horns

Different vibes. Two things jumped out as different from Beilein's teams. #1 was a concerted effort to get up the court on every possession. This was only effective when Simpson was pulling the strings in open court situations, able to get to the basket because he got an exploitable-cross match. Michigan did not crash the boards much, so guys were back and largely in good position as Michigan tried to push it. There weren't many opportunities to get over the top with an outlet pass and get an uncontested transition bucket. A few different transition opportunities looked good until Castleton or Johns swooped in to block the shot.

#2 was extended defensive pressure, which popped up later in the session. Michigan absolutely never did this under Beilein. At times in this practice Michigan denied point guards the ball well outside the three point line and forced the offense into secondary ball-handlers. They did not get back-cut while doing this but, yeah, they're going to get back-cut some as a cost of this approach. They'll also be more disruptive to opposing offenses.

There was also a brief stretch of 2-3 zone on D, which I doubt we see in games much but should probably be practiced so it can be practiced against.

gunner [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Context is important. Intrasquad scrimmages often have wildly mismatched teams that force guys into uncomfortable roles, so box-score spelunking is often not that useful. David DeJulius was piloting a team of backups against Zavier Simpson, so he ended up turning the ball over some and taking some heroball shots. I don't think that tendency will be nearly as pronounced when he's on the court with Simpson, and indeed it wasn't in the third period when they swapped around the teams so he was the 2 on Simpson's team.

Buuuuut: yeah, DDJ is going to be a guy who thrills and frustrates alternately. Given what we saw from the rest of the "maybe he can create shots" crew they're going to have to rely on him as at least a bench microwave type and possibly as the starting 2 while Franz is out. (And maybe after, depending on what happens around him.) DDJ is not shy, and he provides shooting. On a team with no proven creators other than X you're going to live with a certain number of stepback threes.

[After the JUMP: four guys for two spots, probably]