Bball - First Game Impressions

I thought it was a solid game. Some of the run by Buffalo was combination of sloppy play (turnovers, fouls) and them doing a good job getting to the rim. The defense was disappointing since they seem to get beat off the dribble a lot and they didn't force them to take difficult mid range shots like last year. On offense, I think they'll get better with more reps together, but the lack of shooting seems like it'll be a problem. Howard is good at scheming some decent to good looks from 3 but you can tell there was a lack of confidence in everyone outside of T-Will, Brooks and Houstan. The lack of spacing, let Buffalo clog the lane better in the second half. Hopefully they find a better shooting stroke, but it won't be like last year for sure.

Twenty-nine minutes for Terrance...29 and he kept Michigan in this game. More than simply handwriting on the wall. 

Did I see MAAR out there?

Jones looked so much like him with the tee shirt underneath and # 12. 

Jones look like he got banged up on that take/foul at the basket. Honestly he is the only one I didn’t get much from tonight. Maybe Kobe too. Not a good sign that Zeb didn’t play. 

I was there tonight. My impressions:

1. It was just so damn great being back. Just that.

2. If you're wondering what the game experience is like, it's exactly like it was before, except for masks. And they're very loose about that. I was there for the last game in March 2020 and the first game back tonight, and the Crisler experience itself is the same.

3. It was so cool getting to see Hunter Dickinson (and TW) getting to play in front of a crowd at Crisler.

4. Seeing Juwan coach in person (compared to two seasons ago, the last time I got to see him in person), his body language and everything just seems so much more confident. It's hard to describe unless you see it in person and watch him throughout plays, but he's not the same guy he was his first season. He's just totally in control of everything now, and he oozes comfort and confidence.

5. In terms of bringing energy to the team, Mousaa Diabate is this year's Chaundee Brown. He's a little out of control sometimes, but he plays at 100 percent every minute, and he LOVES a great play.

6. I can't see anyone outside of Kofi Cockburn being able to hang with Hunter for a whole game. You can throw as many 6-8, 6-9 guys at him, and he'll just eat them up. They say that defense travels, but so does Hunter Dickinson.

I'm unconcerned about Jeenathan Williams 2nd half points, many were seemingly wild layups that I thought were frankly BS in the moment. All credit to him, he had a great game and as far as I know will have a great season, but if those are the kinds of shots we concede so be it.

Moussa and Houstan have a good connection. Hunter is a man. Eli has a calming influence on the squad…we are deep!!! Free throws might be an adventure.

If we played Kansas tonight at MSG we would have lost by a lot and our rival would be laughing at us.  

Top 7 in the rotation very clear. Johns will probably cede some minutes. Wonder if they’ll keep him starting and bring that talent off the bench.

If it’s to be an 8 man rotation then there’s a lot of guards competing. Might depend on whether we need ball handling or 3 pt shooting off the bench more.

Wasn’t overly impressed with Jones as he seemed to lack quickness/decisiveness on offense, but should improve a good amount in the PG role given his transition.

Make free throws.

Need to find more 3 pt tries to begin with.

Defense will improve - lots of good pieces

BJJ looked fine until he took the huge hit on the chin and that seemed to shake his confidence for the game. Hopefully that's just a blip and we get tourney BJJ back it'll be hard to keep Diabate and TWIll off the court if he doesn't rebound from today

We are winning the national title this year.

Every hater can kick rocks or take a long walk off a short pier.

I hope all of these early games are as close as this one, because I think we need it for our young guys to rise to the challenge, and I think they will amalgamate all of that experience as the year goes on, until they reach a point where they can draw from it, but don't necessarily need it.

A young and talented squad is going to play to the level of competition, which is going to result in a lot of fairly uneven performances at times that ultimately result in a W because we are going to be one of the two best teams in the country by season's end.

I think Buffalo is quite a bit better than people give them credit for.  I believe they can and will overpower most of the teams in the MAC conference with their fast break offense and some real bonafide athletes that can match up against bigger conference opponents.  This win will shape up and make our team look pretty good as the season goes on.

Either way, it's a great first win and our freshman looked like they gelled in the offense as if they had a few years under their belt already.  Can't ask for much more in a first game

1) Need to get the free throws figured out as well as some of the perimeter defending but Juwan and the players will get that all sorted out 

2) The behind the rim free throw camera is not great along with that BTN scoreboard that says “+3!” before changing the score like we are watching NBA Jam 

Meh..a win is a win I was not that impr4ssed I thought the defense needs ALOT of improvement and didnt see many TOs forced..I know im the minoirity but I expected better

scary  foul shooting 3 point shooting  defense  I don't think this is a final four team  terence williams the real deal 

HOT TAKE

TWill will graduate Michigan as the all time leader in games played. He will be First Team B1G. Two year captain.

He was a spark plug but out of control last year. But this game showed what he'll be able to do with that same level of energy but in a more trimmed body. Poor damn Brandon Johns Jr. - I'm rooting for him but TWill brings exactly the type of action that Johns sometimes struggles to deliver. TWill always finds a way to contribute b/c he is the one creating the action on Off and Def. Johns too often is reacting while TWill is forcing the action. That's why he was the leading rebounder yesterday. The dude can BALL.

The only thing that will make my HOT TAKE not come to fruition is if he leaves early for professional ball. I can't see him being an NBA first rounder b/c of height and skillset, but he could be a forever beast in international pro ball if he chooses. He'll also get a run at the NBA and probably will make that work.

B/c of covid, he has the opportunity to play five years. Those five years will see UM go further in the tournament than any five year stretch in our history. He will have more games under his belt than any player in the history of the program, unseating the legendary Professor Eli Brooks himself.

This will be such a fun ride.

Solid first game for the team. Gives them some things to work on. It’s gonna be real tough to keep diabate and houstan off the court. You could feel the energy when they were playing. Dickinson had his moments but also struggled in space on defense. Basically everybody had a few moments where they shined. TWill and to a lesser extent Nunez were very pleasant surprises. 

Williams was impressive - looks like he'll be the one with the biggest year-to-year jump

To open last year we started with a 14 point win over Bowling Green and an 81-71 overtime win against Oakland.

I am not too concerned.

I really enjoy staring at the backside of the basketball hoop when players are shooting free-throws.

This is no scientific, data-backed take, but it looked to me like Camp Sanderson really made an impact on Hunter. Looks thicker and stronger than last year and he definitely was able to throw the team on his back at the end of the game. 

Did anyone else mentally compare the amount of commercials/rate of game interruption with this game vs. The football game on Saturday? Because I was really enjoying watching long stretches of basketball with minimal commercial interruptions. Even the Big Ten halftime show had a countdown clock ticking down the minutes and seconds until the second half would begin. Free throw camera angles aside, this was such a better viewing experience for the fans. 
 

Why do our teams go through periods of not scoring for 4-5 mins in a game? Jw. Also this is gonna be a fun year

Going to be a pretty deep team, lots of players that can fill minutes when needed.

Just like last season, there will be growing pains at the beginning. 

People seem to forget (maybe they do, I don't know lol) that the early going for last year's squad was rough. In almost every season, according to my very short-term memory, the team always had a head-scratcher or two- barely beating a team they should have run out of the gym.

Buffalo is no joke. They could probably beat half of the teams in the B10 with regularity if they were in the conference. This was an ideal opponent to open the season with. 

For me, I feel like the ceiling is higher than last year, but the floor is also lower if the freshman for whatever reason don't live up to their expectations and/or hit the proverbial wall. Last year's team had a lot more "stabilizing" components; seniors that you could lean on. This team does not have that luxury.

Dickinson can do so much out of the post, it's scary for opponents. I felt last night, he got doubled or triple-teamed on almost every play. If he can make quick decisions and find the perimeter guys, it will be a great recipe. 

Free throws -- yuck.  Hitting at a 60% rate is not nearly good enough.  Otherwise the team generally looked really good and will only get a lot better as the season goes on.

I think we should start snowflake threads for post-basketball game discussion.  You have great thoughts that are hard to address in a single post without things getting lost in the shuffle.

I was most disappointed that Eli didn't develop a running hook shot over the offseason. Most disappointed.

Thought the team played well - at one point it was downright dominant. 

It became a closer game than necessary as they throttled down a bit with about 4-5 min to go in the first half and Buffalo just kept playing hard.  I thought they looked like a good team - and I think people discount the value that having that many seniors provides...4-5 more years of playing time in college is a big deal.

• Figuring out the best rotation(s)
• Free-throw shooting
• Focus on playing hard and closing out - should have been a 20-25 pt lead at the half, not 15
• Some defensive lapses - I think associated to the above, gave Buffalo some hope and a few players gained some confidence - Williams is good, but hit a streak and that happens

My thoughts is if Michigan played OSU in basketball right now, Michigan would win by 20+