I think Yak would have significantly helped raise the floor of next year’s team with continuity purposes alone. Maybe Saddi or Haynes can have that same impact, but it seemed like Yak could have been instrumental in bringing Wilson and Wagner on board. I also think with Yak returning, at the very least next year’s defense would have likely been top 10-15 in the country. I would say that’s still a possibility, but I feel less confident in that without Yak.
Beyond next year, I agree I don’t think this hurts the program long-term, especially since he was likely to leave on his own regardless
Paging @umhoops. Is Yaklich really gone? If so, huge disappointment. He might just save Smart’s job in Austin if Shaka gives him the leeway to do his thing on defense.
Apropos of nothing, does anyone believe Michigan will be a better offensive team next year without Beilein and with the limitations of certain Wolverines on that end of the floor? I was counting on another elite defense with Yaklich on board. Without him, it doesn’t look good. Wilson and Wagner probably no longer realistic hopes either, if Yak is indeed gone.
I mean, we still return the same number of all-conference level defenders as we would have regardless of Yaklich’s scheme. I think the biggest hit Michigan will take next year is just a result of an extremely thin roster, unless Howard can pull several rabbits out of his hat.
We have Simpson, Teske, and Livers who are all really solid defenders and assuming Brooks gets big minutes he also is a good defender. Howard is credited heavily with the stellar Miami Heat defense and just because Yaklich may be gone doesn’t mean the players and any retained coaches would immediately forget some things Yaklich taught them. The culture of defense at Michigan changed under Yaklich and I don’t think that culture is going anywhere. This will be a very good defensive team next year.
Maybe you could expound on who the characters are in this scenario? It just seems like somebody other than WM is pulling the strings here. It he’s not top dog in the AD, then who?
Still pretty hard to get our heads around what will be here. Too many unknowns. But I’m really excited to hear that Bajema gained 20 pounds. With reports of elite shooting, there’s a guy who could suddenly be in a key role next year. It’s a big step up in competition, but if he can can 3s and keep his man in front of him at the 2, 3, or both, that’s just huge.
Defense has never been Shaka’s problem. Despite ditching the Havoc™ his Texas teams have gone 40th, 21st, 12th, and 26th in AdjD. It’s the offense that’s the issue, though the Longhorns did finish in the top-30 this past season (29th). More specifically, all four of his Texas teams were very bad at shooting.
Depends on the system Coach Howard decides to use. For example, if Howard wants to use a more up-tempo offense, get out in transition and run more — maybe that fits the personnel a little better and maybe the offense is “better.”
Look Beilein was/is a master teacher of the game and an excellent offensive coach. I loved him as UM’s coach. But his principles aren’t the only successful offensive principles. We know very little about the systems Coach Howard will implement, so it is really difficult to evaluate the impact of different assistant coaches and different potential recruits
I know the offense has been a bigger issue at Texas, along with the bizarre ability of Smart to recruit one-and-done centers who become 1st Round picks, yet not advance in the Tournament in any of his four years there thus far. I just think with Yaklich, the defense could become top 3 again, and that elite level can take a team a lot further than just a very good defense can. It can make up for all sorts of offensive deficiencies, as we had occasion to witness in March 2018 in all but the Texas A&M game (well, and naturally the title game as well).
It’s very hard to see how the offense could be better next year, but, for the long term, if Howard’s offense brings any welcome changes it could be these:
More attacking weak spots/seeking mismatches? I felt like Beilein didn’t prioritize either of those two things, and the results were good enough to negate any criticisms anyways. It’s not as if this was something that had never occurred to him b, but certainly other teams spotted weaknesses in our D and exploited them, and that was frustrating. It could be something we see more of.
More hunting for 2s. Beilein answered shooting woes with ``keep shooting’’. Much of the time that was the right answer, but I did feel like there were games this year where shooting slumps could have been answered maybe 2 or 3 times a game with set plays for 2s.