Tennessee-Michigan: These Guys Look Somehow Familiar
by Joel Hollingsworth on Mar 15, 2011 8:00 AM EDT
in Tennessee Volunteer Basketball
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PrintOne of the most frustrating things about this frustrating season is the constant longing for what was. We miss Weezy and Pajamas and Lofton and JaJuan and the Glue Guy. We miss the old style, the controlled chaos, the ability to spark huge runs with hot three-point shooting, and the ability to run and press and force the opponent to either turn it over or call time out because they can't even get the ball in bounds.
And now, the more I read about the Michigan Wolverines, the more I think we're not only battling nostalgia, we're actually going to play our younger selves. Wolverine coach John Beilien is described over and over again by the local press as an innovator. He's known particularly for a 1-3-1 zone that once caused Bruce Pearl to invite himself over to Beilien's so he could learn it. (Beilien apparently doesn't share anything that's not publicly available, so Pearl was stiffed.)
It's not limited to the defense, either. GVX calls Beilien the Gus Malzahn of Big 10 Basketball (duplicate link) and reports that the scout team at Monday's practice ran Beilien's offense and had -- cue the collective groan -- "eye-popping success against the starters." Apparently, Jordan McRae and Renaldo Woolridge "buried numerous open 3-pointers." Hey, let's put them in the real games, huh?
Anyway, not only does Michigan have an offense designed to get open three-point shots and the guys who can hit them, they have an undersized power forward and a center who can shoot threes. Seriously, it sounds like Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith, Dane Bradshaw, and Wayne Chism are back, and they play for the Wolverines. No wonder they've won 7 of their last 11.
Meanwhile, this year's version of the Vols have lost 7 of their last 11, and they're traveling across Hell's Chest from one Armpit to another in Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, the site of a 49-48 loss to Charlotte last December and a 79-60 loss to Louisville in the 2008 Sweet 16. Not exactly the stuff momentum's made of.
This Tennessee team isn't anything like Bruce Pearl's first team at Tennessee, nor is it much like the Elite Eight team from last year. But we always come back to this: This is the same team that beat Pitt in Pittsburgh. It doesn't have to be anything else. When these guys play their best basketball, they can beat anybody. Even a Pearl team disguised in Maize and Blue.
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that Louisville game I just knew was going to be bad. After watching Tenn struggle against American and then Butler… it was impending. To make it worse, UT fans got stiffed with their tickets and thrown into the way upper deck. For some reason a team in blue dominated the lower level seats – which could happen again.
Anyway…
I think we’ll see a lot more Steven Pearl in this game because he’s a better matchup defensively. I actually welcome that move. I think our personnel are well suited against Michigan.
sigh
I guess we will have to give up on seeing Jordan McRae play again this year. Anyone who can hit 3’s should be playing.
Watching the past 3 games, it became evident that UT is running a ‘false motion’ during the first half of each shot clock. At no point during that time is any player looking to score. The other teams have noticed this and defend accordingly. This type of offense doesn’t tire out the opposing D since they know there is no possibility of a UT player making a scoring move. At the 15-18 second mark, UT starts to run a play.
This is the first time I have really questioned Pearl’s coaching. Is it unfair to say that Pearl was exactly what UT needed 6 years ago, and now perhaps UT needs a different type of coach, someone who knows how to better recruit and coach players up?
I really like Bruce, but have been scratching my head at several points this year, not including the Potato Salad Incident.
Personally, I don't buy the player development argument.
I’ve seen it a couple places and I think you can point to more players that improved, some significantly, during their time under Bruce then didn’t. Chris Lofton went from a catch and shoot specialist to a complete basketball player. Wayne Chism went from an immature streaky forward to an unquestioned team leader and All SEC player. We joke aobut how often we hear about how much weight Brian Williams has lost but think about how much better he’s gotten during his career. Jajuan Smith got better, JP Prince got better, Bobby Maze got better, Scotty Hopson has gotten better, the list goes on.
Sure theres been some misfires and guys that took longer than we would have liked, but you can find those kinds of issues with every coach. I don’t think you can chalk ‘player development’ as a Bruce Pearl weakness.
Bring it across, shape it down
by Getoffmyvols on Mar 15, 2011 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeaaaaaaah...
What he did would be more closely approximated by a new coach at South Carolina turning them into a 2 seed next year after losing the only person they had resembling an All-Conference player… see Scooter McFadgon.
JaJaun was a walkon who literally contributed nothing, Dane was a liability who only got minutes out of necessity, and Chris was a frustrating kid because all he wanted to do was pass when we knew he could hit the three. Heck, even CJ Watson improved significantly… and he was really the only returning player that could be considered “good”.
The last few years haven’t been quite as extreme, but he’s right about Wayne, Brian, JP, Scotty, and even Tyler Smith.
I’m still convinced that we’re seeing trouble from the emergency signing of JUCO players at PG ever since Ramar decided whatever the hell he decided(hint: it was dumb) and we managed to get multiple late decommitments trying to sign actual HS PGs. Blame him for that if you want, but if we’ve advanced to the point where we can actually justify our firing of a coach whose off year results in a 9 seed in the NCAAT as a good strategic move… then apparently you’re seeing something I’m not. I understand the arguments that people present when they relate to the NCAA probe, but I just can’t follow an argument that revolves around this being a “good thing” in any sort of way that relates to coaching abilities.
whether or not it's a good thing
as relates to coaching ability depends entirely on who the next coach is. Bruce Pearl isn’t the best coach in basketball, so it is possible (though quite unlikely) that a change yields a better coach. It’s possible that it yields a worse coach. You can definitely say that it’s hella risky, but you can’t say whether it’s good or not until you see the new guy.
Adding the NCAA stuff changes the equation, obviously, as it makes hanging onto him as risky as changing coaches (I actually lean towards more risky).
Bruce Pearl certainly has weaknesses, but I think we can all agree that nobody would be talking about him being on the hot seat were it not for NCAA issues.
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 15, 2011 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Let's give the Georgia Dome the respect it deserves
if it’s Hell’s Armpit, the Bobcats’ Arena is like Hell’s freckle. For now. No reason to give it additional (dis)honor by losing there on Friday.
Question
Maybe this is not the best forum for this, but I_S and I have been discussing a question that seems to me to be obvious but that virtually all D1 coaches either don’t understand or have a reason that escapes me to not do it. When there are 50-70 seconds left in a half/game and we have the ball, we run clock as much as possible. Even if we are protecting a small lead, it seems to me that a good shot, taken expeditiously, is an advantage for the offense. Regardless of the situation, a shot taken within 10 or 15 seconds (not rushed) gives the offense 2 possetions to 1 for the defense. Why is that not more advantageous than 1 to 1 in almost any situation?
by springtime-of-my-senility on Mar 15, 2011 1:27 PM EDT reply actions
my guess
Ultimately more possessions simply increases the total number of points scored… which just increases the probability that you either get beat or beat them by more. And increasing the margin of victory by any amount(+1, +2, +3, +…) is not a fair trade when the opposite(but equally likely outcome) is losing(-2, -3, -…) or being forced into overtime(-1).
It’s a really overly simple outline of the thinking there, and if you were going to be the perfect coach then you’d definitely have to take more things into account.
the thing is
You only increase the number of possessions for one team. So it shouldn’t increase the points scored for the opponent at all. End game situations are a little different, because if you’re ahead, they’ll start fouling. But end of half, with 60 seconds left, if you can get a shot in the first 15 on the clock, you know you’re getting the last shot.
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 15, 2011 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions
The frustrating thing is it's possible with this offense, too.
Essentially the first 15 seconds or so of most possessions is burned from false motion. Get rid of that and 2-for-1 is possible.
Formerly 'snail. You get used to it after a while.
by Chris Pendley on Mar 15, 2011 7:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe not an apt comparison
Our center has not made any threes this year. We like to get out in transition if the opportuinty presents itslef, but Michigan’s really patient and you’re more likely to see a shot in the last ten seconds of the shot clock than the first ten. We’ve also used the 1-3-1 situationally and it’s been deployed once a game on average (Beilein cites inexperience as a reason for this, and it does get broken easily).
Maize-Colored Glasses: A Quick Reaction to Michigan's NCAA Tournament Draw
This really isn't a traditional Beilein team I guess
Our five (Jordan Morgan) often goes to the high post, but most of his opportunities come from opportunistic passes from Darius Morris and Tim Hardaway. He can’t really create for himself, but Morgan’s solid and he takes gopod passes and throws them down with authority. Novak’s small obviously, but he’s gritty and Michigan will double-team Harris (and we’ve really improved at double-teaming over the course of the season). He’s a shooter and a sneaky rebounder. Those really aren’t the traditional fours and fives that people think of when they think “John Beilein” but they’ve been effective. Michigan also runs a ton of pick and rolls with Morris, Hardaway, and Morgan, and hasn’t run a ton of backdoor cuts (although the cuts were effective against Illinois, who isn’t very disciplined. Maybe they could work vs. UT?)
Maize-Colored Glasses: Maize-Colored NCAA Tournament Picks
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