Site Updates
First a note about the site, I added a new page to the top — Stat of the Day. This is a service provided by StatSheet.com that will feature a new stat every day. You can click the “+” to expand the listing or click the full link to head over to StatSheet.
The 1-3-1
Next up, The X’s & O’s of basketball has an in depth feature on Beilein’s 1-3-1.
Remember, there are always more than one way to skin a cat. Penetrating the gaps is a good zone offense principle, but your guards have to be faster then the defense can close in. If not, you’ll need to use another strategy. The good thing about gapping, is that it will work regardless of your personnel.
Northeastern actually did OK, keeping the first half score within 10. One thing to keep in mind against zone teams like Michigan who play zone mostly only after dead ball is, if you play good defense and get stops, that means you’ll play Michigan M2M (Beilein feels it is difficult to transition into their 1-3-1 on live ball). Michigan’s M2M defense is not nearly as good as their zone, that is usually the case for zone teams in general. That is how Northeastern kept the game close, by getting stops on defense, and scoring on Michigan’s M2M.
Definitely read the whole thing because it’s a really good look at Beilein’s defense which we are probably going to be seeing a lot more of this year compared to last.
Darius Morris
SLAM Online put a feature up on Darius Morris. A lot of it is chopped up video from old clips off Ball Is Life but I think it’s worthy of a post now that Darius is officially signed. It’s actually the same video we posted a while back but still good to see Darius getting some national pub on SLAMOnline.com.
Darius grew up tagging along with his brother Dewayne Morris Jr. who’s currently playing professionally in Germany. That, coupled with the playing for the AAU dynasty Belmont Shore (recent alumni include Demar Derozan and Brandon Jennings), definitely helped shape Morris’ basketball IQ. A 3.7 GPA doesn’t hurt either. Darius Morris has the whole package.
Michigan is in for the real deal. An intelligent point guard dedicated to staying in school and receiving his degree, with a work ethic on the court to rival any blue-chipper has found his home. (Full article here)
