Game 19: Illinois at Michigan Open Thread

Michigan Basketball
549

January 28.

550

So here’s a question. If we don’t land Christopher, how good is this team next year?

552

I think the only victory you can assume at this point is the home game against Nebraska. Everything else is 50/50 at best.

553

Better but still significant shooting concerns.

555

My general thought is that the team will be slightly more talented, but will have even less ball-handling and playmaking than they do now. The same limitations that everyone is saying are insurmountable coaching-wise will continue to be there next year.

557

Pretty wide variance. If a few people develop they could be a top 20 type team. But the floor is very low too.

559

This loss sucks because we get the reactionary comments like above. When if we simply make a couple free throws we get a very nice Q1 win and people are way happier.

I don’t think the quality (personnel and coaching) of this team is any different because of those free throws. It just affects the resume which obviously sucks.

3 Likes
560

Which tournament? The NIT? Without Livers they’re not making the Big Dance.

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561

I agree, at half time I posted that he needed to get in there to help the offensive woes. Not sure what took so long to get him involved.

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562

Yeah I agree. I think a lot will come down to what we get from DeJulius/Zeb. As much as I respect Zavier Simpson and I feel terrible for the situation he finds himself in, I think it’s hard to project what shot creation looks like without him because the whole offense is so reliant on him. I’m hopeful that when DDJ is handed the keys, he shows he is capable of more than we have seen thus far. It could turn out that as much as we will miss Zavier’s playmaking for others, being a shotmaking threat and a dribble drive/passer cancels out what we lose. Time will tell.

1 Like
564

Can’t write Juwan off. Sure, it’s reasonable to wonder if Beilein could’ve squeezed out some more wins this year, but this just isn’t that talented and confident of a team. Especially without Livers. The coaching plan today seemed really good, and the guys played their hearts out, should’ve won. Just dont have the talent to build a lead, or confidence to put a game away. Tournament does begin to seem unlikely now. Kinda thinking of this year as rebuilding now. My main concern is losing next year’s recruits…

5 Likes
565

I seriously might start him on Tuesday. See if it helps Franz or Eli come off the bench, just to change it up a little.

566

He was talking about Illinois.

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Ddj is one guy I’m confident in still. I think he looks good next year. I’m hoping they slice a much larger role for him from here on out. They need to go back to the three guard lineup for larger portions of the Game rotating Franz and Johns.

570

See my last post. We’re seeing the same things. I think you keep Eli and start Franz at the four if Isaiah is out. Than play with that lineup as your go to rotating Franz and Johns.

1 Like
574

I had an old laptop that was dead anyway. Went full office space on it.

2 Likes
577

Yeah agreed. This isn’t an insult on any of the players, I just think A) DDJ needs more minutes and B) A little change in lineup

578

My biggest concern with Juwan is his inability to develop the bigs. Castleton is unplayable, Johns has been inconsistent and cant defend anyone. Teske numbers are good but I think we can all agree he could be playing a lot better. Davis well you know what you’re going to get with him. This is a JB roster and he was known to be so good because he was able to develop talent out of lower ranked recruits. We can’t expect that out of Juwan in his first year.

A lot of the blame is on the players, Z and Teske are seniors and we shouldn’t that this lack of mental toughness with Z being our leader. To many close losses. We’re a younger team but we also have guys who have experienced, we shouldn’t be struggling this bad to close games out ( hitting free throws)

To many players have glaring deficiencies and overall there is a lack of talent on the roster right now.

580

Sounds like the experts are saying we’re too short to win. And it occurs to me that we’ve got a 6’7" 4-star guard who’s currently backing up C.J. Baird. Jalen Rose should call Howard and tell him that 6’7" guards can be of benefit, especially on a team that’s too short to win.

1 Like
582

I was referring to Illinois