Watching Duke and Gonzaga play
And they look like completely different skill level teams than Michigan right now. They are both playing with several under classmen as well. One thing they aren’t afraid of doing is playing their freshmen. I’m hoping it’ll all start to click for the staff going forward as to who needs to be playing and what lineups are best. I also hope the light bulb starts going on for some of our players too.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:12 PM ^
Michigan has had good teams when they have had good guard play. Almost like the football team with QB play. Funny how that works.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:16 PM ^
We had it for a half the other night with Collins.
November 27th, 2021 at 4:47 AM ^
And sometimes, it takes time for that guard play to come into its own. At this point in 17-18, we were in the same situation. Simmons, Brooks, and Simpson didn’t seem to have it quite yet. It wasn’t until the UCLA game in December that Simpson solidified his role as the PG and leader.
November 27th, 2021 at 8:48 AM ^
The game reminded me of last year's UM-OSU BB game. Perfectly played game at the highest level. We had a good point guard but not great. So, there is hope for this season.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:16 PM ^
They both look super athletic and cohesive. I believe we can get there but we have to have a point guard step up that can lead our offense. Also, our defense has been subpar so far this year.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:24 PM ^
The ball movement, the athleticism and shooting is what is standing out to me with this game. As you said, cohesive. That’s what I was getting at with my post. We look disjointed and lack basic passing and shooting fundamentals or in Jones’s case, dribbling up the court. Not piling on the team, it’s just noticeable watching this one especially when we were ranked as high as fourth recently.
November 27th, 2021 at 7:58 AM ^
Dribbling up the court is a pretty important skill for a point guard to have
November 27th, 2021 at 10:59 AM ^
Gonna need Caleb Houstan to lock in on D he looks like he’s barely trying
November 26th, 2021 at 11:20 PM ^
Basketball has willingly passed off some of their good juju to the football team to help us defeat the evil Ohio State University.
It's going to be a bumpy ride for a couple of months but a win in football will make it all worthwhile.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:25 PM ^
They're playing in a great atmosphere so it feels great. But they're making mistakes. That said, banchero looks ridiculous. Only a couple spots ahead of houstan. Can houstan turn the corner this year or does he need another off-season to really get there
November 26th, 2021 at 11:33 PM ^
Of course they are making some mistakes but they are also making reads, cuts, passes out of three point stance, taking good shots, playing solid defense, etc.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:50 PM ^
My point was to avoid bashing our team. Kansas lost today. Alabama lost to Iona. So losses are okay. But the way we play isn't the same as these guys. Buy back to my point. They are still figuring they teams out. We don't seem to be in the same class but there's time to find out. These teams rely heavily on youngsters just like us,
November 26th, 2021 at 11:26 PM ^
If you’re watching this game, both of these teams would have beaten Tarlenton St by 30+
November 27th, 2021 at 1:16 AM ^
Kansas is ranked higher than Duke and they were up 8 at halftime, 11 at the under-10 media timeout against Tarlenton. Illinois was tied with UT Rio Grande at the 3 minute mark of the second half today. I don’t think college basketball is what you think it is
November 27th, 2021 at 1:25 AM ^
Illinois had two starters and another key contributor who didn’t play. Kansas beat Tarlenton St by 26, tell me again what College basketball is? If we had 3 key players out against Tarlenton I’d have been ok with the game. My post originated based off of our six games, not just that one.
November 27th, 2021 at 5:56 AM ^
We were ahead of Tarlenton by more than Kansas was with 10 minutes left in the game. Kansas didn’t have 3 key players out and still struggled with them until they put them away late. Wichita State also struggled with them. They are better than you think they are.
Also, we’ve been without a starter/key contributor all year. I can guarantee if we were also missing Dickinson and Brooks, we wouldn’t be tied with UT Rio Grand with 3 minutes to go in the game.
Having experience is almost as important as having talent. We have very little of the former and quite a lot of the latter.
November 27th, 2021 at 4:50 AM ^
so would we, nine times out of ten.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:31 PM ^
Paolo looks like a future Piston.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:12 AM ^
Came here to say that
November 26th, 2021 at 11:33 PM ^
these teams have a lot of skill... they also seem to play quite fast and can create space to get their shot off the bounce to get a bit of separation.
I haven't seen a lot of Michigan shooters relocating and then rising up for shots around the perimeter...Eli is the only one doing that consistently with confidence... a lot of spot up shots which doesn't really work when no one is moving, cutting
A lot of explosive guys on Duke it seems like to me at least...
November 26th, 2021 at 11:40 PM ^
This is the part of the season so far I don’t get. We are supposedly recruiting for size and ability to break you down speed wise. We don’t play fast, we play mostly half court ball. We don’t use our size well so far either. These two are playing with tempo. They play inside and outside.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:55 PM ^
not sure what it is so far at least...
I seem to recall Smith pushing the ball a lot when he could...not really seeing that yet...Playing halfcourt is fine if you can execute...but it seems like half the time its Hunter down low and no one else doing too much?
There's not a lot of slashers or guys that create their own shot off the bounce.
Hoping Diabate can come continue to grow an eventually become the starter... Houstan is still the key if he can unlock that outside shot consistently (though his passing is actually better than i had hoped)... Collins and Bufkin do need more minutes... hoping Zeb has also made a jump forward.
Duke and Gonzaga are putting on a NBA level show right now scoring wise... guys on both sides are filling the basket and trading shots
November 27th, 2021 at 12:12 AM ^
Jones doesn’t seem to be able to handle the ball well enough. He is gonna get pressured up and down the court all season long. He’s not a natural point guard. That isn’t gonna lead to a faster pace offense. Frankie and maybe Zeb could be that guy though.
We don’t have any movement on the court, it’s like nobody knows what to do our their roles so far.
We do have slashers, they just aren’t playing much right now. Zeb hasn’t played at all. Eli can a little bit.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:33 PM ^
Good basketball so far. Light years difference compared to how UofM is playing right now. Banchero looks like the real deal. That's 5 star one and done talent right there. Legit size, very athletic, handles, shooting, and defense.
God I hate Duke though.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:36 PM ^
Lol basketball? There'll be many nights to think of basketball, tonight isn't one of them.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:41 PM ^
Why not? Didn’t realize we are playing football tonight. There are already over 20 topics on the football game.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:48 PM ^
A special element of last year was watching how some saw as our "consolation prize" in big man recruiting was completing outplaying Mark Williams who spent much of his first year of Duke lost on the court. He certainly is living up to his hype this year as he is as dangerous on the fast break as with his hook shot.
That said, I see Houstan and Diabate starting to turn the corner on becoming trusted starters....and like a few on here see Collins and/or Bufkin as the next key piece. I would not be surprised if we are playing at the level of these two teams by the end of the year.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:00 AM ^
That’s my hope. I guess I didn’t think we would be this far behind early with three 4-5 year players and a Soph player of the year candidate starting. March is more important that November and December as long as we don’t fall too far behind record wise.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:57 PM ^
This game has been fun so far. It’s like watching an old late 80’s/early 90’s Duke team in Gonzaga vs a current Duke team.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:01 AM ^
Yeah, I really don’t like either team but this a fun game to watch. Duke for obvious reasons and Gonzaga has developed a little too much arrogance about them and they really haven’t done enough to warrant that.
November 27th, 2021 at 8:43 AM ^
I would love to hear why you feel Gonzaga "haven't done enough". They beat #2 UCLA by 20, beat #5 Texas by double digits. Last year they were undefeated until the championship game. Gonzaga's record the last ten years is crazy good. The only thing "not good enough" has been actually winning the title but that is a very hard thing to do and matchups play a huge factor.
People like to belittle the Zags during conference play since they are in the WCC but they play top teams earlier in the year. Four of their first nine games of the year are against top ten teams.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:13 AM ^
Great great game.
Honestly has the feel of a Final Four game. Tons of talent, tons of players making plays...
after the letdown of the UCLA/Gonzaga game, this has been fun to watch
November 27th, 2021 at 12:14 AM ^
Barn burner.
Getting my mind off tomorrow.
Holmgren, the skinny guy-- dang, he's good.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:29 AM ^
Delete my unintended chauvinistic post about poor dancing on tv
November 27th, 2021 at 1:00 AM ^
Show us a picture of yourself.
November 27th, 2021 at 1:29 AM ^
I apologize to the offended generation, I should have included all other people who dance ridiculously on tv but I only saw a few females in the quick span of the camera. My bad, they were majorly hot and had Beyoncé level moves.
November 27th, 2021 at 1:36 AM ^
You want full frontal, an angle pose or what? Not sure what you are into.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:31 AM ^
I know Duke is playing great defense, but come on Zags, just get a 2
November 27th, 2021 at 12:32 AM ^
Money ball time.
will be interesting to see who steps up for both teams in the last 2 minutes
November 27th, 2021 at 12:37 AM ^
Bilas pro-Duke vibe is the Herbie of homerism for ESPN CBB coverage
November 27th, 2021 at 12:39 AM ^
He tries his best but it shines through in his voice.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:44 AM ^
Can't stand Chefski and Puke
November 27th, 2021 at 12:36 AM ^
Duke 11-19 from the line, Zags 7-11. The Coach K difference lol
November 27th, 2021 at 12:40 AM ^
Timme is a good college player but his lack of athleticism vertically is showing tonight. He will struggle in the NBA with that. He doesn’t play much away from the basket and tries to bang down low.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:46 AM ^
well, that was a fun game.
Not a fan of either team, but I do enjoy watching high level basketball... the 3/4 press really sealed the game as Duke made gonzaga waste so much time.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:47 AM ^
Yeah, Gonzaga wasn’t ready for that on the inbounds. It was a great game.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:52 AM ^
yup.
Not a fan of Gonzaga nowadays, as the Cinderella moniker no longer fits them, but appreciate that they do schedule tough OOC games...though this is by design as their conference is so bad they need to have a tough OOC schedule
November 27th, 2021 at 1:03 AM ^
They play a great out of conference schedule but then they go in their shit conference for 20 games and when the tournament time comes around they aren’t ready for that level of play because they’ve been trouncing everyone for the last 20 games.
November 27th, 2021 at 12:58 AM ^
Yeah I hate to say it, but Michigan is so far away from these teams.
November 27th, 2021 at 1:01 AM ^
Right now, yes. Hopefully as the season wears on our freshman gain experience and the upper class provide stability.