Monday, March 17, 2008 - Drew Montag

03/17/2008 – Week #21 – A Merciful End To A Long Season

The Week In Review

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week in the Big Ten Tournament, and they won one and lost one.  On Thursday (03/13/2008), they beat Iowa, 55-47, then on Friday (03/14/2008), they lost to (#8) Wisconsin, 51-34.  The win and the loss leave Michigan with a final record of 10-22, 5-13 in the Big Ten.  Since they finished well below 0.500, they aren’t eligible for the NIT, and they certainly don’t deserve an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament, so they’re done for this season.

Both games were low scoring, especially the Wisconsin mess.  Both games featured more long stretches where Michigan couldn’t buy a basket, or even a point.  Amazingly, Michigan went for more than 10 minutes without a point in the 2^nd half of the Iowa game, yet their lead only went from 15 points (44-29) to 8 points (44-36), before they finally started scoring again.

Michigan had two shorter scoreless stretches (only about 4 minutes each) in the 2^nd half of the Wisconsin game, but they were enough to put the game out of reach.  Michigan’s 34 points set a record for the fewest points scored by one team in Big Ten Tournament history.  It was a miserable game.

Game Statistics

First, let's look at the shooting statistics from the Iowa game:

Michigan dominated these stats, and that’s why they won the game.  Michigan didn’t shoot particularly well, but Iowa was just terrible, especially shooting 3-pointers.

Now, let’s look at the non-shooting statistics from the Iowa game:

Iowa won the rebounding battle by 7, but they away almost half of them with +3 turnovers.  The important stat in this game was 3-point shooting.

Next, let's look at the shooting statistics from the Wisconsin game:

This is a no-brainer: Michigan shot poorly, and Wisconsin shot better across the board.

Finally, let's look at the non-shooting statistics from the Wisconsin game:

It was a clean sweep: Wisconsin either won or tied every stat.  No contest.

It’s embarrassing that Michigan had more rebounds than points, and more turnovers than baskets.

Season 3-Point Shooting

Here’s my theory: Michigan should win a game if they can shoot at least 20 3-pointers, and hit at least 40% of them.  Of course, they can still win the game when they shoot less than 20 3-pointers, or when they hit less than 40% of them.  I’m just saying that they should win the game if they do shoot 20 and make 40%.  Let’s see how they that works this season:

The theory held true for almost every game this season.  The loss to Butler in the Great Alaska Shootoutwas the only game where UM shot at least 20 3-pointers, and made at least 40%, yet still lost.

Individual Statistics

Coach Beileinwent with his latest starting lineup in both games.

Here’s how the starters did:

As a group, the starters had a lousy week.  Most of their percentages are mediocre, except 3-point shooting in the Iowa game, and they didn’t contribute many points, especially against Wisconsin.

Individually, none of the starters hit double figures in both games.  Harris and Sims both played well against Iowa, but they both had a rough time against Wisconsin.  Only Wright came close to double figures in both games.  Udoh and Grady were both worthless out there offensively.

Coach Beilein went 6-deep on the bench in the Wisconsin game, but only because he put freshman Adam Blockin during the last few minutes.

Here's how the bench players did:

As a group, the bench players had a lousy week.  Their shooting percentages were lousy, and they didn’t chip in many points.

Individually, only Gibson contributed anything.  For the week, the bench players scored 18 points, and Gibson had 14 of them.

Coleman ended his Michigan career by taking 3 shots in 2 games, and missing them all.

It was nice to see Merritt back out there, even if he didn’t do much.

Big Ten Tournament

The Big Ten Tournamentwas held in Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis last week.  Wisconsin won it all, to go with their regular season championship.

Here are all the results, with the seeds in parentheses:

Thursday (03/13/2008)

Game 1: (#8) Iowa lost to (#9) Michigan, 55-47

Game 2: (#7) Penn State lost to (#10) Illinois, 64-63

Game 3: (#6) Minnesota beat (#11) Northwestern, 55-52

Friday (03/14/2008)

Game 4: (#1) Wisconsin beat (#9) Michigan, 51-34

Game 5: (#4) Michigan State beat (#5) Ohio State, 67-60

Game 6: (#2) Purdue lost to (#10) Illinois, 74-67 (ot)

Game 7: (#3) Indiana lost to (#6) Minnesota, 59-58

Saturday (03/15/2008)

Game 8: (#1) Wisconsin beat (#4) Michigan State, 65-63

Game 9: (#6) Minnesota lost to (#10) Illinois, 54-50

Sunday (03/16/2008)

Game 10: (#1) Wisconsin beat (#10) Illinois, 61-48

There were a few surprises, especially Illinois beating Purdue and Minnesota beating Indiana.

Only the top four teams from the Big Ten made it to the NCAA Tournament: (#5) Wisconsin, (#18) Purdue, (#20) Michigan State, and (#24) Indiana.  Ohio State was a “bubble team”, but their bubble popped when they lost to Michigan State on Friday.

Of the 7 Big Ten teams that didn’t get into the NCAA Tournament, only 2 of them (Ohio State and Minnesota) had winning records.  They both got into the NIT.

The Big Picture

Well, the season is over, and it was quite a disappointment.  Michigan did win one game in the Big Ten Tournament, but they fell flat in the 2^nd round against Wisconsin.

The bad news is that this season was a disaster.  The good news is that next season should be noticeably better.  Check back next week for a season wrap-up, final grades, and a look ahead to next season.

Here are the final 2007-2008 results:

The Upcoming Week

Michigan’s season is over, but there’s still one more week of Nothing But ‘Net.  Check back next week for the season wrap-up, final grades, and a look ahead to next season.

Go Blue!

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