Category: Basketball

The University of Michigan men’s basketball 2023-2024 season is over.  They finished the season with a record of 8-24 (3-17 in Big Ten).  They lost in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, and, for obvious reasons, didn’t play in a postseason tournament.

Season Wrap-Up

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: this was a terrible season for Michigan, possibly their worst ever.  It was certainly the worst season I’ve witnessed in my 50 years of following Michigan basketball.  That leads to a trivia question:

This season, Michigan’s football team won 15 games, and the men’s basketball team only won 8 games.  When was the last time the Michigan football team had more wins in their season than the men’s basketball team?  The answer is at the end of the article.

Michigan started the season with 3 wins, and it looked like they might be better than expected.  Then the losing started, and they never looked promising again.  They started out losing close games, within a couple points in the final 2 minutes.  Then they started a different trend: building up a nice double-digit lead, then blowing the game in the 2^nd half.  Finally, they just got blown out and never stood a chance.  Here are the three trends:

• Losing the close games: Long Beach State, Memphis, Oregon, Indiana, Florida.
• Building up a decent lead, then blowing the game in the 2^nd half: Minnesota, Penn State, Maryland (away), Iowa (away), Michigan State (away), Rutgers (home).
• Getting blown out: Illinois (home and away), Purdue (home and away), Nebraska (home and away), Rutgers (away), Ohio State (away).

There were a few good games among the 8 wins:

• The best win was against (#11) Wisconsin (72-68) on 02/07/2024.  It was Michigan’s only win against a ranked opponent.
• The win against Ohio State (73-65) on 01/15/2024 was very satisfying.  The rivalry isn’t as big in basketball, but it’s still great to beat OSU in anything.
• The win against St. John’s (89-73) on 11/13/2023 in Madison Square Garden as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games was very impressive.  St. John’s ended up being a “bubble team” for the Big Dance, although they didn’t get in.

There were too many “bad losses” to list them.

So, what went wrong?  Several things, but the biggest problem was an undersized roster with not enough talent.  I don’t think John Wooden himself could have coached this roster to a 0.500 record.  When I evaluate a roster, I start at both ends: point guard and center.  The guards, wings, and forwards are all important, but without a solid point guard and center, they don’t matter that much.  Michigan had a solid point guard in Dug McDaniel, but the starting center (Tarris Reed, Jr.) was undersized and playing out of position.  Reed would be a good-but-not-great power forward, but he’s not a Big Ten center.  Worse news: Michigan didn’t really have a backup center this season.  Other Big Ten teams had a 7-footer or two, with a couple 6’10” or 6’11” guys to back them up.  Michigan had Reed and … crickets.  Will Tschetter tried his hand at center, but he’s not tall enough or big enough to play against the big boys.  Before he missed the last six games of the season with an injury, Olivier Nkamhoua also took a turn at center, but he’s also not tall enough for the role.  He is big enough to bang in there, but he routinely gave up 4-6 inches in height.  So, Michigan’s opponents saw that the middle wasn’t guarded very well, and they drove to the hoop more often than I’ve ever seen, and it worked.

What about guards/wings/forwards?  Once again, Michigan was constrained by a lack of talent.  There was no one on the roster that was the “go to” player.  There was no one who you could count on to make the clutch shot.  There was no one who was a consistent threat from 3-point range.  All of the starters had some good games, and when a couple of them had good games at the same time, Michigan got one of their rare wins, but it didn’t happen nearly often enough.

The final piece in the roster disaster was the bench.  Michigan got very little bench scoring in many of their games, and so the starters played lots of minutes, which got them tired out in the 2^nd half of the games, and wore them down as the season droned on.

What about coaching?  Well, I’m sure coaching played a part in the dismal failure of the season, but I still think most of it was due to an undersized and undertalented roster.  Regardless, (now former) head coach Juwan Howard was fired on 03/15/2024.  Now, you can certainly blame part of the roster disaster on Howard, but only part of it.  When it came to roster construction, Howard was working with one hand tied behind his back.  With the way the infamous Transfer Portal works these days, recruiting has taken a back seat to building a team from the portal.  Unfortunately, Michigan isn’t in the top tier for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) opportunities, and Michigan’s admission policies have led a few talented transfers to look elsewhere.

Howard was actually a pretty good recruiter, but his most talented recruits either left for the NBA Draft or transferred to another school after 1-2 years.  The recruiting class for this season was one incoming freshman (George Washington III), and he didn’t work out.  Howard brought in three players from the Transfer Portal for this season (Nimari Burnett, Olivier Nkamhoua, and Tray Jackson), and they were decent, but they weren’t enough.

Final Grades

Here are my final grades, with the mid-term grades listed first:

Freshman Eligibility

• Harrison Hochberg (Inc./Inc.) – Harrison was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much: 20 minutes in 10 games.  He missed his only shot attempt, but did score one point on 1-for-5 free throw shooting.

• George Washington III (C-/C-) – George was a major disappointment.  He had his chances, and he didn’t take advantage of them.  He played 146 minutes in 22 games, and he scored 26 points on terrible shooting: 5-for-27 (18.5%) overall, 4-for-18 (22.2%) from deep.  He has entered the Transfer Portal.  He may be a valuable player somewhere else in the future, but he was worthless this year at Michigan.  He won’t be missed.

Sophomore Eligibility

• Nimari Burnett (B-/B-) – Nimari was the only player to play in all 32 of Michigan’s games.  He had some good games and some bad games, more bad than good.  He averaged 9.6 points/game on decent shooting: 105-for-263 (39.9%) overall, 52-for-150 (34.7%) from deep.  He has 2 years of eligibility remaining, but he has said that he hasn’t decided whether he will keep playing or where.  It would be nice if he came back for (at least) another year at Michigan, but that doesn’t look very likely.

• Youssef Khayat (C+/C) – Youssef played 97 minutes in 17 games, and he scored 24 points on lousy shooting: 7-for-23 overall (30.4%), 2-for-9 from deep (22.2%).  He has entered the Transfer Portal.  He never really caught on at Michigan, but he has the potential to be a decent player somewhere else.  He won’t be missed.

• Dug McDaniel (A/A-) – Here it is: the only “A” in this batch of grades.  Dug played his heart out every minute of every game.  He’s fast, he’s a great dribbler, he shot well, and he ran the offense pretty well.  He shot 41.0% overall (151-for-368) and 36.8% from deep (56-for-152).  He led the team in scoring (16.3 points/game), assists (121), and steals (29).  He was a warrior out there.  Unfortunately, we was suspended for 6 road games during the Big Ten portion of the schedule, due to academic shortcomings.  He has entered the Transfer Portal, and I expect him to be snapped up by a good program, and to do well there.  It’s a shame to lose him.

• Tarris Reed, Jr. (B/B) – Tarris had some good games and just as many bad games.  When he was “on” he was a weapon, but there were other games when he was barely playable.  His shooting percentage was good (111-for-214 = 51.9%), but he didn’t take enough shots.  Michigan had trouble getting the ball in to him at the post, and when they did, he often turned it over (71 turnovers).  He averaged 9.0 points/game.  He led the team in rebounding, with 230 rebounds (7.2 per game).  He has entered the Transfer Portal, and I hope he ends up somewhere where he can play power forward instead of center.  He will be missed.

• Jackson Selvala (Inc./Inc.) – Jackson was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much: 29 minutes in 13 games.  He scored 6 points, on 1-for-4 shooting overall (0-for-3 from deep) and 4-for-4 shooting from the free throw line.

• Cooper Smith (Inc./Inc.) – Cooper was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much: 18 minutes in 10 games.  He has scored 9 points, on 4-for-6 shooting overall (1-for-3 from deep).

• Will Tschetter (B+/B+) – Will was probably the most improved player on the team this season.  He didn’t do much his freshman season, but this season he averaged 6.8 points/game on good shooting: 78-for-134 overall (58.2%) and 24-for-58 from deep (51.9%).  He played small forward, power forward, and even (small) center, and he did pretty well.

Junior Eligibility

• Ian Burns (Inc./Inc.) – Ian was on the Scout Team, and didn’t play much: 24 minutes in 11 games.  He scored 3 points on 3-for-5 free throw shooting.  He attempted 7 shots, all 3-pointers, and he missed them all.

• Jace Howard (Inc./C) – Jace missed the first 16 games with a foot injury that took forever to heal, and he missed a few more games due to illness, so he only played in 10 games.  He was used mostly as a defensive player, only scoring 26 points on mediocre shooting: 8-for-27 overall (29.6%), 4-for-15 from deep (26.7%).  He announced that he was planning on coming back for another season, but that was before his father was fired as head coach.  He hasn’t made any comment since that happened.

Senior Eligibility

• Jaelin Llewellyn (Inc./B-) – Jaelin missed the first 7 games with a knee injury, and he missed a few more games due to illness, so he only played in 20 games.  He started in place of McDaniel during McDaniel’s 6-game road suspension, and those were some of Llewellyn’s best games.  He averaged 5.2 points/game on pretty good shooting: 35-for-92 overall (38.0%) and 19-for-47 from deep (40.4%).  He had more turnovers (31) than assists (23), which is not good for a point guard.  He is out of eligibility.

• Tray Jackson (B-/C+) – Tray provided some scoring and rebounding off the bench, but he only showed flashes of what he was capable of, then he disappeared.  He averaged 5.0 points/game on decent shooting: 45-for-113 overall (39.8%) and 9-for-37 from deep (24.3%).  He is out of eligibility.

• Olivier Nkamhoua (A-/B+) – Olivier was the second most valuable player on the team, after McDaniel.  He played a lot of power forward and a bit of (small) center.  He played hard in every game, and he delivered.  Unfortunately, he injured his left (non-shooting) wrist in early January, and played hurt for the next 13 games, finally giving up and missing the last 6 games.  Still, he ended up second on the team in scoring average (14.8 points/game), and second in rebounding (7.1 rebounds/game).  He shot well: 154-for-301 (51.2%) overall, 27-for-81 (33.3%) from deep.  He did lead the team in turnovers, with 73.  He is out of eligibility.

• Terrance Williams II (B+/B+) – Terrance saved his best season for last.  He ended up as the third leading scorer on the team (12.4 points/game) with nice shooting numbers: 125-for-289 (43.3%) overall, 52-for-131 (39.7%) from deep.  Most importantly, he cut his fouls and turnovers way down from his career averages.  He has announced that he won’t be back next season, although he does have one more year of eligibility, due to COVID.

Awards

It’s awkward giving out awards to such an underachieving team, but here we go:

• Most Valuable Player: Dug McDaniel
• Most Improved Player: Will Tschetter
• Best Defensive Player: Olivier Nkamhoua
• Sixth Man: Will Tschetter

Looking Ahead

I wish I could be more optimistic, but the future of Michigan basketball is not looking very promising.  There is a lot of bad news:

• Several players graduating/using up their eligibility: Nkamhoua, Williams, Llewellyn, and Jackson.
• Several players entering the Transfer Portal: McDaniel, Reed, Khayat, and Washington.
• A few players who haven’t announced their intentions: Burnett, Tschetter, and Howard.
• One of the three incoming freshmen decommitting: Khani Rooths.
• The head coach being fired

Now, the three players who haven’t announced their intentions could all come back for next season, but that isn’t likely.  Burnett has been very non-committal on the subject, and Howard is the son of the head coach who was just fired.  That leaves Tschetter.  Maybe he’ll return, but he’s hardly an elite player.

The loss of Rooths is a big deal.  He was the highest ranked prospect in Michigan’s recruiting class, and now he’s gone.

There is some good news:

There are still two promising incoming freshmen in the recruiting class:

• Christian Anderson (5’11”, 155 pounds, G) – Christian is a point guard, and he might well be the starting point guard as a true freshman, since all the other point guards left.  He’s a 4-star recruit.

• Durral Brooks (6’2”, 180 pounds, G) – Durral was named “Mr. Basketball” for the state of Michigan, and he should bring some much-needed outside firepower to Michigan.  He’s a 3-star recruit.

Hopefully, these two recruits will stick with Michigan.

The best news is that Michigan has hired a new head coach: Dusty May from Florida Atlantic University (FAU).  I think this is a good hire, and that Coach May will do his best to revive Michigan basketball, but I think it’s going to take a lot longer than most people expect.  I just hope that the Athletic Director and (more importantly) the public cut him some slack for the first couple seasons.  This is a “total rebuild”, from the ground up, not a “reload”.  The cupboard is bare.  I’m confident that Coach May will work hard to bring in the right mix of players from the Transfer Portal to at least be competitive “soon”.

What’s Next?

Check back in late October for the next season of Michigan basketball.

Go Blue!

Oh yeah, the trivia answer:

In 1981 the football team went 9-3, while the 1981-1982 basketball team went 7-20.

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they lost it.  On Wednesday (03/13/2024), they lost to Penn State 66-57 in the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis.  Michigan was the 14-seed, and PSU was the 11-seed.  The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 8-24 (3-17 in Big Ten).  Michigan has now lost 9 games in a row, and their season is (mercifully) over.

What Happened?

Michigan’s loss in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament was certainly significant, since it ended Michigan’s dismal season, but that wasn’t the biggest news for Michigan basketball this week; on Friday (03/15/2024), head coach Juwan Howard was fired.  That’s a big change.

I like Juwan, and I think he’s a great guy, but he wasn’t getting things done as a head coach.  I wish him well in his future endeavors, but I look forward to a new head coach who can revitalize Michigan’s basketball program.  It’s a tough job, and it’s tougher at Michigan than at many other schools.  The combination of less-than-elite NIL opportunities and harder-than-average admissions policies makes it harder for Michigan to get the best players in the transfer portal, and that’s a crucial part of roster construction.  Much more about this in next week’s wrap-up article.  Now, back to this past week.

Game Flow

Michigan had an early lead, 3-2, before PSU pulled ahead and led for the rest of the game.  Michigan did manage to tie the score at 20-20 with 4:27 to go in the half, but PSU went on a 13-2 run to end the half, up 33-22.  Michigan went on a 7-0 run to start the 2^nd half, and pulled within 4 points, 33-29, at the 18:07 mark, but PSU pulled away again.  They got their lead up into the 8-10 point range for a while, then Michigan crept back within 4 points again, 50-46, with 9:53 to go.  That was as close as they got, as PSU pushed the lead back up to the 10-12 point range, winning by 9 points.

Stats

The game stats were sad.  Michigan shot poorly overall (20-for-58 = 34.5%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (4-for-18 = 22.2%), and they shot free throws decently (13-for-18 = 72.2%).  They won the rebounding battle (42-32), but lost the turnover battle (15-10).  They lost this game with poor 3-point shooting and too many turnovers.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Tarris Reed, Jr., Will Tschetter, and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

In his final game for Michigan, Williams was the leading scorer, with 15 points.

Reed had a pretty good game, with 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Burnett had a decent game, with 11 points.

Jackson Selvala got to play in the last minute, and scored 2 more points, on 1-for-1 shooting.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

McDaniel was the biggest problem in this game.  He scored 7 points, but he shot terribly: 3-for-12 overall, 1-for-7 from deep.  He also had 4 turnovers.

Tschetter had a lousy game, with 2 points on terrible shooting: 1-for-4 overall, 0-for-2 from deep.  He also had 4 turnovers.

Jace Howard had a lousy game, with 2 points on terrible shooting: 0-for-5 overall, 0-for-2 from deep.  He played 22 minutes, and got his only points on free throws.

Tray Jackson played 9 minutes and scored 0 points on 0-for-2 shooting.

Jaelin Llewellyn played 7 minutes and scored 2 points.

Who Else Played?

George Washington III played in the last minute, and scored 4 points on free throws.

Ian Burns played in the last minute, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Harrison Hochberg played in the last minute, but missed his only shot attempt.

Cooper Smith played in the last minute, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Didn’t Play?

Youssef Khayat was the only scholarship player who didn’t play.

What Does It Mean?

It means that the season is over.

What’s Next?

Clean out the lockers, the season is over.

Check back next week for a season wrap-up, final grades, and a look ahead.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they lost it.  On Sunday (03/10/2024), they lost to Nebraska 85-70 in Crisler Arena.  The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 8-23 (3-17 in Big Ten).  Michigan has now lost 8 games in a row.

What Happened?

The regular season is now mercifully over, and it was a really bad season.  Michigan finished dead last in the Big Ten for the first time in over 40 years, and they’re in last place by a wide margin (4 games).  They played their typical lousy game against Nebraska, and never were really close after the first few minutes of the second half.  It was a dreary affair.  I’m just glad the regular season is over.

Game Flow

Michigan led in the early going, up 16-14 with 14:58 to go in the 1^st half.  That was the last time Michigan led.  Nebraska went on a 7-0 run to go ahead 22-16 at the 13:29 mark, and they kept the lead in the 5-7 point range for the rest of the half, up 7 points (50-43) at halftime.  Michigan got a little closer, down 6 points (54-48) with 18:12 to go, before Nebraska pulled away.  They pushed the lead up to 20 points (70-50) at the 13:37 mark, and toyed with Michigan the rest of the way.  UM got as close as 12 points a couple times, but Nebraska always responded to keep the lead around 15-17 points, winning by 15.

Stats

The game stats for the Nebraska game were mediocre.  Michigan shot poorly overall (23-for-58 = 39.7%), they shot 3-pointers decently (9-for-28 = 32.1%), and they shot free throws well (15-for-18 = 83.3%).  They lost the rebounding battle (33-29) and the turnover battle (9-8).  They lost this game with poor shooting, especially in the 2^nd half: 7-for-29 overall, 1-for-13 from deep.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Tarris Reed, Jr., Will Tschetter, and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

McDaniel was the leading scorer, with 17 points, all in the 1^st half.  He was hot from 3-point range: 5-for-7.

Williams was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 14 points.

Reed had a decent game, with 8 points.

Tschetter had a decent game, with 6 points.

Tray Jackson chipped in 8 points off the bench, along with 4 rebounds.

Jackson Selvala got to play in the last 2 minutes, and scored 2 points on free throws.  It was nice, since he was one of the four players honored on Senior Day.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Burnett had a lousy game, with 7 points on terrible shooting: 2-for-10 overall, 1-for-7 from deep.  He also had 3 turnovers.

Who Else Played?

Jaelin Llewellyn scored 5 points.

Youssef Khayat scored 3 points.

George Washington III played in the last 2 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Ian Burns played in the last 2 minutes, but missed his only shot attempt.

Who Didn’t Play?

Jace Howard was the only scholarship player who didn’t play.  He might be sick or injured.

Harrison Hochberg and Cooper Smith were the Scout Team players who didn’t play.

What Does It Mean?

On to the Big Ten Tournament.  With their record, Michigan needs to win the tournament to get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  This is EXTREMELY unlikely.  Since their record is so far below 0.500, they can’t get into the NIT if they lose in the Big Ten Tournament.  So, it’s win or go home.

What’s Next?

The Big Ten Tournament is in Minneapolis this year.  Michigan is the #14 seed, and they play the #11 seed (Penn State) at about 9:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (03/13/2024), televised on Peacock.  If they manage to win that game, they play the #6 seed (Indiana) at about 9:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, televised on BTN.  If they win THAT game, their next game would be against the #3 seed (Nebraska) at about 9:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, televised on BTN.  If the miracle run continues, they would play again on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EDT on CBS, and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. EDT on CBS.  I don’t expect them to win one game, much less five, but just in case, here’s the full bracket.

Penn State is currently 15-16 (9-11 in Big Ten).  Michigan played Penn State back on 01/07/2024 on a semi-neutral court, the Palestra in Philadelphia.  Penn State beat Michigan, 79-73, and I expect the same result in the tournament.  This Michigan team is reeling, their confidence is shot, and their roster is depleted.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they lost both of them.  On Thursday (02/29/2024), they lost at Rutgers 82-52, then on Sunday (03/03/2024), they lost at Ohio State 84-61.  The two losses lower Michigan’s record to 8-22 (3-16 in Big Ten).  Michigan has now lost 7 games in a row.

What Happened?

Wow, these were terrible losses.  It was one thing last week when Michigan lost to Northwestern and (#3) Purdue, since they were in the top 4 of the league, but losing to Rutgers and OSU is a whole different level of bad.  Both Rutgers and OSU are in the bottom of the league standings, although certainly ahead of Michigan.  Both games this past week were blowout losses to some of the bottom teams in the league.  It was horrible, just horrible.

Game Flow

The Rutgers game couldn’t have started out much worse.  Rutgers scored right away to make it 2-0, then Michigan made a free throw to make it 2-1 with 19:24 left.  That was the last time it was close.  Rutgers went on a 12-0 run to make it 14-1, and the lead never got back into single digits after that.  Rutgers led by 14 points (30-16) at the 8:22 mark, when they went on an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach, 41-16, with 5:28 to go.  Michigan had one last push left in them, closing the half on a 10-0 run to close the gap to 15 points (41-26) at halftime, but that was as close as they could get.  Early in the 2^nd half, Rutgers pushed the lead back up to 20 points, and kept it at or above 20 points for the rest of the game, winning by 30 points.  It was an embarrassing blowout.

The OSU game was a little more competitive.  Michigan never led, but they got within one point a couple times: 10-9 at the 10:53 mark, and 25-24 with 3:35 left in the half.  OSU led by 4-6 points for most of the 1^st half, and were up by 5 points (32-27) at halftime.  Once again, the 2^nd half was not kind to Michigan, and OSU started the half with a 10-0 run to push their lead up to 15 points (42-27) at the 17:05 mark.  Michigan fought back, and got within 6 points (46-40) with 12:20 left, but that was as close as they would get.  The final turning point came at the 6:58 mark, with OSU up 11 points, 62-51.  They went on a 20-2 run, giving them a 29 point lead (82-53) with 2:46 to go.  The scrubs played the last 2:46, allowing Michigan to get within 23 points at the end.  It was another embarrassing blowout.

Stats

The game stats for the Rutgers game were horrible, just horrible.  Michigan shot terribly overall (18-for-57 = 31.6%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (6-for-23 = 26.1%), and they shot free throws miserably (10-for-20 = 50.0%).  They tied in the rebounding battle (39-39), but they lost the turnover battle badly (14-5).  They lost this game with terrible shooting and WAY too many turnovers.

The game stats for the OSU game were less gruesome than the Rutgers stats.  Michigan shot very poorly overall (20-for-55 = 36.4%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (5-for-18 = 27.8%), and they shot free throws decently (16-for-22 = 72.7%).  They lost the rebounding battle (31-29) and the turnover battle (18-16).  They lost this game with poor shooting and too many turnovers.

Who Started?

The starters for both games were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Tarris Reed, Jr., Will Tschetter, and Terrance Williams II.  McDaniel was finally done with his 6-game “road game suspension”.

Who Looked Good?

McDaniel was the leading scorer in both games, with 13 and 19 points.  He shot well vs. Rutgers (5-for-8 overall, 3-for-3 from deep), but he had a rough outing vs. OSU (7-for-21 overall, 1-for-6 from deep).

Williams hit double figures vs. OSU (13 points) and got close vs. Rutgers (9 points).

Reed had one good game (12 points vs. Rutgers) and one lousy game (4 points vs. OSU).  He shot terribly vs. OSU: 1-for-8 overall.  He also had 5 turnovers in the OSU game.  Ugh.

Tschetter had a decent week, with 7 points in each game.

Cooper Smith scored 2 and 5 points, including 2-for-2 shooting (1-for-1 from deep) vs. OSU.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Burnett had a mediocre week, with 5 and 8 points.  He shot really poorly in the Rutgers game: 1-for-8 overall, 1-for-7 from deep.

Tray Jackson was worthless this week, with 2 points in each game.  Michigan needs much more scoring from him.

Jaelin Llewellyn only played in one game this week (Rutgers), and he failed to score.  He missed the OSU game, probably with the team flu bug.

Jace Howard played in both games, and failed to score.

Who Else Played?

Ian Burns played in “garbage time” of both games, but failed to score.

Harrison Hochberg played in “garbage time” of both games, and scored 0 and 1 point.  This was his first career point.  Good for him!

Youssef Khayat played in the OSU game, and scored 2 points.  He missed the Rutgers game, probably with the team flu bug.

Jackson Selvala played in “garbage time” of both games, but failed to score.

George Washington III played in both games, and scored 2 and 0 points.

Who Didn’t Play?

Everyone played in at least one game this week.

What Does It Mean?

Michigan only has one regular season game left, along with at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament.  They need to win both of these games to get up to 10 wins.  It probably won’t happen.  Also, at 3-16 in the Big Ten, they are guaranteed to finish all alone in last place in the Big Ten.  Talk about a lost season.

What’s Next?

Yay!  The last week of the regular season!  This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Sunday (03/10/2024, 12:00 p.m. EDT, BTN) they play Nebraska in Crisler Arena.  It’s Senior Day, and Michigan will be honoring 4 players: Burnett, Llewellyn, Selvala, and Williams.

Nebraska is currently 21-9 (11-8 in Big Ten).  Michigan played at Nebraska back on 02/10/2024, and Nebraska beat them easily, 79-59.  I expect a 15-20 point loss this time.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they lost both of them.  On Thursday (02/22/2024), they lost at Northwestern 76-62, then on Sunday (02/25/2024), they lost to (#3) Purdue 84-76 in Crisler Arena.  The two losses lower Michigan’s record to 8-20 (3-14 in Big Ten).  Michigan has now lost 5 games in a row.

What Happened?

These were two very predictable losses.  Northwestern is having a very good year, especially for them, and Purdue has been in the top 5 all season, while Michigan is having one of their worst seasons in the last 50 years.  That’s a bad combination.

Game Flow

Once again, the Northwestern game was a tale of two halves.  In the 1^st half, Michigan played well, controlled the tempo, and led for most of the half.  They got their lead as high as 11 points (16-5, at the 13:23 mark), and kept it around 7-9 points for most of the half.  They were still up 9 points (28-19) with 6:35 to go, when Northwestern went on an 11-2 run to tie the game up, 30-30, with 3:40 left.  It was still tied up (34-34) with 2 seconds left, but Northwestern hit a 3-pointer to lead 37-34 at halftime.  Bummer.  As I said above, this game was a tale of two halves, and Northwestern owned the 2^nd half.  Michigan did put up a little fight early in the 2^nd half, but once Northwestern got rolling, it was over.  Northwestern built their halftime lead of 3 points up to 7 points (41-34) with 17:48 to go, then let Michigan creep back into it.  UM got their only lead of the 2^nd half, 44-43, at the 15:36 mark, then Northwestern went on a 14-3 run to go up 10 points (57-47) with 10:27 left.  Northwestern pushed their lead as high as 20 points, winning by 14.

Against Purdue, Michigan actually played pretty well for the first 14 minutes.  They led for the first 10 minutes, by as many as 7 points, and with 16:30 to go in the half, Michigan still led by one point, 30-29.  That was their last lead.  Purdue suddenly woke up, and pulled away with an 18-6 run to end the half, up 11 points (47-36).  In the 2^nd half, Purdue kept the lead in the 9-11 point range the whole time, never letting Michigan get closer than 7 points, winning by 8 points.

Stats

The game stats for the Northwestern game were surprisingly good.  Michigan shot well overall (22-for-44 = 50.0%), they shot 3-pointers extremely well (8-for-11 = 72.7%), but they shot free throws poorly (10-for-18 = 55.6%).  They lost the rebounding battle (36-27) and the turnover battle (11-5).  They lost this game with poor rebounding and too many turnovers, with a dash of poor free-throw shooting thrown in.

The game stats for the Purdue game were better than expected.  Michigan shot well overall (29-for-60 = 48.3%), they shot 3-pointers very well (9-for-21 = 42.9%), and they shot free throws decently (9-for-13 = 69.2%).  They lost the rebounding battle badly (41-28) and the turnover battle (10-8).  They lost this game with terrible rebounding and too many fouls.  Actually, they lost this game because of too much Zach Edey, Purdue’s 7’4” center.  Michigan didn’t have anyone who could stop him, or really even slow him down.  He ended up with 35 points on 14-for-18 shooting, along with 15 rebounds.  He was awesome.

Who Started?

Here’s where things get interesting.  Remember last week when Terrance Williams II didn’t play in the MSU game?  It turns out that there has been some bug (flu?  Not COVID-19) running through the team, and that’s what he had.  Well, it struck again this week:  Will Tschetter didn’t travel with the team to Northwestern, due to the unspecified team bug.  No big deal, right?  Tschetter is an important sub, but Michigan can work around his absence, right?  Wrong.  Tschetter would have started and played a lot in the Northwestern game because (drumroll) Olivier Nkamhoua is out for the rest of the season with a wrist injury.  It turns out that Nkamhoua has been playing with an injured left (non-shooting) wrist injury he suffered in practice back in early January, before the Minnesota game on 01/04/2024.  It finally got to the point where he needed surgery, so now he’s done for the season.

The starters for the Northwestern game were Nimari Burnett, Tray Jackson, Jaelin Llewellyn, Tarris Reed, Jr., and Terrance Williams II.  Dug McDaniel didn’t travel with the team for the Northwestern game (indefinite “road suspension”), so Llewellyn started in his place.  Nkamhoua is out for the season, and Tschetter would have started in his place, but he didn’t travel to Northwestern due to the team flu bug.  So, Michigan was missing their two best players (McDaniel and Nkamhoua) and their best sub (Tschetter).  Great.

The starters for the Purdue game were Burnett, McDaniel, Reed, Tschetter, and Williams.

Who Looked Good?

Burnett had a good week, with 15 points (team high) vs. Northwestern, and 12 points vs. Purdue.  He shot well in both games: 6-for-8 overall (3-for-5 from deep) vs. Northwestern, and 5-for-9 overall (2-for-4 from deep) vs. Purdue.

Williams had a good week, with 13 and 11 points.  He was Michigan’s leading rebounder vs. Northwestern, with 7 boards.

Jackson also had a good week, with 10 points in each game, one as a starter (Northwestern) and one off the bench (Purdue).  Michigan had lots of foul trouble vs. Purdue, trying to guard Edey, so Jackson ended up playing some center.

Reed had one good game (13 points vs. Northwestern) and one lousy game (2 points vs. Purdue).  Edey smothered him, and he only played 18 minutes against him, due to early foul trouble.  He couldn’t contain Edey, and he couldn’t get a shot off against him.  He shot 1-for-2 vs. Purdue.

McDaniel was Michigan’s leading scorer in the one game he played in (Purdue), with 19 points.  On the downside, he shot poorly: 7-for-20 overall, 2-for-7 from deep.

Tschetter played pretty well in the one game he played in (Purdue), with 10 points.  With Nkamhoua out and Reed on the bench with early foul trouble, he played center vs. Edey.  What fun!

Jace Howard played well off the bench, with 5 and 8 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Llewellyn only played in one game this week (Northwestern), and he only scored 3 points.  He missed the Purdue game, probably with the team flu bug.

Who Else Played?

Ian Burns played the last minute of the Northwestern game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Harrison Hochberg played the last minute of the Northwestern game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Youssef Khayat played in both games, and scored 3 and 0 points.

Jackson Selvala played the last minute of the Northwestern game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Cooper Smith played the last minute of the Northwestern game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

George Washington III played in both games, and scored 0 and 4 points.

Who Didn’t Play?

Everyone played in at least one game this week.

What Does It Mean?

Michigan has 3 regular season games left, along with at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament.  They need to win 2 of those 4 games to get up to 10 wins.  It probably won’t happen.  Also, at 3-14 in the Big Ten, they are guaranteed to finish last in the Big Ten, although they could end up tied with Ohio State (currently 6-11 in Big Ten) or Rutgers (currently 6-10 in Big Ten) if they win their last 3 and OSU loses their last 3 or Rutgers loses their last 4.  Also unlikely.  So, they probably won’t win 10 games this season, and they will probably finish all alone in last place in the Big Ten.  Sigh.

What’s Next?

The season drones on.  This week, Michigan plays two games.  On Thursday (02/29/2024, 8:30 p.m., FS1), they play at Rutgers, then on Sunday (03/03/2024, 4:00 p.m., CBS) they play at Ohio State.

Rutgers is currently 14-13 (6-10 in Big Ten).  Michigan played Rutgers in Ann Arbor back on 02/03/2024, and Rutgers beat them easily, 69-59.  If Michigan can’t beat Rutgers in Ann Arbor with Nkamhoua, they probably won’t be able to beat them on the road without him.  I expect a 15-20 point loss.

Ohio State is currently 16-12 (6-11 in Big Ten).  Michigan played OSU in Ann Arbor back on 01/15/2024, and Michigan won 73-65.  Since then, OSU has fired their head coach (Chris Holtmann) on 02/14/2024, and won 2 out of 3 games since then for interim coach Jake Diebler, beating (#2) Purdue and Michigan State (in East Lansing).  Even though Michigan won the first meeting, I expect them to have a much harder time down in Columbus.  I’m expecting a 10-15 point OSU win.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.

Go Blue!