Opening Statement

We're excited to get back to practice. We've learned a lot about our team the last couple exhibition games, and so we're excited if we can make some changes and get going as it's going to come at us fast as we get into season.

On whether he can coach the physical portion of the game

No question. We put a major emphasis yesterday on finishing through contact, having more determination slash explosion around the basket, and I feel like after a good solid practice yesterday we made significant improvements. A lot of times it's what we emphasize as coaches that we improve at the most, and as a staff we haven't emphasized that nearly enough. But once again, thank goodness we played a team that could expose that area, so it pointed us in the right direction.

On whether Jace Howard and Justin Pippen have been able to practice

Yeah, they've been in and out. It's day by day. It's how they're feeling. I think if we had a, and I think we're playing the conference tournament tomorrow, I think they'd both be eligible. I mean, they'd both be ready to play, but we're also not going to bring them back too quickly now. You know, their long-term health is extremely important to us and to them, so I think we'll see both of them. I anticipate both of them being cleared for Cleveland State. If not, then very soon thereafter.

On his philosophy of selecting captains

The captain spot, they select. I don't do that. We have at times in the past, but I'm pretty hands-off. There's these certain things that are extremely important to me and everything else. The players make a lot of internal and external decisions in our program, so that's been more player-led than coach-led.

On how pleased he is with the depth

Well, when you're a coach and you're looking at the stat sheet and you're thinking, man, we need to find a way to get him some more minutes. We need to find him a few more. That's a good sign that you have a chance to be a really good team.

On who he's thinking about finding more minutes for

Oh, almost everyone, really. I mean, I think if Phat Brooks comes in and plays three and a half minutes and changes the game, I would have loved to have gotten him some more minutes. Also, Nimari was playing well, and Will was playing well at the bench, and then every time Sam Walters checks in the game, it seems like we go on a spurt. He brings so much attention to him, and we still need to get Vlad and Danny more minutes together so they find their rhythm and cohesion. It's a lot different than sitting here saying, oh man, we're playing him too many minutes. He's getting way too many minutes. We've got to find a way to cut his minutes. That hasn't been the thought process, so that's a good sign.

On whether there's a target number of three-pointers to shoot

As many in-rhythm threes as we could get. We've actually been pretty efficient shooting it, not as well as we can, but yeah, we like where, I mean, 22 attempts out of 68 is probably low for us, but I thought Toledo did a nice job of, you know, when we pause the film on our pick and rolls and we pause the film on our drives, they did a nice job of staying at home on shooters, and we're going to see that. That's something that each game is a little bit different. You have to be able to adapt on the fly, but we have a good idea going into the games, but yeah, we'd love to shoot as many good in-rhythm threes as we can and then chase down the ones we miss.

On the importance of relationship building in his scheme and how often he implements it

Every single day. There's nothing more important. Relationships are tricky because everyone needs, some guys need a little bit more time, some need a little more attention, some need less, and so you try to choose how to best use your time. Now, we don't believe that coming in and slapping guys on the back is how you develop real relationships. It's being honest, it's telling them exactly how you feel, it's giving them direct feedback, minute-by-minute feedback, hour-by-hour feedback, and just letting them know that, you know, you're there for them either way. They're 0 for 10 or they're 10 for 10. Our temperature doesn't change.

On example of him giving more time to a specific player

Yeah, this morning I met with three players just in passing. Just saw them and said, hey, you know, let me know before you leave, love to just check in, see how you're doing, see how you feel after yesterday's practice. So yeah, there's, you know, every single day trying to text, call, hit a few guys, and like I said, some need more time than others. I mean, some guys crave the relationship they had with their coaches, and some would rather just have more of a business relationship, and we're fine either way. We're going to be there for them whatever they need.

On whether there's anything he saw from the exhibitions that he will be tweaking

Not wholesale changes. We've spent a lot of time to develop the habits and routines that we have. There have been some things come up that Toledo had a tempo press that we'd worked on different ways to attack that particular type of press when they're trying to slow us down. I thought maybe four possessions, I thought were extremely effective in three of the four. We didn't have the personnel in the right places in the other one, but the way we play, that's going to happen as well. So a couple guys needed to learn different spots or learn different roles in that, but for the most part, not really. I mean, what we thought came to fruition. We spent a lot of time watching our own team and studying our own team and following trends in basketball. So yes, we have flaws. We have a lot of time to fix those if we're intentional.

On whether he will have butterflies walking out of the tunnel for the first time

I would say butterflies, more of just trying to figure out where are the fouls, where am I looking for the score, the time and score. When I'm talking to staff about a substitution pattern, the benches are different, everything's different. So it's just getting more acclimated to the other things so you can focus your attention and your eyes on where they need to be. But yeah, there's a little bit of newness nerves. I think probably before the Oakland game, there was more just because I'd never seen our team perform as a group with uniforms on. So after seeing how capable we can be, it definitely allowed me just to focus on what was important, and it definitely wasn't me and my emotions.

On whether he gives himself an opportunity to soak it all in

No, to be honest, usually when I walk onto the court for the first time, I'll notice the lights and the smells and the sounds and whatnot. But once the game's tipped, I mean, to be honest, I had no idea where my family sat during the game or where the recruits seats were. That's, you know, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. One of, I think probably something that got better than I used to be at is if it's going on in between the lines, that's all my focus. People behind us, the fans yelling, I don't know why. I just don't really notice any of that. I've probably heard one heckler in however many years I've been coaching as a head coach, and for whatever reason, I just don't notice any of that.

On whether he's willing to give up the mid-range shot defensively

Yeah, we want to contest better. We didn't contest well enough, and that was another point of emphasis yesterday in practice, and I thought we did a nice job of just a late contest is much better than no contest. And even when you think you're behind, we need more multiple efforts, especially from our athletic guys that are capable of making those multiple-effort plays. But yeah, they punished us. They got to their spots. They made some really, really good individual one-on-one plays, and I think early in the game, they banked in a three. They had a couple of really fortuitous bounces, and then we got up big, and then we kind of made some errors. I think we were 16 when we had a three-on-one break, and we turned it over, and then they turned that into a transition basket. So we got a little bit loose when we went up, and obviously at the time, that's alarming. But when you look back, man, that last four minutes was as good of a late-game practice pressure situation as we could be in.

On multiple players being able to be a number one option who might not be used to it

I think we have a lot of guys that are capable of getting us a big basket. Obviously, Roddy made a couple really nice drives and made a big three off of the other four guys playing good team offense. That's the one that really stood out at the biggest moment, but I think a lot of faith in Roddy closing. I think Danny Wolf. I think Vlad Goldin. I think a lot of those guys are capable of winning their one-on-one matchup on a regular basis.

On giving Vlad Goldin touches in late-game situations

Once we, they double teamed the post, so we threw it a couple times so we could draw the double team, kick it out, and play through that. And then they stopped double teaming, so we started looking for him a little bit more. And as a coach, we've spent a lot of time preparing for the play after the play all summer, all fall. Because when you play really good teams, the plays don't work to perfection the way you want them to. They're going to take something away, and you have to build a counter, and you have to build a play, and you have to be able to read the cues. And so we've spent all, and so now we don't even have really our high-low attack in when Vlad's fronted. So Vlad was fronted a couple times, and we haven't spent time working on that the way we need to to get good at it. So it's just, once again, it's give and take, and we will be better at execution when the game stops. The later in the practice, we've just, we've decided that that's the least important to spend the majority of our time on.

On how the substitution pattern works

We, it's the scout coach who's prepared for that game is very involved. Coach Boynton is doing it right now. I mean, we have a, we have a set who's going in. Now the next time may be different if Vlad gets tired because the tempo is going up and down. We try to use the media time out with Vlad. We expect a lot out of the big fella. I mean, he's got to anchor our defense. He's got to sprint up and down the floor on both ends. So we try to use the media, so we sub him out before the other starters typically, just so we can use the media. You know, we know who our first guard's going to be. We know who our first forward's going to be. Then as the game settles in, then it's, you know, we're talking through it based on foul trouble, based on production, based on matchups. And so it's, obviously if we get outside of our set patterns, then yeah, then the, hey, I want to see, I want to see Sam play with Vlad. But for the most part, it's the staff doing a lot of substitutions.

On watching the bigger teams he has on the schedule down the line

I watched Wake Forest play Alabama. So are we beginning the scouting process? No, but we stay pretty familiar with everyone we play. I mean, Indiana, Tennessee was on yesterday afternoon, so I watched three-quarters of that game. Probably tonight I'll watch the replay of Ole Miss and who did Ole Miss play, Illinois. So yeah, I mean, we're not scouting them, but we're getting ourselves familiar. And then it's also a good reference point of, they were playing these guys earlier and now they're playing them or whatever the case. But as far as putting a lot of time into it, no, it's all focus is going to be on Cleveland State, unless those teams do something that we're not going to see in practice.

On the importance of winning in year one

I'm going to double down on that. Winning is important, but it's also a byproduct. It's more of, hey, let's have a great workday today, mind and body and spirit, and let's have a great workday tomorrow. And then when the Big Ten tournament's here in March and we're playing our rivals in February, or whatever the case, then we'll be ready to play. But yeah, if we didn't have the talent and the experience in our locker room, then I wouldn't be near as confident saying it, but I think we have a good team. I love our guys, I believe in them, and yeah, I'll leave it at that.

On Rubin Jones

The new term in basketball, and we coaches, we still call sports, is invisible plays. They used to be winning plays, they used to be intangibles, they used to, whatever you want to call it. Ruben makes a lot of invisible plays that may not be assist, those deflections in the gap turn into a layup for Will Tschetter, or whatever. Taking the ball out quickly after a made basket, the response after a make, could be something where you don't get a stat for it. But when you watch the film, and usually the championship level teams I've been a part of, there's usually a couple guys immediately after the game, thinking, man, he just played okay, it's just okay. Then you go back and watch the film, and you say, wow, man, he made so many invisible plays. He made the quick swing instead of trying to beat his man every time. Or he crashed a glass and took on two guys, and therefore Flag got the tip in. Just those things that the casual fan or in the flow of the game, you may not notice every time, but when you watch the film, Ruben makes a lot of those plays.

On what he will be looking for to see the team trending in the right direction

Are we playing really good basketball on offense and defense? That's it, that's it. I mean, if you're playing really sound basketball, you're going to be in a position to win. And then because we have veterans who are talented, and we're going to be fearless, we're going to be unafraid of failure, that we feel like we'll win a good percentage of them. But at the end of the day, if we're in a bunch of one-possession games, the odds say you're going to be 500. So we've got to find a way to, when we're up 16, to keep that separation, because when you get down into the last four minutes in the situation we were in, we're going to lose some of those games in the Big Ten if we're still in those one-possession games, just by numbers. The game is fluky. You could run great offense and play perfect defense and still lose if you're in one-possession games. But it's also why we want 75 or 80 possessions. We want to limit that margin.

On what he hopes the team can be this season

That's a long way away. I mean, we're going to evolve a lot, but the same characteristics we said from day one, extremely intense, passionate, sharing the basketball, playing at great pace, enjoyable to watch. It's not as much stylistically as it is behaviors. I know when I watch sports and I see a team that's extremely spirited. I went to, for example, I went to the Pistons-Celtics game. It was a heart-wrenching loss for the Pistons the other night. But when you look at it, man, they played, I walk out of there thinking, man, they're going in the right direction. This team plays hard. The young guys are improving. They've gotten better. And the Celtics had a look in their eye and the Pistons just aren't there yet. But because of the way they played, because of the spirit, the togetherness of the team, that's how we want to look. Every single night people walk out of Crisler saying, man, that is a connected group that plays hard and they're competitive and they represent Michigan the right way.

On LJ Cason being better than expected

I'll just begin with something you don't see very often. LJ worked at Publix when he was in high school, during the summer, in the evenings, on Sundays. Now I text him or call him and he'd say, coach, I'm at work. And I said, well, you're not supposed to answer your phone at work. You can call me back later. But I think that shows a level of, I guess, commitment, discipline. He had a village pour into him. He played for an unbelievable, supportive AU program, high school program. And he's about all the right things. Did I expect him to go six for seven and four for four against a really good program at Toledo? No. And those are results. But we asked him to join us at Michigan for a reason because he's a special dude. As freshmen, you never know right away. So I don't want to say we saw this coming. But based on practice performance, I think if any of you have been to any of these press conferences or heard interviews, he's been sustaining this type of success throughout practice from the summer to the fall. And usually, the guys like him that have this level of confidence and they prepare themselves, they at least have some moderate success as a freshman.

On why he thinks he's better-equipped for the job now compared to his last stop

Oh, that's a great question. I mean, experience. I mean, we've been through some battles. Hopefully, in a year, I'm much better and well-equipped than I am today and on and on and on. I know with our mindset every year, I look back and think, man, golly, I can't believe I didn't know that or I can't believe I didn't see that. So I think just our continuous journey to improve, to self-evaluate, to critique ourselves. I mean, I told one of our guys this morning that in our program, as long as you're trying like crazy to get better, you're going to be in good graces with us. You could have an awful day, awful game, and as long as you're determined to fix it and improve, then we're going to be in good graces. So it's just kind of how we are. Like I said, we're not afraid of the results. We're not trying to play teams we know we're going to win every night to make ourselves look good and feel good. I mean, we want to find the best ways for us to improve and play in real-quality competition. It tells you a lot about yourself, but also it's how you improve. We learn from our opponents.

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