Any context for that? Just wondering what prompted JB to say that. I know it’s what a lot of people have been thinking.
I didn’t hear any context for it…wish I had some though. Just thought it was interesting he’s acknowledging the negative perception of his playing style publicly now. His comments on Donlon and the defense were eye-opening too I thought.
Yeah, I like hearing JB publicly acknowledge the perception; if he’s aware of it, then he should be all the more likely to work towards remedying it. I think Dwalt and MAAR could be two of the feistier, pickpocketing guard duos in the conference, with the right coaching.
Well if they don’t want people to think that, how about proving it on the court?
I’ll take Beilein 7 days a week and twice on Sunday over any flavor of the month that a message board wants. What I’ve seen proven on the court sure beats the hell out of the Amaker years and the preceding decade.
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There’s a lot of context behind that tweet (the tweet almost does the full response a disservice). I’d recommend going to the Media Day thread and listening to the JB presser -the original question is around the 18 minute mark. He talks for 2 or 3 minutes on it, including the follow up question. His full response left me feeling a lot better about his mentality than just that 10 second answer.
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Touched on it briefly here
It’s also in the video, and Brendan also wrote a whole article about it here.
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Interesting comments by JB about Wilson. I still think he is the biggest X factor for the team. He has to provide some quality minutes at the 4 for this team to have success.
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Agree Wilson will need to provide energy and defense especially when the opposing 4’s began to push Duncan around like so many times last year. That should be his sole purpose starting out this year and if he can provide solid bench minutes providing the above anything more would be gravy from him.
I would say if WIlson can provide above-average defense at the four for even 10-15 minutes per game it would really go a long way toward preserving Irvin’s stamina this season without having to guard fours for as many minutes.
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Hearing JB discuss playing X and Walton together more than we might think made me wonder if we could possibly see some X, Walton, MAAR lineups together and slide Duncan/Zak both to the 4 when need be. If Wilson doesn’t become serviceable in that spot I think we could survive 10-15 minutes a game like this.
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That’s a really great point and something I could see happening. Either an X, Walton, MAAR, Duncan/Zak, 5 lineup or X, Walton, Zak, Duncan, and 5 even.
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I really don’t have a problem with the 2PG idea because of how badly Michigan needs to add quickness defensively. Obviously there are some games where maybe it doesn’t work, but I’m all for it being a core element of the rotation.
I also definitely think there could be a point where MAAR slides to the three, especially if Watson/Wilson struggle.
All about getting your best players on the court.
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I believe Duke won a championship with Tyus Jones and Quinn Cook, both under 6 foot. Duke had way better talent obviously but its not a bad option. It also helps that walton is an excellent rebounder.
Beilein also brought up the UConn national championship team w/ two littles.
Yup. There are additional recent examples (beyond UConn and Duke) too. Villanova’s guards (Arcidiacono and Brunson) were a bit bigger (6’2"), but both were PGs. And if you go back to 2013 and the Louisville team which beat us in the finals, both guards (Siva and Smith) were smaller, though Smith was not a PG. The trend to small guards/point guards playing together has been pretty pronounced at the highest levels in recent years.
It helps with Walton being such a ferocious rebounder and likely one of the top spot up shooters on the team.
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Yeah I was going to bring that up too. Both of the teams in the championship game played that style as their main lineup. Villanova rotated 6’3" and under Arcidiacono, Booth, and Brunson at the 1 and 2 while Carolina started 6’0" Joel Berry and 6’2" Marcus Paige with 6’1" Nate Britt being the main backup at both positions.
Which of Teske or Davis looked better during the open practice? Think either contribute this year?
Really hard to say – there wasn’t much to the practice. Teske is extremely tall, but skinny. Davis is thick and strong, but slower.
Beilein made it sound like whichever one can grasp defensive rotations more effectively will be the No. 3 big, the other potentially RS.