Everything Phil Martelli said on the Defend the Block podcast

On the European trip

One was the noise. The players were always noisy and always engaged. I think that's a good sign because I do think that today's youth are getting quieter because they're always looking at their phone and they feel like that's their way of communicating. Our bus rides were entertaining. Not that I understood everything they were arguing about but you could pick out the voices, the powerful voices. You could pick out the quiet ones because you never hear them. I thought that was a really big deal. I thought the experience in Athens. The Olympic Stadium, the Parthenon, the walk up there. Those were the memories that will stick with me. Having been to Paris with my wife before, I had a little bit of a feel. I thought that the class with which Michigan provided us, that will stay with me for a very long time.

On what the European trip can do for a team

I don't know. I really don't know. I do think that when you come back from a trip like that, how you rest is important. I call it the way it is, with the new rules and the ability to be with them, this has become 12 months a year. So you have to have these times where there is some rest. Mentally, physically, emotionally, psychologically, that they are away from each other and away from us. and us away from them. When I do whisper to friends of mine, I do say that we have a cheat code. Because this must be like, for Juwan, it must be like the NBA. He gets the rhythm. We took a weekend off early in August, before we went on the trip. Then we took a weekend off after we got back and we didn't go backs to the wall, speeding into the next phase of the program. I do think that, from the basketball side, everyone is interested in the three games. I get it. Not that important. The 10 practices mattered. The bonding, this group has just been different. Sometimes I lose track, it's 8 new guys, 9 new guys, whatever it is. They have stayed connected from the first day that we got together. Even their reaction to Yo-Yo added in the middle of the trip, they were all in the lobby. They all greeted him like, oh yeah, he's been with us. You're like, that's impossible. Physically, he has not been with us. I think the biggest deal is, create memories for a lifetime. That's really what we're in this business for. We are in this business to create memories for a lifetime, to help young people grow into full adulthood. So some of the decisions they make, even their shopping and their bartering, counting on each other to move around through different areas that they have never been before. Paris, Athens and Mykonos. That's the growth. That's what the value is. Whether or not we're a tighter team, I think we were tight before we left. I don't think anything frayed us. There were no individual agendas before the trip and I think that's a good thing.

On the educational purposes of the trip

To me, the educational part, it may not be that they could identify what happened at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. How about this for an educational? Part of their education is learning to respect their family names, right? Learning to respect the Michigan name, learning to respect the Juwan Howard name. Learning to respect and how to conduct yourself as a Michigan basketball player. I would give everybody A's in that department. That, to me, was the biggest deal. When somebody says, what was the takeaway? I would say these young guys have been raised properly because they understood that it wasn't about being noisy, it wasn't about being flashy. It wasn't about being bothered in quotation marks. You mean I have to stand in this line? Yeah, you have to stand in this line. Guess what, look around, there's thousands of people standing in this line and, for the most of your life, you're going to be standing in lines. Yeah, you're gonna have certain charter flights and if you're good enough to play at the next level, you'll get little perks here along the way. You want real life? Turn around, look around. Look around. That, to me, when you say education, there was street education that went on that was a really, really big part, big part, of their development as young people here in Michigan.

On what the program hoped to accomplish in the three games

It's always the same here and it's that 1%. We are always looking to be a little bit better and a little bit better, and a little bit better. If someone came back and said, well, did you find the third point guard? No, we didn't. That wasn't on a list of 25 things that we wanted to do. Are we a little bit better as a team that communicates? Yes. Are we a little bit better at transition defense? Yes. Were we able to identify, and I thought this was a big deal, last week we came and identified, well, where were we? Where were we when we into this and where are we now? Our individual ball defense has got to improve and has to improve tomorrow. Our shooting—if our shooting is going to be OK then do we have to emphasize offensive rebounding? We knew that going in. Now, it's kind of crystal clear. I don't think you can take much out of rotation or this guys numbers or that guys numbers. Certainly, basketball IQ and the defensive side of the ball, which will really be what separates us. If we are to be great, and we could be, then we are going to have to up our defensive game.

On Gregg Glenn

Highly competitive young guy. Still developing, which is a good thing. Developing in, is he a wing? Is he a forward? But I think the thing that jumps out is that he has the competitive edge. I didn't see him much in high school, he was hurt the summer before on the AAU circuits. The thing that jumps to me is that he competes. He competes on possessions, he competes when the ball goes off the backboard. He has a competitive streak and that showed in the three games in Europe.

On Jett Howard

Jett, again, he has a magic in his eye. He has real joy when he greets you. He's really excited about being here. In basketball, he has a wonderment despite all the basketball experiences that he's had. He's hearing some things for the first time and he's really trying hard to apply them. He has a beautiful, beautiful jumpshot. It looks great. It comes out of his hand clean. He has tremendous range. He's a work in progress defensively. What I like is that he recognizes that. He's not hiding. He's not a guy that will say, well, I made three jumpers. Yeah, you gave up three layups, sir. I can see him be a fan favorite because when that ball drops and the ease of which it comes out of his hand, I think people are going to gravitate to Jett. It starts with his eyes. The eyes always tell you what's in the heart and that kid has joy in his heart.

On Youssef Khayat

It happened quickly but it was a testament to how this staff works connected. As we were going through the process and there were some transfers involved and it didn't go our way but work continuing. If that was not going to be the path, it wasn't going to be a high school player at that point who could make a difference on a national program, or even if a reclassification of a high school kid. What other avenues were there? The international, obviously with the Michigan success, international is always something that's in the back of your mind to say we can take a look there. So the staff put together film for Juwan and he took it, which he will do, he took the lead and he made sure that we were all aware. Had a chance to watch him and I think—the thing to me was his fierceness. He came with it. He just has this presence about him. Then recognizing that this was a young kid playing against pros. No matter what the level, he runs the floor extraordinarily well. Competes—and the first thing that jumps into your mind is Franz. We've had to say to him, we don't want you to be Franz 2.0, if that's the thing. He's not coming here—he's coming here to be Youssef and be the very best that he can be. When we first met him, as soon as you see him, he has the face of a little kid. He's not this grizzled veteran, this grizzled European pro. He's a kid. Him navigating his way through the trip. A small thing, the rest of us were on traveling visas, this kid was on a student visa. If my meeting took four minutes, his meetings were taking 24 minutes. They were asking him for different passports, more letters and you're standing in line saying, yeah, that's a kid. That's an 18-year-old, or 19-year-old, just turned 19. I better get up there and make sure he's alright. He fit with our guys. Now, watching him in practice, he's a very fierce defender. He runs well, he has a pretty stroke and we're working through some nerves. Nerves away from home, in a program that—let's understand, when people say, well, what did you guys know? Well, what did he know? Right. He came here sight unseen. When he got off the bus here at 3 o'clock in the morning two Saturday's ago, it was the first time he had been on Michigan's campus. He's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful young guy.

On Dug McDaniel

Still a work in progress. I was talking to a close friend and he was asking about Dug, I reminded him that, as a ninth grader, Dug made All-WCAC along with Hunter as a junior, Terrence Williams as a junior. To make that, to be All-League as a freshman, and he didn't start, he made it because he was a defensive pest. That's what we needed to see and that's what he gave us probably two games. That will be his MO for us. He scored the ball but what I thought was really helpful for us is that he got in the lane when he wanted to get in the lane. Turned the ball over a little bit too much, a little bit careless with the ball but he has great speed, shot the ball better, even in our practices, shot the ball better than I had hoped for. His high school senior year, he scored the ball, he didn't shoot the ball. In our workouts, he shot the ball well. He's an entertaining dude. Perfect description, he doesn't carry himself like a little guy in the game. He has a big heart. He's going to be a tempo changer for us all year long.

On Tarris Reed

He plays like an old dude. He can really screen, he's a great help defender, he talks all the time. He catches the ball on rebounds. People say, well, everybody catches—no, they don't. No, they don't. They fumble the ball and they happen to get it. He can catch, his footwork is terrific coming off the ball screen, which we run a lot of. Oh, my goodness gracious, is his mind open to learning. He is a willing learner and that's not a trait a lot of young guys have today. He's a very, very willing learner. He's improved immensely. Small thing. His foul shooting. When he first got here, we put a lot of time in on our foul shooting and we chart it. His release was too high and he was shooting the ball up. You have to shoot the ball at the rim, not up. He's improved. He took that information in. It's an interesting dynamic with him at his size and Dougie. Tarris is very serious about what he eats. He's very serious about his workouts and he wants to build one on another in terms of the weight room. He's an old soul in a young body.

On Joey Baker

Joey is very vocal. Very engaged, a willing sharer. Older, right? An older dude has seen a lot. Never that we would need to pry into this nor does he need to do this but I think seeing a different perspective. He's basically been in the Duke culture for four years and committed early, went to school early and it's a joy to watch him see something differnt. Not better, just different. Different doesn't have to be better or worse, it just has to be different. He is enjoying that. Very cerebral. He has a way of talking to his teammates that's not condescending. It's not from, oh, I've been here and I've been in the Final Four. No. It's a basketball IQ conversation. Now that we've been with him a couple times on the court, more bounce than I thought. He's looking—again, we haven't been competitive yet so I have to see the whole of the game. He's a veteran guy playing with some newbies. He'll have a major impact and he'll have a major impact in the locker room because he gets the balance. This isn't just basketball, it's not a factory. You have to be part of this culture, the Michigan culture, and the sub-culture, which is the team.

On Kobe Bufkin

With Kobe, to me, it's balance. He has tremendous balance. His name never comes up in an academic issue, he handles his business. Yet, he's able to get in here and work at least twice a day. When you talk to him, there's a balance about the conversation. Kobe, who do you want to be like? I would do this at the end of last year. Who would you sit and watch in the Big Ten, maybe an All-Big Ten player. He would come back and say, I want to be like Eli. Because Eli was counted on by the team on both ends of the floor. I want to be counted on both ends of the floor, When he does his little 1-on-0 workouts, it's different part of the floor. It isn't just let me shoot threes, shoot threes, shoot threes. It's balance, I'm going to be able to score. Sometimes they can get too big, he wants to get balanced in that his conditioning is not an issue. His strength is not an issue. It's his game and it'll be about his game. You're excited for him and the next step is that he has to come more vocal. Earlier, Jaelin Llewellyn, like when people say to me, well, what's his next step? He's a graduate of Princeton, I mean, come on. He's going to have to come outside of himself. He has to become more vocal. I think, with Jaelin, people are going to be very happy with his perimeter shooting. He has a nice stroke. Quick stroke. Now, it's point guard here is asked to do a lot. We run intricate offenses. It comes out of Juwan's mouth to his ear and he has to deliver that. He will be, again, with Jaelin, there's maturity. With Kobe, there's a maturity. He's not a kid anymore. Last year, he was a kid. You had Eli and you can say, OK, learn and he did pay attention.

On Hunter Dickinson

With Hunter since last spring, what I've been amazed at is the vocal approach that he's taken. Now, he had a vocal approach. Of course, for two years. It was comedic, right? He wanted to be a heel. He wanted you to say, wait a second, he said what? I just think that once he was settled in and knew he was coming back and I think he knew for a long time. He was interested in Caleb and Moussa, wanting them back. Once that all kind of shook out, he's been a guy where there have been times where you will see, he's going to say it so the coaches step back. This is what they want and he'll direct it to his teammates. He's still Hunter. He's still the guy with his NIL deals will treat the managers to a meal. The Kentucky Derby. That's still who he is. On the floor, he has taken on a much more vocal role. On the trip, again, small thing. We're all going to do this, we're all going to wear this. Or we're all going to go—I'm trying to remember where it was, it must've been in Paris. There was a Mcdonald's down the street. We're going to do that. There are also small, subtle things. Hunt is just a different guy and he'll sit with me, we did it in Athens, he and I were at a table, my wife was at the table, and he was talking about why are you eating that? Not in a negative. I'd be like, well, I'm trying to stay away from potatoes or trying to stay—he would say, you know what's really good? He would go into the biologies and the reasons for blackberries over strawberries. It was like real, normal, conversation. Not that I have a lot of conversations about blackberries or strawberries. That was the stuff that he has in his mind. It was about finding a real crepe. That was one of his missions in Paris. My wife found a place and they had a conversation about it. Hunt is embracing the college experience. He has for three years and I enjoy his perspective because it is a little off-center, it's unique, the way he looks at life.

On being surprised the coaching staff is still intact

I think some of it has to do with the uniqueness of these last couple of years. You had a COVID year and the second year I'm kind of labeling it as the vaccine. Personally, I was home for five months the first year. That's not normal. Second year I was home for 50-some days when I had my second vaccine. I do think that there is a newness and, maybe, a wonderment out there of what's going on? How does that happen? When you start talking about, here are the number of teams that have been to the Sweet Sixteen five years in a row. Well, yeah, someone should poach someone here. When you bring up the support staff, I couldn't agree with you anymore. If there is a new staff in the Midwest, one of their calls should be to Juwan Howard because Collin as a grad assistant and Jaaron, Chris Hunter. Maybe those calls have come. There is a lot of privacy around here. There are opportunities. Those guys are, they are what, to me, are what I describe Michigan, Michigan is excellent in whatever area—if it's broadcasting, then it's excellence. If it's people taking care of our building, then it's excellence. If it's people that deal with travel, excellent. That's what they are. Those guys are excellent at their jobs. I think that's probably an overused word here because it's not a job. Juwan Howard does not make this a job, he makes this an opportunity. You're on the top realm. I've said this over and over again. No one wants to stand up and yell, this is a blueblood program. This is a blueblood program. I can speak very directly and you know that I'm speaking from my heart and my mind that I know in that office, with Howard Eisley, and in that direction with Saddi Washington, they're just head coaches. They're just waiting for somebody to say we would like you to do this.