I can understand that, but when the entire top 5 returns in the stat, it suggests that the returning players were and will be part of a great defensive unit.
I agree that the defense will be great, I just donât think itâs because the metric stats say so. Just for an example of the issues, bench players who had a larger percentage of their minutes with Teske than the other players did will get an auto boost based on nothing that they did.
At least thatâs the case with DRtg, Iâll read the stuff on the other ones you posted.
As far as non-statistical reasons for optimism, I would say a second year of Yaklichâs tutelage could make an elite unit even better. I for one did not expect Michigan to be that good that quickly on the defensive end.
Possibly a different subject but I am curious if Livers will get some PT at the 5.
I think Beilein mentioned that theyâd be working on it before the season. Itâs an incredibly intriguing lineup.
Without a doubt he will. It is a question of how much. Iâm expecting it to be a situational thing. A change of pace, an end of game situation, or opponent based.
Teske will eat up the majority of those minutes and deservedly so. Never seen a guy reset screens and get his teammates uncontested layups like big bad Jon. Teske does so many things well; alter shots, defend, rebound, outlet, pass, screen, shot. Gonna play as many minutes as he can handle. Once he gets better balance and footwork he will be one of the best centers around.
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I agree, I love Teske. Heâs like a much bigger JMo.
Hopefully not much.
Love this line and I agree. I understand Dylan thinks highly of Wisconsin, but I gotta see Gard do it to some degree before I buy into them this year. Its hard putting a team with Ethan Happ at 9, but I donât see a team I would comfortably put them above.
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Gard took his team to the sweet 16 twiceâŚ
NCAA Tournamnet wins since Gard took over:
Michigan 8
Wisconsin 4
Purdue 4
Indiana 2
Maryland 2
MSU 2
Northwestern 1
Iowa 1
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I really like Michigan Stateâs win total in that list 
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I really like that MSU + Indiana + Ohio State + Wisconsin have only equaled Michiganâs total in that span
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Hard to give Gard too much credit for those wins. He was put in a pretty darn good position lol.
I guess put me as someone in the middle. I agree that Gard has not proven heâs a good coach or that theyâll be near as good a program post-Bo Ryan. But I also think theyâll be pretty good next year. Happ will be great, Davison will be fine (although he is getting too much credit now). And the guys returning from injusry is the biggest thing for Wisconsin.
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Actually, OSU did win a game in the tourney last year.
As for Gard, Iâm also in the middle. His success came with players who were juniors and seniors that Bo Ryan had taken to the Final Four twice (and Ian Happ, who Ryan recruited and coached for a year while he redshirted), but he did go to 2 sweet 16s and rack up 24 conference wins in two seasons. I wouldnât be surprised to see Wiscy in the top half of the league and make the NCAAs and Iâd give them an outside shot at a top 3 or 4 finish.
The Gard skepticism is understandable, but itâs misleading to say he won with Ryanâs players and Ryanâs system - Gard was there recruiting the players and teaching the system the whole time Ryan was coaching in Madison, Milwaukee, and Platteville. You could argue that Gard doesnât have what it takes to be a head coach, but since nobody can define what that is it all falls back to results. In seasons that havenât been derailed by injury, Gardâs been impressive.
This past season looked a bit like Michigan in 2015 - a very successful team returning just one star and a few key players that was absolutely flattened by injuries, but which nevertheless improved considerably by the end of the season. Sometimes those are the situations that really show a coachâs talent.
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True, assistants deserve credit for the teamsâ achievements, especially a longtime one like Gard, and he was there coaching Hayes, Koenig, etc. while Ryan was still there. Just some healthy skepticism regarding how much he can replicate Ryanâs success on his own, especially building a team from the ground up. Ryan was a heckuva coach.
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In general, Iâm pretty bullish on Nebraska. They arenât great, but I think theyâre a tournament caliber team - they didnât really lose anything that important from last year, and I have a hard time thinking Watson can be that bad again. Roby strikes me as a real problem.
Iâm not sure I entirely understand why Iowa is supposed pegged for a huge jump, but Wisconsinâs mediocrity is endemic. Both teams were utterly hollowed out by departures/injuries last year, and both teams essentially return every single contributor. The only difference is that Wisconsin was better last year.
On Gard - Iâm not sure we can say much. He won with a pretty good inherited team, and then when he lost 4 of his 5 most used players, and replaced most of their minutes with true freshmenâŚthey were worse. This is the year the rubber meets the road with them.
A random comment: if you told me that the Maryland club that lost all three of their meaningful pre-season games had 3 NBA first-round draft-picks (I keep seeing Bruno Fernando discussed as a future one), Iâd have thought you were insane. What is Turgeon doing?
Regardless, I see:
Michigan
MSU
Nebraska
Indiana
Wisconsin
Iowa
Maryland
Purdue
OSU
Illinois
PSU
NW
Minnesota
Rutgers
Iâm not as down on Minnesota. Isaiah Washington showed flashes last year (most impressively against us), Jordan Murphy is a handful for anyone and Amir Coffey is a future NBA player. Depth and coaching will be huge issues but they do have talent.
Iâve been writing positional previews for UM and MSU all week and this dawned on me. Both teams could start five returning players, but those players rarely played together as a group last season.
Simpson/Poole/Matthews/Livers/Teske played together for 15 possessions last yr per http://HoopLens.com
Winston/Langford/McQuaid/Goins/Ward played together for 29 possessions.
Shows how important the freshman class is for both programs next year. Need to fill important gaps.
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That seems like itâs likely our starting 5 (obviously, anything can happen). But is that really MSUâs? I guess Iâve been assuming itâs Bingham at the 4? I guess Iâve been assuming that Bingham is a reasonable fill-in for what Jackson gave them in the same spot (probably less defensively). I guess one could argue that Izzoâs playing time decisions would suggest that he didnât like that thoughâŚ
Would Goins get the nod over Tillman? Is he in theory a shooter?