Apparently I bought the "moody" edition of the Mino HD FlipCam, because mine decided to lock up just in time for John Beilein’s post-game press conference. Here are notes and quotes, more detailed than usual.
- "From a Michigan fan’s perspective, it was a great game to watch." Would like to have "solid, across-the-board scoring" more often.
- Iowa is "a challenge to stop," but Michigan’s defense is not where it needs to be, either.
- "Things are going to go up and down," but it’s clear Evan Smotrycz and Tim Hardaway Jr. have come a long way. Evan has worked very hard in practice and Tim had a stomach ache for most of the game but didn’t play like it.
- Darius Morris had a very "intense" performance. "We tried to give him a rest each half." Every game it’s a different game plan and Darius is asked to do different things. Iowa did a lot of double-teaming off the ball screen, and Darius "for the most part, did a wonderful job."
- "Some of our big guys, we want them to box out and stick with their box-out and let our guards clean up a lot of rebounds." This was a strategy implemented by the assistants, and a reason why Darius was able to grab 10 boards tonight and Tm had eight in East Lansing.
- When Mike Rothstein of AnnArbor.com asked Beilein if he was happy with how his team played considering this could have been a letdown game, Beilein said, "Mike, your questions are always wonderful. Yes, I’m very happy … trying to put a negative spin on everything. I’m happy." Sounds mean on paper, but Beilein was just having fun with him. Very funny moment, actually. I hate my FlipCam.
- Darius has taken on a leadership role along with Stu Douglass and Zack Novak. "I’m really proud of the way he’s been playing all year long, there have been some isolated times where I know he thinks he could have played better."
- "I loved Jon Horford’s finishes … Jon’s unique, and it was really good for him."
- On whether this was the best he’d seen his offense play: Iowa actually created some offense for Michigan when they tried to use their defense to create their own offense. When the Hawkeyes started pressuring, trying to create turnovers, Michigan was able to take advantage and find easy buckets.
- The offense looked much better tonight against the zone than it did against Minnesota. "The way we shoot the ball, you don’t think many teams are going to zone you. Minnesota did and we didn’t have great timing. That’s all it takes, then you get a little spooked by it." Was the focus of practice yesterday.
- On Tim Hardaway’s shot selection: "He’s getting closer and closer to the green light." Everyone is learning how to pass up a good shot for a great shot, and they did a better job of that today.
- On Novak’s shooting: "He’s really in a groove right now."
- Said games like the one in East Lansing can change seasons and "their perception of how they’re doing." The team is much more positive about how it feels about itself right now.
