MICHIGAN MEN'S BASKETBALL- '19-'20: Hello Coach Nook!

[Kstat]

Entertaining, it was. I could stand for it to be a little less entertaining for the opponent next time though.

They had control the entire game. Iowa is a good team with a dominant center.

[Hannibal]

London =/= Croatia or Lithuania though.

They had control the entire game. Iowa is a good team with a dominant center.

Eh. I guess we'll see. Teske is supposed to be a great rim defender. I'd like to see that matchup be more of a push.

[hack]

I welcome the sudden injection of travel advice here in the thread. Can we use this thread for more airfare comparisons? Wouldn't mind a list of cheap hotels in London, too.

[*JD*]

I get the impression that Beilein didn't like him too much. Howard is using him a bit more.

Davis struggled pretty much every time Beilein went to him. He's improved now but still isn't likely to be a major contributor under normal circumstances, although a few more performances like tonight could change that. His opportunity tonight came at first when Castleton got elbowed in the mouth by Garza and had to go back to the locker room. Then Teske got in foul trouble in the 2nd half and they needed more of a banger than C.C. It would be great if he finished his last year here with some more memorable performances like tonight.

Also, I think this may have been a Coming of Age game for Johns. He was great on the glass and finally looked comfortable on offense. If he becomes a guy that can give 10 good minutes off the bench each game, this season could wind up rivaling the last 3.

[Kstat]

Johns with easily the best game of his young career. Looked a little like DJ Wilson tonight with all the energy.

[hack]

Also, I think this may have been a Coming of Age game for Johns. He was great on the glass and finally looked comfortable on offense. If he becomes a guy that can give 10 good minutes off the bench each game, this season could wind up rivaling the last 3.

I love watching him go up and rip the ball out of the air on rebounds. When's the last time we had a truly physically intimidating 4? Very excited for when John's gets comfortable out there.

[Hannibal]

[Hannibal]

Really gotta get one against MSU this year.

[Kstat]

[hack]

MSU probably has to find more shooting by the time they play us, but one Izzo's had quite a few teams that bump through non-con losing its marquee games and picking up sluggish wins in others, and then round into form quite nicely in March, so I don't think we know enough about them yet. Gonna be interesting this year though. That rivalry's been dictated very heavily by specific matchups in the past few years. Juwan could be more minded to attack specific matchups than Beilein was. The defensive-rebounding weakness of MSU has been pretty consistent last year to this year, so you could see Johns getting extended run if he can crash the glass on offense, for example. Winston will also be seeing a new form of P/R defense from Michigan, in which Teske is standing right in the area where he lives off floaters.

[iam416]

M only drops to #5 in the AP. Good for #3 in the B10. Heh.

[Kstat]

That was one of the more forgivable losses we'll see in college basketball this season.

MSU was perilously close to dropping out entirely had Rutgers knocked them off last night.

[lineygoblue]

MSU probably has to find more shooting by the time they play us, but one Izzo's had quite a few teams that bump through non-con losing its marquee games and picking up sluggish wins in others, and then round into form quite nicely in March, so I don't think we know enough about them yet.

Yeah, Izzo typically uses the early OOC games to rant and rave about how bad his team is, to motivate them to play better. They usually figure it out in late January and early February, then make a run in the tournament. Izzo is a crafty coach, if not a goofy one. He's likely to get the best of Howard at Breslin, but Juwan could pull a surprise or two at Crisler.

One observation just slightly off topic, .. I read where John Beilein is having problems with his NBA stars, and his style of coaching. The grumblings seem to be that he's teaching them college ball, when he's supposed to get them playing NBA ball. Imagine that....

He could have had things his way for the remainder of his coaching career at Michigan ....

[iam416]

MSU was perilously close to dropping out entirely had Rutgers knocked them off last night.

Yeah, they suck right now. I'd love to see Ohio State play them tomorrow and be down with them until the B10 Tournament. Unfortunately, nothing is won in November and December. I'd be very surprised if Sparty wasn't heavily involved in the B10 race and playing much better come money time.

But, no sane person would have ever predicated that the B10 would have 3 top 5 teams at any point this season, and none of them would be Sparty.

[hack]

Pleased to see that degree of respect for Michigan. Did not expect to be ranked above Duke, somewhat surprised to be ranked over Kentucky and Virginia.

One thing about MSU and the conference narrative that has definitely changed is that MSU is head-and-shoulders better and everyone else. It's not at all a given they win the conference title, even if they round into form quite nicely.