Michigan head coach John Beilein brought his team back from the dead to the Sweet 16 last year, winning the Big Ten Tournament along the way. Now he has to start over again, having lost two players to the NBA and a third starter in Zak Irvin.
There will be some tough times in the early going, he said, and practices have not been great. The team will improve, he insisted.
“The last couple years we’ve been really spoiled, and two years ago we had Mo [Wagner], and that was like the only new guy,” he said of his junior big man. “Last year we had three, and none of them had to be great last year to make us good. Now we’re trying to get all the young guys who didn’t play last year, four of them, and then three new guys … eight new counting Charles [Matthews].
“I’m remembering right now the scout team, when they were freshmen on the scout team, we were watching the other guys. Charles and Austin [Davis] have to make great improvements. Where they showed great flashes of talent last year, maybe the fundamentals weren’t emphasized enough with that group. Now, the young kids are always the same, fundamentals, fundamentals … I’m talking about things that aren’t changing. I change like the wind in basketball, but are you in a stance, talking, catching with two hands and two feet? Are you embracing physicality? That’s never going to change.
“Getting the new guys to do that has been a bit of a challenge so far.”
Practices have been “average,” he continued.
“We’ll keep working at it, working at it … the intensity in practice is really good,” he said. “We’re not playing as smart as we will as you just watch the progression this year. That will be the hope, with really six new guys out there and three guys with any game experience. It’s going to be a process, and you know we’re going to embrace that.
“The attitude has been good by everybody on the team. We’re just trying to get better, but we’re not very good right now, but we’ll continue to grow.”
Beilein broke it down on a number of his players:
• On redshirt freshman center Austin Davis: “Right now, he is one of the three bigs. [Sophomore] Jon Teske has played better than him at this point. I’m just telling you last year on the scout team we would score 16, and he might score 12 of them. Now, accountability, defense, all these things are the things he’s got to get better at. He’s a guy whose body has really changed. He’s got to play like his body’s really changed, and I know he will.
“There’s another level. He’s one of those guys who when he gets to 212 degrees, where he’s boiling, he’s going to be really good. He’s got to get there first. He’s shown that in stages. I love the kid, and he’s going to be very good once we get that little more intensity.”
• On Teske: “His confidence was not great last year, obviously. He’s much improved in that area. He’s not walking out there as swaggy Jon right now, I’m telling you that. He’s much better, can shoot the ball, got a hook shot, still reacting a little slowly to some of the stuff as far as being quicker off his feet and using that 7-1 [frame].
“He’s a very skilled player. He and Austin are very similar, very comfortable being comfortable. We want them to be comfortable being uncomfortable. We’ve got three guys … play as hard as you can. This is not high school where the coach is saying, ‘don’t get in foul trouble …
“They don’t know yet how to play really, really hard. Our job is to teach that in practice and in games.”
On redshirt sophomore Matthews: “He’s really, really athletic. He can jump, run, do everything from an athletic standpoint. Now we’ve got to get down to the fundamentals of that guy … I told him today if he and I were five yards and I’m in a stance, he wasn’t, I'm going to beat him. That’s what basketball is, a five-yard sprint. Those things are what he needs to do. He’s got a tremendous attitude, has worked so hard, is yessir, no sir … we’ll just watch him as he grows with his game. Similar to other guys we’ve seen who have athleticism … now he just needs to slow down and see the game differently.
“We’re really excited about that. He’s probably not shooting enough from three, but in one of our drills he made 65 out of 85 threes. He’s got to do it with the lights on, but that’s a high number for him. His numbers in some shooting drills have been outstanding. But he’s been inconsistent. As the goes on and we get more comfortable in shooting … we ask him to shoot when open, pass when not, drive when he sees an alley. Sometimes he’s getting those mixed up a little bit.
“He’s got a great attitude, as good athleticism as we’ve ever had. He has Manny Harris type of quickness. At the same time, when you’ve got all that, it doesn't make a different if you’re not in a stance, position. You can’t rely on athleticism only at this level is what I’m saying.”
On freshman forward Isaiah Livers: “He’s going to become [a good shooter], I have no doubt. I make the baseball analogies again … most of the high school kids we get that are good shooters are like a high school guy who hit a lot of home runs until he sees a good curve ball. Guys are good shooters until they see a guy really running at them and taking a shot away and he’s got a longer guy, so he’s got to get it of quicker, have great balance every time.
“When that happens, when you start showing a good hitter how to slow down and swing, be ready for the curve ball too, you take a step backwards, but the you grow from them. He’s one of those like Charles … we are going to be a good shooting team eventually. We’ll see whether it’s November or December, whenever. We have the tools to be a good shooting team.”
On junior center Moritz Wagner: He is confident he can ply in the NBA, but he wants to win badly. Now he’s hunted. I don’t think he was hunted a great deal last year. Now he’s going to be hunted, double teamed, going to get a lot of attention. The last seven games people were with him every ball game because he could shoot. He was not a factor against Oregon, but was a huge factor in the Louisville game.
“There are games he was huge in and … each year if you’re the best player, they’re going to have strategies for you. I know he’s willing to take on that challenge. He’s a great kid to coach and help him achieve his goals of winning at Michigan, and the NBA will take care of itself.”
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