Category: Basketball

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #10 – 12/30/2019 – The Last Cupcake & Mid-Term Grades

The (#11) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this week, and they won it.  On Sunday (12/29/2019), they beat UMass-Lowell 86-60 in Crisler Arena.  The win raises Michigan’s record to 10-3 (1-1 in the Big Ten).

What Happened?

This was Michigan’s last “cupcake” game of the season.  Starting next week, Michigan plays 18 Big Ten games in a row.  There are no cupcakes in the Big Ten this season.

UML was overmatched, and they never really stood a chance.  Michigan had a huge height advantage, and they took full advantage of it.  UM led the whole way, by 17 at halftime (42-25), and as many as 32 points in the 2nd half.  Coach Howard emptied the bench, and the game was never in doubt.

Stats

The stats for the game are pretty good.  Michigan shot pretty well overall (36-for-67 = 53.7%), they shot 3-pointers fairly well (8-for-21 = 38.1%), and they shot free throws very well (6-for-7 = 85.7%).  They won the rebounding battle handily (41-25), but they lost the turnover battle (14-13).

Who Started?

The starters were Eli Brooks, Brandon Johns, Jr., Zavier Simpson, Jon Teske, and Franz Wagner.  Johns started in place of Isaiah Livers, who is out indefinitely with a groin injury he suffered in the opening minutes of the win over Presbyterian.

Who Looked Good?

Teske was the leading scorer, with a career-high 25 points.  He also had 8 rebounds.  He had 6 inches on the tallest UML player, so he was able to score at will.  He shot 11-for-14 overall.

Brooks was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 15 points.  He shot 3-for-7 from 3-point range.

Simpson almost hit double figures, with 9 points.  He also had 10 assists.

Johns had a solid game, with 6 points on 3-for-4 shooting.

Austin Davis played 13 minutes, and looked good out there.  He scored 7 points, on 3-for-4 shooting, and only had 1 foul.

Colin Castleton played 13 minutes, and did a decent job.  He scored 4 points and had (team-high) 9 rebounds.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Wagner only had 4 points, on 2-for-4 shooting.  We’ve seen him score 21 points against similar competition.  Michigan will need his scoring going forward.

David DeJulius only had 3 points, on 1-for-5 shooting (1-for-3 from 3-point range).

Adrien Nuñez had 6 points, but needed 7 shots to get them.  He shot 2-for-7 overall, 2-for-5 from 3-point range.

Who Else Played?

C.J. Baird played for 4 minutes, but didn’t score.

Cole Bajema had 2 points.

Jaron Faulds had 2 points.

Rico Ozuna-Harrison played for 2 minutes, but didn’t score.

Luke Wilson hit his only shot attempt, a 3-pointer, for his first career points.

Who Didn’t Play?

As mentioned above, Livers was injured and didn’t play.

What Does It Mean?

This was a meaningless game.  Michigan was heavily favored to win, and they did the job.  It’s hard to learn anything from a game against such an overmatched opponent.

Mid-Term Grades

Michigan has played 13 games, with 18 left in the regular season, so this is pretty close to the halfway point.  Time for mid-term grades.

Freshman Eligibility

Cole Bajema (Inc.) – Cole has only played in 6 games so far, and scored 18 points.  He has looked like a freshman out there.

Jaron Faulds (Inc.) – Jaron has only played in 3 games so far, and scored 4 points.  He’s on the practice squad, and only plays in “garbage time”.

Franz Wagner (B) – Franz missed the first 4 games of the season with a broken wrist, but he has played pretty well since his return.  He has a nice 3-point stroke, but his 3-point shooting percentage should be better (10-for-34 = 29.4%).

Sophomore Eligibility

Colin Castleton (B) – Colin has had a few good games (Appalachian State, Houston Baptist, and Iowa State), and several 0-4 point games (the rest).  His defense has improved, but his offense is still inconsistent.

David DeJulius (B+) – David is one of the most improved players on the team.  He’s had 6 games in double figures, and a couple more with 9 points.  He’s shooting a nice percentage from 3-point range (18-for-43 = 41.9%), and he’s done a good job on defense.  He even plays a little point guard every now and then.

Brandon Johns, Jr. (B) – Brandon is another player who has improved a lot from last season.  He’s playing with a lot more confidence.  He’s only had one game in double figures (Iowa), but he’s contributed in other ways, including rebounding and defense.

Adrien Nuñez (C-) – Adrien still hasn’t turned the corner.  He got his chances early, when he started the first 4 games in place of the injured Franz Wagner, and he didn’t really contribute much.  He’s supposed to be one of the better 3-point shooters on the team, but so far he’s only 9-for-31 (29.0%).

Junior Eligibility

C.J. Baird (Inc.) – C.J. has only played in 4 games so far, and scored 7 points.  He’s on the practice squad, and only plays in “garbage time”.

Eli Brooks (A-) – Eli is the other candidate for “most improved player”.  He’s had 7 games in double figures, including a couple 24-point performances (Appalachian State and North Carolina).  He’s averaging 11.5 points per game, and shooting a nice percentage from 3-point range (25-for-53 = 47.2%).

Austin Davis (C+) – Austin has played better so far this season than the rest of his career, but he’s still a “project”.  There are some things he does well, like defense, rebounding, and dunking, and other things that he’s still working on, like mid-range shooting and passing.  The biggest improvement has been that he’s cut way down on his silly fouls.

Isaiah Livers (A) – Isaiah is the most versatile player on the team, and arguably the most valuable.  When he went out with a groin injury, he led the team in scoring (13.6 points/game) and 3-point shooting percentage (29-for-58 = 50.0%).  Hopefully, he won’t miss too many games with his injury.

Rico Ozuna-Harrison (Inc.) – Rico has only played in 3 games so far, and scored 2 points.  He’s on the practice squad, and only plays in “garbage time”.

Luke Wilson (Inc.) – Luke has only played in 4 games so far, and scored 3 points.  He’s on the practice squad, and only plays in “garbage time”.

Senior Eligibility

Zavier Simpson (A) – Zavier is the undisputed leader of this team, and he’s done a good job at it.  He’s had 6 games in double figures scoring, and 5 games in double figures for assists.  He’s even shooting a nice percentage from 3-point range (12-for-30 = 40.0%).

Jon Teske (A) – Jon has gotten better every season, and he’s playing very well this season.  He’s scored in double figures every game except 2 (Houston Baptist and Oregon), and he’s had double-digit rebounds in 4 games.  He hasn’t found his 3-point stroke yet this season (7-for-26 = 26.9%), but he hits enough of them to keep the opposing centers honest.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game, but it’s a big one.  On Sunday (01/05/2020, 1:30/4:30 p.m., CBS), they play at (#14) Michigan State.

MSU is currently 10-3 (2-0 in the Big Ten), with a few big wins ([#12] Seton Hall, Georgia, and UCLA), a couple understandable losses ([#2] Kentucky and [#10] Duke), and one embarrassing loss (Virginia Tech).  They started the season ranked #1, but have underperformed so far.  They have some height (a 7’0” guy and a 6’11” guy), and one star (Cassius Winston).  They are always tough at home, especially when Izzo intimidates the refs.  Michigan is going to have to play very well to win this one.

Check back next week to see how Michigan did.

Go Blue!

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #09 – 12/23/2019 – A Holiday Cupcake

The (#14) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this week, and they won it.  On Saturday (12/21/2019), they beat Presbyterian College 86-44 in Crisler Arena.  The win raises Michigan’s record to 9-3 (1-1 in the Big Ten).

What Happened?

This was a classic holiday “cupcake”.  Presbyterian was overmatched, and they never really stood a chance.  Michigan raced out to a quick 13-point lead (17-4) in the first 8 minutes, and never looked back.  They led by 23 at halftime (38-15), pushed the lead into the 30’s and 40’s in the 2nd half, and won by 42 points.  It was an easy, stress-free game, and every healthy UM player got to play a decent amount.

Stats

The stats for the game are good, even after they got dragged down a little by extended “garbage time”.  Michigan shot well overall (28-for-53 = 52.8%), they shot 3-pointers well (11-for-27 = 40.7%), and they shot free throws well (19-for-25 = 76.0%).  They won the rebounding battle handily (44-30), and they won the turnover battle (10-13).  Without the five 3-pointers that the scrubs hoisted up in “garbage time”, Michigan shot 50% (11-for-22) from 3-point range.

Who Started?

The starters were Eli Brooks, Isaiah Livers, Zavier Simpson, Jon Teske, and Franz Wagner.  However, Livers suffered an injury at the 16:54 mark in the 1st half, and he didn’t return.

Who Looked Good?

Brooks was the leading scorer, with 16 points, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range.

Teske scored 15 points, on very efficient shooting (6-for-9).  He also had 7 rebounds.

David DeJulius was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 12 points, all 3-pointers.  He shot 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

Simpson didn’t quite hit double figures (9 points), but he did have 9 assists and 5 rebounds.

Cole Bajema had his best game so far, with a career-high 9 points.

Austin Davis played 17 minutes, and looked solid out there.  He scored 7 points, had (team-high) 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, and only 1 foul.

Colin Castleton played 22 minutes, and did a decent job.  He scored 6 points and had 7 rebounds.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Wagner hit his first shot, a 3-pointer, in the first minute of the game, and didn’t score again.

Adrien Nuñez came in when Livers went out, and he didn’t do much besides foul.  He did score 5 points, but he also had 5 fouls.

Who Else Played?

C.J. Baird, Jaron Faulds, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, and Luke Wilson all played at least 3 minutes, and Baird even scored 2 points.

Who Didn’t Play?

Brandon Johns, Jr. was ill, and didn’t play.

As mentioned above, Livers only played 3 minutes before he got hurt.

What Does It Mean?

This was a meaningless game.  Michigan was heavily favored to win, and they did the job.  It’s hard to learn anything from a game against such an overmatched opponent.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game, in Crisler Arena.  On Sunday (12/29/2019, 2:00 p.m., FS1), they play UMass-Lowell.

UMass-Lowell is another cupcake, although they are a notch better than Presbyterian.  Still, Michigan will be heavily favored, and should win by 20-30 points.  UML is currently 6-7, with no significant wins, and a few embarrassing losses (Jacksonville, Merrimack, Dartmouth, and Sacred Heart).  They have no height (no one over 6’7”), and no real stars.

Check back next week to see how Michigan did.

Go Blue!

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #08 – 12/16/2019 – A Lost Week

The (#5) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, and they lost both of them.  On Wednesday (12/11/2019), they lost at Illinois 71-62, then on Saturday (12/14/2019), they lost to (#10) Oregon 71-70 in overtime in Crisler Arena.  The two losses leave Michigan with a record of 8-3 (1-1 in the Big Ten).  Michigan has now lost two games in a row, and three out of the last four.  They will probably drop out of the Top 25, after two weeks at #4 and #5.

What Happened?

I don’t know why, but Michigan lost all the “mojo” they had in the Bahamas.  As good as they looked against top competition two weeks ago, they looked that bad this week.  They could have won both games, but they made way too many dumb mistakes at crucial times.

In the Illinois game, Michigan kept the game close early, and even led by 2 points (26-24) with 4:31 left in the 1st half.  Illinois led by 2 at halftime (30-28), but Michigan tied it (32-32) with 18:54 left in the game.  That was the last time it was tied.  Illinois went ahead, and never trailed again.  The lead was in the 8-10 point range for most of the half, although Michigan did get it down to 4 points (66-62) with 2:06 remaining.  Illinois scored the last 5 points, and that was the game.

Michigan fell way behind Oregon in the 1st half, down 15 points (22-7) with 9:49 to go.  Just like the Louisville game, they couldn’t buy a basket.  7 points in 10 minutes is embarrassing.  Oregon kept the lead in the 10-12 point range for most of the 1st half, although Michigan did get within 6 points (29-23) with 1:52 left.  Oregon led by 8 points (31-23) at halftime.  Michigan kept within 4-6 points for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, then started slowly creeping up on Oregon.  They finally tied the game up (48-48) with 8:49 left, and it was close the rest of the way.  The lead seesawed back and forth, with neither team pulling more than 3 points ahead.  Michigan tied it up (63-63) with 25 seconds left in regulation, and held on to get to overtime.  Overtime started out well, with a quick 3 point lead (66-63), but Oregon fought back, took the lead 71-68 with 1:14 to go, and Michigan could only score 2 points the rest of the way, despite taking 6 shots.

Stats

The stats for the Illinois game are terrible.  Michigan shot poorly overall (27-for-62 = 43.5%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (3-for-18 = 16.7%), and they barely shot free throws (5-for-6 = 83.3%).  They were destroyed in the rebounding battle (44-28), but they did win the turnover battle (8-13).  As a general rule, when Michigan shoots 3-pointers poorly, they lose.

The stats for the Oregon game are a little better.  Michigan shot poorly overall (25-for-61 = 41.0%), but they shot 3-pointers pretty well (9-for-21 = 42.9%), and they shot free throws pretty well (11-for-14 = 78.6%).   They tied in the rebounding battle (32-32), and they won the turnover battle (11-16).  This game goes to show that when Michigan shoots 3-pointers well, they still can lose.

Who Started?

The starters were Eli Brooks, Isaiah Livers, Zavier Simpson, Jon Teske, and Franz Wagner. 

Who Looked Good?

Livers was the only Michigan player to hit double figures in both games this week (12 and 13 points).  He shot 3-pointers well: 2-for-3 vs. Illinois and 3-for-6 vs. Oregon.

Simpson didn’t hit double figures in either game (9 and 8 points), but he did have a bunch of assists (8 and 11).  Unfortunately, he had 4 turnovers in the Oregon game, and they all seemed to come at exactly the worst possible time.

David DeJulius had a pretty good game vs. Illinois (7 points) and a very good game against Oregon (14 points).

Brandon Johns, Jr. had a mediocre game vs. Illinois (2 points) and a good game against Oregon (8 points and 9 rebounds).

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Teske had one good game (16 points vs. Illinois) and one awful game (4 points vs. Oregon).

Brooks also had a good game vs. Illinois (12 points) and a bad game vs. Oregon (2 points).

Wagner had one bad game (4 points vs. Illinois) and one very good game (21 points vs. Oregon).

Who Else Played?

Colin Castleton played in both games (9 and 3 minutes), and didn’t even attempt a shot.

Adrien Nuñez played in both games (6 and 3 minutes), and tried and missed a 3-pointer in each game.

Who Didn’t Play?

C.J. Baird, Cole Bajema, Austin Davis, Jaron Faulds, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, and Luke Wilson didn’t get in either game.

What Does It Mean?

It’s hard to be optimistic after three losses in the last four games.  On the one hand, Michigan played hard in all three games, but on the other hand, they didn’t play very smart.  Many of the mistakes they made were mental, and too many of them were unforced.  They appear to have lost the confidence they built up in the Bahamas.  They play well for stretches, then they just fall apart at key moments.  We know they have the talent to beat any team in the country, but they have the inconsistency to lose to anyone as well.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game, in Crisler Arena.  On Saturday (12/21/2019, 12:00 p.m., BTN), they play Presbyterian.

Presbyterian is a classic “cupcake”, just like Houston Baptist, and Michigan will roll over them, probably hitting 100+ points again.  This will tell us nothing.

Check back next week to see how Michigan did.

Go Blue!

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #07 – 12/09/2019 – First Loss, First B1G Win

The (#4) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, and they lost one and won one.  On Tuesday (12/03/2019), they lost at (#1) Louisville 58-43, then on Friday (12/06/2019), they beat Iowa 103-91 in Crisler Arena.  The Louisville game was part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.  Michigan’s record is now 8-1 (1-0 in the Big Ten).

What Happened?

We’ve got a lot to talk about!  First of all, there’s that “(#4)” in the first line of this article.  It wasn’t there the first six articles, because Michigan wasn’t ranked before this week.  That’s right: Michigan went from unranked to #4 in the polls in one week, which tied a record for the biggest jump ever.  They certainly deserved to be in the Top 25 after the way they played in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, although #4 seemed a little higher than necessary.  I was thinking #9 or #10.  We’ll see how the loss to #1 affects their ranking.

A word about the ranking numbers I use in these articles: I always use the AP Poll, not the Coaches Poll, and it comes out on Monday afternoons, which means that I need to use the “stale” rankings from the previous week in my articles.  Sorry.

On to the games.  After looking so good in the Bahamas, Michigan looked terrible in the game at Louisville.  Just terrible.  They were slow and they were sloppy.  Louisville didn’t look that good, especially in the first 10 minutes of the game, and Michigan could have won this game with an effort like they gave in the Bahamas, but they didn’t have it in them.  Coach Howard wouldn’t use it as an excuse after the game, but they sure looked like they were worn down after playing three games in three days, then traveling all day to get back to Ann Arbor, then going to classes on Monday.  Even if they weren’t that physically tired, they appeared mentally and emotionally spent.  It was not a good time to go into a hostile arena for their first true road game, against a team that had just moved up to the #1 ranking.

The “game flow” for the Louisville game is ugly.  Both teams were shooting bricks, and it was still 0-0 after 2:00.  It was tied (2-2) with 17:10 left in the half, and that was the last time it was tied.  Louisville (very) slowly pulled away, up 7-2 with 13:39 left to go.  Michigan finally scored again at the 13:22 mark to make it 7-4, and got a free throw at the 10:01 mark.  That’s 5 points in 10 minutes of “action”.  At that point it was 12-5, and it got worse: 18-5 with 7:46 to go.  Michigan finally scored again at the 6:49 mark, to make it 18-7, but Louisville promptly pushed their lead even higher, to 22-7 with 5:16 to go.  Michigan managed to finally score a few more points before halftime, and closed the gap to 10 points (28-18).

Let’s pause here to consider that score.  18 points in 20 minutes is unacceptable.  My bare minimum for acceptability is at least 20 points each half, 40 points total.  It’s hard to believe that the same UM team that scored 83, 73, and 82 points in three games last week could fumble their way to 18 points at halftime in this game.  They shot 20% overall in that half (6-for-30) and 16.7% from 3-point range (1-for-6).  Out of those 30 shots, at least half of them were slightly-to-completely open, including a few point-blank puppies.  It was very frustrating.

The 2nd half started with some encouraging play.  Michigan continued their slight run from the end of the 1st half, and actually got within 4 points (30-26) at the 16:59 mark, but that was the high-water mark for the game.  Louisville quickly pushed the lead back to 14 points (40-26), and Michigan never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.  Sad.

The “game flow” for the Iowa game is the exact opposite of the Louisville game.  As they have done so often this season, and even against Top-10 teams, Michigan took the lead for good early in the 1st half, and kept it the rest of the way.  In this case, the lead seesawed back and forth in the early going, and the score was tied 12-12 with 14:54 to go in the 1st half.  Michigan went ahead 14-12, and never trailed again.  They built the lead up to 8 points (21-13) with 12:39 to go, 9 points (38-29) with 5:30 to go, and 10 points (43-33) with 3:51 left in the half.  It was down to 5 points (43-38) with 2:53 to go, when UM went on a great 7-0 run to end the half up 12 points (50-38).  Note that Michigan scored more points (50) in the 1st half vs. Iowa than they did the whole game against Louisville (43).

In the 2nd half, Michigan kept the lead in the 10-13 point range, although Iowa did creep as close as 7 points once (78-71, with 7:38 to go).  The last couple minutes were painful to watch, as Iowa kept fouling, hoping that Michigan would miss enough free throws to cut into the lead, but it didn’t work.  It just made for slow, ugly basketball.  In the last 4:03 of the game, Iowa committed 9 fouls, all intentional, and Michigan shot 18 free throws, making 15 of them.  The Michigan lead went up, not down, from 10 points to as high as 16 points, before ending up at 12 points.  That’s crummy basketball and crummy coaching by Fran McCaffery, Iowa’s coach.

If you look back over my articles for the last 20 years, you’ll see that I seldom mention opposing players by name, but I have to give a shout-out to Luka Garza of Iowa.  He played one of the best games I’ve ever seen in person, scoring 44 points on 17-for-32 shooting, along with 10-for-13 from the free-throw line.  His only weakness was 3-point shooting (0-for-3).  He scored inside and mid-range, with great moves and a dead-eye shot.  He was unstoppable.  Three different Michigan players tried to contain him, and they all failed, although they did slow him down a little in the 2nd half.  Maybe his shooting arm got tired?  Anyway, he deserves credit for keeping Iowa in this game.  If he had had a “normal” game, Michigan would have won by 25 points or more.

Stats

The stats for the Louisville game are dreadful.  Michigan shot absolutely terribly overall (15-for-58 = 25.9%), they shot absolutely terribly from 3-point range (3-for-19 = 15.8%), but they did shoot free throws decently (10-for-15 = 66.7%).  It seemed like much more, but they only had 10 turnovers; they still lost the turnover battle (10-8), and the rebounding battle (41-48).  You aren’t going to win many games shooting 15.8% from 3-point range.

The stats for the Iowa game are much better.  Michigan shot very well overall (32-for-58 = 55.2%), they shot 3-pointers very well (10-for-24 = 41.7%), and they shot free throws very well (29-for-34 = 85.3%).  They still managed to lose the turnover battle (9-7), but they won the rebounding battle (38-30).

Who Started?

The starters were Eli Brooks, Isaiah Livers, Zavier Simpson, Jon Teske, and Franz Wagner.  This appears to be the permanent starting lineup, now that Wagner is healthy.

Who Looked Good?

Well, since Teske was the only Michigan player who played well against Louisville, this is going to be a short list this week.  He was the only UM player to hit double figures against Louisville (18 points), along with 10 rebounds, for a nice double-double.  He scored 16 points against Iowa, and was the only Michigan player to hit double figures in both games.  On the negative side, he had a tough time containing Garza of Iowa.

Austin Davis didn’t have a bad game vs. Louisville because he didn’t play in that game.  He did have a good game vs. Iowa (8 points on 4-for-6 shooting), and he probably did the best at slowing down Garza of Iowa.  He’s been playing much better lately.

There’s your list of who looked good.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Simpson almost made the “who looked good” list, with 9 points vs. Louisville and 16 points vs. Iowa.  The biggest problems were that he shot a lousy percentage vs. Louisville (4-for-11), and he had more turnovers (4) than assists (3) in that game.  He played much better vs. Iowa.

Wagner was another player who almost made the “who looked good” list.  He had a very poor game vs. Louisville (5 points and 3 turnovers), but he was the star of the Iowa game, with a game-high 18 points, including 9-for-10 shooting free throws.

Livers probably had the worst game of all the Michigan players vs. Louisville.  He only scored 3 points, on 1-for-9 shooting (1-for-4 from 3-point range).  He had a solid game vs. Iowa, with 14 points, but his showing vs. Louisville moved him to the “who looked not-so-good” list.

Brooks also had a very poor game vs. Louisville, with 2 points (on free throws), shooting 0-for-6.  He also bounced back in the Iowa game, with 13 points, but his disappearance in the Louisville game hurt.

David DeJulius had a great tournament in the Bahamas, but he couldn’t get going this week.  He had 2 points in each game, on mediocre shooting.

Colin Castleton also played well in the Bahamas, but couldn’t keep it going this week.  He had 2 points vs. Louisville and 4 points vs. Iowa.  He took an elbow to his lip in the Iowa game, but went back in after getting stitches.  He also was ineffective at containing Garza of Iowa.

Brandon Johns, Jr. had a lousy game vs. Louisville (2 points), but a very good game vs. Iowa (12 points, on 4-for-6 shooting, 2-for-3 from 3-point range).  He also had 8 rebounds vs. Iowa, 5 of them offensive rebounds.  Hopefully, he’ll use the Iowa game as a springboard for the rest of the season.

Who Else Played?

Cole Bajema, Adrien Nuñez, and Luke Wilson all got in during the last minute of the Louisville game, but none of them scored.

Who Didn’t Play?

C.J. Baird, Jaron Faulds, and Rico Ozuna-Harrison didn’t get in either game.

What Does It Mean?

Well, it wasn’t very likely that Michigan was going to go undefeated this season, and if they had to lose a game, losing on the road to the #1 team in the nation wasn’t too embarrassing.  What was embarrassing was how poorly they played.  Fortunately, they bounced back nicely vs. Iowa.  Hopefully, they won’t get as worn down as they looked vs. Louisville for the rest of the season.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays two games, one on the road and one at home.  On Wednesday (12/11/2019, 9:00 p.m. EST, BTN), they play at Illinois, then on Saturday (12/14/2019, 12:00 p.m., CBS), they play (#13) Oregon in Crisler Arena.

Illinois is currently 6-3 (0-1 in the Big Ten), with no impressive wins, and losses to (#21) Arizona, Miami (FL), and (#3) Maryland.  They got crushed by Arizona, but they almost beat Miami and Maryland.  They’ve got a hot freshman 7-footer (Kofi Cockburn) who’s averaging a double-double (15.4 points/game, 10.7 rebounds/game), so that’s going to be a challenge.  It’s always tough to win on the road, and it’s even tougher in the Big Ten.

Oregon is currently 7-2, with wins over (#13) Memphis and (#13) Seton Hall.  Their two losses were in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament to (#8) Gonzaga (by 1 point in overtime) and to (#6) North Carolina (by 4 points).  Even though they didn’t play Michigan in the Bahamas, I did see them play down there, and they’re tough.  They’ve got decent height, and they never give up.  This is the best non-conference opponent Michigan will play at home this season.  Michigan will have to play like they did in the Bahamas to win this game.

Check back next week to see how Michigan did.

Go Blue!