2019-20 north carolina

11/27/2019 – Michigan 83, Iowa State 76 – 5-0
11/28/2019 – Michigan 73, North Carolina 64 – 6-0
11/29/2019 – Michigan 82, Gonzaga 64 – 7-0, possessors of a magical trident

Hey! That went well. Michigan won three games. Juwan Howard cleaned up the court.

Coach Howard just got my vote for Coach of the Year! I don’t care who you root for, but for the head coach to walk on the floor and wipe up the sweat? Incredible! pic.twitter.com/RkWZ8abn6b

— Steve Finamore (@CoachFinamore) November 27, 2019

Then he gave the Erik Bakich interview after the trident was secured.

The best coaches know that it is about serving others. Juwan Howard has been around some great coaches and he is off to a really good start!#ServantLeadership pic.twitter.com/zS4GIytfAI

— Doug Brotherton (@CoachBrotherton) November 29, 2019

I was watching another basketball game later that day and they replayed Howard's entire post-game interview at halftime, which seemed unusual. Recruits: hello. Also: protected seed. Hello?

[After THE JUMP: isooooooooooooo]

1 hour and 39 minutes

The Sponsors

We can do this because people support us. You should support them! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan we’d be all be very sad ex-Vox employees with “real” jobs.

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1. The Game

starts at 1:00

One of the most frustrating things about this Game is the guys making the mistakes were the upperclassmen who dominated in their roles all season. Why have a defense? Sad field goals? Ain't gonna fire Jim Harbaugh because he's going to keep putting out S&P+ top ten teams. Ain't gonna fire Don Brown because he's one of the best. Josh Gattis looks like a keeper. Jon Runyan survived against Jon Runyan. We're never going to beat Ohio State until the system changes. Pay the damn players already.

2. The Battle for Atlantis: ISU and UNC

starts at 13:15

They should not play in this tournament again; surprised nobody got hurt when there's random water appearing all over the place. Are long twos good, because Michigan is forcing its opponents to take all of them. ISU: Wagner looks like another big out there, shot looks good. UNC: A beating, even with Michigan's two biggest stars fouling out with over 5 minutes left. Michigan's turnover-forced rate is terrible because they're forcing teams to dribble into two range then shoot. Also this was the Eli game (24 points on 16 shot equivalents). NBA thinking: if you have an isolation advantage go get it.

3. The Battle for Atlantis: Gonzaga

starts at 36:55

House money until they get a five-point lead and then it's on. X has changed his shot so it gets out quicker and he's still making them. Changes the offense that he can go to the paint either way too. Multiple times this year we've been furious about turnovers and then they put up a graphic and Michigan's above average. Wish we had redshirted him so we could see what he'd develop next year. Tired Teske: logged a lot of minutes and still managed to play good defense. Wagner's length was a huge problem for the Zags. Also he's as expressive as his brother when he gets a bad call.

Refs: Zaga was fine until the flagrant that wasn't. UNC was getting calls on flops; the one on DDJ when Cole Anthony jumped under him was atrocious.

Brooks was 1 of 6 from two but they were decent late-clock shots and a runner. Best case scenario for this season was DDJ or Brooks is starter-caliber and they both are. Brooks: still acts like a role player, just his role is assassin. Haven't seen Juwan's team increase ORebs from Beilein, suspect the 2-3 zone was from Phil Martelli.

4. Hot Takes and the Big Ten.

starts at 1:05:33

Going into the season it looked like MSU and the field. Michigan could beat Louisville and be #1 in the AP, not that rankings matter. Ohio State are also playing like contenders. Maryland is not. Purdue is too weird. In both of MSU's losses they doubled Winston until he gets the ball to Tillman and make him shoot outside. Rocket Watts: terrible start, Foster Loyer is unplayable. IU resurgence: not worried if their best player can be matched by Teske. Wisconsin is looking like what we thought Wisconsin would, and Reuvers is trying to do the Happ thing. Rutgers is a top 75 team; they're not good but they're not going to be the worst in the conference by far. Speaking of: Nebraska is abject. Northwestern too, but beat Providence. Louisville: terrifying on paper, blew out some barely top-100 teams. Juwan Howard: so…

MUSIC:

• "If This Tour Doesn't Kill You, I Will"—PUP
• "NBA On NBC Theme"
• "Basketball"–Kurtis Blow
• “Space Jam Theme Song”—Quad City DJs

THE USUAL LINKS:

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

It feels like a program.

So.

Uh.

Michigan just eviscerated North Carolina on a neutral court.

I know the final margin is a "mere" nine points. It doesn't tell the story. After falling behind by nine points early, the Wolverines went on a ferocious tear through the middle half of the game, taking a five-point lead into halftime that ballooned to as many as 24 points in the second half. UNC star Cole Anthony led a valiant comeback effort that never saw the Tar Heels get within eight points of Michigan over the game's final 16 minutes.

The manner in which Michigan won could hardly be more encouraging for a team under a new coach with a lot of new players in the rotation. Outstanding defensive play from Jon Teske and Colin Castleton forced North Carolina to become a midrange-shooting team that ran their offense through their post players instead of Anthony for much of the afternoon, and when the freshman guard got a shot up it was usually well-contested. Teske was particularly dominant, adding four blocks and a steal to his ten points and eight rebounds. 

With a late flurry, Anthony managed 22 points on 20 shot equivalents. Big men Garrison Brooks and Armando Bacot, not usually offensive focal points, combined for 19 points on 23 shot equivalents. Met with great resistance in the paint from M's centers, UNC went only 9-for-19 at the rim and 3-for-8 on other shots in the paint. The team executed Juwan Howard's defensive gameplan to near perfection.

They did so despite both Zavier Simpson and Isaiah Livers fouling out, Simpson with over five minutes left as the Tar Heels were charging back. Once again, Eli Brooks stepped forward to lead the team, tying the career high he set in the season opener with 24 points on only 16 shot equivalents. He drilled a three-pointer, one of four on the day, with 1:12 left to stretch the lead to 12 and end any chance of a Carolina comeback.

Before their early exits, Simpson and Livers made timely plays. Simpson doled out six assists against only one turnover in addition to an efficient seven points and his usual strong defense. Quiet for much of the afternoon, Livers made two huge shots—a pick-and-pop three and a transition layup—and found Brooks for the game-sealing triple to finish with 12 points and three assists.

David DeJulius provided instant offense off the bench again, scoring 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting and repeatedly breaking down the UNC defense off the dribble to create shots for teammates—he easily could've finished with more than two assists. The only major disappointment was the play of Franz Wagner, who looked like he was still getting accustomed to the college game, going 1-for-6 with three assists and four turnovers in 33 minutes. Even that provides another reason for optimism: imagine this team when Wagner is up to speed.

This Michigan team, now 6-0, might just be really good, and sooner than anyone would've expected. They'll face the winner of Gonzaga/Oregon, happening right now on ESPN, for the Battle 4 Atlantis title tomorrow at 2 pm. I'll have a preview posted this evening or tomorrow morning.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]