Author: Drew Montag

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this week, and they won it. On Saturday (12/21/2013), they beat Stanford 68-65 in Brooklyn (NY), in the Barclays Center as part of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational. The win raises Michigan’s record to 7-4.

This was an important win for Michigan, after a couple close losses to good teams. Stanford came into the game with an 8-2 record, and they have lots of height and experience. This was a true “toss up” game, and if Michigan had lost it, their chances of going to the NCAA Tournament in March would have gone way down. As it is, UM still needs to win their last non-conference game (next week at home vs. Holy Cross), and then go at least 12-6 in the rugged Big Ten schedule to get to 20 wins.

The game was close the whole way. Stanford took an early 5-0 lead, but once UM got going, they took the lead (7-5) and never trailed again. They led by 3 at halftime (30-27), and pushed the lead to 10 (56-46) with 7:30 to go. Stanford came back hard, and cut the lead to 2 (64-63) with 43 seconds left, and down to 1 (66-65) with 9 seconds left, but UM hit a pair of free throws for the final margin of victory. Stanford tried a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left, but missed.

Let’s look at the stats. Michigan shot pretty poorly overall (21-for-52 = 40.4%), and they shot pretty poorly from 3-point range (8-for-27 = 29.6%). They shot poorly from the free-throw line (18-for=26 = 69.2%), and that almost cost them the game. The rebounding battle was even (32-32), but UM had more offensive rebounds (9-5), and Michigan won the turnover battle (8-12). Those 4 extra possessions were the difference in a very close game.

Individually, 3 Michigan players hit double figures:

• Zak Irvin – 12 points. Zak hit 4 big 3-pointers, on 8 attempts, and had 6 rebounds, including the crucial one on the last-second miss by Stanford.
  
• Glenn Robinson III – 17 points. Once again, GR3 had a big 1^st half and a quiet 2^nd half. He also had 6 rebounds.
  
• Nik Stauskas – 19 points. Nik had another rough time shooting: 4-for-11, including 2-for-7 from 3-point range.

3 other players scored, but not in double figures:

• Spike Albrecht – 5 points. Derrick Walton Jr. had another shaky game, so Spike ran the team for a good portion of the game.
  
• Jon Horford – 2 points. Jon had a rough night. Every time he stepped onto the floor, the refs called a foul on him. He fouled out after playing only 6 minutes. That’s amazing.
  
• Caris LeVert – 1 point. Caris had a miserable time shooting: 0-for-7 overall, 0-for-3 from 3-point range, and 1-for-4 shooting free throws. Ugh.
  
• Jordan Morgan – 8 points. Jordan also fouled out, but at least he took 24 minutes to do it.
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 4 points. Derrick played a little better in this game than he did last week vs. Arizona, but only a little. He still played like a true freshman.

Max Bielfeldt played, but did not score.

Mitch McGary didn’t play, due an array of injuries including his back and one of his ankles. Horford, Morgan, and Bielfeldt all did their best to hold the fort against Stanford’s huge front line, but they had a rough time. Horford and Morgan both fouled out, and Bielfeldt ended the game with 4 fouls. If he had fouled out, I guess GR3 would have played center for the rest of the game.

This Week

Last call for non-conference play. Michigan only plays one game this week: on Saturday (12/28/2013, 6:30 p.m., BTN) they play Holy Cross in Crisler Arena. Michigan should win this one, unless they take Holy Cross too lightly. Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

I’m really getting tired of this crap. This is getting to be too much of a pattern: Michigan plays a great game against a superior opponent, and looks like they’re FINALLY going to win the big game, only to lose in the last few moments. Examples: the national championship basketball game against Louisville last April, the Ohio State football game a few weeks ago, and the basketball game vs. (#1) Arizona on Saturday (12/14/2013). I’m tired of moral victories. I’m tired of “so close”. At some point, Michigan has to break through and start winning these games.

After starting the season ranked in the Top-10, Michigan slipped after losses to Iowa State and Charlotte, and finally dropped out of the Top-25 completely last week after losing to Duke. They were facing the new #1 team in the country, Arizona. They played very well, just not well enough to beat Arizona. They led for almost the whole game, but lost the lead and the game in the last minute. The final score was 72-70. Michigan’s record drops to 6-4.

It’s hard to be too critical of UM, since they were playing the #1 team in the nation, but there were certainly things that Michigan could have done better. They gave up way too many offensive rebounds for 2^nd (and 3^rd and 4^th) chance points, and they were a lot sloppier with the ball than usual. They had a nice lead (58-50) with 7:00 to go, and Caris LeVert tried an open 3-pointer. If it had dropped, the momentum might just have been enough to carry UM to victory. Instead, it rimmed out, and that was the ball game. Arizona went on a 13-4 run, and once they got the lead, UM started panicking. Still, they had a great chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but they misplayed it badly. With 24 seconds left, Michigan had the ball, down 1 point (67-55) with the shot clock turned off. Conventional wisdom says that they run the clock down to 2 seconds, then run their best play to get a great shot to win the game. Instead, Nik Stauskas took a low-percentage long 2-pointer with 11 seconds left, and he missed it. Even if he had hit it, Arizona would have had the last shot. It was a dumb move, and it cost Michigan the game.

The stats tell the story: Michigan shot well, better than Arizona, but they got hammered on the boards. They were out-rebounded 37-24, and they gave up 17 offensive rebounds. They also lost the turnover battle 11-9. It didn’t help that Arizona hit 14 of 15 free-throw attempts. The only one they missed, they missed on purpose, so UM couldn’t set up a good tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Individually, 4 Michigan players hit double figures:

• Spike Albrecht – 10 points. Derrick Walton Jr. was ineffective, so Spike ran the team for most of the game. He hit 3-for-4 of his 3-pointers, along with 4 assists.
  
• Caris LeVert – 15 points. Caris kept Michigan in the game in the 2^nd half, after a quiet 1^st half. He wasn’t very efficient though: 6-for-15 shooting.
  
• Glenn Robinson III – 20 points. GR3 kept Michigan in the game in the 1^st half, but he had a quiet 2^nd half. He was very efficient: 8-for-9 shooting.
  
• Nik Stauskas – 14 points. Nik had a rough time shooting: 4-for-11, including 1-for-4 from 3-point range. He was the leading rebounder for Michigan, with 6 boards.
  

3 other players scored, but not in double figures:

• Jon Horford – 2 points. Jon didn’t score many points, but he played great defense, especially in the 1^st half. He had 4 of Michigan’s 6 blocked shots, along with 4 rebounds and a steal.
  
• Mitch McGary – 8 points. Mitch had a tough time with Arizona’s height underneath.
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 1 point. Derrick played like a true freshman, so he sat for most of the game. He only played 14 minutes. Spike, Caris, and Nik shared point guard duties in his absence.
  

Zak Irvin and Jordan Morgan played, but did not score.

This Week

Once again, Michigan only plays one game this week: on Saturday (12/21/2013, 8:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1) they play Stanford in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. This game is part of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational. Stanford is a solid team, currently 7-2, with some quality wins and no embarrassing losses. This is a good matchup for Michigan, and it could go either way. Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

The (#22) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they won one and lost one. They showed the advantage of playing at home: on Tuesday (12/03/2013) they lost badly to (#10) Duke (78-69) on the road, then on Saturday (12/07/2013) they crushed Houston Baptist University (107-54) in Crisler Arena. The loss and the win leave Michigan with a record of 6-3. Don’t be surprised if UM drops out of the AP Top-25 when the new poll is released on Monday afternoon.

Of course, there’s a big difference between Duke and HBU, but there’s also a big difference between playing in Cameron Indoor Stadium and anywhere else. Duke hasn’t lost a home non-conference game since 2000. It didn’t help that Michigan started the game cold, and fell behind by a dangerous amount (12 points: 21-9) with 6:00 left in the 1^st half. Yeah, that’s right: after 14 minutes of play, Michigan had 9 points. They woke up a little in the next 5 minutes, and got back within 7 points (29-22) with 30 seconds to go, then gave up a 3-pointers, to go into halftime down 10 (32-22). Duke managed to keep the lead around 8-10 points for most of the 2^nd half, although Michigan did get as close as 6 points (46-40) with 9:00 to go. In less than a minute, Duke pushed the lead back up to 12 points, and Michigan never got closer than the final margin of 10 points. They did manage to play Duke even (47-47) in the 2^nd half, but the cold start to the game put them into a hole they couldn’t dig out of.

So, how did Duke shut down Michigan so convincingly? Simple: they shut down their leading scorer (Nik Stauskas) and challenged UM to score consistently with anyone else. Caris LeVert had a great 2^nd half, and Mitch McGary had a good game, but the rest of the team didn’t step up, and Duke had no trouble holding off Michigan for the win. How did Duke shut down Stauskas so completely? They assigned a full-time defender to him, and denied him the ball as much as possible. It worked: Nik only attempted 2 shots, and missed both of them.

Incidentally, the UM/Duke game was part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which ended in a 6-6 tie. This is the 2^nd tie in a row.

Enough about that, on to the “fun” game of the week: HBU. This was the last “cupcake” game of the season for Michigan, and they took full advantage of it. The lead went back and forth in the first 4:00 of the game, then UM went ahead for good. With about 11:00 left in the 1^st half, UM pushed the lead to 10 (29-19), and it never got back to single digits again. The lead was 20 points (50-30) with 3:40 to go in the 1^st half, 31 points (65-34) a minute into the 2^nd half, 40 points (83-43) with 9:30 to go, and 50 points (95-45) with 5:39 left in the game. At that point, UM emptied the bench, and the practice team actually scored some points to get the final margin of victory up to 53 points.

The stats tell the story in the Duke game: UM shot pretty poorly overall (25-for-56 = 44.6%), they shot very poorly from 3-point range (3-for-13 = 23.1%), but they shot pretty well from the free-throw line (16-for-19 = 84.2%). They (barely) lost the rebounding battle (31-32), and they lost the turnover battle (12-7). The poor 3-point shooting is what really hurt them.

The stats look much better in the HBU game: UM shot very well overall (36-for-56 = 64.3%), they shot very well from 3-point range (16-for-26 = 61.5%), and they shot pretty well from the free-throw line (19-for-25 = 76.0%). They won the rebounding battle (33-26), and they won the turnover battle (7-16). They also had 26 assists (on 36 made field goals), including 18 in the 1^st half (against only 1 turnover in the 1^st half, an incredible assist/turnover ratio). The 16 made 3-pointers tied the school record.

It’s interesting to compare the stats for the two games. In both games, Michigan took 56 shots overall. In the Duke game, UM only made 25 of them, and only scored 69 points. In the HBU game, UM made 36 baskets, and scored 107 points. In the Duke game, Michigan could only muster 13 3-point attempts, while they managed 26 in the HBU game. Duke did a great job of forcing Michigan into shots they didn’t like.

Let’s look at the individual stats. Only one player hit double figures in both games:

• Mitch McGary – Mitch had 15 points (and 14 rebounds, for a double-double) in the Duke game, and 12 points (and 9 rebounds, almost another double-double) in the HBU game. Mitch is still getting back into playing shape after his back problems, but he’s playing a little better each week.

Five players hit double figures in one of the two games:

• Zak Irvin – 5 and 14. Zak seemed a little dazed by the Cameron Crazies in the Duke game, but he played a much better game vs. HBU.
  
• Caris LeVert – 24 and 4. Caris kept UM in the game in the 2^nd half of the Duke game, but he couldn’t do it by himself. He had a very quiet game vs. HBU.
  
• Glenn Robinson III – 8 and 17. GR3 wasn’t much of a factor in the Duke game, but he was more active against HBU.
  
• Nik Stauskas – 4 and 25. All 4 of Nik’s points vs. Duke were free throws. He had a much better game vs. HBU.
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 7 and 14. Derrick also played like a true freshman at Duke, but recovered nicely against HBU.

Several players scored in at least one game this week:

• Spike Albrecht – 3 and 3. Spike hit a 3-pointer in each game.
  
• Max Bielfeldt – DNP and 4.
  
• Andrew Dakich – DNP and 3. Andrew’s first points as a Wolverine! 1-for-1 3-point shooting.
  
• Jon Horford – 0 and 6.
  
• Cole McConnell – DNP and 1.
  
• Jordan Morgan – 3 and 4.

Brad Anlauf and Sean Lonergan played in the HBU game, but didn’t score.

This Week

Michigan plays one game this week, and it’s a big one: on Saturday (12/14/2013, noon, CBS) they play (#2) Arizona in Crisler Arena. Arizona is currently ranked #2, but the old #1 (Michigan State) lost last week, so Arizona will almost certainly be ranked #1 when the new AP Top-25 poll is released on Monday afternoon. Arizona beat Duke on a neutral court (Preseason NIT in Madison Square Garden) on 11/29/2013, so this will be quite a challenge. Given Michigan’s youth and recent inconsistency, I don’t expect UM to win, but it’s certainly not impossible. Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

The (#22) University of Michigan men’s basketball team only played one game last week, and they won it easily. On “Black Friday” (11/29/2013), they beat Coppin State 87-45 in Crisler Arena. The win raises Michigan’s record to 5-2.

On the day after Thanksgiving, CSU was the perfect “cupcake” game for Michigan. Even with Michigan’s leading scorer (Nik Stauskas) out of the lineup due to the sprained ankle he suffered in the Charlotte game last week, UM had an easy time with Coppin State. The other starter who was injured in the Charlotte game (Glenn Robinson III) was well enough to start the CSU game, but he seemed a step slower. It didn’t matter. Michigan had more than enough weapons to handle CSU.

The stats are pretty impressive: UM shot well overall (32-fo-62 = 51.6%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (10-for-29 = 34.5%), and they shot free-throws really well (13-for-14 = 92.9%). They crushed CSU on the boards (44-19), and they even won the turnover battle (7-11). My favorite stat: UM had 6 blocked shots.

Individually, only three Michigan players hit double figures:

• Zak Irvin – Zak had a career-high 24 points, including 6-for-10 shooting from 3-point range. He even had 5 rebounds and 3 assists. It was a great game for him.
  
• Caris LeVert – Caris had 15 points, but went 0-for-3 from 3-point range.
  
• Glenn Robinson III – Even though he was still slowed down by the back injury he suffered in the Charlotte game, Glenn had 14 points and 6 rebounds.
  

Several players scored in the CSU game, but didn’t hit double figures:

• Spike Albrecht – 2 points.
  
• Brad Anlauf – 2 points. Brad’s first points as a Wolverine! 1-for-1 shooting.
  
• Jon Horford – 6 points. Jon had 3 of the blocked shots.
  
• Sean Lonergan – 2 points. Sean’s first points as a Wolverine! 2-for-2 free-throw shooting.
  
• Cole McConnell – 3 points. Cole’s first points as a Wolverine! 1-for-1 3-point shooting.
  
• Mitch McGary – 6 points.
  
• Jordan Morgan – 6 points.
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 7 points. Derrick had 7 assists.

Max Bielfeldt and Andrew Dakich played, but did not score.

We don’t learn much from a game like this. Coppin State is a team that Michigan should beat handily, and they did. The thing we’ll remember most from this game is “Zak Irvin, with a 3-pointer!” It seemed like the announcer said it a dozen times, even though it was “only” 6.

 

This Week

Michigan plays 2 games this week: on Tuesday (12/03/2013, 9:15 p.m., ESPN) they play at (#6) Duke (as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge), then on Saturday (12/07/2013, noon, BTN) they play Houston Baptist. The game at Duke will be a tremendous challenge. Duke rarely loses at home to non-conference opponents. The game against Houston Baptist should be an easy win, unless UM takes them too lightly. Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

The (#14) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played three games last week, and they won the first two and lost the last one, barely. All three of the games were in San Juan, PR, in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament. On Thursday (11/21/2013), they beat Long Beach State 85-61, on Friday (11/22/2013), they beat Florida State 82-80 (in overtime), and on Sunday (11/24/2013), they lost to Charlotte 63-61. The two wins and a loss leave Michigan with a record of 4-2.

The 1^st round game against LBSU may look like a blowout, but UM only had a 9 point lead (61-52) with 9 minutes left. A 9-3 run by Michigan pushed the lead up to a more comfortable 15 points, and another 12-6 run put the game out of reach.

The 2^nd round (semifinal) game against FSU wasn’t as close as it looks. FSU led most of the way, including a 16 point lead early in the 2^nd half. UM kept chipping away at the lead, and finally tied up the game with 7 seconds left. Michigan took control in the overtime, and although the final score looks close, FSU scored a meaningless 3-pointer with 4 seconds left to make it a 2-point win instead of a 5-point win.

The 3^rd round (championship) game against Charlotte was miserable. Michigan shot terribly, threw the ball away a lot, and looked very disorganized. They were down 12 points midway through the 2^nd half, and they looked lost out there. Yet, somehow, they managed to fight back late in the 2^nd half and tie the game up with 8 seconds left. Charlotte took the ball down, missed a layup, grabbed the rebound, and put it in for the win. It was a lousy ending to a lousy game.

Let’s look at the stats. First, the LBSU game: UM shot pretty well overall (31-for-58 = 53.4%), they shot pretty well from 3-point range (14-for-30 = 46.7%), but they didn’t shoot very well from the free-throw line (9-for-15 = 60.0%). They won the rebounding battle (34-30) and the turnover battle (10-16). Those are stats worthy of a blowout.

The stats for the FSU game aren’t nearly as impressive: UM shot pretty poorly overall (28-for-65 = 43.1%), they didn’t shoot 3-pointers very well (9-for-24 = 37.5%), and they didn’t shoot free-throws very well (17-for-27 = 63.0%). They did win the rebounding battle (39-34), which is impressive since FSU had two 7-footers in their lineup. Michigan also won the turnover battle (7-13). Those 11 extra possessions really helped Michigan win this game.

The stats for the Charlotte game are pathetic: UM shot terribly overall (19-for-61 = 31.1%), and they shot terribly from 3-point range (5-for-23 = 21.7%). They did shoot acceptably from the free-throw line (18-for-24 = 75.0%), but that wasn’t enough to make up for the lousy shooting from the floor. They lost the rebounding battle (40-47), but they won the turnover battle (13-17). It was an embarrassing performance.

Individually, only one player hit double figures in all three games:

• Nik Stauskas – 24 vs. LBSU, 26 vs. FSU, and 20 vs. Charlotte. Nik scored the tying basket at the end of regulation vs. FSU, and he was the only reason UM had a chance at the end of the Charlotte game. He had a great tournament, but the rest of the team didn’t show up for the Charlotte game.

Two players hit double figures in two of the three games:

• Caris LeVert – 20, 5, and 11. Caris had a decent tournament, but he came up short at the end of Charlotte game.
  
• Glenn Robinson III – 14, 13, and 4. GR3 also had a decent tournament, but he was invisible in the Charlotte game.

Two players hit double figures in one of the three games:

• Mitch McGary – 6, 14, and 6. Mitch is still getting back into playing shape after missing the first 3 games (and 2 exhibition games) of the season. He certainly isn’t the same player who dominated in the NCAA Tournament run last season.
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 9, 15, and 0. See that 0? That’s the problem.

Several other players scored in at least one of the games:

• Spike Albrecht – 2, 5, and 6. Not bad for the backup point guard.
  
• Max Bielfeldt – 2, DNP, and 0. Max missed a couple layups vs. Charlotte.
  
• Zak Irvin – 3, 2, and 8. It took Zak a lot of shots (14) to get those 8 points vs. Charlotte.
  
• Jon Horford – 2, 2, and 2. At least he was consistent.
  
• Jordan Morgan – 3, 0, and 4.

Andrew Dakich played in the LBSU game, but didn’t score.

So, what does it all mean? Should we be worried that Michigan played so poorly in the championship game vs. Charlotte? I think so. They have had a couple bad games now, and the team chemistry just seems to be off. They have enough talent, they just seem to disappear for long stretches at the wrong time. They can still fix things, and have a successful season, but they need to start heading in the right direction soon.

This Week

Since this is Thanksgiving week, Michigan only plays 1 game: on (Black) Friday (11/29/2013, 3:00 p.m., BTN) they play Coppin State in Crisler Arena. They shouldn’t have much trouble with them, unless they take them too lightly. Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!