Purdue at Michigan Discussion Thread

Why are you assuming if we call timeout we get the last shot? It’s just as likely he starts a drive with 6 seconds if we call a timeout

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I am sincerely impressed with Brooks. He has real potential. For him to come in as a Freshman and more or less have a neutral impact as pg is actually impressive and I don’t mean that as a backhanded compliment at all—there is real potential in Brooks. However, I think MAAR backing up Z and giving Poole some extra minutes might be a worthwhile experiment. I did not catch that JB was considering that but I like it.

I would also like to see JB experiment with Mo backing up Livers so that Teske can get on the floor more. I have been very skeptical about Mo guarding 4’s but he is not that great at guarding 5’s either. Got to find a way to get Teske on the floor more than 10 minutes a game.

Our top 7 most valuable players are:

Z, MAAR, Matthews, Livers, Wagner, Teske, and Poole.

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No, it is not just as likely. Unless you think coaches instructing players on exactly what to do in the next twenty seconds is useless. I didn’t sleep all night over this game, and I just don’t even begin to understand your reasoning for how our guys, left to their own devices are just as likely to do the same thing with the benefit of a timeout to make sure everyone is on the same page and has received instructions. They started the action too early.

We got caught a number of times on their screens - Matthews got caught a few times down the stretch I remember. I think the play you’re talking about MAAR fell and Edwards sprinted to a spot where he could get off like a clean 25 footer and he nailed it.

Interesting “random” thought… When it was determined with 6 sec left that Purdue got the ball, Painter called a timeout. When everyone returned to the floor JB called a timeout to counter what Purdue had set up. The ESPN camera over looked the Purdue huddle during the JB timeout. Painter did not adjust anything he previously had setup, yet he told his players that Michigan was going to use their final foul, and he drew up a side out of bounds play for that situation, knowing he didn’t have any timeouts left when the Michigan foul occurred. And yes… that was the play Wagner fouled Haas on.

As a Coach myself, I really admired Painter being “a step ahead” and made me analyze the JB timeout. No, I am not saying the JB timeout was wrong, but I may look at the situation differently when I, as a coach, am in the same situation again. I just found that entire replay/end of game interesting as the Michigan side/Purdue side were adjusting to everything they could.

I really enjoy watching our team. I believe we have the pieces to do some exciting stuff.

The Haas play was actually not the primary play they drew up. They thought Michigan was going to foul in the backcourt. Haas play was just a standard OOB play from the side I believe.

Giving the foul in the frontcourt allowed Purdue to just run a standard set. Think about it like this… Michigan wanted to throw the ball to midcourt and then call a timeout and run a play from there if Purdue had made the 2nd free throw. Simpson’s foul essentially just advanced the ball and put it right where you’d want.

If you give that foul in the backcourt (preferably by making them catch it running away from the hoop) then it is a far less traditional play.

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I wonder if the outcome is different if that’s not an ESPN game. No way the BTN has the tech to match the view the refs got after 5 minutes of replay (they should get, maybe, a minute thirty, tops - if you can’t figure it out by then, the call stands). But I really wonder if we were unlucky that was an ESPN production.

Here are Ethan’s takeaways

Exactly. X had a few defensive lapses last night, including letting Carson Edwards catch that inbounds pass on the move and then letting him turn the corner. He can’t let him get over halfcourt that easily.
If I’m criticizing Beilein for anything on that play, it’s that he didn’t have a second man up on Edwards. I believe it was Mathews playing rover but he was protecting against long pass that wasn’t likely coming anyway (the equivalent of the prevent defense in football). I would much rather see them double Edwards and try to trap him even. With a foul to give you can afford to be more aggressive there.

Yeah, there were two. On one, Edwards ran him through a Rip-Hamilton-esque maze of screens and Rahk just seemed to lose him. On the second, as you say, Rahk stumbled around a screen and Edwards got off a clean look. Credit to Edwards - he hit two massive shots down the stretch.

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Just rewatched the game. The thing that caught my eye, which hasn’t been discussed, was that Brooks did a very admirable job chasing Purdue players around on defense even if it was for only 8 minutes. He had a couple of high level switches too. Although he looked shaky handling the ball he really looked pretty good defensively.

This is a very weird JB team. I feel like the recipe for our success is defend like crazy and run like crazy. Maximizing playing time for the players that can defend and run might help this team reach its potential.

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I know this has nothing to do with the Purdue game specifically or this season even, but my biggest takeaway after the last few weeks of watching these freshmen develop is how good and deep we are going to be next year especially on the wing.

PG: Simpson, Brooks, Dejulius
Wings: Poole, Matthews, Iggy, Livers, Johns, Ibi and Nunez
C: Wagner, Teske, Castleton

How JB utilizes and splits minutes between Poole, Matthews, Iggy, Livers and Johns is going to be crazy to watch play out. I could easily see Poole, Matthews and Livers all deserving of 30-35 minutes at their spots, but then you add a 5 star in Iggy who many say is a consensus top-5 incoming scorer and Brandon Johns…I just can’t wait until next year

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It’s going to be crazy.

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Could also say that Wagner and Matthews go pro and the roster is left with the most proven contributors as Simpson and Livers. Bit early for the next year speculation :slight_smile:

I don’t see Matthews going pro, unless he develops some semblance of consistency. His handle is still a work in progress and his poor free-throw shooting gives defenders carte-blanche to play him tough at the rim. I was down on him early, then he seemed to turn it around (mainly against weak comp). Now I’m just like…wtf? 2/3 from 3 and 50% from line? I don’t get it and I doubt the NBA gets it either. He’s an enigma.

He’s figuring it out and learning on the job. I’m not saying he should/will/won’t/whatever go pro. I’m just saying that anything can happen. About a year ago, DJ Wilson was about to go 0-fer from the floor against Wisconsin and no one in the wildest dreams would have imagined him as a top-20 pick.

Is it possible that Brooks’ long term spot is more the 2 than the 1? It seems like coming into this year, people saw him more as a combo-guard than a point guard…he’s just getting minutes because we don’t really have a second point on this roster. Next year, that won’t be the case.

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Honestly, even if the worst case of Wagner and Charles leaving (which I do not think will happen) actually happens, Buckets12’s point stands. The wing talent is going to be absolutely insane. A little less insane if Matthews splits (unlikely imo) but still insane.

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I agree with your assessment of Eli. He came in, worked hard and found himself in a role no one really expected, including, perhaps, Eli himself. He was the starter, as a true freshman, on a pretty good Big Ten basketball team. He struggled a bit, and the player who I felt, at the end of last year, would start this year and be pretty good, Z, played some excellent basketball including some exceptional D, and supplanted him in the stating lineup. Eli is where he should be. He is learning every day. He will get more and more comfortable and better and better as this year progresses. All we need of him right now is about eight minutes a game, exactly what he had last night. as long as Z continues to play as he is, and himself continue to learn and grow which I’m pretty confident he will. Eli is and will be fine…and if he starts getting comfortable with his shot, that will be a huge bonus. As for now, solid play for eight minutes a game, and learning everyday, and getting more comfortable everyday, that’s all we need from him. And for anyone who would be critical of Eli’s play, that’s still a bigger role than any one of us, except perhaps Coach Hay, would have expected of Eli at the beginning of the year.

On Livers, there’s going to be a lot of louder and louder calls for him to start. I’m adamantly against that right now and I really hope he still comes off the bench.

He’s playing extremely well in that role and I hope they don’t mess with that flow. It may not seem like it, but the feeling of coming off the bench versus starting is different.

There’s nothing wrong with taking the approach of the second half last night. You can absolutely bring Livers in a minute into the half and still get tons of minutes.

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