To defend Happ is to pick your poison. If you hold your ground against Happ, he can spin right off you on his way to the rim. It looks like the idea for defenders was to give Happ some resistence but also keep a little space between the defender and Happ. You want Happ to have to shoot it over the defender.
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I kept yelling at the TV, āJust wall up! Just wall up! Youāre 7ā1ā But Beilein said it in the presser, Heās never seen anyone like Happ in 40+ years of coaching. I agree with your assessment, Tom. Either it was JB or Moe who said, āhe just finds so many ways to get his shot!ā Tough, tough matchup. Missed a lot of shots in the first half, but when he finds it, and he usually does, watch out!
My guess is it might have more to do with the bonus situation and how likely a player is to rack up more fouls. If somebody is racking up fouls at an unacceptable rate, that jeopardizes your bonus situation. So, yank him out of there so the opponent canāt attack him.
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Itās crazy how good Happ is at using his off shoulder to clear space, as he is beginning his shooting/attacking motion. He raises his shooting arm and extends the off-shoulder simultaneously, without actually extending his elbow. And when he does let his arm slightly pivot at the elbow, how are the refs going to call it when it looks eerily similar to what they let him legally get away with on the previous 10 possessions? A nifty trick for getting around 7-footers
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Yeah thatās a great point. Although, theoretically if youāre leaving somebody in with 2-3 fouls in the first half, they should be playing more foul averse. Maybe I just answered my own question then, they didnāt want Teske to play Happ scared so they went with Davis for a spell.
Happ is most effective spinning to his left and getting to the rim; thatās the move I would overplay. Heās very tough but doesnāt have great touch. I would force him towards jump hooks in the lane and live with the results.
It really did make it harder that the refs decided to let Happ just keep pushing with his off arm, especially in the second half. He may be good at hiding it, as someone mentioned, and itās also human nature for the refs when the lead is 20+ points to let things go (and then have trouble calling what theyāve been letting go). You could see Wagner repeatedly motion to the refs about Happās pushing, to no avail.
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But when Ibi hit those two in pretty sure z missed 3 , maar 1 and Poole 1 almost right in a row. He put the game away pretty much by hitting both. My point was they were pretty clutch from a kid whoās been a non factor. I figured heād miss both or only hit 1 after not shooting for the whole half and in a high pressure situation , especially since no one could seeto get it going and just put the game away. Iām proud of him.
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Also is there any doubt at maars value at this point? He always seemed to be a polarizing figure for some reason amongst fans and I never had that viewpoint. Heās always been the run stopper/ big shot maker imo. I thought after his frosh year that heād turn into a big time player and I wish he had become a go to guy earlier in his career as I felt he could do it and that we desperately needed his skill set. Either way I think heās one of the most underrated guys still in the big ten. He needs the ball late constantly as there is no one I prefer on the line on this team.
Also hereās hoping Duncanās shot finds consistency. With this teams varied options and ability to slash/ drive and kick out, he should get solid looks 4-5 times a game from deep. If he hits 2 or three our offense suddenly looks much better and dangerous. Great game from him. Another note on Duncan. I know some of the points scored on him are because heās not great in on ball situations but I seriously canāt remember a guy who gets more tough shots hit on him in the history of the program. He also never catches a break. If his guy gets a clean look on him itās always a make. But the faders with hands in the face, running lay ups from bad angles ect. Itās uncanny, I feel bad for him.
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I have given MAAR a lot of grief over the last couple of years. Heās a senior now and is the ultimate glue guy type. His shot making has not been consistent but without him the team would be in trouble. Best free throw shooter on the team maybe even above Duncan. Has shown great senior leadership in his play. Has progressed and gotten better every year (not Walton better) but solid.
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What Iām paticular didnāt you like about him? Not hating, just wondering. I always felt like I was watching different games than everyone else. I thought he could have been a high volume asset even as a young player with his ability to get to the rim and in the lane in general and I always felt his d was good. Even in games he didnāt stand out I felt he usually made a big play at desperate times. Always had good shot selection imo too even on misses.
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Eh, MAAR is 79.5% and Duncan is 93.1%. Smaller sample, but heās really good lol.
Yeah Duncan is good but doesnāt get to the line often.
He would have more attempts if the refs would call fouls instead of traveling.
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Man, I hate being the guy who says something bad about MAAR. I really like him, and I think most UM fans do. Heās hit big time shots this year, including game winners against MD and Minny. But for me, this has been the issue that Iāve pushed back on ā the claim that he is or should be a ābig-timeā āgo-toā player. He really hasnāt shown it, certainly not consistently.
-In conference play this year, his usage is 18% (high for him, but still quite low, 30th percentile), shooting 43% on 2s and 36% on 3s. Heās been more assertive at times this year, but heās still using the possessions at the rate of a role player, and heās shot less efficiently.
-Consider that Duncan Robinson is scoring more points/min this year than MAAR (as are Wagner, Matthews, and Poole).
-In the 18 games against high major comp this year, heās scored single digits 7 times.
-Even against Wiscy, he went 4/10 (0/3 on 3s). He made 7-8 FTs, but they were all late on intentional fouls ā i.e., he wasnāt getting to the line during the course of the game. He had 8 points on 4-10 shooting until FT time. Of course, he made 7 of 8, and Iād love for him to be on the line late in tight games.
-Consider @NU, he had 11 points on 3/6 shooting (1/4 on 3s) (4/4 FTs). He was passive, even though the offense was basically begging for someone to make something happen.
MAAR has had a wonderful career at UM, especially for someone who was so lightly recruited. Iām hoping he has a big-time revenge game against PSU, the home-state school that wouldnāt offer. He seems to have a steady presence and personality, and Iād be happy if heās taking the late FTs or shots in close games. Heās played well defensively. Heās had some offensive outbursts. He just hasnāt been a consistent go-to or big-time offensive guy over the course of his career or even this season.
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Stats make things look static. MAAR has been. . . emerging. His promise remains. . . a little shrouded. But I love him as a player, and think that we almost have to have him hit some clutch shots down the stretch to make a deep run this year. We know that Beilein has been calling for it.
Beyond MAAR (to muddy my own observation), my hunch is that when we do bomb out it will be a game where Robinson is blanking.
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I sure hope so with the first part, and think youāre absolutely right with the second part.
I love Rahk, but I think the expectation that he should take over games more often is unrealistic. In some ways heās the perfect Beilein player because he always waits for the game to come to him. He runs the offense, takes open shots and makes them. Heās extremely aware of his capabilities, recognizes leverage and exploits it, but he doesnāt force the issue and turn the ball over. And he plays good, smart defense. A team of guys like him would be hard to beat.
But as we have seen last year and this, when opposing teams sell out to stop the team action the best counter is to have guys who are able to break down the defense one-on-one. Rahk is a fine driver, but he canāt always beat whoeverās on him - if he could, heād have left for the NBA already.
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Iād love MAAR to be able to be assertive and have it work out, but I feel like most of the time when he tries to up his usage rate thereās a ton of really bad shots and itās usually an inefficient outing.
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A big part of his efficiency rating is not screwing up. Only 6% TO rate. Heās being tasked with late shot clock bailouts,which hurt his shooting numbers.
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