Opening Statement

I thought we did some nice things overall for a choppy Sunday afternoon game. I don't think either team would have been pleased with the flow of the game. But also we both contributed to it, we were changing defenses, we were going zone to man, we were both in limited foul trouble. And so just an odd game, but over the course of a 20-game Big Ten season, you have to be able to play a lot of different styles, a lot of different ways. And we definitely got something done today. It was nice to have Roddy Gale back in the lineup. I thought his second half intensity was a big difference in how we came out after halftime. We need to continue to stay strong, healthy, and figure out different ways to win, and figure out different ways to play.

On Nimari Burnett and his play

I made a joke a little bit ago to Brian, so I hate to be repetitive. I said that the Michigan fans needs to get really creative and get Wikipedia and go to the page that says Efficient and post his picture. There can't be another basketball player in the country that's playing as efficient basketball as Nimari Burnett. He's given himself to the team. He's done everything we've asked him to do. He's as consistent with his work as anyone in our program. He's almost robotic in his approach. He's a great example for young players, especially ones that their success didn't happen as quickly as they want. Sometimes it does, sometimes, and most of the time it doesn't, especially with older players flooding our game. And so he's a testament to, I think, all that's right in college basketball. He's found a situation where he really, really fits well with his teammates. He represents this place at the highest level as far as character and work ethic. And man, he's fun to coach. He's banging in shots. He's making good reads. He's scrappy on the glass, and he's defending at a high level as well. So very, very grateful he decided to stay and continue as a Michigan man.

On the high shooting percentage

Yeah, I think the first thing that comes to my mind is self-awareness and sacrifice, those two things. Because these teams come together, and not all players have great self-awareness where they're gonna put their own personal goals and ambition ahead of the team. I think our entire roster is sacrificing for the teammates. And so when you have a guy that shoots 75 or 80%, maybe I isolate over here, or maybe I throw him the ball. And it's also, there's a trust factor of knowing that he's gonna play the right way. He's gonna play it selfishly. And so it's just, you can see these guys really buying into each other. And the tough part of it is, if one guy breaks that chain, then it becomes contagious. So we just have to be very intentional every day and play in the right way. But when they look and they see Vlad, and they see Danny in the 4-5, and they see Trey gets it going in the pick and roll. Those guys have done a nice job of finding what's working and staying with it. And that's not only, that's much easier said than done.

On Vlad Goldin's performance

Yeah, we put zone in, we put our zones in in the summer. And we didn't have any intention, if things are going perfectly, we don't have intentions of playing a lot of zone. But you know that you've got to have contingencies at this level. And when you look at our team offensively, we're not near as effective with him out of the game. So I thought we did a nice job of being able to manage him playing and still being aggressive and not being in foul trouble. There are times I think he didn't go after a couple of rebounds because I'd asked him just be less, we need you, especially in the second half to play with aggression, so sometimes you gotta give up and lay up. Because you know just the value he brings in so many other areas. But once again, that's a new lesson for us. Danny was in foul trouble, Vlad was in foul trouble, we'll forget. Will was in foul trouble, yeah, all three of our fives were at two fouls each early. And so those guys did a nice job of playing with discipline and still not being a matador when it comes to playing defense.

On whether single-digit turnover numbers are realistic

No, it's very realistic, even 11 tonight. I thought three or four were just careless mistakes. And part of it is when you play a new system, and we do a lot. We probably, if I'd say we do too little, we do too much. We do too much because we've tried to look at a lot of different things. For example, we looked at the four or five ball screen early in the summer, very, very early. And it didn't click right away, and then we came back to it. So we look at a lot of different things. Turnovers, if I'm used to coming off a ball screen, or whatever the case, and I played three years with guys who are holding space and standing. And now I remember I'm supposed to cut because my man did this. So there's a lot that goes into the way we play as far as just those guys reading each other, and it ultimately comes down to reading the defense. So no, we care about the careless ones and the poor decisions. With the way we play, I mean, we wanna get 80 possessions. So it's probably not realistic to be under in single digits if we're gonna play speed, that many possessions. And we do wanna take some chances, cuz Vlad, rim running, I mean, that's a centimeter from being a turnover versus a dunk. We just wanna make sure that all of our turnovers lead to dunks or wide open shots. If they do, then we can live with them.

On Sam Walters' performance

Yeah, Sam, he's a unique talent as well. He's six foot ten, he's lefty, he can really, really shoot. He has a shot in the air as well as he's capable of. It was nice to see him bang in a couple. There's gonna be bigger nights even for Sam. Now, rebounding, his rebounding has improved greatly. His one-on-one defense continues to improve every day. We've still gotta get a better team on the team defensive concepts. But he's grown, he's not happy with the way he's performed this year. He's got a big upside, and we expect Sam to continue to improve. And you just gotta keep it simple, just to clear his mind and go out and do the things that he's trained to do. He's gonna help this team a lot.

On the team playing with consistency

There's gonna be nights when the ball just doesn't go in, and we're not making threes. But we have a very versatile group that I think we're number one in the country in two-point percentage. And even one coach may say, well, why are you shooting threes? And the shooting and the spacing allows you to get those dunks and layups. And then the dunks and layups allow you to get in-out threes, step-in threes. And when you look at our step-in threes, we're one of the better three-point shooting teams in the country. And so there lies the decision making. Do I still shoot this shot, even though I'm open, I'm going to the side? And on some teams, it might be a good shot. But on this one, because we have Vlad, or Danny, or Trey, or whatever the case, it may not be as good of a shot as we can generate. So the guys are also, they're starting to turn down some pretty good shots to continue to fight to get a great one, and that's a process. It doesn't happen overnight. Skilled players, they're used to playing a certain way, and we're asking them to shoot these specific shots more frequently. And fortunately for us, they bought in because they have great character.

On whether he feels the offense is at optimum level

No, not even close, not even close, absolutely not. We're improving our ball fakes, our eye fakes, our spacing, when to cut, when not to cut, it's getting better. We're not functioning on an elite level offensively yet, and we're not crashing with aggression. We need to be at a championship level. We have a long ways to go.

On bringing in Oscar Goodman

You know, the NBA Academy guys, they're in a very, very structured elite training environment. But obviously, I mentioned it earlier, there's floodgates of 22-to-25-year-olds entering college basketball, and it seems like there might be more, if you listen to the rumors. And so we just floated that, he was already done with the school work, that it would help him be more ready to play next year. And whatever that means, we don't know, the roster, who knows what the roster's gonna look like, but he would be more ready to play if he had a semester of practicing against Vlad and these guys. The speed, the size, the athleticism, and also learning our system. So he's more used to playing with guys, he's more used to playing with Roddy Gale or Trey Dallas or whatever case. So we just ought to benefit him, it benefits us. He's a worker, he's a tough, tough kid. He brings some similar qualities, and I don't wanna get ahead of myself, cuz we haven't evaluated him enough with us. But he brings some very similar qualities as Will Cheddar, as far as his consistency and his work ethic. We'll go with Megan, Anthony, and Clayton.

On Nimari Burnett's three-point shooting

And to be honest, and the seasons, there's steps and flows of a season. But I can't imagine any wing in the country that's bringing more to his team than Namari. I could talk about it for days, like I said earlier. I mean, I think when a coaching staff mentions repeatedly how much they appreciate a player, and it's not just the 15. I mean, it might be 15, have 18 to three up. One side of me says, we gotta get him some more threes. But we tried a few times out of timeouts today, and that attention got Vlad or Danny in easy baskets. So our guys, those are the invisible plays we're talking about. They have to feel good about their function on this team. And even if it's not on this piece of paper, it's still really important for us to be the best team we can be. Trade night, six assists, no turnovers. What have you liked from his development this time? The engine of this whole thing? I thought his play in the pick and roll, they changed their coverages a few times. I thought him against the zone, he knew where to look, he knew where to get the ball. And so it wasn't one of his better games. He still hobbled a little bit with his ankle. Hopefully this week we can continue the treatment and whatnot. He didn't have the same burst, but I thought his decision making was really, really sound. I think he had six assists. And he definitely had several other foul assists where we had a layup or three and got fouled, and so it doesn't count as a stat. But I think when we look at our internal stats, it's gonna be even more impressive. But yeah, he didn't make three tonight and had a great impact, five rebounds. And we needed all five.

On what changed for Vlad Goldin at the start of the year

It's tough, it's more difficult when you're dealing with really, really quality people that care about their teammates and they wanna play unselfishly and they don't wanna do too much. But I think it's all part of, he's obviously playing with much more aggression than he did. We're looking for much more than we did at that point, and I probably didn't do a good enough job. Because also, when you move up a level, you don't know, is it gonna translate the same, a little less? There's a lot of guys that move up to the power five level that it just doesn't translate or it just doesn't fit. And so maybe that was a little bit of us trying to figure out, is he gonna be as effective as he was? And so we didn't get him the ball enough, there's a lot that goes into it. But I'm gonna take the hit on that, that we just weren't looking for him as much as we should have. But he's playing at a much higher level, he's moving better, he's adjusted to the physicality. And it's strange with Vlad, it seems like when you play the bigger, more physical teams, he plays better. And so early in the year, we were playing these smaller teams that were more like mats around them as opposed to big physical bodies. So I think that plays a part as well. We've recruited junior college basketball for years at the mid-major level. And a big and JUCO usually struggle because of that, the smaller, more athletic guys being underneath them and keeping them off balance.

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