Michigan Game Opening Set by Chris Filios

Written by Coach Peterman

I have coached at the NCAA Division 2 (Southwestern Oklahoma State University), NAIA (USAO), and JUCO Levels (Blinn College and Carl Albert State College) as well as high school. I just felt that fellow coaches especially young coaches need to constantly work on their “game”. Just like the basketball players that we coach. We as coaches need to improve ourselves. That is my story and why I do this blog.

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Basketball Coaching | Basketball Plays | Basketball Set Plays

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January 17, 2021

Michigan Game-Opening Set by Chris Filios

Fran Fraschilla tweeted this on January 12 about the University of Michigan Men’s Basketball Coach:

“I said this two years ago. @JuwanHoward, after a terrific @nba career, could be chipping & putting at Doral every day. Instead, he joined Eric Spoelstra’s @MiamiHEAT coaching staff for SIX YEARS. College coaching is arithmetic & NBA coaching is algebra & trigonometry.”

This was on the heels of Michigan’s big win over #9 Wisconsin 77-54.

Howard, after a 19 year NBA career and 2 NBA Championships, spent 6 years as an assistant coach for the Miami Heat. Working for Pat Riley and coaching with Erik Spoelstra every day for six years is like getting a Masters’s Degree in basketball from two of the best to ever do it.

In his second season at Michigan, Howard’s Wolverines are off to a hot start. They are off to an 11-0 start. On Tuesday, they scored their biggest win of the season in a top 10 matchup.

Here is their Michigan game-opening set play from the game.

Howard uses an inverted post up action where a big cross screens for a guard into the post or short step-out. After the cross-screen, the big comes off a stagger screen. In the game vs Wisconsin, Isaiah Livers’ (4) man trailed him off the stagger screen, so he curled the screen to the basket where Eli Brooks (2) hit him for an easy layup.

Howard is using his NBA knowledge and experience to quietly build a championship contender at his alma mater. While Michigan’s roster isn’t filled with 5-star guys it is filled with talented players who are buying into Howard’s plan. They rank both in the top 10 in offensive (6th) and defensive (10th) efficiency according to KenPom.com.