2018-19 northwestern #1

1 hour and 38 minutes

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This show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan nobody would get our jokes. Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, and Lantana Hummus

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1. Northwestern

starts at 1:00

Most road building for a Northwestern game ever? Wildcats took NBA step-back threes and made them and still didn't crack a PPP. Iggy has broken out. First Austin Davis conversation: it wasn't all on him, but he was significantly non-Teske. Do fouls attract mtore fouls? Billy Donlon knew to play Xavier Simpson like Tum Tum. Extensive discussion on Chris Collins on all fours and Brian hates weird fun traditions. Seth admits to having thrown seafood at various hockey games.

2. South Carolina

starts at 25:09

A terrible offense cracked a point per possession! Revise opinion of the defense? Michigan just sloppy in the first half. Not *AS* good at two-point defense. You can't sag off Gravett and they did, and he made all three of his shots. The Austin Davis conversation. Michigan not as focused in this game but it never felt like they'd lose.

3. Peach Bowl Preview

starts at 55:54

Florida alternated good and bad games. Hard to gauge SEC teams because the conference has a bad bottom half and the SECiesta. Still the same guys plus two transfer receivers. Seth compares Feleipe Franks to what you'd see if John Navarre was coached by Rich Rodriguez, which is unfair to everyone. They're good at pass rush mitigation, not pass pro. Concerned more about the three speedy slot receivers than the starters. Florida has ironic names: Polite is very rude to quarterbacks, Moral is a bad dude. So bored with Florida.

4. Hockey Things

Starts at 1:16:14

Are we mad at the goaltending or not? Defense has weird breakdowns. Mostly they're missing an entire top line.

MUSIC

• "Grown Man"—Lil Wayne
• "Do You Feel It"—Chaos Chaos
• "Life Like Weeds"—Modest Mouse
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link
• What's with the theme music?

He's at a barn dance, and a cow walks in, and he tries to mate with a calf

Things discussed:

• Shutting down Carsen Edwards was a team effort
• Surprised Haarms hasn't progressed more.
• Northwestern hit a lot of weird shots, good defensive team.
• Poole and Brazdeikis are their best isolation players but that's not their offense
• Brian not so hard on Austin Davis—blamed the refs.
• The 14-2 run with Teske on the bench with foul trouble was too stark
• Could use less Matthews usage but that's not gonna change
• Post-Michigan coaching comments
• Defensive strategy leads to fewer fouls: not a lot of help/reach-ins
• The Big Ten is deep, some poor bubble team is going 8-12 in this league.

You can catch the entire episode on Michigan Insider's podcast stream on Podbean.

Segment two is here. Segment three is here.

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link
• What's with the theme music?

"I turn on the game and I'm like who is this 60 year old freshman?

The prayer forced. Michigan's communication and Jon Teske's unexpected switch and quick hands forced Northwestern into a chuck:

**Video Breakdown: How Michigan stifled Northwestern’s final possession in their road victory over the Wildcats** pic.twitter.com/serXxvl4lw

— Eric S (@eric_shap) December 6, 2018

Anonymous quotes about basketball's defense. Right this way, via Jeff Borzello:

"They're so much further ahead of everyone right now, it's not even funny," one opposing Big Ten coach said, referencing their experience. "What they were doing at the end of the year has carried over." …

"They have an alpha male at the point in Simpson," a Big Ten assistant said. "He holds those guys to what I would call a gold standard. He doesn't allow them to slip. When they don't do something correctly, he makes sure they know about it."

"Zavier just plays his ass off," another opposing coach said. "He may be smaller, but he's dialed in every possession, and they put a lot of length around him. He's a junkyard dog."

Michigan's 23-1 run stretching back to last year would be the #1 efficiency D in the history of Kenpom if it was a single season. And it seems like the bit from last year is the "bad" part.

Beilein's greatest enemy returns. NBA draftniks have started talking up Ignas Brazdeikis, who slides in at the end of the first round in SI's latest mock draft:

27. IGNAS BRAZDEIKIS, F, MICHIGAN | FRESHMAN

Height: 6’7” | Weight: 215 | Age: 19 | Last Rank: NR

As has been widely noted, Brazdeikis turns 20 in January and is only technically a freshman, after doing a prep year in Canada. The good news is, it doesn’t really matter. Brazdeikis has been Michigan’s most consistent scorer and impressed with his ability to hunt shots off the ball. He can shoot it from outside or face up and attack the basket, and profiles as a useful offensive-minded role guy in the pros. His competitiveness and feel stand out, The big question with him is perimeter defense, as he will probably need to be parked on fours in the NBA. Regardless, if the Wolverines continue to play this well, Brazdeikis won’t have to stick around long.

Matthews (#38) and Poole (#51) also show up in their top 60, though Poole is in the you-should-return range and the author admits even that is "speculative." 

The Athletic's Sam Vecenie is more skeptical of Iggy as a one and done, placing him 50th in his latest top 100 and causing a blizzard of HEY WHAT ABOUT IGGY comments that he responded to at length. A portion:

Here's where I'm worried: Athleticism here is still a pretty real NBA concern on defense. Iggy is smart on that end and has taken to what Yaklich/Beilein want him to do well. But it also says something, IMO, that Michigan has been better on defense with him off the floor as opposed to when he's been on it -- especially in their games against high-major competition (vs. Nova, PC, UNC, Purdue, NW, Michigan had a 74 DRTG with him off the floor, and an 88 DRTG with him on it). That's a bit noisy, and the overall number is still good at 88. But I think Michigan has done more to insulate him rather than him being a true difference maker on that end, too.

On offense, over 75% of his offense has come from spot-ups, transition opportunities, back-cuts, and O-Rebs. The spot-up stuff is useful obviously, as he's a terrific shooter who can put the ball on the deck and attack a closeout.

Brazdeikis has done good work as a college four checking guys like Paschall and Maye but might not have the lateral agility to keep up with NBA wings. The stat about his offense seems… wrong, though? That's probably from Synergy and is therefore meticulously charted but it certainly feels like Iggy's creating a lot of his own shots. He dug Michigan out of some trouble against Northwestern by getting to the rim with frequency.

Vecenie says that if Iggy can maintain his effectiveness once he's 1) scouted and 2) the primary focus of opponent defenses he'll shoot up his board. One thing that hurts his stock—his age, which is a year older than most freshmen—is the kind of thing that makes you leave instead of makes you stay.

Let us resolve to enjoy the rest of this season.

[After the JUMP: potentially better NFL draft news?]