UM-Dearborn Preview & Game Thread

[ptctitan]

Bottom line is that we won comfortably and that tacitus651 is not leaving us for good.

[Tacitus651]

Bottom line is that we won comfortably and that tacitus651 is not leaving us for good.

Can you guys imagine this board without me?!

[titandave]

JJJ should get minutes but he should pass more and shoot less.

Totally agree; in the first two regular season games, Jackson has made 8 of 27 shots from the field which includes 3 of 17 from behind the arc.

[Commissioner]

We shouldn't beat up on JJJ. But, I can't understand why he is starting over Allen, who was HL freshman of the year. Would be explainable IF these 3s were sinking. OR if JJJ were playing like a true PG and distributing the ball.

JJJ should get minutes but he should pass more and shoot less. Chatman and Prince might save this season.

I think that is fair criticism (maybe because I agree with it!). With some commentators, though, it seems to me the criticism takes on a very personal edge, and I personally think that is uncalled for. JJJ is a good player, he's a true freshman playing his first two games. There's a few guys who just want to carp and attack everything he does. (My theory is that JJ Sr. stole their girlfriends back in the 90s). JJJ will get better and we should be a better team for having him. The coaches need to help make that last a reality. For now none of our guards seem to be able to hit a blast furnace with a heat seeking missile. Hopefully this will even out in future games.

[Commissioner]

Noting that there's something a bit humorous in a guy like me, who doesn't know as much about hoops on the floor as our coaches, nor about our players, and who never sees a practice, saying who should play, I still think the lineup should be what most of us predicted:
McFolley
Allen
Chatman
Prince
Hogan

First off the bench should be Jackson and Tariiq (who has emerged from the pack). More limited time for Blackshear, Black, and Ballantyne. Long, Eichler and I. Jones see only spot play and garbage time.

Minutes would go roughly:
Chatman 32
Allen 30
McFolley 28
Hogan 26 (he can't play more because of foul trouble)
Prince 24
JJJ 20
T. Jones 15
Blackshear 13
Black 6
Ballantyne 6
Long/Eichler/I. Jones total 4

There's a few extra minutes because players miss some games.

[udballer]

We shouldn't beat up on JJJ. But, I can't understand why he is starting over Allen, who was HL freshman of the year. Would be explainable IF these 3s were sinking. OR if JJJ were playing like a true PG and distributing the ball.

JJJ should get minutes but he should pass more and shoot less. Chatman and Prince might save this season.

I think that is fair criticism (maybe because I agree with it!). With some commentators, though, it seems to me the criticism takes on a very personal edge, and I personally think that is uncalled for. JJJ is a good player, he's a true freshman playing his first two games. There's a few guys who just want to carp and attack everything he does. (My theory is that JJ Sr. stole their girlfriends back in the 90s). JJJ will get better and we should be a better team for having him. The coaches need to help make that last a reality. For now none of our guards seem to be able to hit a blast furnace with a heat seeking missile. Hopefully this will even out in future games.

I would be the third to agree with this line of thinking. I'm happy to have JJ Jr. on the team moving forward and think he has the ability to be a difference maker on this team by the time his junior and senior seasons roll around. As for this year, I personally think he should be positioned as one of the best 6th men in the conference. Why he is being inserted into the starting lineup at this point is a mystery to me... especially at the expense of Allen, who so far doesn't appear to be responding to his role of coming off the bench. I have no idea why McFolley and Allen aren't the starting guards at this point in the season. If someone (thinking McFolley) were to play his way out of the starting PG role, so be it. Personally, I don't think he would though. I think he'd respond well.

Someone should let JJ Jr and the coaching staff know that there is nothing wrong with being the Titan's Vinnie Johnson as a college frosh. I'd think inserting him would bring instant offense... and it would make him put in work to get that starting PG spot. Just my thoughts...

[titandave]

We shouldn't beat up on JJJ. But, I can't understand why he is starting over Allen, who was HL freshman of the year. Would be explainable IF these 3s were sinking. OR if JJJ were playing like a true PG and distributing the ball.

JJJ should get minutes but he should pass more and shoot less. Chatman and Prince might save this season.

I think that is fair criticism (maybe because I agree with it!). With some commentators, though, it seems to me the criticism takes on a very personal edge, and I personally think that is uncalled for. JJJ is a good player, he's a true freshman playing his first two games. There's a few guys who just want to carp and attack everything he does. (My theory is that JJ Sr. stole their girlfriends back in the 90s). JJJ will get better and we should be a better team for having him. The coaches need to help make that last a reality. For now none of our guards seem to be able to hit a blast furnace with a heat seeking missile. Hopefully this will even out in future games.

No doubt, JJJ is a good player and he has the talent to become an excellent player. Although I don't agree, I respect the coaching staff's decision to start JJJ and give him the majority of the minutes at PG. That being said; I would like to see him run the offense and pass the basketball more frequently.

[ptctitan]

JJJr was not recruited primarily to be a distributor of the basketball. He was recruited to score. All 3 guards, Cody , JJJr, and Josh are shooting poorly. On the other hand, Chatman is not going to shoot 73% from the field for the full year. So, the percentages should even out over the next 29 regular season games.

More important is the defense. Allen has greatly improved this part of his game since last year. Josh is flashy with the steals, but he did get caught out of position at VT. So, Seattle will be a good test to see how well he does on a neutral court against a lesser D-1 team. JJJr is not as bad as some have claimed. But he has to step it up to a much higher level over the next several weeks ahead of conference play. Tariiq Jones and Ross-Kahn Prince give us speed and length over what we had last year.

As to line-up's, we'll see how this works out through the year. It's almost as if there is a Dakota line-up with Blackshear, JJJr, Tariiq, Josh + Chatman and a bigger non-Dakota line-up with Black and Allen at guards, Prince, Hogan, and Chatman with Long as a sub at the other positions. With Ballantyne getting time when he is healthy. But I agree with Commissioner that we should end up with a blend of those line-up's as the season progresses.

[udballer]

As to line-up's, we'll see how this works out through the year. It's almost as if there is a Dakota line-up with Blackshear, JJJr, Tariiq, Josh + Chatman and a bigger non-Dakota line-up with Black and Allen at guards, Prince, Hogan, and Chatman with Long as a sub at the other positions. With Ballantyne getting time when he is healthy. But I agree with Commissioner that we should end up with a blend of those line-up's as the season progresses.

But... only JJ Jr. , Tariiq and Ballantyne played at Dakota so either Ballantyne would need to be in that lineup or you'd have to change it to the "Mt. Clemens Lineup". Emulating a solid Class C high school lineup... just what I was hoping the 2017/18 Titans would be about.

[titandave]

Noting that there's something a bit humorous in a guy like me, who doesn't know as much about hoops on the floor as our coaches, nor about our players, and who never sees a practice, saying who should play, I still think the lineup should be what most of us predicted:
McFolley
Allen
Chatman
Prince
Hogan

First off the bench should be Jackson and Tariiq (who has emerged from the pack). More limited time for Blackshear, Black, and Ballantyne. Long, Eichler and I. Jones see only spot play and garbage time.

Minutes would go roughly:
Chatman 32
Allen 30
McFolley 28
Hogan 26 (he can't play more because of foul trouble)
Prince 24
JJJ 20
T. Jones 15
Blackshear 13
Black 6
Ballantyne 6
Long/Eichler/I. Jones total 4

There's a few extra minutes because players miss some games.

Count me in on this proposed starting line up and distribution of minutes!

[MooseGuy1]

Noting that there's something a bit humorous in a guy like me, who doesn't know as much about hoops on the floor as our coaches, nor about our players, and who never sees a practice, saying who should play, I still think the lineup should be what most of us predicted:
McFolley
Allen
Chatman
Prince
Hogan

First off the bench should be Jackson and Tariiq (who has emerged from the pack). More limited time for Blackshear, Black, and Ballantyne. Long, Eichler and I. Jones see only spot play and garbage time.

Minutes would go roughly:
Chatman 32
Allen 30
McFolley 28
Hogan 26 (he can't play more because of foul trouble)
Prince 24
JJJ 20
T. Jones 15
Blackshear 13
Black 6
Ballantyne 6
Long/Eichler/I. Jones total 4

There's a few extra minutes because players miss some games.

Count me in on this proposed starting line up and distribution of minutes!

Count me in as well. This sounds very reasonable.

[titanmac]

jackson is going to get more minutes than mcfolley. t jones will get as many if not more than prince.

[upbasketballfan]

jackson is going to get more minutes than mcfolley. t jones will get as many if not more than prince.

McFolley and Jackson have played together before. McFolley has always been and still is the better of the two. In my opinion Prince is a better player than T Jones and probably our best rebounder and a guy on a team that is weak on the boards becomes even more valuable. the coaches are looking to get rebounds from Blacksheer but he is still playing short armed. I pointed this out last year and got shouted down but his arms have not improved yet. We need Prince on the floor. He will help us. We looked our best at VT when he and Chatman were in together.

[ptctitan]

Commissioner's line-up may be the case when we begin conference play. But Hogan has to play himself into shape over the non-conference schedule. We have 3 games in five days starting Saturday vs Seattle. We'll likely see a lot of subs over the weekend in order to conserve energy.

Agree with upbasketballfan's observations about Blackshear. He's allegedly 6'9", but he plays small. Puts the ball too low and loses it a lot to guards doubling down on him when he tries to post up. VT exposed those weaknesses. Thought he would have figured that out by now because it was the same problem in his first two seasons here. All of his stats are against UM-D. No mid-range jump shot.

To me, Tariiq Jones and Prince have different roles. Reek has 3 point range, is quick, and can defend the perimeter. Prince has a mid-range jumper, gets good position, and is the better rebounder and inside player. Both bring positive energy to the floor that seems to help the others around them. T. Jones has been a pleasant surprise so far. Prince has lived up to our high expectations for him. The more minutes he plays, the better we are. I have a hunch you will see him play more minutes during the conference schedule.

IMO, the biggest challenge for the coaches this year will be finding the right combination of players to put on the floor. And then finding the best substitution pattern. And then finding the best flow in which to use them. This does not necessarily mean having the 5 "best" players on the floor together for the most minutes. Currently, Allen, Chatman, and Prince appear to be able to play their best in different player combinations on the floor. McFolley is up there, too, due to his experience. Hopefully, Jackson and Hogan get there by mid-season along with T. Jones. That would leave Black, Blackshear, Long, and others to provide a few minutes each half at their respective positions.

Successful head coaches figure out the best personnel combinations and playing style for their teams. This group of players appears to play better in a full-court pressure defense rather than the half-court, hedging defense (like Michigan) that the coaches seem to want them to play. But like Commissioner, I am not there at practices and I watch the games on TV. So, I'm laughing at myself here, too. And enjoying this type of discussion in which we share our different opinions.

[NC Titan]

We know what Hogan can do (when he gets in shape), and we know what Allen can do. And where Black fits in as a specialist. We know pretty much what we can count on from both Chatman and Prince.

So if I were coach I would be using these early games to figure out Tariiq (a pleasant surprise so far) and the freshmen. I hope that when we get into the December games the coaches will have figured out the starters and the guard rotation. We will have challenging games in December and that hopefully will get us ready for the league games.

[Commissioner]

On further reflection, I think the minutes probably ought to come out more along these lines:
Chatman 32
Prince 24
Hogan 26
McFolley 30
Allen 30
JJJ 25
Tariiq 15
Blackshear 10
Black 6
Everybody else --spot play/garbage/fill in if someone injured/suspended. Maybe Ballantine can take some minutes from Tariiq or Blackshear.

Of course, you don't coach to fill minutes--minutes ought to reflect what is working on the court. But I suspect that's about what we should end up with if we sort out the rotation and get the best combos out there.The point is, you've got to shorten the rotation some, and you've got to decide what to do with the Allen/McFolley/JJJ combo. They are all good players, but it's an awfully short lineup when all three are on the floor. Blackshear's gonna have to show more.

[titandave]

On further reflection, I think the minutes probably ought to come out more along these lines:
Chatman 32
Prince 24
Hogan 26
McFolley 30
Allen 30
JJJ 25
Tariiq 15
Blackshear 10
Black 6
Everybody else --spot play/garbage/fill in if someone injured/suspended. Maybe Ballantine can take some minutes from Tariiq or Blackshear.

Of course, you don't coach to fill minutes--minutes ought to reflect what is working on the court. But I suspect that's about what we should end up with if we sort out the rotation and get the best combos out there.The point is, you've got to shorten the rotation some, and you've got to decide what to do with the Allen/McFolley/JJJ combo. They are all good players, but it's an awfully short lineup when all three are on the floor. Blackshear's gonna have to show more.

Totally agree with your point on the need for coaching staff to make a decision on what to do with the Allen/McFolley/JJJ combo. From a defensive perspective; I don't think we can afford to have all three on the floor at the same time.

[TitanTarHeel]

One possible way to have the 3 guards out there is to run some pseudo havoc defense with them applying some amount of full court pressure. Since none of them will be typically playing 35+ mins per game they ought to have some energy to burn and who knows perhaps that pressure causes some turnovers or gets the other team's offense out of whack a bit. Employ the 3 this way for a few stretches in a game as a change of pace.

Rashad recently tweeted out about how he always applied some kind of pressure, and it was really the job of a good PG to do so.

[titandave]

One possible way to have the 3 guards out there is to run some pseudo havoc defense with them applying some amount of full court pressure. Since none of them will be typically playing 35+ mins per game they ought to have some energy to burn and who knows perhaps that pressure causes some turnovers or gets the other team's offense out of whack a bit. Employ the 3 this way for a few stretches in a game as a change of pace.

Rashad recently tweeted out about how he always applied some kind of pressure, and it was really the job of a good PG to do so.

I would prefer to have only two of three (Allen, McFolley, or JJJ) on the floor at the same time. This affords Chatman the opportunity to play the vast majority of the game at SF. On the inside, we go with Hogan/Price and have Blackshear/Tariiq off the bench.

[titanmac]

t jones is our best on the ball defender. he is also adept at penetrating and drawing fouls. he makes those shots. he's going to play. jj is the point guard. he's going to play. mcfolley will
play the off guard most of the time. not going to take
many minutes from jj.