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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #04 – 11/21/2016 – The 2K Classic Championship Games

Quick Look

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

What Happened

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

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

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

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

Who Looked Good

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

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

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

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

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

Who Looked Not-So-Good

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

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

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

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

Who Else Played

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

Who Didn’t Play

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

The Big Picture

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

What’s Next

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

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

Go Blue!

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M FOOTBALL 2016-M DUMPS INDIANA IN SLOBBERKNOCKER 20 TO 10

2016-indiana-07The Hoosier’s rushed into Michigan Stadium with their expectations of victory soaring due to the formerly undefeated Wolverine’s one point miscue in Iowa City Saturday.

Before their tenth game stumble, the Wolverines had impressively forged nine consecutive wins, and held a Big Ten tally of six wins, no losses.  They retained their national three ranking after that loss.

Saturday’s win over Indiana was a hard fought battle which was styled a “slobberknocker” by Coach Harbaugh afterwards.

This season the amount of attention centered on the team and Coach Harbaugh has been extraordinary. Some of it was sour grapes, but most of it was laudatory, both for the Wolverine’s, their high profile Coach, and for rising QB Wilton Speight.

Before Iowa, Wilton Speight led the Big Ten passers, but was disabled by a shoulder injury in that game.

Back up John O’Korn was not a spectacular passer in his first start as M’s QB Saturday. He produced only 59-yards passing on seven of fifteen passing as the offense relied heavily on the running game.  How much of that was a result of the absolutely miserable weather conditions during this game, Harbaugh’s close to the vest play calling, or John’s abilities is impossible to divine.

The blustery winds even affected the goal posts as they sometimes trembled at their tops.  Sleet and snow, light but persistent at times, became heavier at the end of the game when the field was blanketed in a thin cover of snow.  The worst nature can offer, no.  Was it bad enough to affect the comfort of the fans, and play on the field, hell yes.

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O’Korn May Get His Shot as Michigan Still Controls Their Destiny

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Despite the tough loss against the Iowa Hawkeyes and having key injuries occur, the Wolverines are still in the hunt for a Big Ten Championship and more importantly still in control for a national title after three of the top five teams crumbled this past weekend. However, Michigan suffered their first loss which has left no room for error and must win out, possibly without their starting quarterback.

Kinnick Stadium was everything that we expected. It was very possible that they could have lost. But no one expected that they would be handed their first lost in Iowa City. Some even thought that it was our “first tough” road game (apparently playing in East Lansing is no big deal). With it being a night game, the underperforming Hawkeyes, who started 17th in the preseason AP poll rankings, played like they had nothing to lose and insisted to ruin our season with a last second field goal. After the game, senior captains defensive end Chris Wormley and John Mackey Award semifinalist Jake Butt greeted the media in disbelief but remained hopeful for the remainder of the season.

“When it comes down to it, we didn’t make the plays we needed,” Wormley said. “Plain and simple, they made more plays than us. A few things went their way. Looking at today, we’ll look back at the film, see what we did wrong, see what we did right. Figure out those things. But at the end of the day that we lost.”

“We left a lot of opportunities, a lot of plays out on the field today,” Butt said. “There were some big plays we left out on the field. We’re just going to have to look in the mirror, look at the film, and become better because of this. There’s really no excuse. There’s absolutely no excuse. We’ve got to be a lot better than we were today.”

Harbaugh stressed to the team after the game that it’s not over yet and that their goals are still ahead of them.

“Just keep going,” Wormley said. “We’ve got two more games left. We win those two, we’re right where we need to be. Just got to get those done. There’s a lot of things we left out there, a lot of things we could have done better. We’ll watch the film and continue to keep working.”

The fourth quarter was an absolute mess for the Wolverines’. Not only could they uncharacteristically stop the run but they would suffer multiple injuries as well. One being the heart of the secondary, Delano Hill who left the game with an undisclosed injury. Both Channing Stribling and Wilton Speight also injured their shoulders. It appears that Striblings’ injury is nothing too serious to be worried about but Speights’ shoulder has me a little concerned regarding the rest of the season.

There have been non-stop rumors of him being questionable for the Wolverines final home game against Indiana to him being declared out for the season. But Harbaugh is denying anything that is circulating around and currently saying that “its day-to-day thing right now”. We may not even know till the afternoon kickoff if he’s even able to play or not. To be honest, it’s sounding a lot like his decision when he announced the season starter before the opening game against Hawaii.

If Speight is out for this week, John O’Korn is likely to step in and showcase as to why he should’ve gotten the call as the starter. So, who the hell is O’Korn?

O’Korn started his freshman year at Houston, passing for 3,117 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2013 while leading the Cougars to an 8-5 record on the year. Even though his first year went well, his sophomore year didn’t go as planned. O’Korn then lost the job to Greg Ward Jr. after a 2-3 start his sophomore year. Houston would go 6-2 the rest of the way as O’Korn watched from the sideline. He then transferred to Michigan and had to sit out a year due his transfer which was made official in February of 2015.

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Many people had believed that O’Korn might have been the better option for his ability to scramble out of the pocket and make big plays down the field. Quite frankly there is an argument for that case. O ‘Korn is a pro-style quarterback who fits the Michigan system better than the spread at Houston. But Harbaugh knows his quarterbacks and it obviously showed what separated the two QBs’ apart as Speight progressed every game and led the team to a 9-0 record before falling to Iowa.

“He watches film after practice probably more than anybody I have seen at the college level, which is weird for someone who isn’t asked to play as much as he does (because) he’s not the starter,” U-M co-captain Chris Wormley said Tuesday night after practice. “I guess doing that for the past 2-3 months, it’s going to help him out big-time, starting Saturday.”

It’s frightening to know that it is November and a new quarterback may be taking over the helm with two of the most important games remaining on the schedule. O’Korn is a hard worker and by the sounds of it has been waiting for his opportunity to come knocking at the door. He doesn’t have to play great this weekend. He must be consistent, smart and protect the football. If his teammates believe in him, so should we.

Go Blue!

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The Tape, The Tape, The Tape – Michigan loses at Iowa, 10 yards from 10-0

img_5890The mood amongst the large gathering of Michigan fans who made the trip to Iowa City was one of concern and annoyance.  I spent a large portion of the night looking at others in Maize and Blue shaking my head in disbelief.  Iowa’s only viable path for winning a game against a vastly superior Wolverine squad was unfolding in front of our eyes.  The evening turned on a punt, which had to be Kirk Ferentz’s dream scenario.  Late in the first half Ron Coluzzi pinned Michigan at their 1 yard line.  Two plays later a ridiculous safety turned an annoying 10-0 lead into a contest.  Iowa then scored again to make the score 10-8 at halftime.  Ferentz and his Hawkeyes had the exact game they needed: a slop fest.

The Iowa offense put up 9 points through 58 minutes of play.  Michigan’s lead was just two at that juncture thanks to the offense’s worst outing of the year.  Speight had uncharacteristically misfired on one open deep shot after another, any of which would’ve sealed the game.  Chris Evans averaged 6.5 yards per carry on 8 touches, but was noticeably absent in the final drives of the game.  In spite of the offensive struggles, Michigan’s defense made the play that should have closed out the game.  Taco Charlton hit CJ Beathard as he released a deep pass and Channing Stribling intercepted the under thrown ball on Michigan’s 16 yard line.  With 1:54 left in the game, Michigan’s offense trotted on to the field 10 yards away from pulling out a win on the road and headed to 10-0.  They were just 10 yards away.

This team had been in this position before.  Against Michigan State in 2015, the Michigan defense came up with a huge stop and the offense took over with 1:47 on the clock.  Again, 10 yards away from sealing a win.  Twice in the last two seasons the team has failed to pick up 10 yards when it truly mattered to seal a football game.  Understand that many many factors contributed to this loss and this is not to short change any of them.  BUT, despite the poor offensive play and the truly appalling officiating the Wolverines had the ball and the lead with under two minutes to go. Victory was in their grasp and it slipped away.

The Final Offensive Series

Let’s take a look at that final offensive series starting with 1st and 10 on the Michigan 16 yard line.

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Eddie McDoom is circled and DeVeon Smith is the RB.  Desmond King (#14) and Bo Bower (#41) call out the formation and the defensive backfield adjusts for the sweep.  Based on how this play unfolded it wouldn’t have mattered which running back (Smith, Higdon, Evans, or Isaac) was receiving the carry.  Here’s why:

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McDoom motions across the formation like a jet sweep.  Iowa’s defense responds to this by doing the exact opposite of what we’ve seen in previous weeks.  The corner responsible for McDoom does not go flying across the formation in pursuit and the linebackers do not shift at all.  Instead, the safety comes up to take McDoom and everyone else stays home.

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If McDoom gets the ball I think there is a decent chance he gets the corner.  Instead Smith is plowing into two unblocked linebackers and King.  Any yardage gained here is a miracle as four offensive players are blocking against seven defenders.

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