Obviously it’s not remotely a new thing, but I really like the player bullet sections. It’s hard to watch everyone individually so that gives a great, broad recap.
I would also remind people how Notre Dame, Michigan, Purdue, North Carolina and Michigan State looked at this time last year.
It is a long season.
Indeed, but as you mentioned in the recap there’s so much individual defensive talent that the floor is quite high IMO.
Without a doubt, but it is college hoops and it is a long road.
I do find this team fascinating though and I think they are still scratching the surface in a number of ways too.
I’m sure we had a decent back up plan, but man was it huge for the makeup of this team to beat out OSU for Teske.
Interesting, I’d enjoy a section on that in one of the upcoming posts this week.
Great bounceback after the early 10 pt hole. Play of the game IMO was Simpson with the rip and layup to make it 21-13 rather than a 5 on 3 the other way and a potential highlight for UNC. Started the 12-0 run if I’m not mistaken. What a catalyst he is…
Yep – actually meant to mention it.
Before getting into with Matthews and Simpson, Black was jawing with Jordan Poole. It’s all good, I liked Black’s competitiveness.
If I hadn’t heard Nassir Little is a top ten pick, I wouldn’t even had noticed him. He’s not very impressive at this stage of his young career.
Simpson did a nice job defensively on Coby White. Hopefully we can put the Simpson getting overpowered on D nonsense to rest. Simpson’s steal and bucket, with M down 10 (21-11) and NC looking like they were going to get a fast break opportunity was amazing and spurred an 11-0 Michigan run. Impressive set of hands on that young man.
Even though they only go 7 deep it is a very versatile team. The lineup and playing style with Livers at the 5 is much different than when Teske is at the 5 and they can mix and match depending on the game. Additionally, Iggy, Matthews and Poole can all create their own shots and high usage guys rotate within the offense.
Defensively, Simpson is an elite defender going against the lead guard, Matthews is elite guarding the best wing player and Teske is a great rim protector. All levels of the defense are tough. On offense, while still developing, they have multiple guys that can create their own shot and attack the rim and a few quality outside shooters to spread the floor.
Overall, they don’t turn the ball over and don’t allow easy buckets. Every possession is a grind for the opposing team.
Free throws are the one glaring weakness. They would somehow need to get the ball to Poole or Iggy at the end of the game and then trust there won’t be a turnover.
Ahh, Dylan, we need only positivity this week for some unknown reason. 
It’s a long year for all our freshmen and young players to develop too! Go Blue!
The UNC take:
Their fans don’t even mention one UM player by name at all.
Awesome game. One of the best crowd atmospheres I can remember at Crisler in a long time. My only concern with this team is what happens in a game where we get multiple guys in foul trouble. Everytime someone comes in that isn’t a part of the 7 man rotation you can see a noticeable dropoff. Maybe I am being too hard on Davis, as I think he might do better against a less athletic team, but for the four minutes he was out there I was holding my breath. Have to assume the freshmen will improve. Hopefully either Dejulius or Johns can provide 3-5 minutes by the end of the year, in a pinch.
What a beautiful quote
What a dope response by Charles…really enjoying watching this team so far. GO BLUE
I got to hand it to Teske. I am not a big fan of plodding big men, and I know many are higher on Teske than I am. But wow I did not expect him to hold up for 33 minutes against UNC and impact the game like he did. Especially after the first possession of the game when he got beat down the court for a layup, I was thinking we were gonna have to play small to win this. He is also much more mobile than you’d think and the kid damn near never goes for ball fakes. I do dread his FTs more than anyone else sans X though, but I’m sure he’s working on it.
This team’s best trait is its versatility. A lot of teams can go big, and a lot of teams can go small. But I don’t think there are many teams that can do both as well as Michigan can. Props to JB and the staff on their roster building.
I don’t like those comparisons.
Notre Dame and UNC dealt with injuries. Michigan St was elite all year and Izzo ruined them.
Injuries can happen and Beilein is not Izzo.
Who knows what would’ve happened but Purdue had the Haas injury as well. (Even though I don’t think much of Haas)
I am all around very impressed with this team. My only areas of concern are:
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Depth. There is a huge drop off after our 7th man. If John’s can put it together as our 8th man this team will be so much better and much better protected against the possibility of an injury and foul trouble.
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Brooks. He needs to realize how good he is and how good he can be. If Brooks can shed his nervousness then he will be a very effective player for us. I wonder how much of his nervousness comes from playing against the #1 defense in the country–in practice? I hope he just busts out of his shell soon. I really believe it is going to happen! Kid is underrated by many. I think he is underrating himself.
Purdue had the Vince Edwards injury as well