Yep, as soon as I posted I figured it was going to be something like that. I have a “special needs” grand daughter who lives with us so I’m usually more sensitive than that. My apologies to the board. I know Billy won’t see this or I’d apologize to him, too. Seriously, he must be a helluva coach. Except for the fact that they are playing us I’d surely be rooting for him! I tried to delete the comment, Dylan. If you’re able to do that, I’d appreciate it, although I learned a lesson in decorum and good taste I should have learned long ago and obviously didn’t. Thanks for informing me. I DO appreciate it.
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Yeah. It seems like Kennedy is just an all around great dude battling through some tremendous adversity. It’s easier to root for the demise of teams that deserve the karmic retribution 
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In case you want to watch a Texas A&M game, here’s a link to their 3/3 game v Alabama: http://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=3303660
I’m not going to be rooting for his team, but I’ll sure root for him! I see the struggles my grand daughter has everyday, yet keeps a smile on her face, and I know for Billy Kennedy to rise to the position he has attained as a Division I basketball coach is inspiring. Certainly it is to me, a guy who rose all the way to a Divison III assistant coach! 
And not a particularly successful one at that!The fact that I can sometimes be a smart ass is pretty disappointing to me. For those of you who care, please be assured that my wife wasn’t happy with me either! Her response to me was, “I sure hope you apologized! AND, I hope you learned your lesson.” I hope so, too. Still I will be rooting for Michigan tomorrow!
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Dylan do you think we could see some time with Livers and Duncan out there at the 3/4? I feel like this could be a lineup we see if we’re struggling against the zone.
I think zone will mean more Duncan and more Poole.
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What teams has Michigan played this year that played zone against them?
Northwestern, Iowa are a couple of notable ones.
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I actually started watching this before you posted the link haha.
My general thoughts:
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More impressed with Starks than I thought I’d be. Clearly very talented and a three level scorer. But also clearly a freshman who makes LOTS of bone-headed mistakes. The only creator on the team who is tasked will the late shot clock offense. Pretty good handle and nice looking shot. Looking at box scores, it seems like Alabama was one of his better games so my opinion might be a bit too positive. I think X will be able to contain him though.
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I also like Gilder. A solid all around player that they run a good amount of sets through. Solid all around skills but just isn’t particularly elite at anything besides catch and shoot shooting. They run him around screens and in some pnr/dbo stuff but he isn’t super effective. I think a good comparison is probably Avery Bradley.
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DJ Hogg (apparently pronounced Hogue). Basically just a shooter. I was frankly pretty shocked watching him. It’s incredible that a guy who is 6’9" 220 makes as little use of his size as he does. He plays like he’s 6’3". Basically a 38% shooting Duncan Robinson, but they’ll run a little pnr with him that doesn’t generally lead to much.
Williams and Davis are as advertised. The defense is pretty predicated on their shot blocking and size to do everything. I was not very impressed with the overall defensive activity of the squad, so I’m thinking that that 32% 3pt defense is in fact fluky. Tyler Davis reminds me a lot of Jarnell Stokes. Will post-up a bit, attack from the high post off dribble handoffs if the opportunity is there. Both great rebounders.
No one on the bench stands out in particular except that Chandler is horrible. Flagg looks just like a worse all around Hogg.
In general the offense is ran through the guards. Surprisingly few post-up opportunities for the bigs. Also just a very sloppy team in general. Sooo many turnovers and mistakes.
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Just saw this in Dylan’s preview:
Another interesting element of the A&M defense is that 57.6% of opponent makes are assisted, a figure which ranks 298th nationally.
Matches what I saw. The team on defense really just seemed like they hung back and relied on Williams and Davis to contest shots in the paint. If you start swinging the ball, they get lazy closing out on shooters and don’t rotate well to help the helper.
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My concern would be if they play more zone defense, which Zavier shows up?
He seems to play tentatively against zones, almost making it 4 on 5. If NY Z shows up, or close to it, I’m confident no matter what defense they play.
Z is not a great option against zone defense if he’s missing the 3 point shot. MAAR/Poole combo will see some time if it becomes an issue.
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I’d rather see Brooks against a zone, frankly. He seems to have a better grasp of how to move the ball and move off the ball against a zone.
"Beat the zone: This feels like a game where it will be extremely tough for Texas A&M to guard Michigan’s bigs on the perimeter, but the Aggies play a 2-3 zone on 20% of their defensive possessions which could be an x-factor. "
@umhoops you may have listed it in a different article, but how does A&M’s zone grade out?
I’m interested to watch M box out and team rebound. I think it is key to the game. Texas A&M will not get a lot in transition, Coach Beilein isn’t going to let that happen, if M can limit the offensive rebounds like they did with MSU, I don’t see A&M being able to keep up. I love the way this team defensive rebounds. I think this is a game, M can offset two things A&M needs to do to win.
Zavier is 6 for his last 40 from three. Yep, that’s not good.
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CM is going to have to be huge in the glass
Gonzaga travels well, especially on the West coast.
Yikes! I knew it wasnt good, but that’s even worse than I thought