Yeah. Not easy, but fact remains that two of three wings last year shot ~30% from 3 when it counted. The paint was crowded, which is why Z needed that hook compared with a year previous when he could get all the way to the bucket. So, looking forward, when you have an elite P/R combo you ideally put 3 40%-from-3 shooters around them, and away you go. Livers is one. The pool of candidates for the other two spots includes Brooks, DDJ, Nunez, Bajema, Johns. So you need 2 of 5 candidates to hit, really, and one of them has to be able to play the 3 or 4. If you can add one of Wilson, Wagner and Cumberland, you need 2 of 6 candidates to hit. That’s not a crazyunlikely scenario.
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Guys, relax.
-Howard’s a defensive guy (opposite JB). Maybe he wants to spend his big assistant money on an offensive guy? Or a recruiter?
-Maybe Howard believes in a different — slightly or greatly — defensive approach than Yak. That’s fine. He and Spoelstra’s approach certainly seemed to work well in Miami.
-Maybe Howard’s just got another defensive guy in mind he prefers? Or a defensive guy/major recruiter?
-Howard took care of Sanderson right away. I don’t think he’s been out sailing.
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Exactly.
The only decision we have seen come out since Howard was hired is retaining Sanderson (and the endorsement by Bajema). That’s got to be two thumbs up for everyone. I’m sure Howard is just not running a “full press” court so that we have visibility to what he’s doing. Give the guy some credit for being successful by earning it, not through gift, and trust that things will be fine until proven otherwise.
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I disagree. I think Juwan’s had his chance and now it’s time to move on. Rick Pitino is still available.
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It’s just my opinion, but I think Coach Yak would benefit from observing how Howard has to take over a program coming in as the head coach to prepare himself to do it in the future. If Howard is a success his first year I think Yak would get a lot of credit, whereas the narrative if Texas is good would probably be, “Shaka Smart finally has things rolling in Austin!”
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Always appreciate your humor, Bounce! Hope you user name doesn’t reflect the way those planes come down. EDIT: Didn’t see that hack had beaten me to the punch!
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I like that angle. I do feel like Yak doesn’t have much more to talk about. He’s talked to Shaka; he’s talked to Juwan. Either he wants to talk to Juwan again in person, or he’s made up his mind. If it’s Texas, we’d know sooner rather than later presumably. Just my guess.
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I also believe Castleton will provide a lot of offense when he is on the floor as well as quickness that Teske doesn’t have. I am also in the camp that this offense will be better next year if we land either Wilson or Franz.
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I think everyone is in the camp that the O would be better next year if Wilson or Wagner were to come. Unfortunately both look unlikely to do so
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Yeah I don’t know who the opposition is on that lol
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@umhoops Honest question: how are you going to approach the season preview stuff with a giant question mark over at least the offense, and probably the defense too if Yak leaves?
We still know a good bit about the personnel but obviously what Howard runs is going to be up for interpretation until the season starts. Going to be fascinating to break down Michigan during the season (Beilein was kind of like a copy/paste deal in terms of knowing what to expect).
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It’s not a super easy roster situation to walk into…
C: Teske and Castelton should be solid.
PF: Johns will probably start here, at least to begin the season. If Cole, Wilson (if we get him) or Wagner (if we get him) turn into players, we’ll obviously see a lot more Livers. Johns is obviously very talented. I’m really interested to see what Juwan can do with him in particular.
SF: Livers. Aforementioned freshmen behind him, if we get them. Not ideal. Could be good, if a lot of things go right.
SG: Brooks. He’s probably your starter to begin the season. Okay player, but eek. Gonna have a tough time guarding some bigger 2’s. Really hasn’t shot that well from deep to date. DDJ is probably more talented, but shares some of the same flaws. A very, very huge off-season S&C wise and a real-deal defensive boot camp from Nunez could be the best case scenario? Shooter like him on the floor who doesn’t kill you defensively would be real nice. Wagner if we get him, pretty much same story. Cole may be able to log some minutes here if he arrives on campus surprisingly athletic.
PG: Zavier. I’ll mention this here. If Teske can become a reliable low post option offensively, that helps immensely. If Z can improve his outside shot a bit and watch about 20,000 hours of Cassius Winston P&R tape… that’d help as well.
Lots of work for whoever the coaches are going to be. As it would’ve been for Beilein. Some things that may not work out ^
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Why does Z have to watch Cassius Winston tape? What does he have to learn from Cassius? Z is in his own right great in the PnR, but what makes Cassius so much more effective is that he is 1000x better shooting.
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Yeah it is much easier to be lethal in the pick and roll if they have to respect your shooting and can’t go under screens.
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Hard for me to agree that we won’t land Wilson or Wagner. A few weeks ago, we essentially had both. Not sure if we lose both automatically…especially with Sanderson still in the fold. I also believe Nunez will be better than many are expecting
Yeah, Simpson is elite in ball screens already. Special passer in those situations. Needs to improve his shot to improve his game as a senior. Wrote about his PNR numbers back in April. Feels like a different world ago.
Some more here too:
Does a game plan with more transition present an opportunity for improvement without a big shooting increase?
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Well, sounds like Howard’s contract was just agreed to on Thursday. I believe campus was officially closed Sat-Mon in observance of Memorial Day Weekend. So some of it may just be a technical/logistical naming?
Plus his son had a U16 event starting on Friday that Juwan had previously committed to — he went back to SFla to support his son (and it probably didn’t hurt future recruiting visibility to be seen at an elite USA Basketball youth event).
It just seems like a physical timing issue more than an actually getting to work issue? And having an official press conference this week — about 7 days after news officially was confirmed— only helps to extend the news cycle, which is a benefit for Michigan athletics and Michigan hoops.
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I think I’m probably the opposition here.
Offensive genius hall of fame coach + PG and C that can’t shoot + three NBA early entrants (two who received all conference honors in some form) = good, not great offense.
First-year head coach with a new system + PG and C that can’t shoot + one proven good shooter / high level college starter (Livers) + complete unknowns = ?
Nunez and DeJulius shot 2-28 from three last year. I’d love to see that improve but I’m not confident. If anyone wants to sell me on Johns as a breakout star, I’ll believe it. I think he has huge potential, but he’s basically a total wildcard at the 4 for next season. I love Wilson and Wagner both, but it’s no guarantee they are elite shooters moreso than last year’s freshmen were supposed to be. I believe Wilson will be ready from day one, but that leaves a major hole at the 2. Brooks is a career 27% shooter from three on almost 90 attempts. He had a chance to take Simpson’s job one week into his career. I’m not optimistic he’s suddenly going to breakout now that he has the lion’s share of the minutes gift wrapped for him.
I think any projection that next year’s offense will be better centers around projecting better three-point shooters than Poole (37%), Matthews (31%) and Brazdeikis (39%). Livers is an instant upgrade for one spot, unless being option 1A on the scouting report as a shooter has the same effect on his numbers that it did on Poole for the 2nd half of the year. But beyond Livers it seems like wishful thinking that guys who have shot poorly at the college level will suddenly shoot well or incoming freshmen will be better offensively than last year’s Big ten freshman of the year.
I do like your point on more transition improving the offense. Hopefully that happens