Strategy for Michigan Game

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Moses87

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The Wolverines are the smallest and greenest team in the conference, starting 2 Freshman Forwards at 6-8(Morgan) and 6-9(Smotrycz). Neither are shotblocker types...Both are finesse type players.

The Gophers need to really work hard on entry passes to Ralph, Trevor AND Rodney Williams. I think the Wolves will be forced to guard Williams with Novak or Douglass. I would love to see Rodney try to get position on the blocks and post up whoever guards him. If Williams isn't gonna shoot the open threes he's given when opponents sag inside, then Tubby should get him on the blocks...he can post up and make a little spin and jump layup over most players with ease.

One of the problems with feeding Ralph and Trevor alone is that neither are great back to basket type players. Ralph occasionally hits the jump hook shot, but he's not automatic on it. I think Rodney should attack the basket and post up...it will be a tough match up for Michigan.

The Gophers MUST exploit our size and front court superiority to win these kind of road games. But I don't think relying on Sampson and Mbakwe is enough. Williams MUST join the party!

Attack the basket in the 1st half and Hoffarber will find himself getting open looks in the 2nd half.
 

This is what they need to do on defense:

1) Never Double-team anyone named Jordan Morgan in the post - even if Blake H. is guarding him.

2) Never Double-team anyone named Jon Horford in the post - even if Blake H. is guarding him.

3) The person guarding a player by the name of Zach Novak may NEVER leave him to help out on a double-team.

4) The ONLY person Michigan has that can drive to the basket and consistently finish is Darius Morris. If anyone else besides him decides to drive, let them and never come over with a double-team.

5) Stu Douglass, Zach Novak, Tim Hardaway Jr., Evan Smotrycz, and Matt Vogrich are all capable of hitting a three, but are incapable of driving to the basket and scoring at the rim consistently. You must treat these guys like other teams treat Blake Hoffarber. You cannot let them shoot. Get right in their grill and make them drive around you.
 

Mbakwe is more of a face up guy in the post, but he can at least be a factor down there regardless. This seems like a game for Ralph to rediscover that high hook he had been doing during OOC play against smaller players.

I do like getting Williams on the block though. Against IU he had some big buckets just pounding out a smaller guy in the paint. I think we should go to that more often if he's being checked by a smaller guy cause if there's one way Rodney knows how to score, it is close to the basket utilizing his athleticism to get his shot off over guys.
 

The Gophers despertly need scoring help from Williams now that Joseph is gone. We can't count on Nolen making clutch threes as he did the past 2 games. History dictates he won't hit more than 30%.

Its time for Rodney Williams to wake up and join the party!
 

If Michigan is small and not physical I would say Iverson could probably go to work down low against them. He is very physical and plays primarily with his back to the basket. I like the Rodney idea but why not use a 7ft Iverson off the bench or to steal some minutes and pound guys down low.

If you're going to talk about beating a team inside you should talk about Iverson
 


I fully agree with Iverson getting more minutes. I feel he's actually got better low-post moves than Sampson or Mbakwe. Trevor's quicker and more athletic though and can score better because of it, but Colton has really improved his footwork in the past 2 years. Ralph moves like his shoes are tied together.
 

khoffman43 said:
If Michigan is small and not physical I would say Iverson could probably go to work down low against them. He is very physical and plays primarily with his back to the basket. I like the Rodney idea but why not use a 7ft Iverson off the bench or to steal some minutes and pound guys down low.

If you're going to talk about beating a team inside you should talk about Iverson
Click to expand...

If Iverson didn't foul everyone...travel, turn over the ball and miss half his layups...I would agree with you.
 

Moses87 said:
One of the problems with feeding Ralph and Trevor alone is that neither are great back to basket type players.
Click to expand...

Another problem is Ralph is not very good at holding his position when posting up. He really seems to lack key lower body strength (which is also evident when he fails to go up strong when trying to score down low).
 

nooram said:
Another problem is Ralph is not very good at holding his position when posting up. He really seems to lack key lower body strength (which is also evident when he fails to go up strong when trying to score down low).
Click to expand...

It almost seems like Ralph has become softer this year. I seem to remember him getting more dunks last year. Maybe its because Mbakwe's arrival has pushed him out to the FT area for the high-low post looks. I suppose Trevor's arrival has caused Ralph's inside play to stagnate...Not a good thing!

I would like to see Ralph attempt to rise up and dunk no somebody....just once! Even if he charges!
 



GopherinPhilly said:
If Iverson didn't foul everyone...travel, turn over the ball and miss half his layups...I would agree with you.
Click to expand...

I didn't say he was the second coming of JC...but he is our 3rd best big man (probably second best with his back to the basket while on the blocks) and if a thread is dedicated to talking about pounding it inside you have to mention Iverson as one of the main keys to that game plan. Its not like Trevor has stayed out of foul trouble this year. He gets two quick ones and you'll be seeing a lot of Iverson.

Ralph is too scared of contact to foul someone.
 

I think the key to beating scUM is not our offense, but our defense. They will shoot a ton of threes and in the past they have killed us with the threes especially in aa. If they (novak and douglass) hit some early it will be even more a fight.
 

Moses87 said:
The Wolverines are the smallest and greenest team in the conference, starting 2 Freshman Forwards at 6-8(Morgan) and 6-9(Smotrycz). Neither are shotblocker types...Both are finesse type players.

The Gophers need to really work hard on entry passes to Ralph, Trevor AND Rodney Williams. I think the Wolves will be forced to guard Williams with Novak or Douglass. I would love to see Rodney try to get position on the blocks and post up whoever guards him. If Williams isn't gonna shoot the open threes he's given when opponents sag inside, then Tubby should get him on the blocks...he can post up and make a little spin and jump layup over most players with ease.

One of the problems with feeding Ralph and Trevor alone is that neither are great back to basket type players. Ralph occasionally hits the jump hook shot, but he's not automatic on it. I think Rodney should attack the basket and post up...it will be a tough match up for Michigan.

The Gophers MUST exploit our size and front court superiority to win these kind of road games. But I don't think relying on Sampson and Mbakwe is enough. Williams MUST join the party!

Attack the basket in the 1st half and Hoffarber will find himself getting open looks in the 2nd half.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. Rodney could do some serious damage in the post. Ralph hasn't shown that he can take advantage of these mismatches.

I also think we need to DESTROY them on the boards. Offensive rebounds will be a key in this game and when Trevor and Colton get fouled on their putback attempts (they will), they need to hit their free throws.
 

"Our offense is like the pythagorean theorem: There is no answer!" -- Shaquille O'Neal, basketball player for the L.A. Lakers
 



I agree with a lot of what I'm seeing here. If we can dominate the paint, and there's absolutely no reason we shouldn't given our size and power, we should be fine. This means crisp entry passes, scoring in the paint, inside/outside offense and shot creation, and cleaning up on the glass. Trevor, RSIII and Colt better come ready to play.
 


Gotta figure out how to attack the 1-3-1 for once too. Saw Michigan using it towards the end of the Kansas game and for whatever reason we've really struggled with it over the past couple of years.
 

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