MICHIGAN MEN'S BASKETBALL- '23 -'24 Season.

[hack]

Right. You grind and grind, and the payoff is the logistical nightmare of figuring out how to exhaust yourself to get in enough games and exist as a self-employed person in a very difficult environment. They play a crucial role in a process that makes everyone around them rich. If seasonality is the reason that they are still gig-economy workers, it's not a good reason. Pay them what they are worth and make it a full-time occuption, IMO. I'm sure there are many wrinkles and obstacles of course.

[hack]

Agreed about the pace-of-play stuff last night. Crispin sucks. One thing he did get right is that Michigan needed to get someone else going. Jett was done before the game was.

I think I'm getting closer and closer to saying that I DON'T want Dickinson back. Even when he's fully engaged, he takes so much off the table on defense that he's got to be hugely productive on offense to make it worthwhile. And he's not fully engaged a majority of the time. Reed is going to be a good defender and if he can make 50% of his FTs, a passable center on offense. Reed will be here for at the very least 2 more years, but probably 3. I would much rather 3 years of Reed than 1 or maybe 2 years of Dickinson. The program needs to move on. And Dickinson can maybe get an up-front haul in NIL if he hits the portal. I would hate for Dickinson to come back and send Reed to the portal. If Dickinson comes back Reed will be getting calls from other coaches.

[THE_WIZARD_]

WWCAW!!!!!!!

[hack]

MACMM???????

[Whitley]

I think the problem with Dickinson is pretty simple and he said it after the MSU game. He wants to be assertive, but is afraid to be to the point where he is taking away from everyone else. That is where I think we are really really missing Llewenyen (spelling?) he is much more likely than Dug (at this moment) to get Dickinson involved. The other problem (and you say this against MSU) is that there is a lot of standing on offense. And with Michigan struggling to shoot the 3 with any kind of consistency. That really hurts the PR game. THe lack of shooters hurts the pick and pop game too.

Michigan has 3 guys that shoot over 35% from downtown.....Jett (.387 on almost 7 attempts a game), Dickinson (.389 on 1.125 tries a game) and Baker (.450 on 2.5 tries a game) no one else shoots over .323 from beyond the arc. Maybe Dug can help that out (7/20 in the games he has been getting 27+ minutes ie since JL injured basically).

If I was going to coach against Michigan I would make them beat me from beyond the arc. I would look to clog the lanes against them, put pressure on them not to cause turnovers but eat up clock before they can get into their halfcourt offense. I would give them the 3 point line----I want to take away their driving opportunites. I would beg Bufkin and Williams to take threes.

Now, the counter to that would be to have Dickinson at the high post and lots of movement and back door cuts.

[hack]

Hey I think if you want to take the players at their own word, don't be selective. They've been completely up front about lacking effort and being unwilling to do the little things. It's great that they're trying a little bit harder now, but they elected to dig themselves a hole.

[Whitley]

Hey I think if you want to take the players at their own word, don't be selective. They've been completely up front about lacking effort and being unwilling to do the little things. It's great that they're trying a little bit harder now, but they elected to dig themselves a hole.

Well considering where I live they don't do any papers outside of the Record-Eagle (wed-sun) which is barely worth the paper it's printed on and a weekly that isn't only good for garage sales listings......

[lineygoblue]

Michigan beat Northworstern today at Crisler Center 85 - 78. A mostly unimpressive outing that demonstrates that this Michigan team is still struggling.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap/_/gameId/401484893

If this team gets into the NCAA's it will be as one of the lowest seeds. They'd probably fare a bit better in the NIT, but not much. The tough part of the schedule still lies ahead.

[THE_WIZARD_]

shaddup and go get ribs

[lineygoblue]

Too expensive. I can only do BBQ about once per month. Johnny does make decent ribs.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Get the smoked chicken, beans and cokeslaw platter.

[hack]

Decent win. New look with Tarris Reed at the 4, and I like it. For this year, at least. And for next year, in the sense that Tarris needs to get run just like Dug does and to a lesser extent Kobe. That's a trio to go to war with. Find a two-way 3 in the portal. If Hunter's still around, I guess you have to do the twin-towers thing again. Tarris is too good not to start next year. You can feel his force and mass coming through the TV.

I do expect that in a few weeks time we'll be doing offense/defense substitutions whenever possible down the stretch in close games. Tarris belongs out there.

[Da Geezer]

I agree Hack. And I'd couple that with sitting T. Williams much more. Tschetter has looked good in the last couple of games.

I think Jawan is loyal to Williams, but Williams just does not provide the offensive pop from the 4 position, and he is not nearly as good a rebounder as those who would replace him.

[hack]

I definitely hope Cheddar stays in the rotation and gets the reps you need to see if there's really anything there. I think there could be a decent Big Ten role player there.

But, more and more, I'm just really excited about next year's team built around Dug, Reed, Kobe and maybe even Hunter. If we can get Warde's replacement installed before portal season, maybe next year's Terrence Shannon will actually be here.

[Mike]

I feel like this game might be slipping away.