I’m legit worried about what Michigan’s record will be come January. I have faith in Belein to make this team the truth come the end of the season, but the entire season matters to get a good seeding in March. Villanova and UNC could be very bad if we don’t figure out how to make a jump shot.
They have the ability to put clamps on teams. Just going to have to muck it up and hope to steal one until they figure it out. Never thought I would see the day where team defense would be a greater strength than team shooting 2 years in a row with a John Beilein team.
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He sure took over and Livers looks so much better to me.
0.59 ppp against? Good Lord.
Regarding Michigan’s shooting… We’re not great obviously, but we’re also not “20% as a team” bad. The offense has a lot of room to improve just from guys who we have good reason to believe are not bad shooters, such as Poole and Livers, performing at an average level from behind the arc.
One thing that was concerning from in the stadium, so i might have had bad (edit: sight, don’t let you’re phone talk for you) lines, but Poole’s passing against the zone appeared to be horrendous in the second half.
Michigan might see multiple Zone defense’s this year, I’m curious to see if Nova shows one on Wednesday.
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I’m legit worried if unc or nova can get to fifty points on our defense.
I didn’t get to watch the game…thoughts on Poole? The shooting % isn’t so alarming as the usage and shot attempts. 5 attempts a game seems odd. I’d expect around 10 at least. What kind of looks did he get? Does it look like he’s thinking too much? Trying to play within the offense?
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It looks to me like he is choosing his spots very selectively. There was at least 4-5 times early-ish in the shot clock last night I felt Poole had an opportunity to attack or shoot off the catch and instead he backed out or passed back to the point guard.
It also seems like through two games, every time Poole has attacked off the dribble or tried to create his own shot, he has been mostly successful creating space and getting to his spots, he just has not converted the looks.
5 shot attempts per game for Poole is very problematic IMO because this team desperately needs his shot creation and if that doesn’t go up (and his shots don’t start going in) this team will struggle mightily against better competition. I’m of the belief that both the attempts and the makes will increase very soon, hopefully by wednesday.
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Agree with buckets…JP was recruited to score. I wonder if he should come off the bench as a gunner and maybe try IGGY at the 2. He needs to get up shots and space the floor. I didn’t see the game but X needs to shoot when he’s open…cannot get better if you don’t shoot.
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Livers versatility already greatly helped win a game. Beilein only went small in response to Carmody’s personnel. That was huge to be able to go small now.
I agree with one of Ant Wright’s tweets. Once Charles, Poole and Iggy figure out how to coexist on offense, they’re going to be alright.
Already seeing great progress by the “role” players in Livers and Brooks. If those three alphas get it going as we go along, they can raise that ceiling.
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The thing about Livers is he has the talent and upside to be a star. It’s always been mental with him offensively. At least that’s how I view his game. He’s our most versatile defender, a top 3 jump shooter, a top 2 athlete and clearly has a extremely high basketball IQ, hence why he played so much as a freshman last year right away. If Poole, Matthews and Iggy can gel and hit the level we expect, plus if Livers can rise to this level he’s been playing at or higher, i think Michigan will have decent enough offensive weapons to go with the defense
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100% fully agree.
To agree more with you and kind of counter my own point, Livers isn’t playing like a role player on offense so far. I love his confidence to let it fly and hunt his shot two games in. They just haven’t fallen yet.
(Which he looks to be guiding his shot a little bit so far. He definitely changed his motion a little from last year. He kind of has a slower release, probably to help put more spin on it.)
You are right. I guess I meant Isaiah could potentially do a little more with his dribble moreso than shooting. I know for a fact he had above average handles in high school, so he could and should be a bit more of a threat with a dribble. Not necessarily iso end of shot clock scenarios. We have Poole, Matthews and Iggy for those, but just attacking closeouts and straight line drives. His athleticism is NBA caliber and vision is better than he normally gets credit for. Just looking at the rim with his dribble would force defenses to collapse, opening space for Poole and the others to either shoot or drive.
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On top of that thought, beauty is if Beilein goes small ball five against a traditional big, he should eat up the opposing center with his handles as well.
I’ll be curious to see how he evolves through the year. If nothing else, attacking closeouts should he part of his arsenal. I keep thinking of his late Purdue drive last year.
Game replay on at 3:30 eastern time. BTN in a couple of minutes.
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