February 13, 2025

WTKA Roundtable 2/13/2025: Punking Back

49 minutes

Things Discussed:

Ohio State hires Matt Patricia:

Brian: He'll have a Wile E. Coyote year with Caleb Downs but he's not a good coach. He does have a weird beard though.

Seth if the idea is to capture what Michigan got in Wink Martindale they forgot the part where he invented the defense that Michigan runs.

Craig: Nothing in his resume shows he's a good coach.

Purdue game: Michigan had to try at least four defenses against Braden Smith to wear that guy out, finally got Danny Wolf to work. Seth: the zone was the most effective because it was forcing him into even worse stepbacks.

But Braden Smith, gotdang is that a good basketball player. Gives them a floor for every shot of 0.9 points per possession.

Physicality: Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn brought it, Vlad got chewed out but then he gave it back.

Michigan: Massive effort, especially early from Tre Donaldson who led the first comeback by getting ball-dominant.

Officiating? Craig takes the side of Szelc. Seth says it was bad; they let them play way too physically early on and then switched it up, which is how you get both of Purdue's forwards fouling out late after getting away with a ton early. Players hate inconsistency the most.

Recognition for Roddy Gayle and Rubin Jones. Roddy filled the box score, can play the role of a secondary creator much better than the role of a fourth offensive option/spacer. You want him starting possessions not ending them.

Shooting from either? Roddy's shot is broken—that high arc makes it travel further which means he's effectively shooting at a smaller target. That needs an offseason. Jones's shot looks fine; he's just got to keep taking them and playing as hard as he did.

Dusty "inspiring" Vlad leads to two hard takes over TKR where he used his size advantage. Need that from Goldin.

Dusty May's future: Brian thinks the pressure cooker in Bloomington with similar resources as Michigan makes Michigan the better job, but we all agree Michigan has to make an Indiana-level investment to keep him.

At the outtro: congrats to Kim Barnes-Arico: the winningest basketball coach in the history of the University of Michigan.

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