UM vs Texas Tech - Hoops

Submitted by Nervous Bird on November 24th, 2023 at 6:07 PM

Anyone know what the hold up is with the start time? It was a nice bounce back win yesterday. Here's hoping for some momentum!

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bronxblue

November 24th, 2023 at 8:06 PM ^

My guess is this is probably Howard's last year as HC just because I don't see the vibes changing that much, but I also do think this certain team configuration is better than last year's but they just lack another offensive playmaker beyond Dug.  Like, put Love on this roster and I think they'd have won a couple more games.  It's not a Sweet 16 team by any means but it would be better.  That's on Howard to an extent but also on UM for just making transfers so fucking hard for this school unlike basically anywhere else.

Anyway, this is a dumb game that has gotten worse by shitty refereeing and piss-poor ball security to start.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171977

bronxblue

November 24th, 2023 at 8:34 PM ^

It's more that I think he might just want to move on.  Like I said elsewhere he's sort of in this middle ground where this is Martelli's team as much as Howard's in terms of gameday planning.  I just don't know if he's dying to slog through another okay season and then next year go at it with a new cast of okay characters.

I actually don't mind being wrong here, but unless something changes I'm not sure anyone is excited about years 5 and 6 being slogs to make the tournament.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171977

bronxblue

November 24th, 2023 at 8:31 PM ^

Yeah, I still think he's a good coach but I also think that at some point the vibes around a program call for a change and Howard probably doesn't have the same pressure to stay at UM the way, say, Harbaugh did in 2020.  Howard can go back to the NBA, be an assistant coach, maybe watch his kids play and then give it a crack some other time.  I don't personally mind if he sticks around but I think there might be a mutual parting of the ways.

I also don't really think any of this early season is on him; Martelli is the HC and Howard just had heart surgery.  Even if he's "around" that probably isn't to the same level as a regular day-to-day HC.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171977

bronxblue

November 24th, 2023 at 9:32 PM ^

I am intrigued to see what he does with this roster as the season carries on, but the ceiling on this team is still the bubble, maybe a bit higher if the guys gel a bit and they can find a second guard/playmaker, but for the second year not getting a Shannon or Love hurts their offense and so puts a cap on their potential.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171977

bronxblue

November 24th, 2023 at 9:30 PM ^

Fine, I'll rephrase - the roster construction is on him but then the first couple of games where they looked great offensively should also be factored in and that feels discounted quite a bit as well.  I just don't have a strong sense either way about how Howard will do as a coach this year with a different team composition.

So that's why I'm not sure you can judge him either way.  He hasn't coached a game yet this year so the first 7 games, 3 of which were played in a ballroom in the Bahamas, is hard to gauge one direction or another with this team.  I thought this team was a bubble team to start the year and I doubt that changes much except the top level for the offense is higher than I expected.  

The defense is better but they keep getting down big and then having to claw back, something I don't remember happening as much last year.  They tended to blow leads last season and then struggle to close out games; yesterday they actually came back which was surprising to me.  

But I do think at some point there's less keeping him here than, say, Harbaugh.  Jace (I think) is done after this year, or maybe he's got one more season but who knows.  Jett is in the NBA.  He can go be an assistant on a good team and then give it another shot for an NBA gig if he wants.  He's a famous alum but he's not viewed as some savior and I'm not sure given his age he's quite resigned himself to grinding away at his alma mater.  I might be wrong but with the heart problem already you could see him want to shift gears.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171977

bronxblue

November 24th, 2023 at 9:18 PM ^

Yes, shockingly another year of not-great basketball leads me to wonder if Howard and Michigan are destined to stay together.  Like I said below I suspect it'll be more of a mutual parting, but since you rushed as hard as you could to call me a clown I guess I shouldn't be surprised you didn't read any more.  

Also, did notice that apparently my post brought you out of basketball hibernation so feel free to go back to sleep for another month and then grace us all with another shitty opinion about a team you don't seem to care much about unless it's complaining.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171977

SagNasty

November 24th, 2023 at 8:18 PM ^

Disappointing tournament for this team. Looks like they are not ready / don’t have the depth to play 3 straight. Still a ton of season left to improve. Hopefully getting Juwan back on the bench full time and getting a couple bench players back will help. The team from the first 3 games is still in there somewhere hopefully. 

Joined: 06/22/2011

MGoPoints: 923

rice4114

November 24th, 2023 at 8:28 PM ^

Why is Dug playing Touissant? Put Dug on a set shooter and just tell him to stay on him. Let your defensive stopper play the guy that sets up their offense.

Joined: 08/26/2010

MGoPoints: 47585

bronxblue

November 24th, 2023 at 8:37 PM ^

I am interested to see how this team looks with Llewellyn back in the sense he's a bigger guard who gives Dug a bit of a break and lets you play around with the defensive assignments a bit.  TTU has a bunch of athletic wing-sized guys and UM doesn't and you can tell it limits their defensive flexibility.  I don't think anyone wants Dug out there trying to guard Touissant but Burnett is just one guy.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171977

ST3

November 24th, 2023 at 8:35 PM ^

As bad as they’ve looked recently, next season is looking like a disaster. I don’t count on getting anything out of freshmen. Who wants to transfer into this situation? Only guys looking for playing time. That got us 2 reasonable starters in Nimari and Nkamhoua. 
Next year we have Dug, GW, Tschetter and Tarris. That’s it. Maybe it is time for Juwan to head elsewhere, and I’ve been one of his staunchest supporters. 

Joined: 09/11/2010

MGoPoints: 52776

aiglick

November 24th, 2023 at 8:50 PM ^

It’s too early. In the grand scheme of things I’d much rather win tomorrow than a November basketball game. Not that they’re mutually exclusive. But this was always going to be a tough matchup. They need to figure out D though that has been rough ever since Wagner moved on.

Joined: 11/27/2010

MGoPoints: 21566

theytookourjobs

November 24th, 2023 at 9:00 PM ^

The defensive issues are coaching and effort.  They have plenty of length on this team outside of Dug to be good defensively.  They have no idea how to rotate and help on defense.  That's coaching.  Then they leave guys glaringly wide open and don't close out on the 3.  That's effort.  I think this season will end up putting Juwan very much on the hot seat

Joined: 11/24/2008

MGoPoints: 10442

bronxblue

November 24th, 2023 at 9:45 PM ^

The defense shows up after a while every game but especially early on it just disappears and they did these holes they struggle to get out of.  Against Memphis they had a 10-minute stretch where they scored 9 and the Tigers scored 19, against Stanford it was up 23-9, here you've got TTU getting out 24-9 and that was basically the game.  

What has surprised me is how turnover-prone they've become this season.  Last year with Dug there had a TO rate of 15; it's up to 18 now.  That's killing their offensive scheme and hurts the defense because people are scrambling back and not getting set.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171977

michgoblue

November 24th, 2023 at 10:05 PM ^

I don’t want to pile on, and I was about as excited about Juwan being here as anyone on this blog, but Juwan is just not a good head coach. Terrible recruiting, terrible team effort consistently, terrible adjustments, and beyond questionable lineup / rotation decisions. There is literally no aspect in which he excels as a coach. We even looked better under Martelli the first few games. I really think that a change may be in order after this season.  

Joined: 11/16/2009

MGoPoints: 32198

Durham Blue

November 24th, 2023 at 11:11 PM ^

Defense and rebounding have been bad against the better teams on the schedule.  Actually, it was bad even against LB State, so who am I trying to kid?  Defense and rebounding take added effort, and I am just not seeing it from this group yet.  I am hoping this changes soon.

Also, seeing way too much iso where four guys stand there and watch one guy go one on one.  This is especially the case when Reed gets the ball down low.  And Terrance Williams, man, the coaches need to tell him to stop driving the lane.  It's a 50/50 chance he bricks it or gets his shot blocked.

Joined: 10/09/2008

MGoPoints: 30109