2023-2024 Men's Basketball
1 hour and 30 minutes
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1. Sherrone Moore and the Coaching Staff
Starts at 1:00
Sherrone is rounding out his staff - Kirk Campbell is the offensive coordinator, Grant Newsome is the offensive line coach, and Steve Casula is the tight ends coach. We're projecting that Ron Bellamy and Mike Hart are returning (Mike Hart's absence from certain events were just him going through some personal stuff, per Sam Webb). It looks like Mike Elston and Steve Clinkscale are back so far. There's a linebacker and defensive coordinator spot open (the 3rd Ravens guy is off the board). If they bring in long-tenured NFL guys, can they recruit? Could Michigan start pulling coaches from two NFL franchises moving forward?
[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]
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With roughly a third of the regular season over for Michigan, this is a good time for a macro level look in an effort to understand where the Wolverines are and where things might be going as we head into the thick of conference play.
Real
Perimeter Shotmaking. The Wolverines are connecting on 37.1% of their triples as a team, good for #50 nationally per Torvik. While the raw percentage is certainly indicative of the team's shooting prowess to a certain extent, a deeper dive is necessary to gain a full understanding.
Per Synergy, Michigan is putting up 1.09pps on catch and shoot jumpers, landing in the 77th percentile across the nation. While that number is certainly good, it's not quite elite territory. A closer look reveals the Wolverines may actually be underperforming a bit on these looks. The team is at 1.10pps/51st percentile on 67 unguarded catch and shoot attempts. On the other hand, 1.09pps/82nd percentile on 128 catch and shoot attempts that are guarded. It's easy to see where Michigan might experience some positive regression with respect to the unguarded attempts.
Numbers aside, the distribution is very encouraging in terms of sustainability + projection. The Wolverines have four players shooting volume triples on percentages that you want to see. McDaniel/Burnett/Williams/Nkamhoua are all above 35% from distance while taking at least three triples per game. Throw in a high-efficiency/low-volume shooter like Tschetter and Michigan is very likely to have at least a few guys stretching the floor per game, as we have 4-5 viable options at different positions to ensure there aren't many games where the well is completely dry.
In addition to the raw percentage and distribution, the variety of shot types also lend credence to legitimate shooting prowess. We're not talking stationary corner triples exclusively here. We have difficult shotmakers in the backcourt and Dug McDaniel is leading the charge.
To quantify, Dug is 83rd percentile in off-the-dribble jumpers at 1.07pps. A sample size of 45 shots isn't necessarily big, but it is large enough to say that he's not a guy you can go under ballscreens against without penalty.
[AFTER THE JUMP we get a bit more real and not so real]
Let's take a look under the hood to examine what went into the blowout.
Defensive Rebounding
I differ from most when assessing the primary defensive issues that have plagued Michigan early this season. The lack of timely off-ball rotations and lapses in transition defense certainly loom large in the defensive woes, but not at the top of the list in my opinion.
The Wolverines have been horrid in terms of finishing possessions, checking in with the #224 DReb rate per Torvik. To put this in perspective, Michigan's Dreb rate has been below 70 four games this season. That is absolutely mindblowing considering the Wolverines play two bigs for large portions of games.
In the win against Iowa, the Wolverines came up with 78.8% of the available defensive rebounds and it paid massive dividends in aiding the defense.
Will Tschetter was a massive part of this victory, pulling down 35.8% of the available defensive rebounds during his time on the floor. Let's take a look at some of his best work in the clip below.
After beating Sandfort to the spot, watch Will take young Payton for a ride from the left side of the paint before dropping him off outside the paint on the right side. The box-out was so good that Tschetter was barely forced to jump in order to secure the rebound. That's premium cheddar right there.
Now let's take a look at the guards getting into the action. First up, Nimari Burnett.
After Tarris forces a wild fadeaway, Nkamhoua does a fairly good job of boxing-out Ladji Dembele, but to no avail. Dembele comes up with not one, but two, offensive rebounds in the same possession.
Look at the :18 mark in the clip. Burnett is forced to switch on Dembele after the screen. Iowa spots this and hits him with the entry pass on the mismatch. But Nimari does a good job using his length to contest the jumphook. He nearly finishes the possession himself, as he left the ground quicker than Dembele on the rebound attempt. A scrum ensues and Michigan is able to regain possession. These sort of efforts are critical for team defense.
[AFTER THE JUMP more Cheese, a face-up five and the bench mob]
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