The Grandmaster: How Beilein Beat Painter
The net may as well be the heads of his enemies. [Marc-Gregor Campredon]
On its face, it's an odd decision. After Michigan made only three three-pointers in the first half of the Big Ten championship game, Purdue coach Matt Painter totally altered the way his team played defense. The Wolverines proceeded to run away with the game. Painter bungled the game, right?
A closer look tells a different story. Painter knew that John Beilein was one step ahead of him even though M's shots hadn't fallen early. Presented with a no-win situation, he chose to try to take them out of their normal offense, and to that end he largely succeeded. It didn't matter because Beilein, Moe Wagner, and M's backcourt stayed one step ahead.
The key to Michigan-Purdue games the last two years has been how each team handles the other's big man on defense. In Painter's case, that means finding a way to combat the high ball screen with, at times, five viable three-point shooters spacing the floor. Here's how he tried, and how Beilein countered.
The First Half: Hard Hedges, Layups, and Frustrating Missed Threes
Purdue spent the opening half defending high ball screens much the way Michigan used to: by overplaying the ballhandler. It's a different tactic than the switch-heavy defenses M has seen for the most part since the Nebraska debacle and, in addition to being something a lesser coach may not have expected to see, it better fits Purdue's personnel than switching every screen, especially when Isaac Haas is on the floor.
But Beilein was ready, even if his preparation didn't produce the desired results. For the most part, Michigan fans were treated to this: Wagner (or Duncan Robinson) slipping the screen, getting a wide open look, and missing.
That's not even the most open look Wagner missed, but it's representative.
"You can't allow them to do what they want to do," said Painter in the postgame presser. "And if you do, now it's just hitting or missing, especially when they put skill—[Beilein's] ideal thing is having a five that can shoot. That's why Teske's picking pops, going into the short roll into [the] elbow, Wagner being able to make the threes and drive the ball. He makes them special."
Even as M's shooters struggled to make shots they'd normally put down, the offense kept up an impressive average of 1.23 points per possession. The team didn't turn it over once despite Purdue's high-pressure approach. The scrambling Boilermakers defense opened up the lane for drives once the ballhandler broke pressure. Beilein busted out a 1-4 high screen with Robinson setting the pick and while the primary intention was to free up Robinson beyond the arc, Purdue's overplaying of Simpson also allowed him to attack the basket:
Beilein also made some adjustments. He got Wagner an easy layup by calling for a double ball screen out of a late-half timeout with Charles Matthews as the ballhandler, Isaiah Livers popping to the three-point line, and Wagner rolling to the hoop.
Michigan's ability to space, shoot, and drive makes this play almost impossible to defend given Purdue's approach. They switch the defender on Matthews but he's still able to turn the corner and keep his man behind his hip because of a solid screen by Wagner(!). Matthews' initial defender is forced to stay home on Livers or give up a wide-open three-point attempt. The center has to continue playing Matthews or give up a dunk. The weakside help defender is faced with a choice: rotate hard into the paint in a probably fruitless attempt to stop Wagner or stay home to keep Muhammad-Ali Adbur-Rahkman, a deadly spot-up shooter, from putting three points on the board.
"Our weak side and our guys in ball-screen defense, sometimes when the ball got deep, had to stay home," said Painter. "And you gotta force them to throw the ball out and they didn't do that."
One wraparound pass from Matthews is all it takes for the easiest bucket of Wagner's afternoon. Painter couldn't bank on M's shooters continuing to miss great looks and his team was getting ripped apart in the paint anyway—while they weren't quite as aggressive in their P&R defense against Jon Teske, they needed to alter how they defended him, too.
Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, Beilein also got a halftime.
[After THE JUMP: Painter makes his move and Beilein counters.]
The Second Half: Get Switched And Die Trying
Unleash the guards. [Campredon]
Painter's solution was the same one most of Michigan's opponents tried down this season's final stretch: switching every ball screen. There's good reason Nebraska, the team that destroyed M's offense with this tactic (once, at least), went to this immediately while Purdue broke it out as more of a last resort: Isaac Haas is many things, but a perimeter defender isn't one of them.
In related news, 5'11" guard PJ Thompson isn't much of a post defender. On this play early in the second half, Purdue tries a switch on a Simpson/Wagner high screen. The switch is sloppy; that'll happen when you're changing tactics mid-game. Haas has to respect Z's ability to blow right by him, which gives space for the wraparound pass needed to get another easy bucket at the rim.
By drawing Haas away from the basket and keeping him there, Beilein also opened up second-chance opportunities that don't usually come easy against the Boilermakers.
"In the beginning of the second half, we'd get two or three stops, about three stops in a row, but we couldn't get an offensive rebound," said Painter. "Then when we would go to the matchup, to try to switch and then they had a size advantage down low on a couple of rebounds."
Here's a great example. Michigan has already run a ball screen here to get Haas swiched on Simpson and Thompson on Wagner. Thompson is helpless in the post, so Haas concedes the three-pointer to Simpson. Haas can't abandon Z entirely, however, so Wagner is not only in the best position to tap out the rebound, he does so amongst the Lilliputians. When another chance to go at Haas comes around, Simpson seizes it.
Haas wasn't in foul trouble until Purdue was in full desperation mode but he only played 13 second-half minutes. Beilein and his offense took a player who went 9-for-12 on the other end of the floor and made him relatively unplayable. To do this, Beilein, as Painter mentioned, largely scrapped his usual, inctricate offense in favor of running a quick action to get the desired switch and then attacking.
He didn't ditch the intricate stuff entirely, however, especially off the ball. Wagner's off-ball pick-and-pop at the top of the screen opens up yet another easy layup when backup center Matt Haarms is late coming off the screen and closes out too hard.
Playing the high screen a little more straight-up when Haarms was in the game didn't go so well, either.
Matt Painter is an excellent coach who's assembled a great team this year. Their only significant weakness is the one Beilein managed to exploit; in doing so, Michigan's mastermind took a taut title game and turned it into a blowout.
The team didn't turn it over once despite Purdue's high-pressure approach.
You know, this is just an afterthought in this article but you think about that for a minute - we played 20 minutes of turnover-free basketball, against a top 10 team. That is amazing.
from Holland.
from Hollaand
Nice breakdown and shows why beilein vs painter has been a excellent matchup for several years now.
I don't know if I'd call that first clip a hard hedge. Simmons' defender was still pretty much in front of him when Simmons made the pass -- Haarms doesn't really need to be "helping" there if he's not above the level of the screen and actually forcing Simmons to take a more circuitous route (that would be actual hard hedging)/
Good stuff.
Beilein is the master of geting his guys an open look or an open pass or an open lane.
It helps when you have to defend all 5 Michigan players anywhere they are on the court.
Robinson now being able to drive to the basket from the three point line is especially cruel.
It's just piling on at this point.
Painter seems a refreshing change from the screaming coaches who make excuses and throw their players under the bus. Savvy, intense, but respectul. Do I have that right?
I'm also a little impressed that Painter did change his defense at halftime. I feel like a lesser coach would have attributed Michigan's missing open 3s to his brilliant coaching scheme instead of recognizing it as randomness that might not continue.
It's also nice to listen to Painter after a Purdue loss, because, like Beilein, he'll say something like "hats off to the opponent; they had our number today and we need to get better" instead of "how could I know their weird guys would have lucky bounces and that the referees would give them all of the calls?"
I don't care much for Purdue's athletic department or their students -- the first place I ever got an "F You" from across the street, before the game, was at Purdue -- but I don't really have anything against Matt Painter or their basketball team. I normally root for Cinderella -- and against the Big Ten -- but if Purdue's up against like a Texas Tech or Clemson or something, I wouldn't hate to see them win.
In six years of doing this, no other coach has really come close to the level of detail he provides in his pressers, and he's not the type to publicly rip on his players. This post would be far less detailed if I hadn't been closely following Painter's quotes about this matchup. Some reporters apparently find him boring but I'm in the total opposite camp; I learn something every time I hear him talk. The switching defense hurting their defensive rebounding wasn't a connection I made until I looked at the presser transcript.
I never cared much about Purdue hoops one way or the other. After the last couple years, I root for them when it doesn't hurt Michigan.
I was thinking after reading this just about how adaptive and amazing Beilein is with Point-Guards. Look at how different these origin stories are:
- Darius Morris - Couldn't shoot, but was huge and very good at passing in the ball screen game. Turned into an early-entry NBA guy without a jump shot.
- Trey Burke - Middling ratings as a recruit, small, not athletically gifted in any real way. Turns him into a POY and alpha-dog who leaves early for the NBA.
- Nik Stauskas - Not a PG at all, but functioned at one when Burke left and Walton was a role-player as a freshman. Went from role playing wing freshman to alpha-dog soph pseudo-PG who leaves early for the NBA.
- Derrick Walton - Brought the ball up the court and hid in the corner much of his freshman year. Never a great defender and poor finisher near the rim for 3.5 years. Very good shooter. Turned into an NBA prospect and alpha-dog as a senior who could suddenly finish at the rim.
- Zavier Simpson - Doesn't have a jump shot and doesn't have any height, but somehow can finish at the rim and getting better at running the offense despite what should be physical/shooting limitations.
None of those players are really the same, many of them started as middling prospects and yet all of them played in the NBA so far. Beilein grew each player into the best of themselves and adapted the offense to what they did well.
(While I think Brooks is going to be a combo-guard back-up much of his career you never know. I do think DeJulius will be a fascinating ingredient for Dr. Beilein to play with in the lab.)
a tremendous post. Actually learning something. Wish analysts described the game this way. Thank you.
Ace Ace Ace Ace!
Beilein Beilein Beilein Beilein!
Love these write-ups, Ace. Not only do your posts help me appreciate even more the genius of John Beilein, I learn things that will contribute to my enjoyment and understanding the next time I watch a game. Thank you.
Can we also have a shout-out for Sanderson and our training staff? As others noted above, our team looked fresher and sharper than Purdue even though we'd played an extra game, and just a day after a slugfest with all the athletes Sparty has. They're doing a great job.
reading your work! spot on as usual
I know precisely squat about basketball strategy so that was a great read. Fascinating to see that the strategy is so nuanced, when an uneducated watcher like myself just thinks "Why did we let him do that?" or "Wow that was a cool dunk". Great stuff
I think it likely that Purdue's strategy coming into the game was to get the ball into Haas early, and get Wagner into foul trouble, which would help them at both ends, and force Michigan to bring help inside when Wagner was on the floor, which would open up the perimeter for threes.
Jon Teske foiled their plan. By being competent on the defensive end and very good on the offensive end, he remained in the game in order to make a positive impact, and he absorbed many of the fouls that would likely have been taken by Wagner.
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