It's a Basketball School: 2019-2020 Michigan Basketball

[Zososoxfan]

Well now! Michigan BBall took down the Battle for Atlantis, taking down ISU, UNC, and Gonzaga in the process. New coach Juwan Howard is pushing the right buttons and this team's rotation of 8 players looks damn good. Jon Teske is one of the best big men in the country, X Simpson continues to play at a high level (improving his outside shot and ability to go left in the offseason), Isaiah Livers has taken The Leap, Eli Brooks is good (cannot say enough of how much of a surprise this is), and Franz Wagner is back from injury. Coming off the bench, DDJ is a viable backup at the 1 and 2, Castleton is a great backup for Teske, and Brandon Johns is the 8th man to round out the rotation.

Juwan has this team enjoying themselves, shooting well, and bringing some NBA philosophy to play style. In particular, Juwan is much more sensitive to matchups than Beilein and has the team working inside-out on offense. The Defense is also leading the country in forcing the dreaded midrange jumpers.

Louisville looms tomorrow night for a huge matchup.

 

[Average Reds]

Thanks for starting this, and I laughed at the thread title.

I'll admit that I wasn't expecting much after losing Matthews, Iggy and Poole from last year's team, but they seem not to have missed a beat and appear to enjoy playing for Howard. Howard himself has been saying all the right things (praising his predecessor for his emphasis on recruiting "high character" players was pretty smart) and has kept on some of the key staffers who turned the Wolverines into a defensive powerhouse last season.

I don't want to call the Louisville game a "test of how good they are" after dominating top 10 teams back-to-back, but it appears that this will be a fun team to watch all season. And if they can deepen the bench through development as the year goes on, they might make some noise in the tournament.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Bump for the Louisville game tonight. Vegas hates UM's chances, but I'm not doubting these guys any time soon. Should be fun and another good measuring stick.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Didn't get to see the game last night, but from reports it sounds like the schedule really hurt UM against a tough Louisville team. Friday's B1G opener against solid Iowa will show whether the cold shooting was a regression to the mean or more of a result of heavy legs.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Not 2019-2020, but Michigan just announced a 3-game series with Kentucky starting next year.

20: at London's O2 Arena
21: at Ann Arbor
22: at Lexington

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Didn't get to see the game last night, but from reports it sounds like the schedule really hurt UM against a tough Louisville team. Friday's B1G opener against solid Iowa will show whether the cold shooting was a regression to the mean or more of a result of heavy legs.

I love what Michigan is doing here not only with the Juwan signing but in him bringing on former St Joe's head coach and legend Phil Martelli to be his right-hand man. That's some serious leadership right there which should, and is, having an immediate impact. As for the Louisville game you are correct......they basically had no chance traveling to Louisville after just playing 3 games and winning that tournament. It will show on their schedule as a Loss but doesn't impact how I feel about this team.

Also, Vegas has dropped them from as high as 80-1 to win the Title to as low as 10-1 now in some places.

 

[RedOctober3829]

I love what Michigan is doing here not only with the Juwan signing but in him bringing on former St Joe's head coach and legend Phil Martelli to be his right-hand man. That's some serious leadership right there which should, and is, having an immediate impact. As for the Louisville game you are correct......they basically had no chance traveling to Louisville after just playing 3 games and winning that tournament. It will show on their schedule as a Loss but doesn't impact how I feel about this team.

Also, Vegas has dropped them from as high as 80-1 to win the Title to as low as 10-1 now in some places.

I feel the same way. Michigan is going to be fine. Should be a very nice Big Ten race with Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Maryland all very good. Indiana and Penn State look to be much better too.

 

[Zososoxfan]

So uh, this team is officially bubble watching at this point IMO. There were a variety of problems last night, but to me it comes down to 3PT%. The team was like 4/25 last night. Even 30% and this likely ends up as a W. X, Brooks, Teske, and Wagner all had bad games but it comes down to missing lots and lots of open 3s. We need Livers back bad, but at the same time you never rush back groin injuries.

Looking at the bigger picture, I think it's crucial this team make the tourney this year to keep the excitement around Juwan.