WTKA Roundtable 11/14/2024: You Missed Your Dude

Things Discussed:

• Wake game: Brian thinks it counts as a road game for NET purposes so this will be a NET Tier 1 as long as Wake's in the top-75.
• A few moments of bad luck but the problem was Michigan's: they're not hitting the role man, way too much usage on Cason way too little on Goldin. Goldin himself has to be assertive. As a team they shied away from the rim when they saw length but the plays were there.
• Things working: Sam Walters looks like a real defender at the wing, which is a big development because you don't have to play Wolf at the four against teams with a lot of good scoring wings. Jones is everything we thought he was. Phat Phat is a defensive dude too.
• Playing games at LCA: Deacon-Wolverine Challenge? EMU game was a good atmosphere but if you're not playing them or Oakland what's the point? Seth: LCA is actually pretty terrible. They have great staff, but the design is 100% modern revenue-maximization and the cheap seats are extremely far away and extremely vertical.
• Hockey v Notre Dame: Not like most Michigan teams because the talent isn't there—Hage and maybe a couple of other guys are Power Play-worthy.
• CHL players now eligible, one CHL coach is mad about stuff, says people are gonna go play for Brandon Naurato.
• Hallum in a race for the puck: yay!
• Goalie plan? Friday/Saturday guys until you have to pick a guy. Stein's got a .934 save% right now so he's got the edge, but saw a couple of fantastic point blank stops from Korpi and you want to develop him.
• They're old (mostly juniors) so we might be pretty good. Craig uses the BGSU example. CHL route might be a way for Michigan to get talented and older.
• Football: Offense doesn't have their answers prepared, haven't figured out who their best players are—the Link thing, the Mullings thing.
• Think it's the end of the road for Kirk Campbell.
• Defensively they might be elite next year: Brandt came on, Benny is great, Guy is great, the linebackers might return? I doubt the NFL will let us keep Barham but Hausmann could use another year of weight training to see what he's going to be. Both had great games.
• Wink's getting a 'B'. No he's not Jesse Minter but Minter is going to be an NFL HC in a minute. Interception was a good gamble, and then Wink was ready when Indiana tried to test that behavior.
• IU was more the kind of offense this defense was designed to stop: Like Stroud teams they want to get 1-on-1 deep matchups. Quick-passing teams beat Wink shit, screen teams exploit our tackling issues.
• Paige's tackling issues are manifest.
• Secondary: They're playing Berry at CB and Paige at nickel but they have some young safeties so it's working as long as Berry can hack it. He had a good game: TD was a perfect throw.