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