2019-20 iowa
Brian is out so Craig Ross is sitting in for him.
2 hours
The Sponsors
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1. Football
starts at 1:00
On Michigan's side only Nico seems like any shot at a 1st rounder, guys who declared and seniors are expected to play. On Bama's side, Jerry Jeudy said he'll play, and they have three projected first round receivers and eight guys projected in the 1st round who have a choice to make. Tarik Black leaving could mean Nico and DPJ are leaning toward staying? Receivers of the future: we'll see but Michigan can use their slots more.
Don Brown interviewed for BC job, went to OSU's DC (not Matty) so what happens with Mattison?
2. Louisville, Iowa, and Illinois
starts at 26:52
UL was a schedule loss: forced Teske to make threes or long two's with high hedges. Counterintuitive to blitz X because he's not a great shooter. Someone else with athletes will try this. Iowa: highest-scoring Big Ten regulation game since 2002. Michigan is balanced; Iowa is not because Michigan and Iowa both had the same gameplan. 44 points by Garza: an arena record? You coach to the game. Illinois: Michigan doesn't hit their threes, Kofi Cockburn is a problem. Lewis Garrison literally knocked out of this one; other two refs clearly capable of doing a better job with him off the court.
3. Hot Takes and Oregon
starts at 59:42
David's hot take voice is extremely British. Craig thought the Oregon game was one of the loudest ever. Craig advocates for a huge lineup with Johns & Franz with Livers at the 2. Impressed by Pritchard, who's the first guy to run X off the line. Two insanely long reviews.
4. Expectations
starts at 1:36:32
Johns could be a season-changer. Brooks's floater game isn't so efficient that you can discount DDJ taking more of his minutes down the line. Castleton is falling out of rotation as they find something they want in Johns. Trip around the Big Ten: Minnesota and Penn State are going to be tough to beat on the road, Ohio State looks like a real #1 thanks to Wesson.
MUSIC:
- "Tell Them You Can't Leave"—The Amazing
- "Woods"—Time Fading Lines
- "Getting Better"–Twin Peaks
- “Across 110th Street”
THE USUAL LINKS:
- Helpful iTunes subscribe link
- General podcast feed link
- Direct download link
- What's with the theme music?
No matter what your strategy is you don't want a guy dropping 44 on ya.
Podcast apologies. I had a family issue and Ace is dealing with a severe allergic reaction, so there's no podcast today. Back at it next week. Silver lining: text content will be novel instead of also on the podcast.
The whiplash game. An alien observer given an oversized baseball hat, trench coat, inconspicuous sunglasses, and tickets to Michigan's two most recent basketball games must think he watched two different sports. One is a game of furrowed brows and vicious close-quarters fighting in which shots are precious and points even more so. The second is superficially similar to the first, but apparently has dozens of subtle rule changes that make it impossible to defend anything. Also your worth as a player is directly correlated with the size of your eyebrows.
I wonder if there's ever been a bigger game-to-game swing in Michigan's offense than going from 0.65 PPP to 1.39. If it's been exceeded it's not by much.
ope just gonna grab this from you for a sec [Campredon]
Johns: hello. One game after I asserted Michigan hadn't changed anything from John Beilein's OREB approach Brandon Johns swoops in for five OREBs and Michigan grabs 44% of its rare misses. Johns also swished a couple corner threes en route to 12 points on seven shot equivalents. Also he had a nice assist to Davis.
That's a breakout performance, and now we're waiting to see if that lasts. It prompted an Athletic article from Brendan Quinn detailing Johns's confidence issues:
“It was a huge problem,” Johns said Friday night, arms folded, standing in the Crisler Center lobby. “It was kind of heartbreaking because people would say how good I am, but I just didn’t see it. I never saw it. I never believed in myself like that.”
When it comes to former top-50 recruits such as Johns, the issue usually comes from the opposite direction. They’re convinced they’re good and need to be broken down. Johns, after a freshman year spent lost in a playbook, confused on the floor and fledgling outside the rotation, was the converse. The picture didn’t fit the frame. He needed to be reminded of who he is and what he can do. He needed to be reminded that he’s 6 feet, 8 inches and 235 pounds of potential. He needed to be told that he’s an elite athlete who can do things others can only dream of.
Johns doesn't have to do a lot more than bring a Mitch McGary vibe and hit open shots to make a big difference as Michigan's primary bench guy at the 3 and 4.
[After THE JUMP: it's raining points]
Well thank you, Fran. Down 90-77, on the road, with just a few minutes left, Iowa coach/Person Who Would Like to Speak to the Manager Fran McCaffery could have packed it in. Instead he decided to go full Izzo, starting the foul train early so that the Wolverines could give their home fans the first super-centennial score to celebrate since you first turned to your buddy like "this Duncan Robinson can shoot." Except you'll probably still remember this one in four years.
McCaffery and Michigan's Juwan Howard clearly had the same gameplan: let Luka Garza go to work one-on-one in the post and don't let it leave there. Garza had 15 of Iowa's first 17 points, 27 of their 38 points by halftime, and finished with 44 on 43 shot equivalents without hitting a single three-pointer or giving his teammates a single assist. The Garza show also forced Howard to go deep into his bench. Teske played just 23 minutes, picking up his second foul (urrrrrgh I hated that one) with 6 minutes left in the 1st half, and his third and fourth (urggh I hated this one nearly as much as the other one) with 11 minutes left in the 2nd half. Isaiah Livers fouled out. And Garza's loose elbow sent Colin Castleton to the locker room with a bloody lip early in the first frame—he would return only once the game was well decided.
In their stead Austin Davis (10 minutes) and Brandon Johns (19) were called upon to play their most significant minutes this season. They couldn't have chosen a better opponent for it. Both struggled with Garza in the post, but also feasted on Garza's flailing style of defense. Davis had 8 points, including back-to-back dunks, and Johns scored 12 on 10 shot equivalents while adding five offensive rebounds, mostly in the last 10 minutes.
Yuck. [Campredon]
Meanwhile the Wolverine backcourt feasted on Iowa's otherwise absent defenders. A trip home and a few nights rest did wonders for the shooting that had been absent in Louisville. Michigan shot 42% from three, hit 29 of their season-high 34 free throws, and made 55% of their two-point attempts, spreading the wealth around:
Luka Garza had 44 points.
— Go Iowa Awesome (@IowaAwesome) December 7, 2019
Michigan had 6 players with 12 or more points.
Take a guess at which team won!
The shooting was more uncontested than truly hot, set up by the offense and Hawkeye defenders' inability to stay cohesive whenever the guy with the ball did a thing. Iowa tried various defensive strategies—full court press, zone, throwing Conner McCaffery at a 7'2" dude—but Michigan was able to pick each of them apart.
They're called kickouts, dude. I swear it's legal. [Campredon]
The run that finally stretched the lead beyond any but the most optimistic angry banker's imagination was keyed through the high post. Teske was productive in his limited minutes, with three assists and a beautiful elbow shot to go with his usual blocks, boards, and cleanups. Franz Wagner enjoyed slinking past the overmatched Joe Wieskamp to get to the line. Livers was active on the boards and pure death at the stripe. Simpson sunk 2/3 open threes. Brooks was 50% on everything. And even David "just two points?" DeJulius was a positive, with three assists after breaking down the Iowa defense with drives.
Things were a bit harder when Teske was in. [Campredon]
On the other end, a banged up Iowa attempted just 15 threes—most of them late prayers from well beyond the arc—and got exactly zero assists from Garza. Freshman SG CJ Fredrick, who missed Iowa's last game, was barely more effective than PG Jordan Bohannon, who seemed stiff and clearly bothered by his hip issue. Wieskamp had a few strong moments when he could shake Wagner. Big Ryan Kriener was an annoyingly effective post presence as well. Bakari Evelyn picked up a late foul to avoid Club Trillion by just one bit.
Things could have gotten a lot worse but Garza and Connor McCaffery were also effective on the offensive glass, and Garza was able to draw a lot of whistles while getting the benefit of the doubt for his own physical play. You can bet there's going to be some boxing out practice this week.
The final shot chart is something worth staring at:
And if you [hit the jump] there's a box score so incredible you may have to read it in Ace's podcasting voice.
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