zavier simpson

did his part [both photos: Bryan Fuller]

I saved this mailbag question because it required some digging, though little did I realize just how much. The query is simple enough:

Michigan had a couple athletic point guards in the John Beilein era and tallied many glorious, dunk-filled blowouts. This should be easy. I'll still go year-by-year just in case something comes up; my shortcut is to use Bart Torvik's play-by-play data to check the number of dunks by the starting point guard(s), then investigate further if necessary.



all for naught [Marc-Grégor Campredon]

2020-21: The starting point guard is Mike Smith, who records zero dunks.

2019-20: Zavier Simpson records his first career dunk in a loss to Wisconsin; the only other Wolverine to throw it down in that game is Franz Wagner. C'mon, guys.

2018-19: Simpson doesn't dunk.

2017-18: Ditto, same goes for Jaaron Simmons and a pre-"Thunder" Eli Brooks.

2016-17: Derrick Walton does many incredible things. Dunking is not one of them.

2015-16: The mortal version of Walton also doesn't dunk.

2014-15: A cursed year in which a dunkless Walton gets hurt and his replacements are Spike Albrecht and Andrew Dakich.

2013-14: A young, spry Walton attempts a slam at the Breslin Center. He misses it. Michigan wins, so it's cool, and he's also the only starter to even try to throw it down, so it doesn't really matter for this exercise. Anyway, that's the only dunk attempt of the year for him.

[Hit THE JUMP for the 2013 team getting remarkably close multiple times, but do they make it?]

post-call reactions: excellent [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Let's dive back in to more of your questions, starting with what makes for a successful coach.

Hi Ace,

Curious on your thoughts on what the most important aspects to being a great college coach are (e.g. 40% recruiting/roster management, 30% team management, 20% PR/face of program, 10% scheme/Xs-and-Os, etc), and how you'd grade Howard's first season along those lines, as well as a prognosis going forward.

Best,

Mike

I'll preface with this: there's a lot more than one way to be a highly successful college coach. Recruiting at a high level can cover for shortcomings as a strategist. A strong player development program can make up for recruiting lesser talent than your peers. John Beilein and Larry Brown have (officially) made the same number of Final Fours. Same goes for Bill Self and Jay Wright. These coaches aren't similar in on- or off-court approach but they've fit at their respective schools, which is arguably the most important factor.

If I had to break it down into categories, they'd be: fit with school/administration, recruiting/image, roster management, player development, scheme, and game management. While an elite college coach doesn't have to be great at every one of these factors, they usually check off most of the boxes.

It's early yet to be able to judge Juwan Howard on some of these. A quick stab at grades:

Fit with school/administration: A. I'm assuming the readers of this post are familiar with Juwan Howard, former All-American at Michigan, basketball lifer, and universally regarded good dude. It's hard to overstate how fortunate the program was that such a tight fit was available despite the late timing of John Beilein's departure.

Recruiting/image: A. Howard is the face of the program, his first recruiting class ranks fourth in the country, and he could still add a second five-star to that group. This moves up to an A+ if Josh Christopher commits—it'd be difficult to imagine a better start after Howard had to hit the ground running with a 2020 class that needed more commits than usual.

Roster management: Incomplete. We'll learn more about Howard's ability to juggle a roster this offseason. He appears prepared for unexpected attrition with Michigan's pursuit of multiple grad transfer point guards even though the team is full for the moment after scratching Austin Davis and Adrien Nunez off the potential attrition list.

Beilein learned the hard way that great programs lose players at a steady rate to both the NBA and programs where even established rotation players can find more playing time; it took him a while to adjust and he still got caught off-guard by last year's early entry decisions by Jordan Poole and Iggy Brazdeikis. Howard seems to know how the game is played and his experience as both a former elite player and the father of high-level prospects should serve him well.

Player development: Incomplete. The unexpected breakout of Austin Davis indicates Howard at least should be good at getting the most out of his big men. That said, it's way too early to put a grade on his player development. This is something to revisit a year or three down the road.

Scheme: B+. I really like the framework. Howard didn't stand pat with John Beilein's offense despite having his pick-and-roll duo as seniors, instead building around the ball screen offense with plenty of NBA sets and added wrinkles. The defensive philosophy was also clear: play man defense with the occasional zone changeup (almost always after a timeout), use drop pick-and-roll coverage when possible, run shooters off the arc, and force players to beat you one-on-one.

I need to see more to move the grade any higher, especially since he could build so much off the Simpson/Teske pick-and-roll—we'll get a clearer view of how Howard wants to operate as he molds the roster to his preference instead of working with another coach's players.

Game management: B-. The area I most want to see improvement. Howard made some strange lineup decisions during the season that were usually borne of his strong adherence to the hated autobench policy. His best schematic adjustments often came either between games against the same opponent (see: hedging Cassius Winston and leaving Xavier Tillman to shoot in the second MSU game) or too late in the game to alter the outcome (see: playing Brandon Johns at center against Wisconsin).

I wouldn't say Howard was bad at game management by any stretch. He had to work within some serious limitations when Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers were absent for significant stretches of time. He utilized timeouts well on both ends, drawing up effective plays and using that zone changeup to flummox offenses running a set to beat man. I would've loved to see him in a postseason tournament setting this year. Alas.

[Hit THE JUMP for what I'm missing most about the tournament, what next year's offense could look like, and more.]

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

We're trying something new. Ace is going to stream the 2011 game against MSU at Breslin. He's calling it "MGoTheater 3000" and it may be a disaster or it may be awesome, but either way it's better than watching Kung Fu Panda for the millionth time. Stop by this evening. [Ed-Ace: There will be a post on the front page at 7 pm ET and the stream will start at 8.]

Until then: marble racing. Sports!

Close enough!

I HOPE YOU LIKE YOUR CHILDREN AND/OR ROOMMATES. Coronavirus sequestration update: Selection Sunday came and went without brackets. State after state has closed bars and restaurants after The Youngs continued to gather in large sweaty masses. The Olds are little better:

The Villages is one of the largest retirement developments in the United States, with 125,000 residents living on more than 15,000 acres. When asked on the “Villages Friendly Folks” Facebook page how they were managing the coronavirus, a majority of people sided with Przybylowicz, saying the crisis is being overblown.

Against mounting advice from federal and private health experts, many expressed a determination to move forward with travel excursions, such as cruises. But that is getting harder to do.

Things aren't looking too good on the social distancing front.

[After THE JUMP: listen to that moist goatee]

still extremely good at this, thankfully

zavier simpson pass

All the centers, except ours.

at least we're done listening to tim brando

a bittersweet farewell 

Like East Lansing, Tom Izzo is en fuego.

thank you, X and Sleep

rained on again

can we run this back, we know how to win it now

there's more than one way to pick a roll, or something

hot damn