Tag: Tim Hardaway Jr.

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #16 – 02/11/2013 – A Tale Of Two Overtimes

The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.

The (#3) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week; both games went to overtime, and both had thrilling endings. Unfortunately, they won the first but lost the second. On Tuesday (02/05/2013), they beat (#10) Ohio State 76-74 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (02/09/2013), they lost to Wisconsin 65-62 in Madison. The win and the loss leave UM with a record of 21-3, 8-3 in Big Ten play. They are tied for 2nd place in the Big Ten.

As exciting and thrilling as the Ohio State win was, the Wisconsin loss was twice as emotional. Michigan had the game wrapped up at the end of regulation, with a 3-point lead and only 2.4 seconds left. Wisconsin had to go the length of the floor, and they managed to swish a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer, to force overtime. It was so deflating, and Wisconsin had the momentum for the overtime. On the final shot of regulation, Michigan tried to foul the Wisconsin shooter, but couldn’t catch him. The odds of a half-court shot going in are vanishingly small, but they worked against Michigan this time. It was a tough loss. Michigan hasn’t won at the Kohl Center in Madison since 1999.

On the other hand, the Ohio State win was exhilarating. The game was close most of the way, but OSU starting pulling away early in the 2nd half. That’s when Tim Hardaway Jr.
caught fire, hitting three 3-pointers in a row to put Michigan back on top. The lead see-sawed from there, and the game was (obviously) tied at the end of regulation, but Michigan went ahead for good in the overtime and won with a pair of blocked shots in the last few seconds.

Even though UM lost another game, so did most of the rest of the contenders, and it’s still a tight race for the title. At this point, all of the contenders still control their own destiny, including Michigan. See this week’s Big Ten Report for more details.

As expected, the stats for the OSU game look a lot better than the stats for the Wisconsin game. First, OSU: Michigan shot pretty well overall (28-for-60 = 46.7%), and even better from 3-point range (14-for-24 = 58.3%). They didn’t shoot many free throws, and they didn’t shoot them particularly well (6-for-11 = 54.5%). They (barely) won the rebounding battle (32-30), and they tied in the turnover battle (11-11). The 3-point shooting was the difference. In the Wisconsin game, Michigan shot poorly overall (28-for-71 = 39.4%), but they shot really poorly from 3-point range (5-for-18 = 27.8%). They only shot 2 free throws (!), and made one of them (50.0%). They tied in the rebounding battle (39-39), and they won the turnover battle handily (7-14). The big difference was 3-point shooting again, but this time in the negative sense.

Individually, 3 players hit double figures in both games:

  • Trey Burke – 16 points vs. OSU, and 19 vs. Wisconsin.
  • Tim Hardaway Jr. – 23 and 18 points. As I mentioned above, Tim was on fire vs. OSU, and he played well against Wisconsin as well.
  • Mitch McGary – 14 and 12 points. Those 14 points vs. OSU were a new career-high for Mitch. Mitch is playing very well recently.

2 players hit double figures in one game:

  • Glenn Robinson III – 10 and 4 points. GR3 had another sub-par game vs. Wisconsin.
  • Nik Stauskas – 11 and 5 points. Nik also had a miserable game vs. Wisconsin. Michigan will have trouble beating the other contenders when both GR3 and Nik are having bad games at the same time.

The only starter who failed to hit double figures in either game was Jon Horford, who started both games in place of the injured Jordan Morgan. Jon had 2 points in each game. He only played 13 and 7 minutes, compared to 29 and 32 minutes played by Mitch McGary. Even though Jon is listed as the starter, Mitch is the main player at center, at least until Jordan returns to the starting lineup.

Besides McGary, the bench players didn’t have much success scoring:

  • Spike Albrecht – 0 and 0 points.
  • Max Bielfeldt – DNP and 2 points. Max played 18 minutes in the Wisconsin game, to give UM more “beef” underneath.
  • Caris LeVert – 0 and 0 points.
  • Jordan Morgan – 0 and DNP points. Jordan only played 4 minutes against OSU, and it was obvious that he wasn’t ready to go full speed yet.

Other than McGary, who is essentially the starter at center, Michigan only got 2 points from all the other bench players in both games combined. This is a recipe for disaster. The starters can’t carry the team for the rest of the season.

This Week

Michigan is finally at the end of a brutal 4-game stretch. So far, they are 1-2, with one game left. On Tuesday (02/12/2013, 9:00 p.m., ESPN), they play (#12) Michigan State in East Lansing, then on Sunday (02/17/2013, 12:00 noon EST, BTN), they play Penn State in Crisler Arena. Michigan State is currently tied for 1st place in the Big Ten, one game ahead of Michigan, so this is a crucial game. Michigan has had a tough time winning in East Lansing, but they stand a good chance this year. Oh yeah: the Penn State game will be a slaughter. PSU is 0-11 in the Big Ten so far, and they are very weak.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #15 – 02/04/2013 – Fun While It Lasted

The (#1) University of Michigan men’s basketball team won’t be ranked #1 any more, when the AP Top 25 poll comes out today. It was fun while it lasted: 2 games. They played two games last week, and they won the first but lost the second. On Wednesday (01/30/2013), they beat Northwestern 68-46 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (02/02/2013), they lost to (#3) Indiana 81-73 in Bloomington. The win and the loss leave UM with a record of 20-2, 7-2 in Big Ten play. They are tied for 2nd place in the Big Ten.

The Northwestern game was barely worth talking about. The important part was that Michigan went out and played well against a team that they had beaten earlier this season on the road, and didn’t look ahead to the much bigger game on Saturday. Every win is important in the Big Ten, so the win over Northwestern is certainly important, but it was also not a surprise. The big game last week was the one against Indiana, and it didn’t go well. Michigan played pretty well, but they were bombarded early, and they never quite recovered. IU was red hot in the first 10 minutes, and they raced out to a quick 15 point lead (28-13). Michigan finally got going with a 10-0 run to pull within 5 (28-23), and they stayed close the rest of the first half. They only trailed by 4 (36-32) at halftime, and they managed to pull into a 40-40 tie in the first 2 minutes of the 2nd half. Indiana pulled away with another run (11-0), but UM fought back again to get within 2 points (53-51) with 11 minutes left, and 3 points (61-58) with 4 minutes left. That was as close as they got down the stretch, and IU hit their free throws to win the game.

So, what went wrong in the Indiana game? Lots of little things that added up to just enough to tip the game in IU’s favor:

  • Jordan Morgan didn’t start, and he only played 2 minutes, due to his ankle injury. He is certainly Michigan’s best post defender, and he was missed.
  • The Indiana crowd was frantic, and it seemed to affect the freshmen, especially Glenn Robinson III
    and Nik Stauskas, who both played very poorly.
  • Indiana couldn’t miss in the first 5 minutes, hitting their first 6 shots, including four 3-pointers. Some of this is talent, and some of it is luck. Bad luck for Michigan. If Indiana had hit shots at their normal percentage, the game might have gone much differently. They ended up shooting a good-but-not-great overall percentage (26-for-50 = 52.0%), but if they had started out shooting 52% instead of 100%, Michigan might have managed a meager lead, which certainly would have changed the complexion of the game. As it was, UM played from behind the whole game.
  • Stauskas was recovering from the flu, which kept him from practicing on Friday. He seemed a step slower, and his shot was a touch off. Michigan’s offense depends on him, and he wasn’t able to perform at his usual level.

I know, it sounds like sour grapes, but my point is that IU is not a better team than Michigan, they just had things go their way on Saturday. It doesn’t mean that Michigan doesn’t stand a chance against them, they just need their fair share of the breaks, and they didn’t get them this time. Maybe next time.

The loss to Indiana was discouraging, but the race for the Big Ten title is far from over. All of the contenders still control their own destiny, including Michigan. Even if Indiana wins the rest of their games going into the last game of the regular season vs. Michigan in Ann Arbor, UM can still claim a share of the title by winning all their games and beating IU. The same can be said of the other contenders (Ohio State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin). Even Minnesota still stands a chance, although they’ll need a little help.

Let’s look at the stats, even though the IU game wasn’t pretty. First, Northwestern: Michigan shot pretty well overall (25-for-49 = 51.0%), and they shot 3-pointers pretty well (6-for-15 = 40.0%). They shot fairly well from the free-throw line (12-for-18 = 66.7%), they (barely) won the rebounding battle (31-29), and they handily won the turnover battle (2-8). That’s right: 2 turnovers for the whole game, none in the first half. Very impressive. The Indiana stats aren’t nearly as impressive: UM shot fairly well overall (30-for-70 = 42.9%), but not very well from 3-point range (7-for-23 = 30.4%). They shot free throws fairly well (6-for-7 = 85.7%), but they didn’t get to the line very often, especially compared to IU (22-for-25 = 88.0%). Michigan got mauled on the boards (38-29), but they won the turnover battle (8-16). The biggest differences were rebounding and free throws.

Individually, 2 players hit double figures in both games:

  • Trey Burke – 18 points vs. Northwestern, and 25 vs. Indiana.
  • Nik Stauskas – 11 and 10 points. Nik was miserable against Indiana, missing his first four 3-pointers before finally hitting his 5th (and last) attempt.

4 players hit double figures in one game:

  • Tim Hardaway Jr. – 7 and 18 points. After a quite game vs. Northwestern, Tim did his best to keep UM in the Indiana game, along with Burke.
  • Jon Horford – 10 and 4 points. Jon started both games in place of Jordan Morgan.
  • Mitch McGary – 6 and 10 points. Mitch also had 11 rebounds in the Northwestern game.
  • Glenn Robinson III – 13 and 2 points. GR3 had a horrible offensive game vs. IU, and only scored in the closing minutes.

Besides McGary, the bench players didn’t have much success scoring:

Michigan only got 9 points from the bench in the Northwestern game, but they got 14 points vs. Indiana, which is a little better.

This Week

Michigan is in the middle of a brutal 4-game stretch. The first game of the bunch was on Saturday vs. Indiana, and they have two more tough games this week. On Tuesday (02/05/2013, 9:00 p.m., ESPN), they play (#11) Ohio State in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (02/09/2013, 12:00 noon EST, ESPN), they at Wisconsin. Ohio State beat Michigan in Columbus a couple weeks ago, so Michigan is looking to return the favor. The previous game was a defensive slugfest, and I expect the rematch to be more of the same. However, the best slow-down defensive team in the nation is Wisconsin, and they are virtually unbeatable at home. I’m hoping that Michigan can win both of these games, but the game at Wisconsin is definitely the tougher of the two.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #14 – 01/28/2013 – Number One?

The (#2) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they won them both. At the same time, (#1) Duke got hammered on the road by (#25) Miami (FL), so it sure looks like Michigan is going to be ranked #1 in the AP Poll this week!

The two games that Michigan played last week were good, solid wins against middle-of-the-pack Big Ten teams. On Thursday (01/24/2013), they beat Purdue 68-53 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (01/27/2013), they beat Illinois 74-60 in Champaign. The two wins raise UM’s record to 19-1, 6-1 in Big Ten play. They are tied for 1st place in the Big Ten.

In both games, Michigan fell behind early, but didn’t panic. In fact, Purdue actually had a 1-point lead (33-32) at halftime, the only time UM has trailed at halftime at home this season. However, in both games, Michigan slowly but surely erased the deficit and built a lead, then protected it. In the Purdue game, Michigan was still behind (40-39) with 15 minutes left, then they went on a quick 10-0 run to get a lead that they never lost. In the Illinois game, Michigan led for most of the game, but it was close (2-4 points) for most of the 1st half. In the 2nd half, UM pushed the lead out to double digits, and mostly kept it there. They did let Illinois get within 4 points (41-37) with 16:41 left in the game, but that’s when Michigan pulled away.

The stats for the Purdue game are much nicer than the ones for the Illinois game. In the Purdue game, Michigan shot pretty well overall (27-for-55 = 49.1%), and pretty well from 3-point range (7-for-16 = 43.8%). They shot free throws pretty well (7-for-10 = 70.0%), and they won the rebounding battle (35-29) and the turnover battle (10-12). Michigan shot pretty well overall in the Illinois game (31-for-59 = 52.5%), but not so well from 3-point range (5-for-15 = 33.3%). They were mediocre from the free-throw line (7-for-13 = 53.8%), they lost the rebounding battle (35-36), but they won the turnover battle (12-15). Overall, they played well enough to win, but not up to the level they set in some of their more impressive victories. Still, a win is a win. Just ask Duke.

Individually, 3 players hit double figures in both games:

The 5th starter, Jordan Morgan had 6 points vs. Purdue, but 0 points vs. Illinois. He only played 91 seconds in the Illinois game before he injured his ankle. He didn’t return to the game. His status isn’t known at this time.

The bench players had mixed success scoring:

  • Spike Albrecht – 0 and 0 points.
  • Max Bielfeldt – DNP and 4 points. Max had to play a lot more minutes in the Illinois game, with Morgan out, and he did fine.
  • Jon Horford – 2 and 7 points. Jon also had to play a lot more minutes in the Illinois game, with Morgan out, and he also did fine.
  • Caris LeVert – 2 and 0 points.
  • Mitch McGary – 6 and 6 points.

Michigan only got 10 points from the bench in the Purdue game, but they got 17 points vs. Illinois, which is more like it.

This Week

After a couple games against lower-division teams, Michigan has one more relatively easy game, then they start a brutal 4-game stretch. This week, they play Northwestern on Wednesday (01/30/2013, 6:30 p.m., BTN) in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (02/02/2013, 9:00 p.m. EST, ESPN) they play at (#7) Indiana. They should beat Northwestern fairly easily, but the game at IU will be Michigan’s toughest test yet. If they can win that one, they’ll be in the driver’s seat for the Big Ten title.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #13 – 01/21/2013 – A Big Road Win

The (#5) University of Michigan men’s basketball team won a big game on the road last week, after looking terrible in the beginning of their previous game, a 56-53 loss to Ohio State. On Thursday (01/17/2013), they beat (#9) Minnesota 83-75. The win raises UM’s record to 17-1, 4-1 in Big Ten play. They are tied for 2nd place in the Big Ten.

In their loss to OSU, Michigan started the game playing terribly, and they dug themselves into a hole that they spent the next 30 minutes digging out of. Not so in the Minnesota game. They came out playing hard from the opening tip, and never let Minnesota get very far ahead. Minnesota’s biggest lead was 6-2, in the opening minutes. They were still ahead, 13-10, with about 14 minutes left in the 1st half, when Michigan got it going. The Wolverines went on a nice 16-3 run, to open up a 10-point lead (26-16) with 8 minutes left in the 1st half, and they never trailed again. Minnesota managed to cut the deficit to 2 points a couple times, including 30-28 with about 4 minutes left in the half, but Michigan managed to counter every Minnesota run. Michigan led by 6 (36-30) at halftime, and pushed the lead right back to 10 points (42-32) in the first 1:20 after halftime. From there, they got the lead up as high as 19 points (58-39) with 12:30 left in the game, then they held off Minnesota down the stretch to win by 8.

It was an impressive win, and it showed that Michigan does have the ability to win a big game on the road against a Top-10 opponent in a (very) hostile environment. Minnesota really wanted this one, and they played hard, but Michigan had the weapons to beat them.

The stats are pretty impressive as well, especially for a Big Ten road game. Michigan shot very well overall (28-for-51 = 54.9%), and they shot well from 3-point range (10-for-20 = 50.0%). They shot free throws well enough to win (17-for-25 = 68.0%), but they lost the rebounding battle (25-33). They did win the turnover battle (12-15), but 12 turnovers is a lot for this season’s Michigan team.

Individually, 3 players hit double figures:

  • Trey Burke – 18 points (and 9 assists, just missing a double-double).
  • Tim Hardaway Jr. – 21 points (on only 8 shots!).
  • Nik Stauskas – 11 points. Back in the “double figures” club again, after missing it last game.

The other 2 starters almost hit double figures:

Coach Beilein played more bench players than usual for a close game. They had mixed success scoring:

Michigan got 15 points from the bench, which is a little better.

This Week

After only playing one game last week, Michigan has two games this week. On Thursday (01/24/2013, 7:00 p.m., ESPN), they play Purdue in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (01/27/2013, 6:00 p.m. EST, BTN), they play at (#23) Illinois. These are both games that Michigan should win, but the Big Ten is very unpredictable this season, and a road game at Illinois is always tough.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #12 – 01/14/2013 – Back To Earth

Realistically, I knew they couldn’t do it, but deep inside I kept thinking “they could go undefeated this season”. Wrong. The (#2) University of Michigan men’s basketball team finally lost, after winning their first 16 games. They played two games last week, and they won the first and lost the second. On Wednesday (01/09/2013), they beat Nebraska 62-47 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (01/13/2013), they lost to (#15) Ohio State 56-53 in Columbus. The win and the loss leave UM with a record of 16-1, 3-1 in Big Ten play. It’s a real shame that UM lost, since (#1) Duke finally lost on Saturday, and Michigan would have been ranked #1 if they could have snuck by OSU. UM was the last unbeaten team to lose.

Even though Michigan beat Nebraska by 15 points on Wednesday, they looked pretty weak doing it. Nebraska is easily the worst team in the Big Ten, and Michigan should have throttled them by 35 points. The less said about that game, the better. As the Nebraska game was going on, I kept thinking “if Michigan plays like this on Sunday vs. Ohio State, they’ll get beat”. Well, they did play poorly again at OSU, and they lost. They didn’t play bad for most of the OSU game, just the first 10 minutes and the last minute. That was enough to doom them. They actually led the game 3-0, then they couldn’t buy a basket. By the time they finally woke up and started playing their normal game, they were down 26-3. That’s right: a 23-3 run. They managed to cut the deficit down to 12 at halftime (34-22), and they even tied the game up (46-46) with 6:00 left in the game, but they couldn’t hit any of their clutch baskets down the stretch, and that was the game. With 16 seconds left, they were only down 2 points (52-50) with the ball, and they missed a 3-pointer that would have given them the lead.

I don’t want to look at the stats, but I’m sure they’ll tell us what went wrong in both games. The Nebraska stats are sad: UM shot poorly overall (21-for-54 = 38.9%), and they shot terribly from 3-point range (3-for-17 = 17.6%). They shot a lousy percentage (65.4%) from the free-throw line, but they went there often, and that was the difference in the game. They were 17-for-26 at the line, and Nebraska was 3-for-7. Those 14 extra points are almost exactly the margin of victory. Michigan did win the rebounding battle decisively (47-30), and they barely won the turnover battle (5-6).

The Ohio State stats aren’t that bad, just bad enough to lose: Michigan shot poorly overall again (18-for-47 = 38.3%), and they shot poorly from 3-point range (6-for-20 = 30.0%). They shot pretty well from the free-throw line (11-for-15 = 73.3%), they tied in the rebounding battle (30-30), and they barely lost the turnover battle (13-12). It was just a matter of shooting poorly from the field.

Individually, only 2 players hit double figures in both games:

  • Trey Burke – 18 points vs. Nebraska, and 15 vs. OSU.
  • Tim Hardaway Jr. – 15 and 12 points. Tim also had 11 rebounds vs. Nebraska, for a double-double.

There were 2 players who hit double figures in one game:

  • Glenn Robinson III – 14 and 8 points.
  • Nik Stauskas – 13 and 0 points. Yes, after hitting double figures in every game since the opener, Nik finally fell short. Way short. He was 0-for-3 in the OSU game.

The 5th starter is Jordan Morgan. He had 0 and 5 points, but he did have 11 rebounds in the Nebraska game.

Since both games were close, Coach Beilein didn’t play many bench players. They had mixed success scoring:

Michigan really needs more scoring from the bench.

This Week

It will be interesting to see how Michigan responds to their first loss of the season. They only have one game this week, but it’s another tough one: on Thursday (01/17/2013, 7:00 p.m. EST, ESPN), they play at (#8) Minnesota. Minnesota is having a great season, and they’re really tough to beat in Minneapolis. I expect the game to be close and tense.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!