot block and rebound.  Major credit for Beilein on making that in-game decision.

I wonder if we can expect similar zone defense when McGary is in the game when we are facing better shooting teams, however.

Young John Beilein

January 13th, 2013 at 7:21 PM ^

Yeah, I noticed that too with McGary.   He really needs to give some ground when hedging, as he isn't quick enough to force the ball handler away from the basket.  Also, it looks like sometimes he doesn't do a great job of getting into position until the play comes to him on defense.  Having said all that, his 1-on-1 post defense has been outstanding  this season and was again today.  Stauskas just got man-handled by some screens that he couldn't seem to get around.  On the other end he was getting grabbed and bumped and just could never get separation.  He especially will struggle against long athletic defenders.  I was hoping Beilein would get some backdoor plays going since OSU overplayed off the ball, but that's easier said than done and they were being very physical.

cbs650

January 13th, 2013 at 7:37 PM ^

Burke defensive effort is there as seen when he had a big steal on craft. The thing with him is that he conserves his energy on defense instead on offense as you are taught as a basketball player growing up. Plus it seems like in the 2-3 zone they dont look as active as when they play the 1-3-1.  

 

This was suppose to be a reply to poster jasputan 

MGlobules

January 13th, 2013 at 8:03 PM ^

with some people saying he couldn't defend and some suggesting that he was TOLD to conserve energy on D. Playing an entire B1G game, as both players have often been called to do, is hugely tiring, and they just may need to save energy somewhere. Burke is very opportunistic to make up for slacking sometimes; what worries me is that none of the perimeter defenders ever seems to get a hand in shooters' faces. 

snarling wolverine

January 13th, 2013 at 8:10 PM ^

With Morris, didn't we try to accomplish that (conserving energy) by having Douglass bring the ball up from time to time? 

I was intrigued by the Albrecht-Burke backcourt.  Burke was free to play without the ball and Ohio had to decide whether to use Craft to pressure the ball or put a weaker defender on Albrecht and make it easier to us to run our sets.  We may want to try more of that.

trueblueintexas

January 13th, 2013 at 7:35 PM ^

Whether it be Morgan or McGary, I would really like to see them set a hard pick and have Burke and Hardaway actually rub their defender off on it. OSU did a nice on of jumping the screen but a player like Craft really needs to feel the pick to get him to back off his D a little... if ya know what I'm sayin.

UMfan21

January 13th, 2013 at 7:46 PM ^

I noticed this too. Craft was squeezing between Burke and Morgan/McGary too easily. Not sure if the big men need to screen better, or if Burke needs to "rub" closer, but most of those screens were ineffective.



I also saw very little movement on offense for te first time. Burke, Hardaway, Stauskas, etc would sometimes make a nice move past their guy, then look to dish when the help defense came over, but there was nowhere to pass because everyone was standing around.

tpray0481

January 13th, 2013 at 9:36 PM ^

Nik is a little slow, it's obvious.  That's why we shouldn't switch so much.   He has no chance of stopping  guys like thomas.

To be blunt, we need to start holding guys with our arms like OSU and Nebraska and other big ten teams do.  JB trains them so well to move their feet and to avoid fouls, but the way the game was being called, Nik and co. should've been handchecking the rest of the game.  It was obvious Hardaway and Trey were frustrated by the holding.  They should've fought back more than whine about it.  That's how the big ten is. 

NIk had  a charge they called a block, maybe even 2.  He's in there to shoot, though.  Hardaway and Burke kept missing Nik and GRIII in transition.  Stauskus is wide open trailing the fast breaks and they never see behind them.  He's been missed in numerous games.  If he's in there for offense, get him the ball. 

inthebluelot

January 13th, 2013 at 9:37 PM ^

It's that M had a legit shot to win despite the atmosphere and being down by 21 early. The fact that they out scored OSU by 18 pts in the final 24 minutes is being overlooked. A young team that didn't quit in that atmosphere despite 3 of its top 4 scorers having the collective worst game of the season is a big deal. M hadn't won in Cbus in 10 years, but they are right there. They win by 10 in AA next... mark it down.

Boomer519

January 14th, 2013 at 8:07 AM ^

I wasnt sure of the numbers, but this was the same thought I had. If they stay close in the early minutes of this game they come out if there with a win. Also watching this game reminded me hiw toughnit is to win on the road in the B1G.If half of those blocking fouls are charges they come out with the win as well. Didnt see it and havent looked, but what was the difference in fouls and free throw attempts?

justingoblue

January 14th, 2013 at 12:45 AM ^

As far as the snowflake disclaimer at the top of your thread, these are the kinds of posts I hope the rule doesn't discourage. Between "diary" and "snowflake" there's a lot of room for well-reasoned threads like this, especially from someone who follows basketball to the extent you do (you're a referee, right?) and can provide something worthwhile.

Also wanted to add that your posting these past couple days has been really good, at least from what I've seen. Don't know how that fits in with anything, but MGoBlog could use some positive energy at the moment.

MGoBender

January 14th, 2013 at 1:13 PM ^

Used to ref, but now my job requires too much traveling to continue. Maybe now that I'm nearing 30 I've matured to the point where I think reasonably about sports.

There are two teams.  They will both work hard.  One will win and one will lose. There's no reason to play blame game or get overly upset about it. Just enjoy it.

Actually, I can point to the exact moment that I became a much more reasonable fan and stopped investing so much personally into games: App State. Nowadays I sit back and am kind of disheartened that people call Jordan Morgan "awful" or say he "blows," or bitch at refs like there's some conspiracy (there isn't). These are all people doing their best to do something very difficult so we can sit on our couch and escape reality for a couple hours.

But hey, if we didn't love sports so much, maybe we'd all be a bit more rational.