8A— Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer
It’s
year one under coach
Juwan Howard, and the question on
everyone’s mind seems to be what on
Earth is this new team going to look
like?
Will it be characterized by
deliberate possessions on offense
with complex schemes that only a few
of basketball’s elite may understand
or will it be more up-tempo,
emphasizing the 3-point shot? Will
the team run man-to-man defensive
coverage or will it play a zone? For
crying out loud, who’s even going to
be starting?
In the weeks leading up to the
season, one figure on Michigan’s staff
may provide some early answers. And
that’s associate coach Phil Martelli.
Having spent the last 24 years
as the head coach at St. Joseph’s, a
mid-major program in Philadelphia,
Martelli has seen it all. He coached
one of only 25 teams to finish the
regular season undefeated with his
2003-04 squad and has led many
players to the next level.
While it’s still too early to tell, this
perhaps made the hiring of Martelli
such a great move for Juwan’s rookie
campaign as a coach. In addition to
contributing sage wisdom, as a man
whose name is synonymous with
veteran coaching ability, Martelli
may have a hand in designing this
season’s offense and defense.
To figure out what that may look
like, The Daily broke down some
old St. Joe’s game footage between
the Hawks and Saint Louis in 2018
because, well, it was one of the only
ones available on YouTube. It’s not a
game of any particular significance,
just a regular season game where St.
Joe’s lost, 68-57.
The analysis will include what
Martelli could bring to both sides of
the ball this season as well as how
his system would have potentially
worked with Michigan’s 2018-19
roster.
Offense
We’ll start with
offense,
because,
while
defense
is
great, it surely is not
going to keep you hooked
on this article. And Martelli
agrees. On Friday, speaking
to
The
Daily,
Martelli
dropped this nugget.
“Coaches
might
scream
that
you
don’t
deserve
to
coach when I make this next
statement,” Martelli said, “but
that old statement of, ‘Defense wins
championships,’ I’m not dead-sold on
that. I’ve never seen a championship
won 6-4. You have to score.”
Right he is. And one of the
primary ways he did that at St. Joe’s
was through staggered ball screen
processions, frequent ball movement
and a ball-dominant point guard.
Martelli did not always have the
most size or strength with his players,
but the guards he did recruit could
often times flat-out play. This is
evident in his ‘03 squad that ran with
four guards on the floor most of the
time.
Here, let’s look at a passing play
that led to a pick-and-roll play with
an easy basket (see top right of page).
First, the point guard dribbles down
to the wing, handing the ball off to the
‘2’ who takes it to the key and passes
to the ‘3.’ The ‘3’ then hands it back to
the point guard who is coming back
up to the key, then plays around a
pick set by the ‘5.’ The big then rolls to
the basket where he’s greeted by the
name “Spalding,” hurling at him.
As the style of play in college
basketball has changed over the
years, the pick-and-roll has become
an instrumental tool in any offense
due to its hard-to-guard nature and
versatility. Nobody understands that
better than Phil Martelli and, so it
seems, Juwan Howard.
“The offense that we’re running
now is really from Juwan’s and
(assistant coach) Howard Eisley’s
background,”
Martelli
said.
“Conceptually, though, it’s what
you’re saying. The ball screen is
a big part. The ball screen is a big
part of the NBA, big part of college
basketball. Hard to guard. The double
away action that you speak about is
hard to guard.”
Now
working
with
a
ball-
dominant, experienced guard in
senior Zavier Simpson, Martelli
is surely excited at the thought of
coaching a player like Simpson who
would surely be a fixture of St. Joe’s
scheme.
An additional aspect of the offense
that Martelli has witnessed in his
brief time with the Wolverines but
failed to fully implement himself is
the after-timeout (ATO) play. ATO
plays have become a crucial part of
the college and professional game,
and with all the old NBA talent now
at the helm of the program, seem to be
queued up for a big release.
Defense
On the defensive side of the ball,
Martelli maintains that his schemes
were often dictated by the skill level
and size of his players. So he knows
exactly what he’d do if he were in
charge of implementing the defense
at Michigan.
“I would build my defense, man-
to-man,” Martelli said. “As we’re
looking at some multiple defenses, I
would be a man-to-man team with a
kind-of zone to take the other team
out of rhythm.”
And Martelli has and will have
the chance to defend these schemes,
seeing as all of the coaches draw on
their individual experiences in order
to pitch Howard on how to best run
the team.
One aspect of St. Joes’ defense that
may make its way into Crisler Center
this season is the act of trapping
the baseline. A prominent feature
of Martelli’s defense, trapping the
baseline took the Saint Louis offense
out of rhythm and forced it into
making riskier passes (see top left of
page).
In this play, once the ball is passed
to the big man, the Hawks’ guard
comes down to trap the ball. In the
Saint Louis game, this forced the
Billikens’ ball-handler to dribble to
the outside and pass to the open man
who then missed a deep three.
So if you see the Wolverines
trapping the baseline this season, you
know who to thank.
How Martelli’s System Could
Improve
When seeing how last year’s St.
Joe’s team compares to last year’s
Michigan
team,
the
differences
are glaring and largely explain the
disparity in success.
For starters, the Hawks lacked skill
at the point guard position. To be fair,
most teams trail the Wolverines in
this regard with Simpson emerging
as one of the nation’s best. But once
the film is pulled up, the evidence is
damning.
In the game, there’s a play where
St. Joe’s point guard Jared Bynum
drives to the basket. His shot selection
is poor due to an awkward angle
towards the hoop, forcing an off-
balance shot. In a similar situation,
Simpson’s attempts offer a different
solution — his high-percentage hook
shot.
Clearly
outmatched
and
off-
balance, Bynum’s shot had a ghost of
a chance to connect. Simpson, on the
other hand, knowingly outsized, has
mastered his move.
While yes, this is just a series
of cherry-picked shots, last year’s
stats tell the whole story. Simpson
led Bynum in nearly all advanced
statistics
including
win
shares
and player efficiency rating. While
Bynum edged out Simpson in points
per game, Simpson dominated in
nearly every aspect of the offense
particularly in assists where he
averaged 6.6 per game.
One additional difference between
Martelli’s
teams
and
Michigan
currently is the lack of size.
In
the
matchup,
there
was
one instance where the Billikens
collected three straight offensive
boards, easily grabbing boards over
their opponents. Just imagine you’re
a lifelong Hawks fan, you’re watching
your players compete down low and
just try not to get frustrated.
Pretty hard, right?
The player at the ‘5’ here, Lorenzo
Edwards, is only 6-foot-7. Jon Teske,
on the other hand, is 7-foot-1. It’s
hard to imagine the Billikens get so
many chances with an additional four
inches crashing the glass on every
play.
And just for fun, there was another
play of an attempted alley-oop where
the intended recipient, guard Charlie
Brown Jr., whiffs on the attempt.
Replace
Brown
with
junior
forward Isaiah Livers or last year’s
standout Ignas Brazdeikis or even
Teske and tell me the play doesn’t go
down a little differently.
It’s
just
harder
to
get
the
athleticism seen night-in and night-
out on Michigan’s roster at mid-major
programs. Not to say there isn’t talent
at this level, but a more athletic duo
completes that play. And no one
knows this better than Martelli.
So this season, when Martelli
is sitting on the bench for the first
time in 24 years instead of standing
and screaming on the sidelines, it’s
important to acknowledge what
contributions he will be making to
this team. And when he says, “If I had
Michigan’s players at St. Joe’s, I’d still
be the coach at St. Joe’s,” just know
he’s probably telling the truth.
How Phil Martelli can impact the Michigan men’s basketball team
Alec Cohen / Daily Design by Jack Silberman
THENEW#2