Blog

Quick Look

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team only played one game last week, and they lost it. On Saturday (02/04/2017), Michigan lost to Ohio State 70-66 in Crisler Arena. The loss drops Michigan’s record to 14-9 (4-6 in the Big Ten).

What Happened

This was a “must win” game for Michigan, and they didn’t win it, so their season in now officially “on the brink”. They have 8 games left, and they need to win 6 of them to stand a chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, the OSU game was probably the most winnable of their remaining games, and they couldn’t win it. I’m afraid we’re looking at an NIT bid this season.

Michigan started the OSU game strong, then slowly let the game get away from them. They had an 11-point lead (19-8) with 14:03 left in the 1^st half; 90 seconds later, the lead was down for 3 points (19-16). UM managed to push the lead back up to 8 points (30-22) with 5:17 left in the half, then they fell apart. They let OSU go on a 14-5 run to lead by 1 point at halftime, 36-35.

OSU started pulling away in the 2^nd half, but Michigan had one last surge left in them. OSU led by 8 (47-39) with 14:46 left in the game, before UM came back to within 2 points (49-47) with 11:41 to go. OSU pushed the lead back up to 8 (58-50) with 7:07 left, then UM got it tied up (60-60) with 4:23 to go. It was tied up again (63-63) with 2:23 left, but OSU made their free throws, and Michigan missed their shots, and Michigan let another winnable game slip away.

The stats are miserable. Michigan shot poorly overall (19-for-51 = 37.3%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (13-for-35 = 37.1%), but they did shoot free throws well (15-for-18 = 83.3%). They were absolutely hammered on the boards (42-24), but they did win the turnover battle (12-16). The main reason they lost was rebounding, especially offensive rebounding. OSU had a whopping 16 offensive rebounds. It was terrible.

Who Looked Good

Derrick Walton Jr. has been on a tear lately, and he was one of the few bright spots in a dismal game. He scored 25 points, including 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. He also had 10 rebounds, for another double-double. He needs more help.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman did his best, and it was pretty good, but it wasn’t enough. He scored 12 points, and had 7 rebounds. He played hard.

DJ Wilson was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 11 points. He had one rebound. Think about that: 2 of Michigan’s guards combined for 17 rebounds, Wilson had one.

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Moritz Wagner couldn’t stay on the floor. He fouled out in only 22 minutes, after scoring 5 points in the 1^st half, and 0 points in the 2^nd half. He also had exactly one rebound.

Zak Irvin did a little better than his last game (0 points vs. MSU, when he was sick with the flu), but not much. He scored 5 points in the first 5 minutes, then was held scoreless the rest of the game. He shot 2-for-10 (1-for-6 from 3-point range), and had as many turnovers (3) as rebounds (3).

Duncan Robinson almost hit double figures (8 points), on 2-for-6 shooting, all from 3-point range. He had a rough time on defense.

Mark Donnal had to play a lot more than usual, since Wagner was in foul trouble for most of the game. He responded with 0 points and one rebound.

Xavier Simpson played for 4 minutes, didn’t attempt a shot, didn’t get a rebound, but did get 2 steals.

Who Else Played

No one else played.

Who Didn’t Play

Brent Hibbitts, Sean Lonergan, Jon Teske, Ibi Watson, and Fred Wright-Jones didn’t play.

The Big Picture

The bubble has popped. It would take a minor miracle for Michigan to make it to the NCAA Tournament now. They should just worry about staying above 0.500 so they can go to the NIT.

What’s Next

This week Michigan plays two games again, one in Crisler and one on the road. On Tuesday (02/07/2017, 9:00 p.m., ESPN), they play Michigan State in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (02/12/2017, 1:00 p.m., CBS), they play at Indiana.

Michigan just played MSU 2 weeks ago (Sunday 01/29/2017) in East Lansing, and almost pulled off the road upset. This is another “toss up” game, and it is a game that Michigan needs to win if they want to salvage anything from this season.

Michigan also played Indiana 2 weeks ago (Thursday 01/26/2017) in Crisler Arena, and thrashed them soundly. If they could beat IU by 30 points (90-60) at home, they should be able to beat them by at least one point on the road, but Michigan still hasn’t won a true road game this season, so expect another nail-biter.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

Quick Look

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they won one and lost the other. On Thursday (01/26/2017), Michigan beat Indiana 90-60 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (01/29/2017), they lost at Michigan State 70-62. The win and the loss

leave Michigan with a record of 14-8 (4-5 in the Big Ten).

What Happened

This is the 5^th week in a row where Michigan has won one game and lost the other, but this week included a huge win and a rivalry loss. Look at that score again from the IU game: 90-60. The game wasn’t even that close. Unfortunately, Michigan couldn’t keep the momentum from the IU game going vs. MSU. When UM is hitting their 3-pointers, everything else falls into place, and they look great. When they are cold from 3-point range, everything else falls apart, and they look terrible. That’s what happened this week.

Michigan started hot vs. IU, and never cooled off. The won both halves by 15 points (50-35 and 40-25), and they never let IU even get close for the entire 2^nd half. It was very impressive.

On the other hand, Michigan never got hot vs. MSU, and the game was close most of the time. Michigan actually led by one point (40-39) with 14:53 to go in the 2^nd half, before MSU went on a 12-2 run to give them a lead they never gave up. Even though they were playing from behind for most of the 2^nd half, UM stayed close, and actually got within 4 points (66-62) in the final minute, but could get no closer.

Let’s look at the stats. In the IU game, Michigan shot very well overall (31-for-49 = 63.3%), they shot 3-pointers very well (11-for-20 = 55.0%), and they shot free throws well enough (17-for-24 = 70.8%). They won the rebounding battle (23-20) and the turnover battle (6-16). It was total domination.

The stats for the MSU game aren’t nearly as pretty. Michigan shot very poorly overall (19-for-56 = 33.9%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (7-for-26 = 26.9%), but they did shoot free throws well (17-for-19 = 89.5%). Michigan actually won the rebounding battle, barely (33-32), but they uncharacteristically lost the turnover battle (13-11). All those turnovers, combined with anemic 3-point shooting, cost Michigan the game.

Who Looked Good

Michigan had 6 players, including all 5 starters, in double figures for the IU game, but only 2 players in double figures for the MSU game.

Derrick Walton Jr. was Michigan’s leading scorer in both games, with 21 and 24 points. He hit 14 of 15 free throws vs. MSU, and almost had a double-double, with 9 rebounds (3 offensive). He had a great week.

Moritz Wagner was the only other Michigan player to hit double figures in both games, with 14 and 10. On the downside, he had 4 fouls and 4 bad turnovers vs. MSU.

DJ Wilson had a solid game against IU, with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots, but he had a tougher time against MSU, with only 8 points.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had 12 points vs. IU, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range, and he played great defense. He had a quiet game (5 points) vs. MSU, and had a tougher time on defense.

Duncan Robinson had 13 and 8 points, and did a decent job on defense for a change.

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Zak Irvin may have had 12 points vs. IU, but he almost single-handedly cost Michigan the MSU game, with 0 points on 0-for-8 shooting. He also had 3 turnovers vs. MSU. Ugh.

Mark Donnal had a quiet week, with 3 and 7 points.

Xavier Simpson played in both games, and scored 2 points (on free throws) vs. IU. He was scoreless vs. MSU. When he’s out there, Michigan is essentially playing 4-on-5 on offense, since he refuses to shoot.

Who Else Played

Jon Teske played in both games, but failed to score.

Ibi Watson played in both games, and scored 2 points (on free throws) vs. IU. He was scoreless vs. MSU. He still looks lost out there.

Fred Wright-Jones played in the MSU game, but failed to score.

Brent Hibbitts played in the IU game, but failed to score.

Sean Lonergan played in the IU game, but failed to score.

Who Didn’t Play

Everyone played in at least one of the games this week.

The Big Picture

Michigan is still “on the bubble” for an NCAA Tournament bid. They need to win 6 of their remaining 9 Big Ten games to stand a decent chance. They need to do better than a split every week.

What’s Next

This week Michigan only plays one game, at home. On Saturday (02/04/2017, 6:00 p.m., ESPN2), Michigan plays Ohio State in Crisler Arena. This is another “toss up” game.

OSU is currently 13-9 overall, 3-6 in the Big Ten. They did beat MSU in Columbus, but they have also lost to Florida Atlantic. The rest of their wins and losses are all predictable.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

Quick Look

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they lost one and won the other. On Tuesday (01/17/2017), Michigan lost at (#17) Wisconsin 68-64, then on Saturday (01/21/2017), they beat Illinois 66-57 in Crisler Arena. The loss and the win leave Michigan with a record of 13-7 (3-4 in the Big Ten).

What Happened

This is the 4^th week in a row where Michigan has won one game and lost the other, but this week felt different. For the first time since the 2K Classic in November, Michigan played both games, all 40 minutes in each game, with fire and passion. That’s what’s been missing for the last couple months: recently, the team has gone down quietly. It’s one thing to show good sportsmanship and not react poorly to losses, but Michigan acted like they didn’t care that they lost. This last week, they played like they wanted to win.

Sure, Michigan lost at Wisconsin, and a loss is a loss, but this loss was a moral victory. On paper, it looked like a game where Michigan would get crushed, with Wisconsin’s rugged forecourt and Michigan’s porous interior defense, but that’s not how it played out. Michigan wasn’t great on defense, but they were a LOT better, and they stayed with Wisconsin for the whole game. The 1^st half was close and low-scoring, with Wisconsin leading by 3-5 points most of the time. They led by 5 (26-21) at halftime. Michigan opened the 2^nd half with an 11-2 run, to take a 4 point lead (32-28). They extended the lead to 8 (38-30) with 12:40 left in the game, and still led by 6 (49-43) with 6:29 to go. That’s where the roof fell in. Wisconsin went on a 15-0 run to go up by 9 (58-49) with 2:27 left, and Michigan couldn’t catch back up. It was a shame to get so close to a huge upset, only to see it snatched away in the last few minutes, but that’s the way the game goes sometimes.

The Illinois game was a revenge game, after the way Illinois embarrassed Michigan 10 days before in Champaign. Michigan returned the favor by leading for almost the entire game, except for 6-4 in the opening minutes, and pushing the lead as high as 21 points (60-39) with 5:57 to go. Michigan traded points for time the rest of the way, which let Illinois get the score looking more respectable, but the outcome was never in doubt. Michigan outplayed Illinois, especially on defense.

The stats for the Wisconsin game are actually pretty reasonable. Michigan didn’t shoot very well overall (22-for-51 = 43.1%), but they shot 3-pointers very well (10-for-21 = 47.6%). They shot free throws very well also (10-for-11 = 90.9%), they tied in rebounds (32-32), but lost the turnover battle (10-8). The difference in the game was that Wisconsin got to the free throw line a lot more, even if they shot poorly there (14-for-24 = 58.3%). Those 4 extra made free throws were exactly the difference in a 4-point loss.

The stats for the Illinois game are not as good as the Wisconsin stats, even though Michigan beat Illinois and lost to Wisconsin. In the Illinois game, Michigan shot just OK overall (23-for-51 = 45.1%), they shot 3-pointers pretty poorly (6-for-21 = 28.6%), and they shot free throws pretty poorly (14-for-22 = 63.6%). They won the rebounding battle (30-27) and the turnover battle (14-17). They won the game by holding Illinois to 2-for-12 (16.7%) shooting from 3-point range.

Who Looked Good

This week, in both games, 3 of the 5 starters hit double figures.

Derrick Walton Jr. hit double figures in both games (15 and 13 points), and he pulled down 11 rebounds in the Illinois game for a double-double.

Zak Irvin also hit double figures in both games (20 and 15). He wasn’t very efficient, but he did score some points.

Moritz Wagner almost had double figures in both games, with 10 and 8 points. He did a much better job on defense against Illinois this time than he did in the first Illinois game.

DJ Wilson was the star of the Illinois game, with 19 points (on 7-for-10 shooting) and 7 rebounds (6 offensive). Unfortunately, he had 0 points vs. Wisconsin. Coincidentally, he was the star of the first Illinois game, when he also scored 19 points.

Duncan Robinson isn’t a starter, but he was the only other Michigan player to hit double figures in one game this week, with 11 vs. Wisconsin. He had 5 points vs. Illinois.

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman was the only starter to not hit double figures in either game this week, with 8 and 4 points.

Mark Donnal had a quiet week, with 0 and 2 points. He also had 4 fouls in only 9 minutes vs. Illinois.

Xavier Simpson played in both games, but failed to score.

Who Else Played

Jon Teske played in both games, but failed to score.

Ibi Watson played in the Illinois game, but failed to score.

Fred Wright-Jones played in the Wisconsin game, but failed to score.

Who Didn’t Play

Brent Hibbitts and Sean Lonergan didn’t play in either game this week.

The Big Picture

Michigan is still “on the bubble” for an NCAA Tournament bid. They need to win 7 of their remaining 11 Big Ten games to stand a decent chance. If they continue to play as hard as they did this week, they just might do it.

What’s Next

This week Michigan plays two more games, one at home and one on the road. On Thursday (01/26/2017, 9:00 p.m., ESPN2), Michigan plays Indiana in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (01/29/2017, 1:00 p.m., CBS), they play at Michigan State. Both of these games are “toss up” games.

Indiana is currently 14-6 overall, 4-3 in the Big Ten. They have some impressive wins (#2 Kansas, #3 North Carolina, and Michigan State) and some embarrassing losses (Fort Wayne and Nebraska). They have an elite offense, but a mid-level defense. This will be a good test to see how much Michigan’s defense has improved.

Michigan State has a worse overall record than Michigan (12-8), but a better Big Ten record (4-3). They have a few decent wins (Wichita State and Minnesota [twice]), and a few embarrassing losses (Northeastern, Penn State, and Ohio State). They lean heavily on a raw but talented freshman class, which makes them unpredictable. Expect this to be a real slugfest, especially in Breslin.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

Quick Look

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they lost one and won the other. On Wednesday (01/11/2017), Michigan lost at Illinois 85-69, then on Saturday (01/14/2017), they beat Nebraska 91-85 in Crisler Arena. The loss and the win leave Michigan with a record of 12-6 (2-3 in the Big Ten).

What Happened

After the truly disappointing loss at Illinois, it looked like Michigan might not win another game this season, and that all was lost. But, as Monty Python says, “I’m not dead yet”: they played one of their better games in a while in beating Nebraska. Normally, we’d say “eh, Nebraska”, but not this season. Nebraska has beaten Indiana and Maryland on the road, so beating them is more of an accomplishment than usual.

“Disappointing” might not cover it for the Illinois debacle. Michigan needed that win, and they didn’t show up. The game was close for most of the 1^st half, and it was tied up 34-34 with 3:18 left in the half. That’s when the roof fell in. Derrick Walton Jr. got called for a foul, and lost his cool. He slammed the basketball to the court, and got called for a technical. So, Illinois got 2 free throws (which they made) and the ball, and got a basket for 2 more points. That started a 15-2 run to end the half up 13 points (49-36), which was all the lead Illinois needed. The closest Michigan got the rest of the game was 9 points (53-44) with 17:22 left, but the lead got as high as 20 points several times. It was ugly.

To their credit, Michigan could have folded their tents and just gone through the motions vs. Nebraska, but they played hard and smart. They didn’t play much defense, again, but they managed to get just enough timely stops to win the game. They led the entire game, but never by more than 10 points, and often by 1 or 2 points. They managed to keep the lead in the 3-6 point range most of the game, but they could never shake Nebraska. Fortunately, they hit their free throws in crunch time, and won the game.

The stats for both games are remarkably similar. Michigan played great offense in both games, and terrible defense. In the Illinois game, Michigan shot very well overall (27-for-51 = 52.9%), they shot 3-pointers well (7-for-14 = 50.0%), and they shot free throws well (8-for-10 = 80.0%). They were crushed on the boards (30-17), but they won the turnover battle (8-11). They lost the game on the boards: all those extra possessions added up for Illinois.

In the Nebraska game, UM shot very well overall (27-for-50 = 54.0%), they shot very well from 3-point range (11-for-22 = 50.0%), and they shot very well from the free throw line (26-for-30 = 86.7%). As usual, they lost the rebounding battle (29-23), and they won the turnover battle (10-13). They won the game at the free throw line: Nebraska only shot 5 free throws.

Who Looked Good

For the second week in a row, in both games, 4 of the 5 starters hit double figures.

DJ Wilson was the star of the Illinois game, with 19 points (on 8-for-12 shooting). He also played well vs. Nebraska, with 11 points, including 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range.

Moritz Wagner was the star of the Nebraska game, with 23 points, including 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range. He had one of his worst games of the season vs. Illinois, with only 6 points, and no defense.

Derrick Walton Jr. hit double figures in both games (11 and 20 points), but his mental error (technical foul) in the Illinois game swung the momentum the wrong way at the wrong time.

Zak Irvin also hit double figures in both games (10 and 21). On the downside, he was 0-for-1 and 0-for-4 shooting 3-pointers this week.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman was the other starter to hit double figures in one game (14 vs. Illinois) and have a rough time the other game (6 vs. Nebraska).

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Duncan Robinson had another quiet week: 2 and 6 points. This is the same Duncan Robinson who shot 60% from 3-point range in the early part of last season. Michigan needs that Duncan Robinson back.

Mark Donnal had 2 points in each game. This is the same Mark Donnal who had 28 points against Illinois last season in Champaign. Michigan needs that Mark Donnal back.

Xavier Simpson had 3 and 2 points. He did a decent job of running the offense, and he has quick hands on defense, but he’s still got a ways to go.

Sean Lonergan had 2 points vs. Illinois, and didn’t play in the Nebraska game.

Who Else Played

Ibi Watson played in both games, but failed to score.

Brent Hibbitts, Jon Teske, and Fred Wright-Jones all played in the Illinois game, but not the Nebraska game. None of them scored.

Who Didn’t Play

Everyone played in at least one game this week. Once the Illinois game got out of hand, Coach Beilein emptied the bench.

The Big Picture

While Michigan hasn’t completely ruined their chances for getting into the NCAA Tournament, they certainly didn’t help things by sleepwalking through the Illinois game. Their margin for error is getting very thin. At this point, I’d say an NIT bid is much more likely.

What’s Next

This week Michigan plays two more games, one on the road, and one in Crisler Arena. On Tuesday (01/17/2017, 9:00 p.m. EST, ESPN), Michigan plays at (#18) Wisconsin, then on Saturday (01/21/2017, 2:15 p.m., BTN), they play Illinois in Crisler Arena.

Michigan stands no chance at all vs. Wisconsin in Madison. Zero. Wisconsin is 14-3 overall, 3-1 in the Big Ten, and they are virtually unbeatable at home. Just write this one off and move on.

Illinois just beat Michigan last week, but it was a closer game than the final score would indicate. The rematch is a “toss up” game, and Michigan really needs to win it if they want to have any hope of making the Big Dance. If they lose this one, it’s NIT time.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!