Michigan assistant coach Saddi Washington appeared on WTKA 1050’s The Michigan Insider on Thursday to discuss the Wolverines’ NCAA Tournament win over LSU, preparations to face Florida State in the Sweet Sixteen and various other topics.
For everything that Washington had to say, check out the full transcript below.
On his takeaways from the win over LSU
Even before that, I just jumped on the call and was listening to the end of coach Bev’s interview with you and I just want to echo what she said. When we talk about Michigan athletics across the board, we have an extremely talented group of teams that perform at a high level. She’s right, I’m saying part of this of being a gymnastics dad, the work that coach Bev and her staff has done has been tremendous. At one point, with our winter sports, we had like 10 teams ranked in the top 10 in the country at their perspective sports at one point or another. She’s absolutely right. The legacy and tradition that exists in our athletic program are second to none. I just wanted to throw that out there because I jumped in at the end of the call. To answer your question regarding the LSU game, we knew going in that it was going to be a high-contested game. LSU is extremely talented with so many weapons on the offensive end. We knew we were going to have our work cut out for us. In true form, our guys just really dialed into the specifics of the scouting report. What we were trying to do because, the reality of this team of the year, everybody is talented so you gotta find the matchups that work best to your advantage and try to exploit them the best that you can.
On what he saw on film from LSU and the quick turnaround
I’ll answer that question in reverse because I think the process is really important. It sets the tone for how you’re going to attack. With knowing that you’re having potentially two games in a weekend, all the assistant coaches divide and conquer. H had our first-round game against Texas Southern, which was unique in and of itself because we didn’t know who we were playing until the play-in game. Really preparing for two teams in Texas Southern and Mount St. Mary’s. Phil and I divided the other two teams on the back-end with LSU and with St. Bonaventure. We’re all working diligently as assistants trying to gather as much information we can on our perspective teams as well as still being present in helping out with the current scout at hand. By the time we’re finished with the Texas Southern game, everything was done from a scouting perspective for LSU. All during that week, you’re trying to not only just watch film but you’re trying to gather as much intel and information as we can as it relates to LSU. The thing that really kept going back and forth with me was just the match-ups. You know from a scoring standpoint, they have a big three in Watford, Smart and Thomas. They make up 70% of the scoring, so you really know where the scoring is coming from. From a schematic standpoint in terms of defending actions, we felt pretty good that we would be able to do that. The tricky part with them is, they don’t have a true center because all those guys just score so It’s really about where and how do we match up? We felt good about Mike Smith and Eli matchups with Smart and Thomas. Then, you shift your focus towards, where do we put Hunter? Where do we put Franz? Where do we put Brandon? All through the gathering process, it was like, man, don’t put your five on Watford because he’s a high-volume guy, he can really stretch the floor with his shooting and with his ball-handling. As we kind of step back and look at it, and having conversations with coach, we kind of came to the conclusion, let’s start Hunter on Hyatt who is a lower-volume guy in terms of his shooting and we can allow Hunter to kind of help out more towards the basket. Then, give Watford a healthy dose of Franz and Brandon early. Then, as I think everybody saw, halfway through the first half, when Franz got into a little bit of foul trouble, we were able to move Hunter on Watford and I think that length really kind of started to bother him and Hunter did a great job. It’s really an all-hands-on-deck approach as it relates to the assistants doing the scout and then giving suggestions to coach Juwan. Obviously, coach Juwan has a plan in mind when he goes through his preparation but it’s a united front when we walk through the door and it becomes game time.
On what he’s learned from Juwan Howard and other coaches that have molded him
I think with all of them, there’s a thing of consistency and longevity of doing things the right way. There’s no microwave approach to this game and how you approach people. Specifically, with coach Juwan, it was clear to me from the beginning that he had a very clear vision of what and how he wanted to put this thing together in terms of building a program. One of the early takeaways, obviously, we all want to be in a position of leadership one day if the opportunity presents itself. When the vision is clear and then you can authentically form relationships with people, that’s where you’re likely going to get the buy-in from the players. That’s just who coach Juwan is. He’s just a genuine person. Seeing him really tap in to our guys, that was a huge takeaway in the early years. When I got to Michigan, coach Beilein was really huge in film work. Film work for our players to help them get better but, even more importantly, film work for us as coaches. Really, we like to refer to ourselves as teachers. Since I’ve been at Michigan, investing in the film work, I feel like has really grown me personally as a teacher and just really heightened my development as a coach. The role that Juwan put me in in terms of focusing on the defensive side of the ball has really helped me too. In the past, at Oakland and even my first couple years here at Michigan, I felt always pretty good at being a balanced coach and being able to see both sides of the ball. If you ask me, personally, where my comfort level was, I would probably lean towards the offensive side of the ball because that’s where my eye would’ve naturally gone. Being here and then being in this role the last couple of years, I felt like has really balanced me as a coach in terms of how to look at the game from an even higher level. All those things I really appreciate from him. Typically, even in the early part of the season and now just when we were trying to focus on us. We would scrimmage, coach would really split the team up. H would be in charge of a team, I would be in charge of a team. Getting those real-time opportunities and experiences drawing up plays, coming up with the plan, making up the calls, all those things I don’t take for granted. I’m just excited about my experience here at Michigan with coach Juwan and what we’re doing right now.
On the transfer portal and finding the right fits
We’ve tried to be extremely intentional with the way we go about this process of filling out our roster. Whether it’s with high school or what’s going on now with the transfer portal, postseason. It’s kind of hard because you know there’s going to be some level of attrition at the end of the year, whether it’s guys going to the NBA or guys transferring out for new opportunities. You really gotta take a good evaluation, have a good pulse on the character of your team and the needs of your team. Let’s be honest, it’s Michigan. When you have an institution like this with the success that we’ve had and now with everything Juwan and our players and our staff have been able to accomplish, we’re hot right now. I don’t say that in any braggadocious way, we’re getting calls constantly about kids wanting to be a part of this program. That’s a blessing to be in but, at the same time, you can’t take everybody because everybody doesn’t fit the culture. That’s the one thing that, at the end of the day, we’re going to fight tooth and nail to protect, that’s the culture and identity of this program. When we go through this process, yes, you’re right, we watch a lot of film in terms of what each young man brings individually from a playing perspective. Then we have to peel back the curtains a little bit and talk to the kids. Talk to his circle to see if the locker room part of that player fits what we want to do. Like I said if the buy-in isn’t there if it’s about the me and not about the we, then it won’t work and it’s going to disrupt what coach is trying to build here. From day one, he said I want an egoless program from the coaching staff all the way down to our players. That’s really been our mindset and that’s how we’re going to continue to try and recruit and build and shape this program.
On what he saw from Chaundee Brown heading into LSU and Mike Smith and how he plans to bounce back against FSU
Both of those guys are great, man. At the end of the day, the strength of our team is the strength of our team, which is our depth. We don’t have to rely on any one guy to have an amazing game in order for us to win because that’s the balance of the roster. One game it might be Mike, one game is gonna be Franz, the next game is gonna be Isaiah, the next game is gonna be Eli or Hunter or Chaundee or some other outlier, Brandon or T-Will. Just mentioning those guys and you go down the line reflecting on our season, you could say, yeah, every few games it was one of those guys that stepped up and was the reason why we won. From a mental standpoint, you always have to be mindful of your players and team and just watch them from a day-to-day, through the prep, and just really kind of build those guys up. Keeping in mind, Mike and Chaundee, this is their first postseason appearance in the NCAA Tournament. You don’t know if it’s nerve, you don’t know if it’s inexperience even though they’re senior guys. All of that stuff kind of plays into it. The isolation of being in the bubble and not physically being able to see — there a whole lot of things that come into play here. Our job as a staff and as teammates of one another is to constantly build those guys up. Whether it’s a joking way or whether it’s a serious way. Really get meticulous about encouraging them so that, on game day, they feel the best mentally and physically that they can be.
On what he’s seen on Florida State
Definitely seems like there is always a corner where us and Florida State are going to meet at some point between the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight. I feel like every year that I’ve been here — I’ve been here five years and for four years of going to the Sweet Sixteen, it feels like we either played them or had the potential to play them at some point. When you see a Florida State team, you know they’re going to be very well-coached. Coach Hamilton is a legend in the game. They’re coming with pressure, they’re going to try and attack you and pressure the ball from the defensive side of the ball. Obviously, from the offensive side of the ball, getting downhill and creating space. Kick-outs to shooters. It’s their length and their size which is the difference-maker for them. Just trying to figure out different ways to overcome that and still be who we are. It doesn’t get any easier from here on out. I would expect another exciting and challenging game for us but one we’re definitely looking forward to.
On seeing opportunities for Black head coaches in the Big Ten opening up and whether he thinks it will become a trend
My first thought is, it’s about dang time. I was so blown away — we were on the bus about to go to the LSU game when the alert came through that Ben (Johnson) had just been named the head coach (at Minnesota). That already set the tone for me for that evening because Ben is a friend and was so excited and happy for him to be able to go back home and lead that program that he, much like coach Juwan, had played for, had coached at and is now in a position to lead as a head coach. Even Micah (Shrewsbury), being brothers in this league. For me, personally, as a Black man and as a Black assistant, I think that time has to evolve. The product has to evolve with the times. I’ve always felt that the leadership should reflect what’s in the locker room and what’s on the court. We have so many players, Black and white since we’re talking specifically to African Americans. African American players make up almost 60% of the players in Division 1. Why wouldn’t more opportunities be made available to Black head coaches, right? And, at the level they’re being able to do that. What if coach Juwan didn’t have the opportunity, his first coaching experience to come to a place like the University of Michigan? This is not a small feat here, right? There’s this idea that we, as Black coaches, we gotta get whatever job that we can get and be happy with that. Everybody’s path is different so I’m not complaining about it from that standpoint. Look at what we’re doing here at Michigan as a result of a first-time Black head coach that quote, unquote, came in unproven. Man, what does the story look like right now? That’s why I’m excited for guys like Ben Johnson, Micah Shrewsbury, Dennis Gates at Cleveland State is killing it and will probably have some great opportunities at a higher level. Because this idea for so long that Black head coaches are great recruiters. Really, the narrative is that we’re great teachers, right? Not only do we know how to develop great relationships with players, Black and white, we also know how to teach the game. I’m really hoping that this trend does stick and more people of color and African American coaches are given real opportunities to lead programs at a high level. I think that you will see, and continue to see, the success that many people bring to the table. I was super excited for both of those guys as well as I’m excited about what we’re doing and what we’re growing here at Michigan.
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