Juwan Howard now 0-6 vs Illinois as Mich Head Coach
I don't know what it is about the Illini, but Juwan can't seem to figure them out. Very frustrating. I still think he's a good coach, but the Illini have definitely been our nemesis the last few years. Hopefully he turns it around against them soon!
He was absolutely fine. Sometimes the players make plays (like last Sunday) and sometimes they don’t.
The play he drew up for the airball 3 was brilliant.
+1 it was a great look for the win with data on his side for the best % chance for a long range shooter. Shooter just horribly missed. Airball was not on Juwan.
That doesn't excuse the play at the end of the 1st OT.
Game TIED, shot clock off and we go for a 3 pointer. Makes no sense.
Except that wasn't the primary look of the final possession of 1OT. The primary look was Dickinson on the right block, just like at the end of regulation. Only in 1OT, Illinois did bring the double team, so Dickinson passed it back out to the open player (Dug) who then made an extra pass to Baker with Illinois in scramble drill rotation. Baker then takes the shot. Maybe just maybe the players reacted to what Illinois did on defense that forced them out of the primary look.
Which is great execution that came from great coaching...... shots don't always fall, no one is 100% from the field.
That play was set up to go to Hunter. Baker faked the pass after the defender overplayed toward Jett, and Baker took a wide-open shot.
Wow couldn't disagree more that he was "absolutely fine". One good drawn up play doesn't excuse him taking 2/3 of the game to figure out Jett and Cheddar were killing the team and the offense needed to run through Kobe. Yet another game where he has been absolutely clueless about rotations and can't seem to see what's right in front of him.
Tschetter played 9 out of 50 minutes.
Jett took 12 shots in 44 out of 50 minutes posting 15 points.
Kobe took 15 shots in 43 out of 50 minutes posting 23 points.
How does any of this reality, align with your perception???
Did you even watch the game? Running the offense through X does not mean X takes the shot on every possession. The issue with having Jett on the floor so much in the first 2/3 of the game was (1) he'd dribble around on a bunch of possessions without Kobe even touching the ball leading to either (a) a turnover or (b) a bad shot by a teammate and (2) his defense and rebounding were atrocious. It's no coincidence as soon as he sat down for an extended period of time in the second half we immediately went on a 10-0 run.
Cheddar started the second half and the only reason he was taken out was because he picked up his fourth foul. At that point he had played more minutes than Reed, which is inexcusable.
I mean I'm not talking out of my ass here. Read the freaking game thread and you'll see almost everyone else was complaining about this exact same thing midway through the second half.
I did watch the game. I also played through college so I have a pretty good idea what I am seeing.
There seems to be a belief that Hunter, Tarris, Kobe and Dug can play every minute of every game and when that doesn't happen Juwan must have some horrible ability at managing rotations.
Guys need rest. Once the first 8 - 10 minutes have passed, coaches need to manage the roster based on match-ups, foul situations, who needs a breather, and who do you need at the end of the game.
You also can't run the same set all game. One person can't initiate the offense every time.
If you want my one nitpick from last night (other than how the end of the first overtime went) it's that the last play was designed for Baker. He played 9 minutes. I didn't think that was enough despite his defensive limitations against what Illinois wanted to do. Then I see he was 0-5 and the few minutes make sense. So why draw up the last play for a guy who clearly was having an off night? Well, Illinois was going to key on Kobe because he had been torching them. Jett was out. So Baker is who you get. Airball. It happens. End of story. Go beat Indiana.
Well, he secured Jett so he’s not leaving because his dad has to coach him
I question Howard's subbing patterns. Tarris Reed didn't play in the second half until the 12ish min mark. (In that time, Tshetter provided no offense to speak of and picked up a dumb foul. Also Terrance Williams forced a couple awkward shots at the rim, he did get one luckily.)
Once Tarris came on, I don't think he sat until he fouled out. He played like 17 straight minutes which culminated with 2 dumb, lazy fouls on Shannon in the 1st OT. I'm a big Tarris fan, so I couldn't understand why he was sitting at the start of the 2nd. But also, of course he was tired by the end of OT. Big dogs gotta rest sometimes.
I woulda played Baker more frequently in the 2nd half too.
Yes exactly. Howard's rotations are still terrible and all it takes for the people on this board to forget that is one good OOB play drawn up. To be clear, I am not one of the idiots who thinks Howard should be fired, but that doesn't mean we're not allowed to point out his flaws.
Because the is no backup at the center position. HD needs to rest at some point during the game. If they play at the same time, who gives HD a break if he is tired or in foul trouble? At the end of the game when they both are playing, fouls and fatigue are usually not an issue.
What are you talking about? Just play my 5 favorite players 40 minutes a game or you're a bad coach!!
Lol. Exactly. It crazy that people don’t understand this. Then have some crazy opinion that coaches doesn’t understand rotations.
I'll give him a break. He's been going up against Mad-Eye Moody.
Ok? How is this thread worthy? You're literally just reporting results we're all already aware of.
How is that different than 98% of threads here?! Lol
Exactly the problem
This is my go to spot for Keith Jackson updates.
Brace yourself...
This is the classic "it could have been a comment in the snowflake thread" post.
Right? Like who cares. We're not rivals.
Best thing about losing a double-OT heartbreaker?
All the idiot shitheads who pay no attention to the team for 90% of the season come out to put their ignorance on display.
You’ve just described every bbq, cooking, what are you drinking, where to vacation, where to send your kids to school, how to invest, how to sell a house, how to use a travel agent, how to buy airline tickets, what’s the best car, where to watch the game…
oh wait…
If you think you're so much better than everyone who posts here with their insights and users that actually provide thought provoking and helpful information then why bother even posting here at all? Just to see yourself speak? You don't have to come here. I assure you that you won't be missed.
Yep, I have certain "fans" I don't talk to in times like this. I had someone call me up after the TCU game to tell me he doesn't know why Harbaugh teams choke in big games. They sound like a Sparty slappy talking that way.
OMG FIRE BAKICH!!!
I think an anti-Juwan poster should start a serious "FIRE JUWAN HOWARD" MGoBlog thread.
The "Maybe we should fire <insert coach>" reverse juju of the fanbase has worked for multiple coaches.
-- It worked for Beilein and the basketball program. (Twice!)
-- It worked for Bakich and the baseball program.
-- It worked for Harbaugh and the football program.
/I believe in Coach Howard so I don't think it would work if I started it. But you know there's some impatient clown who's itching to start that thread.
//The fanbase doesn't learn...
Sorry, everyone. It was all my fault. I have an annual business dinner and we always lose while I'm at it.
You are hereby forbidden from eating dinner until mid April.
That's almost a relief. I thought it was my fault for not having the correct lights turned on and off in my family room in the combination that has closely correlated with our success.
1-5 ain't any good either but this post wouldn't exist if that was the case.
Dumb.
It burns me up that that goon keeps getting W's over Juwan. I really thought they were due today. Maybe they'll get some revenge in the conference tournament.
I hope so. Brad Underwood comes off like a loudmouth bully, much like the Wisconsin coach. I’ve never liked either of them. OTOH, I like Matt Painter and Steve Pikell (?).
Well Brad Underwood is 0-6 against the Sweet 16.
(Turns out this is true. He’s made the tourney 6 times and never gotten past the 1st weekend)
Derrick Walton says "sorry 'bout it".
he's also oh-fer-humanity in the "people who don't hate his guts " statistic.
(sorry, that was really a tortured sentence. everyone hates underwood's guts, is what i'm saying)
This one did not feel like Juwan’s fault at all. He put us in position to win all day. Just didn’t get enough rebounds, made a ton of sloppy turnovers, and just couldn’t get the stop down the stretch. That last play he drew up was perfect, Joey just couldn’t execute. On to Assembly.
I am sure he has some regrets and we could nitpick. My only nitpick would be letting HD dribble all the way down and pick up that BS foul. Should've grabbed a TO right when he passed midcourt.
OTOH, why did Illinois get to beat the shit out of HD all night, he lightly touches that dude and he flops and they call an Offensive foul. That was BS.
Shades of Chris Webber in the national title game, except it was a foul and not an extra TO that caused the turnover.
You are 0-6 in posting threads, so there's that.
AIRBALL
Maybe, but his sky-blue is 99% pure /s.
Some match ups just don't go well. Rutgers is weirdly good against Purdue and Indiana, yet have only beat Michigan once.
Northwestern loves beating MSU at Breslin recently.
Harbaugh is 2-0 against OSU the last two years. Go Blue!
That should probably be justification for Illinois to raise another banner, but I think it's more important to see how Howard and the team react needing a couple more wins to get into the tournament.
We should expect to see a strongly worded letter soon.
We've been in that position for weeks already. We're winning enough to see the light, but losing the ones that would really help getting over the hump.