Category: Basketball

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #03 – 11/14/2011 – Half An Opener

The (#18) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played their first “real” game of the 2011-2012 season on Friday (11/11/2011) vs. Ferris State, and they won 59-33.  So, they’re 1-0.  Yay!

Yeah, they won by 26 points, but it was only 6 points (22-16) at halftime.  They played another lethargic 1st half, and only shot 27.6%.  FSU pulled within 1 point (22-21) early in the 2nd half, before Michigan finally woke up.  Once they got going, Michigan played well, and won going away.

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #02 – 11/07/2011 – Not Much Of An Exhibition

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played their one and only exhibition game of the 2011-2012 season on Friday (11/04/2011) vs. Wayne State, and they won 47-39.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that they didn’t look very good.  It’s not unusual for a team to look a little raw or ragged or rusty during an exhibition game, but this was worse than usual.  Michigan never really got into any “flow” offensively, although they did play pretty well defensively.  There were a few good plays on offense, and some good individual performances, but nothing very exciting.

The game was dreary, and the stats are dreary.  Neither team shot well: UM shot 37.3% (19-for-51) overall, and WSU shot 32.7% (17-for-52).  3-point shooting was even worse: UM shot 20.8% (5-for-24), and WSU shot 12.5% (2-for-16).  Even free-throw shooting was bad, at least for Michigan: they shot 4-for-12 (33.3%).  It was ugly.

As bad as the shooting stats were, the non-shooting stats were worse.  UM got out-rebounded (40-31) by a much smaller team, and they had more turnovers (14) than assists (11).

Individually, only two UM players hit double figures: Tim Hardaway Jr. had 20 points, and Zack Novak had 14.  Hardaway had to take 17 shots (7-for-17) to get his 20 points.  Only two other UM players even scored: Jon Horford had 6 points, and Trey Burke had 7.  That adds up to 47 points.

Coach Beilein started a slightly unusual lineup: Hardaway, Novak, and Evan Smotrycz were expected, but Horford started ahead of Jordan Morgan, and Stu Douglass started ahead of Burke.  Since I already mentioned the four UM players who scored, that means that two of the starters (Smotrycz and Douglass) went scoreless (0-for-5 and 0-for-4, respectively), and so did Morgan (0-for-1).  Two other players (Matt Vogrich and Carlton Brundidge) also played, and also went scoreless (0-for-2 and 0-for-0, respectively).  Blake McLimans and Colton Christian never even got in the game.

Looking at the stats, it’s obvious that no one had a great game, but some of the players had good games.  Novak hustled all over the floor, as usual, and Hardaway played hard (no pun intended), just not always smart.  Burke looked pretty smooth out there, and Horford looked improved over last season.

So, the one-game exhibition season is over.  On to the real games.  First up is Ferris State at 7:00 p.m. this Friday (11/11/2011) in Crisler Arena.  Come on down to the new, improved Crisler Arena and see if the real Wolverines show up.

Go Blue!

 

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #01 – 10/31/2011 – Season Preview

Hey, welcome back for another season of Nothing But ‘Net.  Let’s start things right off with a few questions/answers:

 

Q: What is this “Nothing But ‘Net” thing, and how is it different from the other 5000 University of Michigan men’s basketball sites?

 

A: Good question!  “Nothing But ‘Net” (NBN) is the longest running (since 1999) UM basketball site on the Web, with a special angle you won’t find anywhere else: the view from the cheap seats, specifically sections 209/210.  The motto for UMGoBlue.com is “By Fans … For Fans”, and NBN is a great example of that.  I’ve been a UM basketball fan since 1974, and I’ve been to almost every home game since then, win or lose, good or bad.  During the season, I write once a week (by noon Monday) about the games from the previous week, but I also look at season-long trends, all from the viewpoint of a fan.  Sure, there are plenty of other UM basketball sites out there, and I read several of them myself (MGoBlue.com, AnnArbor.com, UMHoops.com, and MGoBlog.com), but the viewpoint at those sites is “journalist”, with media access.  I write about what I see during the game, as a spectator, a fan, and an usher.  Yeah, I’m working as an usher again, for sections 209 and 210.  If you go to a game, drop by and say “hi”.

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Nothing But ?Net – Week #11 – 01/10/2011 – Welcome To The Meat Grinder

Nothing But ?Net ? Week #11 ? 01/10/2011 ? Welcome To The Meat Grinder

Yeah, it was a meat grinder for the Michigan men?s basketball team last week.They played two games against tough teams, and they lost them both.On Wednesday (01/09/2011), they lost at Wisconsin, 66-50, then on Sunday (01/09/2011), they lost in Crisler Arena to (#3) Kansas, 67-60, in overtime.As I said last week, I don?t know which was a tougher task: beating Wisconsin in Madison, or beating the undefeated #3 team in the nation at home.As it turned out, Michigan had a tougher time vs. Wisconsin, but they were both very difficult games.The two losses lower Michigan?s record to 11-5, 1-2 in Big Ten play.

Michigan played two good halves last week; unfortunately, they were in two separate games.They played very well in the first half of the Wisconsin game, and led by 2 points (28-26) at halftime.They controlled the tempo, and made Wisconsin play their game.They managed to push the lead to 4 points (33-29) early in the 2nd half, but then Wisconsin went on a 13-0 run, and the game was over.Once Wisconsin gets a lead in the 2nd half at home, they are virtually unbeatable.The young Wolverines panicked, and the rout was on.

Against Kansas, Michigan played a dismal 1st half (down 25-18 at halftime), but they came back strong in the 2nd half, and managed to force overtime in the last minute of regulation (51-51).They took their first (and only) lead of the game early in overtime (54-51), then Kansas stormed back and dominated the rest of the game.Still, it was encouraging to see UM fight back in the last 11 minutes of regulation, and take Kansas to overtime.

Unfortunately, a loss (or two) is still a loss.It?s nice that Michigan can play a good half against good teams, but they need to play two good halves to beat the big boys.

I?m trying to break my stats habit, but it?s hard.The stats tell the story in both games.Against Wisconsin, the culprit was shooting: UM shot 39.5%, UW shot 47.7%.The rebounding numbers didn?t help: UM was out-rebounded 29-21.In the Kansas game, it was 3-point shooting and fouls that cost UM the game.Michigan shot a miserable 3-point percentage (1-for-10 = 10%) in the 1st half, and it only got a little better in the 2nd half and overtime.They finished shooting 4-for-28 (14.3%).Ugh.The foul situation was the other big factor in the Kansas game: Kansas shot 31 free throws, compared to only 17 for Michigan.That was the difference in the game right there.

Individually, Zack Novak had a very good week.He was one of only two UM players to hit double figures in both games (15 and 12 points), and he was the leading rebounder for UM in both games (5 and 11 boards).That means he had a double-double in the Kansas game.He shot 3-pointers very well vs. Wisconsin (5-for-7), but not so much vs. Kansas (2-for-7).

The other Michigan player who had double figures in both games was Tim Hardaway, Jr., but he had to take a lot of shots to get those points.He had 10 points (on 3-for-10 shooting) vs. Wisconsin, and 19 points (on 5-for-19 shooting) vs. Kansas.He was 2-for-10 shooting 3-pointers vs. Kansas, which really hurt.

Then there was Darius Morris.He had a weak game (8 points) vs. Wisconsin, but came back strong vs. Kansas (16 points).The big problem was that he led the team in turnovers both games, with 4 in each.

Here are complete stats for the Wisconsin and Kansasgames.

?What about the all-important Nothing But ?Net Expectation-O-Meter (NBNEOM)?? you might ask.It stays right where it was last week: ?Meets Expectations?.The Wisconsin and Kansas games were games that Michigan was expected to lose, and they met those expectations.

Speaking of games that Michigan is expected to lose, there?s another one coming right up: on Wednesday (01/12/2011, 6:30 p.m.), Michigan hosts (#2) Ohio State in Crisler Arena.OSU is undefeated (15-0), and they have a really good freshman center (Jared Sullinger), which could be a big problem for Michigan, since UM is a little short on height.

Michigan plays one other game this week: on Saturday (01/15/2011, 8:00 p.m.), they play at Indiana.Now, Indiana isn?t that good this season, but they?re better than they were last season, and Michigan always has trouble playing in Assembly Hall.This is a ?toss up? game, but it?s a crucial toss up game, because Michigan will likely be coming in on a 3-game losing streak.

Go Blue!