1. Lots of good and bad. The good--we won against a pretty good team, and did so with one of our big 3 chained to the bench in foul trouble for most of the game. We shot the ball very well when, of course, we weren't turning the ball over (more on that later), and got great shots throughout the game. Franz Wagner played and looked pretty good after an injury and a long layoff. The bench, for the most part, was fantastic (31 points, 12 rebounds). We were very god defensively in the half court, and made Iowa State do what we wanted them to do. We got over 80% of the available defensive rebounds. Those are all good and promising.
2. The bad--we turned the ball over way, way, way too much, and melted at the end against pressure. Some of the turnovers were guys trying to do too much and throw passes between defenders (Brandon Johns, I'm looking at you), some were issues with double teams of our post players and failure to react quickly enough, some were moving screens most phantom, but still...), some were Isaiah Livers playing too much isolation ball, and some were just plain sloppy (most of X's, save for the few which came off a slippery floor, and the Eli Brooks ones, especially at the end when trapped, fall into that category). Whatever the reason, we need to get much better in that regard. Another negative I saw was our decision to play zone in the second half at a time when X was shutting down Haliburton, which gave him a few wide open looks and restored his mojo. We also didn't shoot free throws especially well down the stretch. Those things have to be cleaned up.
3. After watching the exhibition and opener against Appalachian State, both my brother and I were concerned about whether David DeJulius could play at this level. If David, or any members of the DeJulius family heard our comments or read our thoughts, we're really, really sorry. That's a great guy to have off your bench--confident, aggressive, not afraid of the moment--and he's going to be very good going forward.
4. In a game where Jon Teske played 16 minutes, Colin Castleton and Austin Davis really stepped up. I'm very happy for Austin--his minutes were key, and that will be a contribution he will always remember. Colin played well--add strength and he's going to be a monster.
5. Franz does things other than shoot. He's a good post feeder, he moves well without the ball, and he moves his feet on defense, which gets him deflections. He fouls way too much, and in bad situations, but he'll learn.
6. We struggled in the half court on offense when Iowa State double X on ball screens, and when they got in the face of some of our other kids. This has been a problem at times in the past (the game at South Carolina in November '16 is just one obvious example), but we need to be stronger with the ball, and get better off ball movement at times, or we're going to wind up with feast or famine possessions like today. When you shoot well, like we did today, and really have done all year to date, you can get away with that. However, that's not always going to happen.
7. I posted after an early game my brother's description of X as the Denard Robinson of current Michigan basketball--often we focus so much on what he does wrong that we fail to focus on what he does well. Even in a game. where he had 8 assists, many bad, he still had 13 assists, 10 points, 7 rebounds, and made every one of his shots from the floor, and played good defense when he was on Haliburton.
8. I love Isaiah Livers, and he's a killer shooter. Personally, I could do with less isolation sets for him--they're not the strength of his game.
9. I hate the technical foul call stopping a 3 on 1 break for us. If you want to make a technical matter, call it after the break, not when it stops a virtually sure lay-up.
10. That was a huge win. We're going to play great teams the next 3 games--top 10 caliber--and we could lose all 3--but we won't get hurt for losing those games (we'll get a strength of schedule bump for playing them), and we get a chance for a huge signature win added to the 2 good wins we already have. It will also help to mature us as a team. Our record at the midway point of the season may not be great because of the way the schedule sets up, but we're going to be very good in February and March, and have the schedule to capitalize on it.
11. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
2. The bad--we turned the ball over way, way, way too much, and melted at the end against pressure. Some of the turnovers were guys trying to do too much and throw passes between defenders (Brandon Johns, I'm looking at you), some were issues with double teams of our post players and failure to react quickly enough, some were moving screens most phantom, but still...), some were Isaiah Livers playing too much isolation ball, and some were just plain sloppy (most of X's, save for the few which came off a slippery floor, and the Eli Brooks ones, especially at the end when trapped, fall into that category). Whatever the reason, we need to get much better in that regard. Another negative I saw was our decision to play zone in the second half at a time when X was shutting down Haliburton, which gave him a few wide open looks and restored his mojo. We also didn't shoot free throws especially well down the stretch. Those things have to be cleaned up.
3. After watching the exhibition and opener against Appalachian State, both my brother and I were concerned about whether David DeJulius could play at this level. If David, or any members of the DeJulius family heard our comments or read our thoughts, we're really, really sorry. That's a great guy to have off your bench--confident, aggressive, not afraid of the moment--and he's going to be very good going forward.
4. In a game where Jon Teske played 16 minutes, Colin Castleton and Austin Davis really stepped up. I'm very happy for Austin--his minutes were key, and that will be a contribution he will always remember. Colin played well--add strength and he's going to be a monster.
5. Franz does things other than shoot. He's a good post feeder, he moves well without the ball, and he moves his feet on defense, which gets him deflections. He fouls way too much, and in bad situations, but he'll learn.
6. We struggled in the half court on offense when Iowa State double X on ball screens, and when they got in the face of some of our other kids. This has been a problem at times in the past (the game at South Carolina in November '16 is just one obvious example), but we need to be stronger with the ball, and get better off ball movement at times, or we're going to wind up with feast or famine possessions like today. When you shoot well, like we did today, and really have done all year to date, you can get away with that. However, that's not always going to happen.
7. I posted after an early game my brother's description of X as the Denard Robinson of current Michigan basketball--often we focus so much on what he does wrong that we fail to focus on what he does well. Even in a game. where he had 8 assists, many bad, he still had 13 assists, 10 points, 7 rebounds, and made every one of his shots from the floor, and played good defense when he was on Haliburton.
8. I love Isaiah Livers, and he's a killer shooter. Personally, I could do with less isolation sets for him--they're not the strength of his game.
9. I hate the technical foul call stopping a 3 on 1 break for us. If you want to make a technical matter, call it after the break, not when it stops a virtually sure lay-up.
10. That was a huge win. We're going to play great teams the next 3 games--top 10 caliber--and we could lose all 3--but we won't get hurt for losing those games (we'll get a strength of schedule bump for playing them), and we get a chance for a huge signature win added to the 2 good wins we already have. It will also help to mature us as a team. Our record at the midway point of the season may not be great because of the way the schedule sets up, but we're going to be very good in February and March, and have the schedule to capitalize on it.
11. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
