NCAA 2018: Michigan vs. Texas A&M Discussion Thread

I will confidently assert Coach Beilein is in fact a lot smarter than us when it comes to basketball. I came to this realization about 10 years ago. I’ve considered him a basketball genius for a long while now. The silliness of posters on here last year calling for Beilein’s firing was ridiculous. I couldn’t even work up the energy to argue with such ignorance.

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IMO Watson’s lack of playing time had little to do with shooting. He can shoot. His basketball instincts aren’t great, his feel for the game isn’t anywhere near what Jordan Poole offers. He somewhat, a little bit, reminds me of Aubrey Dawkins. Great leaper, nice shot, but the rest of his game is a struggle. Hope he proves me a fool.

Well, given his recent defense I’m gonna have to disagree with you on the Dawkins comparison.

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I meant more on the offensive end and his lack of feel for the game relative to Jordan Poole. Hope I’m way off base in my analysis of Watson’s limited PT.

Defensively, I honestly haven’t paid much attention to Watson, so I’ll claim ignorance, and kudos to Watson if he’s playing great D. I will certainly pay more attention to his D since you pointed it out. Thank you

Interesting article from a Texas point of view

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59 AM

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No doubt Beilein knows basketball. What continues to impress me the most is his ingenuity, adaptability, flexibility and vision.

What impresses me even more is he’s done it his way with his guys! What really excites me is the talent arrives this summer and this group will be rock solid in 2019. This is all gravy IMO…thanks for the extra week fellas!

Go BLUE!!

D3 transfer DR
2 Star MAAR
German under the radar guy! MOE
Raw 5 star transfer CM
3 star PG Z
Supporting cast of FR and SOPH’s

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(Matthews was 60th on the composite, saying raw 4 star makes Beilein look better) :slight_smile:

Also Simpson was 67th and very much a 4 star lol

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Don’t agree that this extra week is just gravy… since this team is not supremely talented, people seem content with making the Sweet 16. While agree that this isn’t a typical “Final Four” level team, their defense certainly is, which is not typical for a Beilein squad. We may be better offensively next season, but they will certainly be worse on defense with younger guys in the lineup. Nothing is guaranteed for that squad, as we see how important matchups are… this is a huge opportunity to get to San Antonio.

Thanks for the correction…just seems like a 4 star guard should have a jump shot. I’m concerned A&M is going to sag on Z and clog the paint…begging him to shoot! Really like his game but he has to score this week as the game starts with him. I can’t help but think how this team would look like with BATTLE and and a year with JB. I know he’s a 2G but man can he play.

Oof, I don’t agree with this at all. As long as Poole improves mentally, it seems like quite a stretch to say a lineup of Z-Poole-Matthews-Livers-Teske will “certainly be worse” than this season.

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I’d add in that the attrition on our side of the bracket has been astounding, and so there’s also an element of taking advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself. Through two games, we are the highest seeded team left until the title game. Not even the 1 seeds left in the tournament can say that.

So, yes, while pre-tournament I would have been satisfied with S16…today, I’m really hoping for more.

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But to be fair, Gonzaga is better than Xavier anyway. And Kentucky is playing at a very high level. Definitely got a break with the UNC loss though. I would expect us ot be underdogs against UK and Gonzaga, although they are not unwinnable of course. I like our chances against UK honestly. I’d love to get a crack at them.

Lot of young guys in that lineup – Poole, Livers, and Teske are currently playing about 10 mpg and Teske has a really high foul rate. And all of the players off the bench will be freshman (DeJulius, Iggy, Johns, etc) or guys who did not play a meaningful role in Big Ten play (Davis, Brooks) and beyond this season. I also think that some people take for granted how solid Muhammad is on both ends. His turnover rate is in the bottom 1% in the country and he has significantly improved this year on defense.

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I don’t think people here take MAAR for granted much. We seem to appreciate his value. He has a really low turnover rate, but that’s not very relevant to his defense. Poole has all the athletic tools and needs an offseason to work on the mental aspect. Teske playing 65% of minutes instead of Wagner will drastically help the D. His foul rate is .5 per 40 minutes higher than Wagner over the past two years. It’s the same as 2014 Jordan Morgan and barely above 2013 McGary. It’s definitely not “really high” and it’s most likely not anything to worry about since he won’t be playing 40 minutes per game. Sure, the bench will be young. They’re also pretty athletic and nobody strikes me as a Sophomore to Junior year Duncan type defender.

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Definitely agree that MAAR’s turnover rate doesn’t have to do with his defense, was just making note of that as part of the larger point about his value. While his fouling may improve with another year of experience, Teske is currently in the top 8% in the country in foul rate. My original point may have been overstated, but I personally do not think we will be as good defensively next season.

Assuming Wolverheel’s 2018 starters, I think we will be better defensively. We return guys at 1 and 3 who are our best defenders and should be even better. We improve at the 5 and probably the 4. The 2 is the only unknown and Poole certainly has the athleticism to be a good defender.

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I think if someone tells Jordan Poole going into the offseason that there’s 30 minutes and 10 more shots available with his name on it as long as he isn’t a problem defensively, he will take that to heart and we will be just fine

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