He’s got size a quickness. This game is gonna be a battle. Michigan improved.
Reed from Michigan gonna be a handful
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Key for the Michigan game will be whether Cliff can stay out of foul trouble and neutralize / get the better of Dickinson and Reed
If I’m Michigan, I feed the ball to Dickinson and try to get Cliff into foul trouble.
If I’m Michigan, I feed the ball to Dickinson and try to get Cliff into foul trouble.
Reed is a lousy FT shooter on the season, can't be afraid for non-Cliff guys to hack him to the line rather than let him get easy buckets.
Stunned Michigan not better.
Weirdest team in the league.
Play well we beat them. Would love to finally get a lead and have them have no hope.
Weirdest team in the league.
Play well we beat them. Would love to finally get a lead and have them have no hope.
Howard could be out a bit. He was in a boot on the bench in the 2nd half. Not clear, but if it’s a high ankle sprain he could very well miss the game at the RAC.
They played Dickinson and Reed at the same time. If Cliff has Dickinson, who do we play on Reed? Probably too big for Audre. This is where it would have been great for Wolf to have continued to progress this year. Could have been a great freshman matchup. Hopefully Caleb is back so we matchup better against their other starters.
I am concerned about the quickness of their guards.
Will Paul back one down and actually shoot?
Will Cam get any open looks?
Can we keep them from penetration?
Will Paul back one down and actually shoot?
Will Cam get any open looks?
Can we keep them from penetration?
I though it was because our perimeter D keeps letting people penetrate for the kick out.
This. Reed is 37.5% on FTs, and there’s a decent sample size (18-48). If he plays together with Dickinson, we need to put Wolf on him and just hack him if he gets the ball.
I’m more concerned with Dickinson though. He is MONEY with the baby hook inside of 10 feet. Cliff cannot let him get position. This is a game where Cliff MUST front the opposing center and make Dickinson make a tough play on the over the top entry pass. I wouldn’t mind a 1-3-1 zone for portions of this game, with a guard running the baseline and doubling the post.
Nice to see something about the next game instead of another "I was right" or "You were wrong" thread. This is going to be a very tough game for sure, we will have to shoot better and defend the 3 a lot better. We are giving our opponents way too many open looks from beyond the arc and I'm sure that's a focal point in practice leading up to this game.
Like I said in another thread, Dickinson is going to get his, we need to limit the rest of the team.
I have been calling for Cliff to front or deny the ball to the opposing center all year. Pike has chosen not to do it and Cliff in one on one defense has gotten beat. I wonder if he doesn’t want Cliff vacating the middle as a rim protector which he has not done consistently . Pike has decided and definitely when Mag was healthy , has decided to double the post , with TJD , I think with Edey and last game with Crowl. I am pretty sure he will do it with Hunter Dickinson as well. But this time we have to worry when Reed is in the game for the dump down as well as worry about getting out to the 3 point line and the rotations to cover Howard and Butkin . More challenging.
Wisconsin recently beat Michigan and Wisky does not have quick guards . . . .
If Jett Howard is out and Caleb is back for RU, I could see Caleb covering Reed for some sets. Despite giving up 3“ to Reed, Caleb has the length and quickness to bother Reed. Mag would have definitely been given that assignment if he were still playing.
Here's teh game in a nutshell.. Michigan abuses Cliff with multiple players hammering him on offense and defense. Very few calls, if any.. and likely against Cliff more than Michigan. My advice is to aim for threes by high passes into Cliff where he immediately.. without bringing the ball down.. pass out to the arc where the double is coming from.
And also on offense.. stop WATCHING your teammate with the ball trying to score... go in for a board.. run to an open spot in case that player needs to pass. So much WATCHING going on.
Meanwhile.. on defense.. Cliff has to stay home and allow Michigan bigs to try their hand at threes... which they will take and sometimes hit. Don't double-down on Michigan bigs unless they bump Cliff first showing a desire to take it to Cliff because they pass well and if our double-down is immediate.. they will get that.
And, for Pete's sake.. don't get caught in-between helping D and covering your man and the passing lanes... don't abandon one job and get caught without actually helping in another job. That happened repeatedly in our poor games.. including Wisconsin which we won. Paul was doing this.. Miller too... and I am sure others as well.
The problem here is that the doubles have been coming more often from the weakside along the baseline, so the "open" man isn't in Cliff's line of sight. He just needs to make quicker decisions, so as to neutralize the double.
And if Cliff knows where they will come from.. that gives him two places to look for the pass on that same side. Say he takes an entry on the left side.. he then moves toward the middle turning as if to make a little turn-around jump-shot.. he is quicker off his feet than most.. and has the ability to see where the help is coming from.. and our guy closest tot he help man should be open.. or if there is rotation.. the next guy along the arc.. and if everyone rotates Cliff can actually shoot the ball or pass to his right. This leads me to another pet peeve for our excellent big man.. too many one-handed plays.. rebounds, shots in traffic.. go up with two hands.. a contested dunk has more of a chance to go in or get a foul called if he uses two hands.