Michigan at UNC Discussion

Here’s the media availability today, we’ll have some more coverage obviously. Just figured it was worth starting a discussion about tomorrow’s big game.

I mentioned it earlier, but MSU playing two large people made UNC incapable to do anything on offense.

On another note, if any of y’all are going to the game and need suggestions on stuff to do/where to park/places to eat, hit me up!

Where to eat (pregame) drink (post game) over 24 hours in Chapel Hill?

MSU doesn’t just play ‘two large people’… they have Jaren Jackson Jr. and Nick Ward. Then a bunch of other very good large people. Jackson is a special rim protector IMO.

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I think this is a good matchup to play teske with Wagner. Wagner stealing minutes at the four with teske getting 5-10 extra minutes a game could hide some of our deficiencies. I’d like to see it for 5-10 min tomorrow.

Maye has been a go to guy For unc and overall I think Wagner is the superior player. There is no reason moe shouldn’t be the best big on the floor. Let’s hope he’s game tomorrow and shows this.

If we can handle the pressure of the environment, I think we can win. Yes berry is a beast but I don’t think this unc team is ultra talented. A lot of their guys are very young too and are a few years out. We can steal this game. In my book we should be undefeated and we aren’t even playing well.

On Franklin St. (30 min walk from the Smith Center to the closest restaurants) Al’s Burger Shack is featured on a lot of those food shows, but it doesn’t have TV’s or much seating. Spanky’s, Four Corners, Might As Well, Linda’s or R&R Grill for your usual bar and grill type food where you can watch other games. Spicy 9 is a great Sushi place and Mellow Mushroom is a southern pizza chain, both have many TV’s. For the post game, Carolina Brewery and Top of the Hill are both great breweries (allegedly) but usually will have long waits post game. Goodfellows, Blue Horn Lounge, and He’s Not Here are all bars, I know little besides the fact that they get recommended elsewhere.

Franklin St. gets pretty busy after games and there can be long waits, so some other options in CH not in easy walking distance are Tobacco Road Sports Cafe, Hickory Tavern (Highly recommended for awesome southern food), Town Hall Grill, and Steel String Brewery.

Yeah, we don’t have the pure talent advantage like MSU did, but I think if there was ever a game in which Wagner could effectively guard the opponents 4 it would be vs Brooks/Maye. It wouldn’t be the same, but I still think it could work better than having Duncan guard Brooks.

Do you not expect UNC to consider playing Pinson at the 4 against Michigan for long stretches?

Pomeroy has Pinson playing the four 28% of the time for the last 5 games, I don’t expect it to change much, but I could be wrong. Williams tends to be stubborn with regards to the two big thing.

I think they will. Any minutes though that maye is in there with say Huffman or another big, I’d consider our double big lineup.

Hmm. I’d be pretty surprised if it wasn’t more than that. Who from UNC would you have guard Duncan?

I’d probably put Maye on Wagner because he’s more experienced which should help with Wagner’s great skillset from both the high and low post. I think Brooks guarding him would lead to a huge game from Wagner. I don’t see a huge issue having a guy like Brooks guarding Robinson because Duncan hasn’t shown the ability to beat slower, traditional 4’s 1 on 1 yet.

The issue with the Pinson at the 4 lineup is that Felton and Woods have been kinda awful so far, so having either of them in for a long time bogs down the offense a ton. On the other end, I think Duncan will get abused on the glass by any of the UNC big guys.

One thing is for sure, the X’s and O’s of this game will be incredibly interesting.

I’d just be surprised if UNC wants to have a freshman big man guarding the perimeter against a 4-out look. I expect Michigan to face that sort of lineup with Matthews on whatever big and Duncan Robinson guarding Kenny Williams. When UNC goes small, then Charles shifts to guarding Pinson.

Could be wrong, but that’s usually how these sorts of matchups play out.

Honestly, I’d rather see Charles guarding Kenny Williams. I think having Duncan guard Pinson for small lineups and letting him sag off him to makeup for the lack of lateral quickness would be optimal. Pinson shooting threes is basically throwing away possessions for UNC.

Some stats of note regarding a potential small ball lineup for UNC with Maye at the 5.

Thought JB showed a little feisty sarcasm in the presser when he was asked about the 1-3-1 at the end of the video…not saying this is the game necessarily, but I don’t hate the idea of throwing some sort of wrinkle-zones into our repertoire like we used to, just to mix it up a bit

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Haha, he’s just poking fun at the fact that people still talk about it and ask questions about it when Michigan hasn’t ran it for a couple of years now. He’s joked in the past that he loves it because he hopes other coaches spend time preparing for it (hint: other coaches watch film).

Haha I know it wasn’t malicious, and I also get aggravated with announcers who mention our 1-3-1 as though it’s still relevant (cough, Reggie Miller, cough). With that said, I still think mixing in a zone of some sort on 4-5 possessions a game is worthwhile when the game allows

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If they go in that direction, I’d rather see some sort of a hybrid matchup zone look. Similar to the kind of stuff that Oregon ran against UM.

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In the presser video on there Roy even mentions the 1-3-1 that Michigan supposedly plays

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