MICHIGAN'S MEN'S BASKETBALL: 2015-2016

[Hannibal]

48 combined minutes for Donnal, Wilson, Doyle, Wagner, and Chatman. 5 rebounds total for the bunch.

[WM Wolverine]

^

Rebounding was the only thing I was really good at in basketball. All you do is box out and your man needs to have a lucky bounce to get the rebound.

This team needs a Mitch McGary clone.

[hack]

I think that in comparison Beilein has proven himself to be more flexible and open to adjusting than many. This isn't Flip Saunders here, who sent a team of former SOBs out there to prance around the 3-point line and get bullied and then said we'll we didn't shoot very well''. Or Hoke, who thinks he's been validated this year when in truth he's been further exposed.

I think Beilein sees clearly what's happening. I just wonder if he's willing to devote enough practice time to fixing things. ``You are what you practice'', I think. If I had Tom Izzo's number, I'd ring up and say ``hey what drills do you use to install toughness on D? I'm just asking for a friend.''

[froot loops]

Boxing out is a learned skill, it must be practiced as much as shooting. It is just not a skill that comes naturally. I get a kick out of parents in the stands or coaches on the sidelines screaming that you need to box out. If the coach needs to tell them during the game, then he hasn't drilled it enough during practice.

My daughter had a coach last year who was a team manager for the MSU women's team and her husband was a team manager for Izzo in college. My daughter's team would spend 15 minutes a practice on box out drills. They ran sprints for every offensive rebound they gave up. Offensively they were pretty rudimentary but by the end of the year they were giving up hardly any offensive boards.

[hack]

Agreed. I forget if it's Pitino or Shaka Smart but somebody has a pretty ridiculus loose ball drill that sounds like hungry dogs on a piece of meat. Coaches can't just demand effort and hustle. You have to practice it. Michigan's offense and execution gets the bulk of practice time.

[whodean]

These things require ZERO talent:

��Will to win
��Passion
��Effort
��Energy
��Attitude
��Work ethic
��Being a great teammate
��Being coachable

[hack]

Hey where'd you get a copy of the scouting report on me?

[iam416]

Boxing out is a learned skill, it must be practiced as much as shooting. It is just not a skill that comes naturally. I get a kick out of parents in the stands or coaches on the sidelines screaming that you need to box out. If the coach needs to tell them during the game, then he hasn't drilled it enough during practice.

When I wasn't an old man and used to play lots of pickup, you could always tell who played a lot of organized HS ball. They boxed out, the moved off he ball and they typically set back screens. I wanted to play with those guys. I still shake my head/chuckle about all the times I set a back screen for a wing opposite the ball and they'd just stand there -- oblivious. The 10% of the time someone cut hard they were open for a great look -- but roughly 50% of the time the guy with the ball had no court awareness. But, still, that's the only way I could play -- even with 5% success rates!

[hack]

Yeah. Setting picks in pickup ball is just embarrassing and uncomfortable for everyone involved.

[iam416]

Heh. That said, there was a Sunday pickup game I used to play that my old firm ran. And that game was a fucking obstacle course of moving picks, elbows and knees. Everyone played for wide open jumper and no one had any inclination to try to create space. Dribbling was done only outside the arc as a means to allow further "movement."

Woof. Brutal.

[iam416]

Setting picks in pickup ball is just embarrassing and uncomfortable for everyone involved.

Yeah, I ended up mostly playing on teams with friends who had a clue. Otherwise, I'd suss out who I had and then resort to cutting without the ball -- which still produces good looks in pick up games -- and, accordingly, lots of missed opportunities while some dude who fancies himself Kobe Bryant mixes in 4 crossovers to a 25 second outside the arc dribbling routine that is going nowhere but an awful step-back 3.

[hack]

Last regular game I had, a few years ago, even guys I know played more organized basketball than me wouldn't bother. It was also a bunch of very polite guys, so while very physical there were no ball hogs. Save for that one guy who has no clue how bad he is. Still, it was quality basketball. No way my knees let me out there again until I'm back in shape though.

[iam416]

I'm in shape. My knees would feel it, but I run a lot. The thing that I can't stand is knowing how much "less quick" I am and knowing how poorly I jump now. Somewhere around 35 it all went to shit. My defense went from feet to hand-checking/chest-bumping in a white hot minute and I couldn't jump at all.

I still love shooting and playing with my kids and I'm sure I could do just fine in a 40 and over game, but fuck...it's still hard....

[hack]

LOL -- I remember that period of ``why do my layups hit the bottom of the rim all of the sudden?''

[froot loops]

Another telltale sign of someone who has played organized ball is someone who can properly seal a defender in the post. If you master that skill you can score in the post without having one go to move.