How Michigan can attack Texas Tech's 'no middle' defense

Funny that you posted this video. I know @umhoops watched the same one earlier this week.

This is outstanding content. I used to coach HS ball, and I get chills reading stuff like this.

Itā€™ll be worthwhile to record the game, watch it as a fan, then re-watch it for analysis (but only if Michigan wins!).

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Wow, thanks!

Never have I been so grateful for all the emphasis Coach Beilein puts on proper passing technique, because it looks like if you can make quick, crisp passes, you can find open guys on the perimeter. Now letā€™s hope that those guys have a good shooting day, and that Texas Tech does not shoot like they did against Buffalo. Everything was going in, even absurd shots. And ironically, the Buffalo locker room clip that they showed right before the game had Buffalo emphasizing defense.

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So Michigan needs to become the Milwaukee Bucks in a week. Coach wanted a taste of the NBA. Heā€™s got it. Trust in Beilein.

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Iā€™ve been watching all the videos on Techā€™s defense this week and sending them to my little brother, heā€™s now planning on trying to implement Techā€™s defense into the HS team he coaches next year. :joy:

The MSU logo they use for Michigan at 2:06 :nauseated_face:

Itā€™s pretty effective at the HS level. Good idea for your brother imo.

Iā€™m no Wooden, thatā€™s for sureā€“and donā€™t use all of Techā€™s principles (i.e. we donā€™t Ice the high screen, but drop zone), but the no-middle scheme kills. Itā€™s easy to teach as far as positioning the feet and guarding the ball. The only hard part for young players is making sure the weak side help is there early on the baseline drives. My high schoolers struggle with the whole help concept. They understand it, but the young male ego has a tough time letting go of the whole Iā€™m not going to let my man score mentality.

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Very good article. Remember besides TT being a 3 seed with a tough defense,remember M is a 2 seed with a tough defense also with MSU the only team to crack it down the stretch. It will not be a picnic for TT to score on us either. If they try the Sparty method, good luck with that. TT does not have Cassious Winston nor the Sparty fire power to use it . IMO.

Fantastic article. Weā€™re looking at TTU as a scary opponent from our viewpoint, of course, but man, if youā€™re TTU, I have to think UM is like pretty much the last team youā€™d want to play. A team that doesnā€™t turn the ball over, is patient, has an elite PG and specifically wants to move the ball around a lot to get an open 3 ā€¦ that seems like itā€™s exactly what TTU gives up (watching the videos, thereā€™s an awful lot of scrambling going on when the ball gets kicked out after TTU collapses the middle). Oh, and also the best or 2nd best defensive team in the country against your meh offense whose best defensive player matches up specifically against your only real weapon. This yearā€™s UM seems like the worst possible matchup if youā€™re TTU ā€¦ other than maybe last yearā€™s UM.

On the other hand, Donte DiVincenzo ā€¦ Davide Moretti. My God, weā€™re going to lose by 30, arenā€™t we?

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Excellent article. In order to deny the middle, the primary defender has to cheat a little. The cheating demand that a help defender show up every time. Once help shows up, someone is always open. Given our really elite passing fundamentals, if we can recognize the double teams and move to open up a passing lane we should be able to shred this technique and maybe even find people cutting to the middle from the weak side from whence came the help.

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Iā€™m mildly encouraged after reading this article. My initial sense was that this would be a bit like Wisconsinā€¦either weā€™re hitting the outside shots theyā€™re giving us, or weā€™re in real trouble. However, the ability to rebound our own misses at a decent rate gives us a second chance if we donā€™t come out on fire.

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There are two things that I am concerned about when attacking this type of defense. One, TT draws a lot of charges and can change the dynamic of the game very quickly if Michigan gets into foul trouble. Two, how Matthews defends Culver will determine this game because Culver is basically their vocal point on offense.

I am encouraged that TT does not rebound very well so I expect Michigan to attack the glass often especially with Teske

JMO, but is it really reasonable for UM to remake their approach to orebs/transition offense just for this one game? Maybe seems more likely that they send one extra F to the glass, but Beilein isnā€™t gonna depart from his basics just on the notion that 3-5 more orebs could be had here. He probably thinks more about the risks?

Iā€™m not going to lieā€¦ This game scares me.

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Once you get to the Sweet Sixteen every game should scare you!

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Correct. At this point, you canā€™t assume that your team is going to win. That is what makes these games so exciting and so frightening.

I doubt it will be a wholesale change in philosophy, but for instance, we had a 31% offensive rebounding rate against Florida, vs. something more like 22% on the season. Iā€™m hoping for something like that.

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Yeah, there are various games where our forwards are given more freedom to attack the boards (Iggy will have 3 offensive boards one game and zero the next). Just depends, I would guess this is a game where they are given some more.