I thought that they got plenty of quality looks at the basket down the stretch against UCLA, and notably that includes their last 2 or 3 shots – the last-second stuff people often look at to evaluate a coach. They kept their composure and ran plays and took shots they normally make, even that desperation heave. When good shooters get open looks that just don’t go down, that’s not coaching. That’s just how the game goes sometimes.
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Yeah, two open off the dribble threes, an open outback (I think Eli did the right thing here. Yes, he had more time but if he brings it down and gathers, it’s probably blocked) and a fadeaway three. Not high percentage shots but enough of them to give you a decent chance. And that doesn’t include the post ups Hunter missed because Floppy Mcflopperson was always lying on the floor near the basket.
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Hardly. Howard has done some very good things. He has made an elite 8, won a Big Ten title has had some very good wins against very good competition. His teams play extremely hard, they value rebounding more than Beilein teams did. Howard wasn’t happy with their D in year 1 so they dedicated more time on things in year 2 and it certainly worked out well.
Believing a large turnover of players and going from one of the oldest teams to a team that is quite young in certain areas isn’t being negative. This is a fact and coming in Michigan is going to get the best shot from opponents. Believing road games will be tougher because of fans in the stands isn’t being negative. I am curious as to why having fans will help Michigan at home only from the W/L standpoint because they only lost 1 home game. The only way to improve is to run the table. I can’t recall the last time Michigan won every home game on their schedule. It isn’t an easy thing to do.
This is a very negative take on Juwan Howard (especially considering the consistently great looks he was drawing up in the UCLA game) and it has nothing to do with roster turnover.
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I don’t think it’s faint praise. It’s realizing when you have a lot of freshman coming in you have a lot players that will need to fit into certain roles. So may not get as much PT as they thought coming in, or any at all.
I am confident that Houstan and Diabate will make an impact, I don’t believe Tschetter is going to get many minutes to have an impact. Then we are left with 3 guys that will be fighting for minutes at the 1/2/3. You have a 30 min guy in Brooks, we don’t know how those 30 will be dispersed between the 1/2. That will automatically impact the minutes of Collins/Bufkin/Jackson and maybe to a lesser extent Jones.
Barnes might be able to scratch some minutes in the column but maybe Juwan wants Houstan at the 3 and a mix of Dickinson/Dibate/Johns/Wiliams splitting time at the 4/5. Obviously Dickinson is more at the 5 but maybe Williams being a very good post passer will have more value and he gets time at the 4 or maybe 3. Then you have Johns/Dibate at the 4.
I just don’t believe having one of the best recruiting classes will guarantee you a great year. Look at some of the classes of 2020 and yes it was a pandemic year but the results still count. Kentucky/UNC/Duke/Tennessee all had top 5 classes and these teams combined for 0 NCAA Tournament wins. ASU had a top 10 class and had a crash and burn season. Gonzaga delivered on their class obviously due to Suggs.
Believing Michigan might have struggles early, figure it out have a good finish and a nice tournament run isn’t being negative at all imo.
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Your take completely over the top negative take on Howard’s coaching is mostly what I was referring to.
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No, it’s not but this is a more measured argument than the one in your previous comment where you didn’t mention roster turnover and seemed to be only concerned with Juwan’s coaching ability as the determining factor for this upcoming season’s performance.
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