Author: Drew Montag

Quick Look

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they won them both. On Tuesday (12/13/2016), Michigan beat Central Arkansas 97-53, then on Saturday (12/17/2016), they beat Maryland Eastern Shore 98-49. Both games were in Crisler Arena. The two wins raise Michigan’s record to 9-3.

What Happened

Michigan easily took care of a pair of “cupcakes” to pad their record and boost their stats. They also managed to get some playing time for the two freshmen who don’t play as often. They were both fun, easy games, where the final outcome was decided by halftime, and the (sparse) crowds were able to relax and enjoy the glorified scrimmages.

Michigan led from start to finish in both games, with good starts (15-5 vs. UCA, and 19-2 vs. MDES), good leads at halftime (49-20 and 49-22), and good “largest margins” (44 and 50 points). Michigan shot well overall in both games (32-for-62 = 51.6% vs. UCA, 34-for-52 = 65.4% vs. MDES), they shot 3-pointers very well in both games (19-for-45 = 42.2% and 12-for-21 = 57.1%), and they shot free throws well enough in both games (14-for-18 = 77.8% and 18-for-26 = 69.2%). They outrebounded both opponents by a wide margin (36-27 and 35-26), and they won the turnover battle in both games (6-14 and 9-15). It was total domination. Here are the complete stats for UCA and MDES.

Did you notice the 3-point numbers for the UCA game? Both 19 made 3-pointers and 45 attempts are new single-game school records. It was fun to watch.

Who Looked Good

DJ Wilson hit double figures in both games (11 and 16 points), and chipped in 7 and 6 rebounds. He’s looking very good out there so far this season.

Zak Irvin also hit double figures in both games (16 and 11), along with 6 rebounds in each game.

Duncan Robinson was the 3^rd player to hit double figures in both games (12 and 17). He came off the bench in the UCA game, but he started in the MDES game (due to a “clerical error”). He shot his 3-pointers pretty well: 4-for-9 and 3-for-6.

Derrick Walton Jr. almost had double figures in both games: 9 and 21. He didn’t shoot very well vs. UCA (2-for-7), but he was on fire vs. MDES (7-for-9, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range).

Moritz Wagner also just missed hitting double figures in both games (18 and 9). He had almost perfect shooting for the week: 8-for-9 and 4-for-4.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had a pretty good week scoring (14 and 7), but he also chipped in 4 assists vs. UCA and a career-high 10 assists vs. MDES.

Xavier Simpson finally scored a few points: 7 and 4. He’s starting to look a little more comfortable out there.

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Mark Donnal had a quiet week, with 0 and 5 points.

Who Else Played

Ibi Watson played in both games, and had 3 and 4 points. He is still struggling with his 3-point shot (1-for-15), but he finally hit his first one in the UCA game.

Jon Teske is starting to get more playing time, but he still isn’t looking very comfortable out there. He had 2 and 0 points. He hit his first career basket vs. UCA.

Sean Lonergan scored 2 and 1 points.

Fred Wright-Jones scored 0 and 3 points. He hit his first career 3-pointer vs. MDES.

Brent Hibbitts scored 3 and 0 points. He hit his first career 3-pointer vs. UCA.

Who Didn’t Play

Since both games were blowouts, everybody played.

The Big Picture

It’s not clear how much we can learn about the team from these “guarantee” games against overmatched opponents. It was fun to watch them run around and score and hit lots of 3-pointers, but the Big Ten games aren’t going to look anything like that.

What’s Next

This week Michigan only plays one game, due to finals and the holidays. On Thursday (12/22/2016, 7:00 p.m., BTN), Michigan plays Furman in Crisler Arena. This is their last non-conference game. Furman isn’t very good, but they’re a lot better than Central Arkansas and Maryland Eastern Shore. Michigan will have to play a solid game to beat them.

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 one. On Tuesday (12/06/2016), Michigan beat Texas 53-50 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (12/10/2016), they lost at (#2) UCLA 102-84. The win and the loss leave Michigan with a record of 7-3.

What Happened

After losing ground two weeks ago, Michigan broke even last week. They still aren’t looking very cohesive, but at least they showed a little backbone last week. They were expected to beat Texas in Crisler, and they did, although it was a lot closer and harder than expected. They were expected to lose at UCLA, and they did, but they hung with UCLA a lot longer and a lot better than expected, before falling apart at the end. In both games, Michigan played a lot better in the 1^st half than in the 2^nd. They got away with it, barely, vs. Texas, but they couldn’t keep up with UCLA.

The Texas game was close for the first 8:00, before Michigan went on a 9-0 run to go up by 10, 21-11, with 9:53 left. They still led by 9 (31-22) with 1:56 left in the half, before falling apart and letting Texas back in the game. They let Texas go on a 6-0 run to end the half, with their lead cut to 3 points (31-28). Michigan had a slow start to the 2^nd half, and Texas pulled ahead 40-37 with 14:03 left in the game. The rest of the way, the lead went back and forth, with neither team able to pull more than 3 points ahead. Texas led by 2 (50-48) with 1:56 left, but Michigan scored the last 5 points to win by 3.

It was an ugly game, with poor shooting and lots of turnovers. Still, an ugly win is much better than a pretty loss, like the UCLA game. Even though Michigan lost by 18 points, and gave up over 100 points, it was still a “pretty loss”, thanks to a wild 1^st half. UM started the game on fire, hitting 12 of their first 15 3-point shots. They actually led UCLA by 7 points (48-41) with 1:22 left in the 1^st half, then they fell apart, again. They let UCLA go on a 9-2 run to end the half tied 50-50. UCLA kept the run going, and started the 2^nd half with a 10-2 run, which was all the lead they needed, 60-52. Michigan hung around for quite a while, and only trailed by 5 points (77-72) with 8:06 left in the game. They still stood a chance, but UCLA outscored them 25-12 from that point, to win by 18.

Michigan didn’t shoot very well vs. Texas (41.7%, 31.6% from 3-point range), but they shot a little better than Texas, and that was enough to win a close game. Rebounds were close (28-31), and so were turnovers (12-14). The difference was at the free throw line: UM got there more often (7-for-11 vs. 5-for-6), and those 2 extra points were most of the difference. Here are the complete stats for the Texas game.

The stats for the UCLA game are amazing. Looking at just the UM numbers, it’s hard to believe they lost by 18: 29-for-58 (50.0%) shooting overall, 14-for-26 (53.8%) shooting from 3-point range, and 12-for-13 (92.3%) from the free throw line. However UCLA’s numbers are even more impressive: 39-for-58 (67.2%), 15-for-24 (62.5%), and 9-for-18 (50.0%). UCLA won the rebounding battle decisively (30-23), but turnovers were even (8-8).

Who Looked Good

Moritz Wagner is turning into the “go to” player for Michigan this season. He was the leading scorer for Michigan vs. Texas, with 15 points, and he hit double figures again vs. UCLA, with 11 points. He had foul trouble (4) vs. UCLA, which limited his minutes (20), but he still played well when he was in.

Duncan Robinson was the only other player to hit double figures in both games, with 12 and 13. He still isn’t hitting his 3-pointers like he used to (2-for-6 and 2-for-4), but he’s scoring in other ways, and providing a nice scoring threat off the bench.

DJ Wilson had a solid week, with 13 points (and a team-high 6 rebounds) vs. Texas, and 8 points vs. UCLA. He hit 2-for-2 and 2-for-3 from 3-point range.

Zak Irvin had a lousy game vs. Texas (3 points and 3 turnovers), but he bounced back nicely vs. UCLA, with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and only 1 turnover.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman also had a lousy game vs. Texas (3 points, all free throws), but did much better vs. UCLA, with 11 points.

Mark Donnal was another player who had a lousy game vs. Texas (0 points), but he scored 12 points (on 5-for-5 shooting, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range) vs. UCLA.

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Derrick Walton Jr. had 2 mediocre games, with 7 and 9 points. He didn’t shoot well (3-for-9 and 2-for-7), and he had more turnovers (7) than assists (4) for the week.

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

Who Else Played

Since the Texas game was so tense and tight, Coach Beilein didn’t play any of the subs and scrubs, but once the UCLA game got out of hand, he put them in. Ibi Watson was the only player to score, with 2 points. Sean Lonergan, Jon Teske, and Fred Wright-Jones all played, but failed to score.

Who Didn’t Play

Brent Hibbitts didn’t get into either game.

The Big Picture

Once again, Michigan couldn’t put two good halves together in either game. They got away with it vs. Texas, but they got hammered in the last 8 minutes of the UCLA game. They have shown us that they have the talent to play with anyone, they just need to figure out how to maintain the effort for 40 minutes.

What’s Next

This week Michigan plays two more games, both in Crisler Arena. On Tuesday (12/13/2016, 9:00 p.m., BTN), Michigan plays Central Arkansas, then on Saturday (12/17/2016, 3:00 p.m., BTN), Michigan plays Maryland Eastern Shore. These are both “guarantee” games against cupcakes, and Michigan should win both games easily.

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 one. On Wednesday (11/30/2016), Michigan lost to Virginia Tech 73-70, then on Saturday (12/03/2016), they beat Kennesaw State 82-55. Both games were in Crisler Arena. The loss and the win leave Michigan with a record of 6-2.

What Happened

Michigan is losing ground. At this point, they were supposed to start looking better, and developing some chemistry, but instead they’re looking worse each week. The high point of the season was the two games in Madison Square Garden in the 2K Classic, vs. Marquette and SMU. Since then, they have not looked good. They were soundly beaten at South Carolina two weeks ago, and they threw away the game last week vs. Virginia Tech. Sure, they beat Mount St. Mary’s two weeks ago, and Kennesaw State last week, but they didn’t even look very good in those games. The chemistry is off, and the leadership doesn’t look good.

The VT game was one of the more disappointing losses in a while. Michigan managed to avoid this kind of loss last season, but they were powerless to stop VT in the last 4:00 of the game. They outplayed VT for most of the game, led by 15 in the 1^st half, and had a 10 point lead (60-50) with 7:44 left in the game. Derrick Walton Jr. missed the front end of a 1-and-1, VT rebounded the miss, and DJ Wilson fouled trying to get the rebound. The VT player hit both free throws to cut the lead to 8 points, and the momentum had swung permanently to VT. They outscored UM 21-10 the rest of the way, including a 10-3 run in the last 2:44 of the game. It was gut-wrenching.

The stats for the VT game actually aren’t too bad. Michigan shot pretty well (47.5% overall, 37.0% from 3-point range), they were close on rebounds (26-28), and they won the turnover battle (9-14). They lost the game at the free throw line: VT went 19-for-21 (90.5%), while Michigan went 4-for-7 (57.1%). Those 15 extra points made all the difference.

Even though Michigan beat KSU by 27 points, they were in a dogfight for much of the 1^st half. With 4:53 left in the 1^st half, UM only led by 3 points (30-27). Fortunately, Michigan went on a 17-2 run to end the half up 18 points (47-29), and never let the lead dip below 17 points in the 2^nd half.

The stats for the KSU game are much better. Michigan shot very well (56.6% overall, 45.0% from long range), they won the rebounding battle handily (32-19), and they won the turnover battle (7-13).

Who Looked Good

Moritz Wagner was the star of the KSU game, with a career-high 20 points, including 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range. He also had double figures (11 points) vs. VT. More importantly, he cut way down on his turnovers (1 vs. VT, 0 vs. KSU) and his fouls (2 and 1).

Zak Irvin had two solid games this week, with 23 points vs. VT and 19 points vs. KSU. Unfortunately, he was cold in the closing minutes of the VT game, and missed a key shot that would have won the game.

Derrick Walton Jr. had a quiet game (6 points) vs. VT, but he looked better vs. KSU, with 13 points. He did have 5 assists vs. VT, and 8 vs. KSU.

DJ Wilson had a lousy game vs. VT, with 2 points and 5 fouls in just 11 minutes of play. He bounced back nicely with a double-double vs. KSU: 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had a pretty good game (13 points) vs. VT, but he was held scoreless vs. KSU.

Duncan Robinson played more minutes (30) than usual vs. VT, since Wilson was in foul trouble for most of the game. He responded with 15 points. He didn’t do quite as well vs. KSU, with 6 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Mark Donnal had a quiet week, with 0 and 2 points.

Xavier Simpson also had 0 and 2 points.

Jon Teske had 0 and 1 points.

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

Who Else Played

Sean Lonergan played in the KSU game, and had 4 points.

Brent Hibbitts and Fred Wright-Jones played in the KSU game, but failed to score.

The Big Picture

So far, Michigan has only played 2 good games, with uninspiring wins vs. the cupcakes. They manage to play one good half each game, but that isn’t going to cut it vs. the tougher teams coming up. They have the talent to beat anyone on their schedule, and the lack of focus to lose to anyone. If they can figure out how to play two good halves in a game, they’ll do fine.

What’s Next

This week Michigan plays two more games, one in Crisler Arena and one on the road. On Tuesday (12/06/2016, 9:00 p.m., ESPN2), Michigan plays Texas in Crisler, then on Saturday (12/10/2016, 8:00 p.m. EST, ESPN2), Michigan plays at (#11) UCLA. The Texas game will be tough, but it’s winnable. Texas is 4-3, with a decent win vs. Alabama, and 2 surprising losses, to Northwestern and Texas-Arlington. The UCLA game is virtually unwinnable. UCLA is 8-0, and they beat (#1) Kentucky 97-92 in Rupp Arena last week. They’ll be even tougher in Pauley Pavilion, and I’ll be happy if UM stays within 20 points of them.

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

Go Blue!

Quick Look

The (#25) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they lost one and won one. On Wednesday (11/23/2016), Michigan lost at South Carolina 61-46, then on Saturday (11/26/2016), they beat Mount St. Mary’s 64-47 in Crisler Arena. The loss and the win leave Michigan with a record of 5-1.

What Happened

It was “back down to Earth” for Michigan. They had looked very good in their two wins the Championship Round of the 2K Classic two weeks ago, good enough that they cracked the AP Top-25. They went to Columbia (SC) for their first true away game, and they looked terrible.   They had their worst shooting game in 6 years, and they got blown out. They came back home and beat a decent Mount St. Mary’s team a few days later, but the damage was done. Hopefully, Michigan will learn from the South Carolina game, and grow as a team.

The USC game was close for a while, and Michigan led (for the last time) 23-22 with 6:49 left in the 1^st half.   USC went on an 11-4 run to end the half up 6 points (33-27), and never looked back. Michigan got as close as 8 points (41-33) with 12:04 left in the game, but then USC pushed the lead back up to double digits, and Michigan never really challenged them again.

Michigan lost the USC game because of two things: poor shooting and turnovers. How bad was the shooting? Historically bad. UM shot 19.2% (10-for-52) overall, which is terrible, but much worse from 3-point range: 2-for-26 (7.7%).   Ugh. How bad were the turnovers? Michigan came into the game averaging 10 turnovers per game; they had 16 vs. USC. Here are the stats for the USC game.

The MSM game was much better. The score was close in the early going, and MSM led by 4 (12-8) with 16:33 left in the 1^st half, when Michigan went on a 25-4 run to end the half up by 17 (33-16). Michigan let MSM hang around for most of the 2^nd half, but finally put them away. The lead never got over 19 points, and got as low as 8 points, but UM answered every MSM run. Michigan shot much better in the MSM: 43.6% overall and 40.7% from 3-point range. They also cut down on their turnovers a little: only 12. Here are the stats for the MSM game.

Who Looked Good

Derrick Walton Jr. was the only Michigan player to hit double figures in both games, with 15 vs. USC and 12 vs. MSM.   Of course, he shot terribly vs. USC (3-for-14 overall, and 2-for-9 from 3-point range), but he was the leading scorer for Michigan.

Mark Donnal was the only other Michigan player in double figures in the ugly USC game, with 10 points. He had 6 vs. MSM. He played good defense in both games.

Moritz Wagner didn’t have a very good game vs. USC, with only 2 free throws in 16 minutes of action, but he did much better vs. MSM, with 13 points, including 3-for-5 shooting 3-pointers.

Zak Irvin also had a (very) bad game vs. USC, with only 5 points before he fouled out, but he also recovered nicely vs. MSM, with 14 points (and no fouls).

Who Looked Not-So-Good

DJ Wilson had a great tournament 2 weeks ago in New York, but he didn’t do much last week, with 2 points vs. USC and 5 points vs. MSM. He ran around a lot, and played some good defense, but he never seemed in sync with the rest of the team.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman also had a quiet week: 7 and 5 points.

Duncan Robinson was another player who had a quiet week: 2 and 8 points.

Xavier Simpson played in both games, but only scored 2 points vs. USC and 1 point vs. MSM.

Ibi Watson played in both games, but only scored 1 point vs. USC and no points vs. MSM.

Who Else Played

Sean Lonergan and Jon Teske both played in the USC game, but failed to score.

Who Didn’t Play

Brent Hibbitts and Fred Wright-Jones didn’t play in either game.

The Big Picture

This season is turning into a rollercoaster.   Two weeks ago, before the 2K Classic, things looked pretty bleak, then the outlook was much sunnier after the tournament, and now things are back to bleak. Michigan looked very dysfunctional vs. USC, and not a lot better vs. MSM. Fortunately, there’s still time to get things straightened out.

What’s Next

This week Michigan plays two more games, both in Crisler Arena. On Wednesday (11/30/2016, 7:00 p.m., ESPN2), Michigan plays Virginia Tech, then on Saturday (12/03/2016, time TBA, TV TBA), Michigan plays Kennesaw State. The Virginia Tech game is part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and it will be tough.   The game vs. Kennesaw State   should be much easier.

Come on down to Crisler for the games, and 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 both of them. These games were the championship round games for the 2K Classic, played in Madison Square Garden, in New York City. On Thursday (11/17/2016), Michigan beat Marquette 79-61, then on Friday (11/18/2016), they beat SMU 76-54. The two wins raise Michigan’s record to 4-0.

What Happened

Michigan didn’t look particularly good or sharp in either of the “Ann Arbor Regional” games in the first week of the season, against Howard and IUPUI, but they were a different team in NYC. They won both games comfortably, and they looked good and sharp and tough. Coach Beilein has had some good teams in his 10 years in Ann Arbor, including the 2012-2013 team that went to the National Championship game, but none of them were what you would call “tough”. They were more “finesse”. At least for the two games in the Garden, this season’s team played tough. They blocked shots, they took charges, they played tight defense, and they scrapped for loose balls. It was quite a change from previous teams.

The Marquette game started out as a close, see-saw battle, and was tied up 15-15 with 13:21 to go in the half. Three minutes later, Michigan was up by 10 (27-17), and five minutes after that, they were up by 20 (42-22). They led by 24 (50-26) at halftime, and never looked back. They did let Marquette get a little close (12 points: 67-55) with 5:30 left in the game, but they pushed the lead back up to 20 (77-57) in 3 minutes, and coasted to the win. It was very impressive. Here are the stats for the Marquette game.

SMU had beaten Michigan in Ann Arbor two years ago, and crushed them in Dallas last year, so this was a chance for Michigan to get some revenge, and they did. Michigan never trailed in this one, running out to a 9-point lead (13-4) in the first four minutes, and pushing it up to 19 points (44-25) at halftime. Once again, they let an opponent get a little close in the 2^nd half (13 points: 44-31 with 19:10 to go), but they got the lead back up to 20 (53-33) in 3 minutes, and kept it there for the rest of the game, growing it to as many as 29 points. It was even more impressive than the Marquette win. Here are the stats for the SMU game.

Michigan shot well overall in both games (50.9% vs. Marquette, 52.9% vs. SMU), they shot 3-pointers well in both games (39.1% and 41.9%), and they shot free throws well in both games (80.0% and 81.8%). They outrebounded Marquette (35-27), but got hammered on the boards against SMU (24-41). They had an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers in the Marquette game, but only 4 vs. SMU. They also had 9 more blocked shots, 5 vs. Marquette and 4 vs. SMU.

Who Looked Good

Even though he only hit double figures in one game, DJ Wilson was the big story in this tournament. He had his first career double-double in the Marquette game, with 10 points and 12 rebounds. He was a little quieter vs. SMU, with 6 points and 4 rebounds, but he still played a team-high 36 minutes, and was a terror on defense. He started both games, and impressed with his play.

Derrick Walton Jr. had a very inconsistent tournament. He scored 0 points vs. Marquette, then led the team in scoring against SMU with 23 points, including 7-for-12 shooting from 3-point range.

Zak Irvin had 16 points in each game, along with 7 and 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in each game. He still misses some easy shots, and takes too many long 2-point shots that could be 3-pointers if he would just move back a foot, but it’s hard to complain about the results. He was selected as the Most Valuable Player for the 2K Classic tournament.

Mark Donnal also only hit double figures in one game (15 points vs. Marquette), but he really provided a spark when he came in. He got close to double figures (9 points) vs. SMU, and played good defense in both games.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had double figures in both games (15 and 12), and had 4 rebounds in each game. He struggled a little with his 3-point shot (0-for-4 and 2-for-5), but he played some good defense.

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Moritz Wagner didn’t have a very good tournament. He scored 9 points vs. Marquette, but he got in early foul trouble vs. SMU, and only scored 3 points in 11 minutes. He started both games, but Mark Donnal played more minutes than he did, and may take his starting position from him.

Duncan Robinson lost his starting job to DJ Wilson, and did OK coming off the bench. He had 10 points vs. Marquette, but only 2 points (on free throws) vs. SMU. It looked like he had finally found his 3-point stroke in the Marquette game, when he went 3-for-4, but then he went 0-for-2 vs. SMU, so we’re back to square one.

Xavier Simpson played in both games, but only scored one point, vs. SMU. He played 18 minutes in the Marquette game, when Walton got in early foul trouble, but only 6 minutes vs. SMU. I’m sure he’ll be fine as the season goes on, but he’s having a slow start.

Ibi Watson played in both games, and scored 4 and 2 points. He isn’t getting much playing time (3 and 7 minutes) because he isn’t doing much when he’s out there. Like Xavier Simpson, I’m sure he’ll be fine as the season goes on, but he’s also having a slow start.

Who Else Played

Brent Hibbitts, Sean Lonergan. Jon Teske, and Fred Wright-Jones all played in both games, but failed to score, except for Teske, who hit 2 free throws vs. SMU.

Who Didn’t Play

Andrew Dakich and Austin Davis are both being redshirted this season.

The Big Picture

Just one week after saying that we may have to adjust our expectations for Michigan downward a little for this season, they go into Madison Square Garden and dominate two pretty good teams. Can they keep it up? Will this translate into success in the Big Ten games? We shall see, but things sure look a lot more encouraging than they did just one week ago.

What’s Next

This week Michigan plays two more games, one on the road and one at home. On Wednesday (11/23/2016, 5:00 p.m., ESPNU), Michigan plays at South Carolina, then on Saturday (11/26/2016, 7:00 p.m., ESPN3), Michigan plays Mount St. Mary’s in Crisler Arena. The South Carolina game is Michigan’s first true “away” game, and it will be tough. The home game vs. Mount St. Mary’s should be much easier.

Come on down to Crisler for the home game, and check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!