Well…fair point…but that is certainly not what he was supposed to be at the 4. And while his offense has been good at times, part of the reason you say “better on O than D” is just because his D has been so bad. The idea was that you put your athletic, long-armed, future NBA guy at the 4 and sacrifice spacing and shooting for his defensive disruption. Instead he’s giving you scrappy offense around the hoop while making your defense worse.
With Moussa, the surprising thing has been that he often has very little idea what he’s even doing defensively. The frequency with which he is out of position is alarming. I guess that shouldn’t be surprising to see from any freshman and when you consider that he’s played for a different coach every year of his career (save for the 2 year stint at IMG), it starts to make more sense. I still believe (and I know you agree) that he has significant defensive upside. It’s just going to take a lot of reps and film to get there.
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Moussa or Houstan entering the draft this year would be a huge mistake. They both have so much to work on including getting stronger.
Now back to defensive rebounding. The team was getting gouged at the free throw line by Purdue (especially T. Williams). Not athletic or strong enough to keep longer players from getting offensive rebounds and if the rebound was semi long you could forget it.
I’m surprised Diabate is having problems with perimeter fours. There were lots of clips of him locking up good high school PGs whenever he switched onto them. Maybe it’s his footwork on close outs.
Think his struggles with perimeter players have more to do with his inability to handle the defensive responsibilities at the college level so far. One on one, he could very well be Michigan’s most capable defender due to his length and athleticism. But the game isn’t played one on one, even in ISO situations. College offenses are going to be more complicated and opponent’s smarter and more experienced than who you guard in HS and AAU.
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There’s a huge difference between switching onto a perimeter player for a possession and knowing how to play college perimeter defense.
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Debate is very much looking like a candidate to stay next year, especially if we continue with this trend in which the coach likes other players down the stretch better at the 4. But Houstan has played through his early struggles, and is showing that his money skill is bankable. If he wants to go, it’s probably there for him at this point I’m guessing.
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Yes…and highlights don’t tell the whole story. The play where he got torched on the perimeter was so frustrating because you knew it was coming and he was just so flat footed. In the previous game I think there was a play where he was crowding that guy who got the technical for Nebraska and got blown by. You’re 6-10 (probably actually 6-9)!! Give him space but keep your hand up!
I know I have no idea what NBA teams are looking for at this point in the draft with later picks…but I struggle to see how either could get picked with the long term development needs they both have.
In some ways they are good examples for why the NHLs “draft and follow” agreement with the NCAA would be good for basketball. Someone could pick them on potential but let them stay at Michigan a couple years to figure it out rather than take a roster spot or contract money.
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This is the point I was trying to make above. Switching requires different footwork than helping and recovering and I wonder if he’s better at the former and not as experienced at the latter. In the last game, he closed out a shooter but left the baseline wide open for a drive.
Minnesota just drained a half courter at the buzzer to go up 4 at the half.
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I think Willis might be my new favorite player in the B10.
EJ Liddell would get my B1G POTY vote if I had one
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Two horse race between Liddell and Kofi right now IMO. Purdue featuring Ivey more gives him a chance though.
This opens up a date for Iowa/OSU to make up their game that was postponed because of weather.
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No Davis? Know he’s been cold the last few weeks but he’s still averaging 21/10/2 on 41/33/75 splits in conference. I think Wisconsin’s record being what it is despite all the metrics showing they should be a mediocre team at best earns him brownie points too.
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He’s an All-Big Ten First Team guy no doubt but I don’t really see him in the same tier as those other two. Made the same point on the pod two weeks ago and I feel like it is only more obvious now.
I expect Wisconsin will finish 3rd or 4th in the league (at best) and have overachieved and he’s sitting on a 100.6 ORtg on 32% usage in B10 games.
I don’t think that compares to Kofi – 117 ORtg, 31.9% usage and one of the most impactful defensive players in the league – or Liddell 119.8 ORtg, 29.8 usage – especially if (when) both of them finish ahead of him in the standings.
I tend to look more at the fact that Wisconsin isn’t as good as the other teams in contention more than that they’ve won a few games over expectation.
And any case for Ivey winning B10 POTY is based on them winning the league outright IMO. Which is still possible.
Conference only stats… what’s the case for Davis here?
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Oooof. Also, wow Hunter! Also, zero Michigan State players!
I find it really funny that a lot of the national people had Johnny Davis as the national player of the year frontrunner as little as a week ago, but pretty much everyone who follows the Big Ten closely is like “he’s really good but he’s not the best player in the conference”. Glad there’s numbers to confirm that, I’d still lump him in the first tier (and I might throw Keegan Murray in there too) but Kofi >>>>>>>.
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I know you are part of the national media now but national media takes are not usually the best 
Also, there’s only so much you can actually watch. I watch basically every Big Ten game but don’t know anything about the SEC or the ACC or anything like that. Makes it very easy to hang on to a take from November when you aren’t as tuned in.
Same reason that no one is really talking about how ridiculously good Hunter Dickinson has been offensively in Big Ten play.
Ehhhhh “national media” is a stretch for me 
I still have no idea what I’m doing. But yes - bad takes galore. I’m curious to see where the consensus goes next now that Davis is very clearly not the NPOY…feels like there’s an opening that hasn’t been filled yet.
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I took video of this on my phone to send to a buddy (just a 5 second clip in-game). I’ll let @umhoops decide if there is a way I can post it here.
I will say there’s also a weird role that the basketball itself is playing in this huddle. Like, do guys usually have a ball in their hands during a Timeout??
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