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

[lineygoblue]

Iggy is officially staying in the draft.

https://twitter.com/umichbball/statu...45984270348290

I admit a few sour grapes with his decision, but at the same time, I really don't think this is a good decision. In Iggy's tweet he talks about playing at Crisler Center as being "the greatest place in the world" to play, and how he's going to miss it. Well, shoot... why not stay a couple more years and work on your game, and work your ass into the first round? More guaranteed money, and likely with a better team.

As of now, I see him ending up on some middling NBA team with his butt firmly planted on the bench except for mop up time. If he's going to actually play, he'll have to go to the G league, or back to Europe. I just can't see this as a good decision for him.

Oh well, like AC/DC says, .. "Money Talks" ...

[hack]

Is what it is. Very frustrating. Looks like we're just waiting for the announcement. We'll see what Howard can bring in.

[Whitley]

Howard is very underwhelming hire to me. Once again, UM decides that money is more important than spending what it takes to get a top flight hire. I have a bad feeling that the program is about to enter the wilderness.

Making the Sweet 16 seems to be like a longer and longer shot each day that passes.

[froot loops]

Most young NBA players get stuck to the bench or go to the G League for a while before they get to play. Bryzdakis can shoot the 3 and create off the dribble and that is in high demand, he's an unfinished product but whether or not he stayed a few more.seasons at Michigan that wasn't going to change.

[hack]

Yeah. He seemed increasingly uncertain with his draft-process statements, so I was hoping to lure him back with the hope of breaking into the first round next year, but ultimately he is what he is and could very well end up a useful matchups guy off the bench.

[hack]

Impossible to tell how Howard will do, Whitley. Maybe I'm just hoping for the sake of it, but I think we could have done a lot worse. I still expect to make the second weekend of the tournament, because two all-conference seniors equally effective on both ends of the court is an awesome starting point. You next need to put three 40% three-point shooters around that pick-and-roll combo, and already we have one in Livers. If they can lock down Cumberland, that's a possible second one. On the bench you need a multi-position backup or two and a backup center. Castleton in that latter role is a serious strength. He flashed enough last year; we know he can come in and hold it down for 10 mpg. If he takes a nice year-on-year leap, Teske will no longer have to play passively on D in first halves of games. So, in short, we're two or three three-point marksmen away from having a roster that's much deeper and more logically constructed than what Beilein was forced to cope with last year.

Mind you, Howard could come in and for some reason decide not to build an offense around one of the elite P/R tandems in the country. If he did that, it would be time to re-evaluate.

[Jeff Buchanan]

This may be premature as Howard is only on the top of the list of HC candidates but still ......... I've been looking around to find how Howard might run M's offense, assuming Yaklich stays and the D will look the same. I lifted these from the comments section of an mgoboard thread on this question. I thought these two posts were the most fact-based assessment of the likely Howard offense:

Glad you asked! Because while I wouldn't expect a complete translation to the college game because of the differences, the Miami Heat offensive playbook from a few years ago is actually online!

http://www.deposoft.com.ar/repo/driles%20y%20jugadas/Miami%20Heat%20Playbook.pdf

Now, this one is important to look at with context: I would ignore half the plays in there, because some are clearly designed to get shots for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Obviously Michigan does not have one of the 3 best basketball players ever, and one of the 5 best 2 guards ever, so ignore those.

But what's even more impressive to me is how the Miami Heat offense was able to change when LBJ left, and Wade left and came back too old to really contribute. The Miami Heat, even with less talented players, have been incredibly precise, disciplined, and smart offensively the last couple years. Erik Spoelstra is one of the best coaches in the NBA, bar none, and someone that deserves a lot of credit. Now, obviously the college game is different, but the traits of a good offense: Adjustments, discipline, smart shots, motion, and putting players in position to succeed is what made Miami a playoff team Post-LeBron, and personally if Juwan Howard was smart, he would use a lot of what he learned from Spoelstra and implement it.

No doubt it'll be more simple than the Beilein approach, but I think offensively we'll look similar to Michigan State this year, and a few years ago without the clogged offensive grossness that was catering to Bridges on the perimeter and forgetting JJJ existed.

This comment is consistent with what Hack posted here when I asked about the difference between the pro-style (incorrectly thinking by me: big men posting up) and college style offense of JB's:

I think a lot of people will be surprised with the (Howard's) offense. I don't think they'll make the big man a priority of working inside out, because I just don't think that it works efficiently. Especially when you have a big like Teske that is adept at shooting from 3, just dumping it on the post is so easy to defend and creates little movement. Of the Heat's top 10 players in terms of shots per game, only 2 were big men, and neither were in the top 5 in shots.

Hassan Whiteside took 9 shots per game, but has almost no range, and got a significant amount of those shots on lobs and offensive rebounds.

Kelly Olynyk took 7 shots per game, but 4 of those were from 3. If I had to guess, I would say that Brandon Johns is going to be the biggest beneficiary of Howard, and that the offense will start to roll through him later in the year.

[THE_WIZARD_]

FEAR THE MAYOR!!

[hack]

Given the number of player on the roster -- I'm not sure we even need the plural here -- he might have to temporarily change his nickname to The Reeve.

[Hannibal]

Lost Poole, Iggy, Wilson, and the coach after everyone else's searches were already done.

The other shoe has dropped, as it always does. Yay for being a Michigan fan.

[Cody_Russell]

[froot loops]

I'm not sure that hire is underwhelming but it seems the search was underwhelming. The money cannon may have been loaded but the cannon itself must have been smaller than anticipated. Nick Baumgardner had said that Manuel knew this might happen and had a list.

[Jeff Buchanan]

........ announcement probably pending with in the next few hours:

https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/juwan-howard%27s-wife-just-tweeted

[Cody_Russell]

[Whitley]

I'm not sure that hire is underwhelming but it seems the search was underwhelming. The money cannon may have been loaded but the cannon itself must have been smaller than anticipated. Nick Baumgardner had said that Manuel knew this might happen and had a list.

It just reinforces that everything except for not getting into NCAA trouble or upstaging UM football is secondary.