Michigan-Illinois: Alive

Michigan 70, Illinois 61

Don't call it a comeback. (AP/Carlos Osorio)

In 2007, my freshman year and John Beilein's first season in Ann Arbor, I attended every home game of a season in which Michigan won 10 games. Unlike the Pearl Jam album, this aforementioned ten was not so great. That season, Michigan lost to: Central Michigan, Western Kentucky (who, at the team, was just Western Kentucky and not a team that would eventually make it to the Sweet 16), Harvard, and a majority of the Big Ten. We, the students, stormed the court after beating a Buckeye squad that would go on to miss the tournament a month later. 

Michigan won nine pre-Big Ten tournament games that season. Right now, on February 13th, Michigan has nine conference wins after beating the Illini, with five games left to play. People aren't talking about whether or not Michigan will make the tournament. People aren't talking about whether or not this "system" can work in the gritty Big Ten, where the only offense is stingy defense and offensive sets can best be described as: measured, deliberate, dignified, decorous acquiescence to the notion that scoring points is somehow like drinking hemlock. 

People are talking about seeding. A four, a five? There are distinct loci on the map of college basketball that Michigan now firmly occupies instead of the Purgatorial listlessness that once loomed over the program for over a decade. People are talking about Michigan's chances to win the conference title, regular season and tournament. That's not to say that Michigan will win either (the former hinges upon whether or not Michigan can beat the Buckeyes at home on Saturday), but people are talking about it. Think about how insane that is, as a concept and as a potential reality. A little over four years ago, Michigan was busy losing to an Amaker-coached Harvard squad, a moment in history that typifies the Universe's mischievous sense of humor. 

Now, Michigan is winning road games, defending its home court as if it were Helm's Deep, and doing it all while leaning on a freshman point guard and a limited bench. John Beilein has assembled a spaceship out of aluminum foil, duct tape, and unadulterated tactics, a craft that I would say is bound for the Moon if it wasn't clearly destined for far more ambitious locales. 

Brady Hoke led a similarly deficient squad to an 11-2 season, and yet, the question I have is shockingly rhetorical: has John Beilein's coaching job this season been any less impressive than what Hoke and the football team were able to accomplish? I would posit that the answer is a resounding no. 

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As for the game itself, the formula for success was very much understood coming in. Getting Leonard into foul trouble was essentially the golden path to victory. Leonard picked up two within the first eight minutes and ended up playing only 27 when all was said and done. This also helped to mitigate the loss of JMo to early fouls; he had done a pretty job of avoiding that of late, but it happens. Michigan can't have that happen if they want to beat the Buckeyes, though. 

With that said, Leonard was pretty much invisible after his two early buckets. He finished with 5 points, a testament to some solid defense on Michigan's and a little bit of luck. As I detailed in the preview, Leonard had been tearing teams up of late, so to hold him to five points was a significant achievement. 

Otherwise, the Illini's offensive attack was as expected: frenetic, in a bad way. Michigan turned turnovers into points with regularity as if the Illini offense was a Coinstar machine. If it wasn't for a surprising 18-point effort from former starter Tyler "Don't Call Me Ken" Griffey, this game would have been a blowout. 

Offensively, Michigan scored 70 on a decent defense despite seemingly leaving quite a few points on the floor in the form of some missed bunnies. However, the most important development was the return form of THJ and Smotrycz, both scoring in the double digits and displaying an esprit de corps that had been absent for quite some time. In addition, Vogrich had himself a game, building upon his shooting performance in Lincoln. If THJ and Smotrycz continue to pick themselves back out of their respective confidence sinkholes and Vogrich can continue to shoot the lights out and provide the underrated gritty exploits that he so consistently does, this team will be a terrifying matchup for a lot of folks come tournament time. 

Player Bullets, Also Known As "Trey Burke and Those Who Are Not Trey Burke":

• Burke--Continues to be awesome. Had another one of his high-volume poor shooting days but it's obviously not a big deal under the circumstances. Fourteen points on 5/11 shooting from 2 (0/4 from 3), 3 assists, and a pair of steals make for another decidedly un-freshman-like performance. The rest of the schedule is relatively manageable; Burke-Craft Redux this Saturday will be one to watch vis-a-vis the progression of this supposed "freshman" playing basketball for us. 

• THJ--Let me just get this out first: WOOOOOOOOOO. Yes. This is how we do it, indeed. THJ paced the Wolverines with 15 points on 5/9 shooting (2/3 from 3), 3 boards, and 3 assists. He's getting better and better with the ball in his hands in transition...he's been dropping dimes like Patriots wideouts drop passes (I'll show myself the door now). There's nothing else to say but DO MORE OF THAT OKAY THANKS. The only negative is that his minutes were chopped up awkwardly by foul trouble, so I wonder how much better his stat line would have looked like if he was able to avoid that. 

• Morgan--A quiet day offensively but a large part of that is obviously the result of foul trouble. Also, went 0/3 from the line, not exactly helping his percentage, which is hovering close to 50% at this point. That's not good...hopefully that doesn't come back to bite us at some point. We have zero chance against the Buckeyes if JMo only logs 12 minutes again. 

• Novak--What can be said about the Mayor of the glorious berg of Gritville that hasn't already been said? Twelve points on only four FGA, but he did go 5/5 from the line. Also, nine rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. The Maize Rage needs to invent some sort of Goalie/Sieve chant for Novak involving grit and whatever the opposite of that may be...Blackhawks? /self-deprecating Hawks fan

• Douglass--Like JMo, a quiet day from the field, but did just enough to prevent Paul from giving us a legitimate scare. You would think that a senior would have displayed very little real improvement from his first 3 years to his 4th; Douglass has not only done that, but he has shown significant improvement between a month or so ago and now. Solid defense, less facepalm-inducing turnovers and long 3s=very solid plus player. 

• Smotrycz--After predicting a double digit points performance for Evan in Lincoln, it appears that I jumped the gun by a game. Evan put in a confident 13 points on 3/6 shooting (2/3 from 3, 5/6 from the line). Thirteen off of the bench is probably not a reasonable thing to expect on the reg, but if he can keep this sort of play up then that takes Michigan from an outside shot for a conference title of either variety to a real, legitimate threat to win one. The definitive X-factor, if you will. Amateur sports psychology can often border on the absurd, but if you couldn't tell the difference in his overall demeanor in this game then I don't know what to tell you. Whatever Phil Jackson zen Beilein is using is clearly starting to work. 
• Vogrich--For a second game in a row, Vogrich does his best Korver impression. Eight points from him in any game is just gravy. Perfect from 3 again (2/2) and a nice backdoor cut for a layup and a drive that led to a crucial foul on Leonard were impressive plays for a guy who seemingly has no game outside of shooting the trey. As usual, he continues to show a level of underrated grit, picking up 2 boards, a steal, and one possession arrow by tying up Meyers Leonard (of all people). 
• McLimans--Only four minutes. Didn't really do anything except elicit mocking words from Raftery about him not wanting to post up and whatnot. I know that I've been somewhat irrationally hoping for him to get more minutes, but for some reason I think that he's going to hit a big shot at some point before this season is over. 

Indiana Preview: At An Impasse

General Outlook
After a largely expected outcome in Columbus, the Wolverines look to return to their winning ways at Crisler against the Hoosiers. Fortunately, the Wolverines have bounced back from each of their six losses thus far this season with a win. Michigan sits at 16-6 (6-3) while Indiana comes in looking up at Michigan in the standing, having gone 17-5 (5-5) so far.

The Hoosiers ran through the non-conference schedule en route to a 12-0, with notable wins against UK in one of the best games of the season (if not the best) and a win against Notre Dame that is looking better and better as the season progresses. Things have been a little tougher in conference play, as the Hoosiers have notched losses against: @MSU, Minnesota, @OSU, @Nebraska, and @Wisconsin. Although Minnesota is proving itself to be a tougher team than expected in spite of the loss of Mbakwe, that was a bad loss for the Hoosiers, as was the loss in Lincoln (which, FYI, is further reason not to take any team for granted while playing on the road). With that said, the Hoosiers are coming off of a thrashing of the pesky Hawkeyes, dropping 103 on them this past Sunday.

This is a game that Michigan needs to have if it wants to have a little leeway down the stretch. The first meeting in Bloomington was a tough 2-point loss that Michigan could have had, but it is difficult to win when your two best players combine for 11/34 from the field.

The Offense 
As the last game showed (in addition to most other Indiana games thus far this Big Ten season), Michigan will be able to score against these Hoosiers, who are giving up 73 ppg in Big Ten play. That's not very good. Including the non-conference schedule, only Northwestern and Iowa are worse. Most importantly, Michigan was able to score 71 on them in Bloomington despite horrid shooting performances from Trey and THJ (although Michigan did go 41.7% from 3).

Zeller is the only significant shot-blocking threat Indiana has (1.5 bpg), but even his numbers don't place him in the top 100 nationally. With that said, Morgan is prone to bouts of Carlos Boozeritis, so it's not difficult to imagine Zeller having a bigger shot-blocking presence than usual in this one. Otherwise, Michigan's guards should have no fear when attacking the basket (THJ, this means you). Rebounding-wise, IU comes in at 91st in the country in rebounding margin (+3.1), which is okay. Michigan held its own on the boards in Bloomington, with both teams pulling down 28 and Michigan actually having a slight edge in offensive rebounds.

Michigan should have pretty consistent success on offense. Zeller is an Ent of a basketball player but isn't cleaning up everything in sight. It seems that IU has upped their 3-point defense, however; they currently sit at 5th best in the conference in that regard (32.7%).

Lastly, Victor Oladipo is tied for 4th in the conference in steals (1.7 spg), and he would figure to be matched up on Burke. Oladipo is not quite Craft as far as the Sean Avery pesk factor goes, but he is without a doubt Indiana's defensive stopper. Trey has had some trouble shaking good defenders in the past (Evans, Jackson, Craft)--not that he's getting much help--so he will once again need to bring his best game. No rest for the weary, as they say. Trey did turn it over 4 times in Bloomington, but I'd imagine that playing at home will do wonders for his confidence. Again, HE IS A FRESHMAN. Things like "confidence" are not just hackneyed sports talk gibberish when true freshmen are involved, even one as seemingly mature as Burke.


The Defense

Zeller taking the ball to the hoop, not being hasty

This is where things get dicey. Is this reminding you of the 2009 and 2010 Indiana games under RR, because, yes, that's what it reminds me of. Michigan will have its work cut out for it from inside out. As mentioned, Cody Zeller is a 6'11'' Ent playing basketball. This is by far Michigan's biggest matchup disadvantage, obviously. Indiana has four players averaging double digit points (Zeller, Watford, Hulls, Oladipo), and Will Sheehey and Verdell Jones chip in a respectable 9.5 and 8.2 ppg, respectively. This is a team with a lot of options on offense. They can go off the dribble, they can hit the three, and they can also throw in down low to Zeller. Most coaches in America would love to be able to do one of those things really well, let alone all three of them.

Zeller will get his; that's just an inevitability. However, Michigan let Watford score 25 on them again. Zack, it's time to purify yourself in the waters of Lake GRITetonka. Other matchups of note: Stu v. Hulls and THJ v. Verdell Jones. Verdell has gotten quite a bit of flak this year--from Indiana fans and neutral observers alike--and some of it has been deserved, some of it undeserved (as is usually the case). Jones matched Trey's 4 turnovers the first time around, but he's seemed to turn the corner a bit, having only turned it over a combined 5 times in IU's last 3 games against PSU, Wisconsin, and Iowa. IU does have four players in the conference's top 20 of TOPG (Jones, Watford, Hulls, and Oladipo), so this is a team that will turn it over. Michigan will need to turn some of these mistakes directly into points to mitigate the two glaring mismatches on the defensive end (Novak-Watford and Morgan-Zeller).

Of course, no defensive section could end without discussing Michigan's often turrible 3-point defense. Unfortunately, IU can shoot the lights out. They are second in the nation in 3-point percentage, shooting a ridiculous 43.8% as a team. Hulls and Watford are the two starters two worry about, but Sheehey, Roth, and Elston can all shoot it as well. I'm sure Coach Beilein regularly visits Indiana's athletics website at 3 a.m. in order to stare longingly at the 3-point percentage column of IU's player stats page.

Unlike the Ohio game, zone defense isn't really an option for this one I don't think. Michigan will once again need to get a little lucky, but good on-the-ball defense and effective doubling of Zeller will go a long way toward limiting IU's wide open looks.

Pros:

• IU has a tendency to go into Rex Grossman gunslinger mode from time to time; Michigan should be able to turn some turnovers into points. 
• The Hoosiers have an okay rebounding margin but they don't really offensive rebound exceptionally well (10.9 per game, 7th best in the conference). 

Cons:

• Zeller is really tall and will probably score 20 without trying. 
• Shaky 3-point defense+opponent that shoots 44% as a team=OH MY GOODNESS IT'S LIKE THE BASKETBALL EQUIVALENT OF BEN CHAPPELL ALL OVER AGAIN. 
• Novak on Watford is...not ideal. But, then again, when has Novak's deployment on defense ever been ideal?

Who/What To Watch

• Rotation and rebounding off of the double on Zeller. If THJ can bring an effective double and the other 3 defenders rotate appropriately (and rebound), Michigan will be probably be able to disrupt just enough possessions to give Michigan a close win. 
• Again, you could say this every game, but Morgan on the pick and roll will be key. JMo had an efficient 12-point game on 5/6 shooting in Bloomington...Michigan will need that to happen again.
• Novak and Stu from 3...insert "they're from Indiana and they're playing Indiana so it's something something" storyline here. Given how Trey and THJ have shot the ball, Michigan needs Stu and Zack to bounce back from their underwhelming perfomances in Columbus.  

Meaningless Prediction

Despite nearly every meaningful matchup seemingly favoring IU, Michigan only lost by 2 in Bloomington with both Trey and THJ shooing poorly. This game will certainly buck the mold of the stereotypical conference game, as I expect both teams will reach the upper 60s in points (or maybe even the 70s!). This is really a game that could go either way. Despite the mismatches, this is college basketball and Michigan is playing at home. Michigan's offensive strategy takes advantage of home cookin' (re: FTA) less than most teams, but they definitely will get some calls that they didn't get in B-town.

Indiana has looked incredibly mortal throughout conference play; if the Cornhuskers can beat them at home then I have faith that we can too. Watford and Zeller will get their points, but if Stu can keep Hulls in check and Michigan can D up on secondary 3-point threats like Roth, Sheehey, and Elston, Michigan stands a very good chance of getting a much needed home win. Michigan 72, Indiana 68. 

Ohio Preview: Points of Interest*

John Beilein looks to point us to victory against Ohio like
noted pointing aficionado Brady Hoke

*What I did there...you see it.

General Outlook 
Michigan comes into this one riding high, tied for first place in the Big Ten. That's right. Michigan is 16-5 (6-2), and one would think that four more wins would make the Wolverines a sure thing. The win at West Lafayette went a long way toward mitigating some anxiety in that respect.

Ohio State, on the other hand, has been a top 5 fixture. The Buckeyes are coming off of three straight drubbings of Indiana, Nebraska, and Penn State by an average margin of 25 points. Their three losses have come at Kansas (minus Sullinger), at Indiana, and at Illinois, the game in which Brandon Paul decided to harvest all the residual MJ talent floating around the Land of Lincoln en route to a truly absurd 43-point effort. In short, they have lost in three pretty tough environments, one without Sullinger and another featuring one of those Daniel Horton-esque performances where every shot goes in, eyes open or closed. However, the Buckeyes have just been vaporizing teams at home, although the only Big Ten teams to visit Columbus thus far have been Northwestern, Penn State, Nebraska, and Indiana. This is not a great time to be traveling to Columbus, as they are simply firing on all cylinders.

This is probably the one game on the schedule that is objectively beyond our reach. A loss isn't a season-killer by any means, so I look forward to being able to focus on the matchups just to see how much we have or haven't improved, individually and as a team. Considering how the Hoosiers fared (despite recent struggles, they are still a solid squad) at Value City Arena, keeping this game close would be an achievement.

The Offense 
As it it stands, UVA and Wisconsin sit atop the scoring defense rankings; the Buckeyes are not far behind, only relinquishing 56.0 ppg. On the plus side, two straight games against high-pressure teams like Arkansas and Purdue (albeit different styles of pressure) will probably have served as good practice for this game. Trey Burke in particular has his work cut out for him, as he will be checked by Aaron Craft, the definitive defensive pest. Craft is quick and active with his hands, so Trey better be ready to fight off the fatigue and put the free arm out to protect or Craft will steal it. Craft is top 15 in steals, averaging a Madoffian 2.5 per game. Trey has gone up against quick slot ninja-esque types before--namely UVA's Jontel Evans and Purdue's Lewis Jackson--so he should be prepared, although those guys have had some success in locking Burke up to an extent (particularly Evans). I just checked and Craft is listed at 6'2'', which is definitely taller than I imagined. This will be a difficult matchup for Trey; if he comes out looking good then feel free to ramp up the hype machine tenfold.

The Buckeyes have some good size across the boards, but it isn't necessarily overwhelming. Only the 6'11'' Amir Williams off the bench is a true center type, and he's averaging a mere ("a mere"...GET IT) 8 minutes a game. Sophomores Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas are the bigs at 6'9'' and 6'7'', Buford is a big guard at 6'6'' and then you've got Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr. at 6'2'' and 6'4'' respectively. Like all good teams, the Buckeyes are near the top of the national ranks in rebounding margin (+7.5), with only the Spartans crashing the boards better in the conference. Second chances will likely be hard to come by.

The Buckeyes are only behind the Spartans and Badgers in 3-point defense percentage, giving up the trey at a 31.5% rate. With Craft likely to be in Burke's face all game long, Michigan might not have a lot of good drive and dish looks and Trey might not get too many good looks himself while on the dribble. This has all the makings of a game in which THJ jacks up a good number of contested threes in response to the consistent Buckeye pressure (I would imagine that Lenzelle Smith Jr. will draw him, a young guy who has upped his minutes from last year by playing defense). Let's hope that is not the case, but Michigan will have to hit more than a few contested looks to have a chance by the end of the game.

The Defense 
The Buckeyes average 78.0 ppg, more than anybody in the conference save Indiana. Sullinger has an array of moves and is simply a bull on the block. Sullinger is shooting a Morgan-esque 59% from the field, and is right behind Zack Novak in eFG% at 61.5% (which seems to be slightly--and hilariously--buoyed up by being 8-17 from 3). When he gets the ball, he scores.

Jordan Morgan might want to eat some serious Cottage Inn between now and
Sunday to make up the 15 or so pounds he's giving up to this man

Deshaun Thomas and William Buford are the other two double digit scorers (15.0 and 15.2 ppg respectively). They are high usage guys, but their percentages aren't anything to write home about, overall or from three. Past them, Craft isn't a big time scorer (8.0 ppg) but they don't really need him to be. Lenzelle Smith is only averaging 6.0 ppg but doesn't seem to be a high usage guy. However, he did drop 28 on the Hoosiers at home, giving me enough reason to be suspicious of him. He only averages about 4 shots a game, but he is shooting 49% from 3 on 37 attempts. Speaking of, he is Ohio's best 3-point shooter by far and is only 4th in attempts. With the Buckeyes shooting the 3 about as poorly as us (34% to our 34.2%), Thaddeus Matta should probably find a way to get Smith to shoot more (actually, SHHH...nobody tell him). Thomas and Buford shoot the 3 at 38% and 35% respectively, and Craft's at 30%. If there is any comfort to be had, it's that the Buckeyes might not kill us when we collapse on Sullinger.

Every time I get the urge to say "hey, let's play a little more zone" (i.e. before the Purdue game), Michigan tries it...and it fails spectacularly. This is unfortunate, as Ohio's 3-point shooting doesn't scare me. Plus, Craft would have a hard time slicing up the zone if his defender is sagging off of him, as should probably be the case. Sadly, Michigan is going to have to survive on grit and grit alone. Luckily, we do have Zack Novak, who heads the glorious Department of GRIT. If there was a way to execute grit transactions, this would be the time for Novak to wire some to Morgan. If JMo can hold his ground and, more importantly, not pick up two quick and early fouls, Michigan has a chance to keep Sullinger reasonably in check. On the plus side, it seems like it's been a while since JMo has picked up two early fouls. Oddly, I have some faith that Morgan can body up on Sullinger.

Pros:

• They don't shoot the 3 exceptionally well. Rather, they don't have one guy that could be called a true specialist. 
• They aren't a great FT shooting team (67.9%, good for 189th in the country). 
• This is somewhere between a pro and a con, but...while Ohio's offensive rebound percentage is approximately 5% better than ours (good for a difference of 161 spots in the rankings), they are not Michigan State (39.1%, good for 17th). They'll get their offensive boards but we won't get destroyed like we did against MSU. 

Cons:

• They're top 10 in overall FG% (49.2%). 
• Ohio is second nationally in turnover margin, so they value the ball as much as Tommy Rees loves throwing interceptions and Lloyd Carr values leather-bound books. Michigan won't get a lot of help there. TINSTAAFL's basketball cousin TINSTAAFB applies here...There's No Such Thing As A Free Bucket. 
• Jared Sullinger and Michigan's lack of beef and/or depth. 

This is a classic "key on the big guy and hope the perimeter guys miss their good looks" sort of game. Sullinger will make his post moves and make Morgan look silly here and there, but Buford and Thomas are the players Michigan needs to hope have off nights.


Who/What To Watch

• Trey vs. Craft on both ends of the floor. If Trey can consistently handle the pressure and can prevent Craft from zooming past him on the defensive end (like Lewis Jackson was able to do) then we have a shot. 
• Jordan Morgan vs. early fouls. 
• Whether or not THJ can pick up the play-creating slack with Burke being checked by Craft. He had four turnovers at Purdue, but I'll take it if he keeps thinking ATTACK first. 

Meaningless Prediction 
I hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment, but I think Michigan has a pretty good chance to keep it closer than any of the other Big Ten teams that have paid the Buckeyes a visit thus far (that's not saying much, but still). If Michigan can avoid having anybody fall victim to the "2 fouls and proceed to eat bench" thing then we won't get blown out before reaching halftime. If THJ and Morgan have strong performances like they did in WL, there's a chance. I'm saying there's a chance. Craft will get into Burke and I'm sure we won't get any calls, so it basically comes down to whether or not Michigan's shooters can hit with hands in their faces. It's pretty reductive, but beating Ohio at home is difficult enough, even with everybody playing well. On the road, well...it's a tall order.

Michigan will keep it sort of close for a while, but with Stu's erratic shooting, Smotrycz's plummeting shooting percentage and/or lack of confidence since the beginning of Big Ten play, and THJ's still debatable dedication to attacking the rim, it's difficult seeing us being in a real position to win in the final couple of minutes. Michigan 63, Ohio 76. 

Michigan-Arkansas: The War of Novak's Aggression

Michigan 64, Arkansas 66

Preface: CBS didn't switch to the game until there was 13:20 or so left in the first half, so I missed the beginning of what metastasized into a 20-point deficit. 

William Tecumseh Sherman and Zack Novak: related?

This was the quintessential college basketball game, one that could have easily passed for an opening round tournament game. If this was played at Crisler, the arena and the weather and a general voodoo that permeates college basketball at large would have come together to prevent the Razorbacks from starting the game on a ridiculous shooting tear far exceeding their ability. And, of course, they wouldn't have been able to ride the waves of pure energy that a home crowd can generate for a team. However, this game was played in Arkansas, and geography is more than half the battle in college basketball, as we all know. 

In the end, this doesn't mean all that much. The nature of the loss makes it particularly hard to stomach (cutting a ridiculous deficit down to 2, the last shot being 99% in, a lost chance to stick it to the SEC, etc.), but it hasn't really changed the outlook for the season; Michigan will make their money throughout the rest of the conference schedule. Although Arkansas looked like the Monstars on this day (I think I remember the Monstars pressing a little bit), their performance to date suggests that they are a bubble team at best. This wasn't a bad loss, but it wouldn't have been a great win insofar as tournament resumes are concerned. It would have been nice to see Michigan travel far away and dispatch an unorthodox team on the road, but it didn't happen. There's nothing to say but "oh well" and move on (/continues to write stuff). 

The story of this game is pretty simple. Arkansas came out en fuego, hitting their first 11 shots. Misses were few and far between even after that prolific run. Michigan's defense wasn't quite airtight, but some of those shots were just insane, video game shots, Arkansas players contorting their bodies like Kobe Bryant to rip an off-balanced three through the net. Arkansas ended the game shooting exactly 50% overall and 45.5% from 3. Their season averages: 43.8% and 34.7%, respectively. "Sometimes when you're on..." 

The rest of the game was simply a struggle against the current of Arkansas's shooting and defensive pressure, an excruciatingly slow chipping away of the lead (I think a Big Ten=slow HURR joke goes here). Michigan was lucky enough to enter the half only down 13, even luckier than they were to only be down 7 at the half against Northwestern. The press wasn't an enormous factor from a turnover perspective, as far as I can remember. In fact, Michigan turned the ball over only ten times, under their season average of 11.3 TOPG*. Other than the frenzied Burke turnover that lead to the Novak FALCON PUNCH of BJ Young**, I can't remember the press really affecting Michigan significantly. With that said, Arkansas did a good job of pressuring in general, and a number of offensive possessions consisted of Burke fighting off on-the-ball pressure and traps, trying to make something happen as everybody else sort of stands around, existing. Michigan's half court sets were in a constant state of frenzied disorganization, as if somebody was adding or taking away an electron from the atomic structure of their offensive game plan. 

At the same time, even if Burke dribbles the ball too much a la Morris...who else would you rather have dribbling the ball on this team? This question would be pretty frightening if we hadn't known about this problem since basically the beginning of the Beilein era. Other than Trey, the only one who can create his own shot on a regular basis is THJ, and he's still reluctant to do so for whatever reason***. Novak and Douglass can do things occasionally, but they're not going out and creating with any regularity, despite my facetious citing in this space of Zack's future AND1 basketball career. Vogrich literally cannot (or is told not to) do anything on the bounce and Smotrycz on the dribble is often a horror show. It's hard to get anything done against a zone or man-to-man in the half court game when most of your team is either too unathletic or unskilled to make something happen on their own. So, every play for Trey is basically this commercial: 

There were innumerable occasions when Vogrich or Smotrycz would hold the ball 40 feet from the basket, waiting for Burke to free himself from a defender, presenting zero threat to do anything with the ball but hold it and wait for Burke to retrieve it and start "the offense." It's getting to the point that I almost feel sorry for Trey while simultaneously being in awe at his ability to play 39 minutes against a pressing team and still have enough energy to frown at the end when the last shot rattled out. This is doubly impressive in light of Appling being gassed after 31 minutes last Tuesday. 

After Novak turned into LeBron playing in Cleveland, Hossa in Detroit, etc., he and Trey tried to will Michigan to victory in spite of the rest of the team's general ineffectiveness. Novak hit a three to silence the ESSSS EEEEE CEEEE crowd--a crowd that has apparently never seen a hard foul before--and cut it to 6, after which Arkansas brought it back to 11 for a stretch. Novak hit another 3, took a charge, and tapped out a ball to extend a possession down the stretch, vengefully torching Arkansas like Sherman did Atlanta. Morgan was outrunning Arkansas's bigs and slamming down precision passes in that way that usually means Michigan is winning/going to win (or that good things are happening in general). Burke was Burke; tireless, a bundle of thankless, humble effort. 

Hunter McSouthern Guy Mickelson managed a layup as the shot clock was just about to run out, bringing the lead to 4, 66-62, after which Burke cut it to 2. Upon fouling during the next possession, an Arkansas player flew across the lane to corral a rebound (right through Smotrycz, as if he wasn't there) on a missed free throw, eventually resulting in a second chance for the Razorbacks. Luckily, Arkansas missed on the front end once again, giving Michigan a chance to win the game on the final possession. 

Coming out of a timeout, the last play was disjointed and seemingly purposeless, but in retrospect...I'm not sure that I would have trusted the ball to anyone's hands but Trey's. The ball went in on a ridiculous step back from well behind the arc and then, on a whim, bounced out, determined to finish this chaotic and nonsensical game of college basketball with a thematically consistent final salvo. That is, consistent insofar as chaos and nonsense can be consistent. 

*FWIW, I thought it was a hard foul and nothing more. There's zero chance that he was actually trying to hurt Young, but I'm sure Jay Bilas will shortly be lobbying for Novak's excommunication from the game of basketball. Also, I have to laugh at the Arkansas fans in attendance...you guys got the flagrant foul. Stop booing (protip: he wants you to boo). 

**On the other hand, Arkansas only had 8, 5 under their season average of 13.4 TOPG. I thought we'd be able to force more.
***Even when he does attack, he hasn't shown the confidence that he seemed to have last year. For instance, THJ's drive near the end of the game (when it was 64-62, about a minute left) ended in a sort of meek flip. 

Player Bullets, Also Known As "Trey Burke And Those Who Are Not Trey Burke":

• Burke--The box score doesn't really do his performance justice. He continues to not shoot the ball too well (6/19 overall, 1/6 from 3), but he is just a gamer, and I say that in as unironic a manner as possible. Throw in 7 boards, a 6:2 assist to turnover, a steal, and another of his now patented blocks, not to mention his tireless handling of the press and the offense as a whole, and that's a strong performance. He takes a bad shot from time to time, but with other players being about as useful as a box of paper clips, I'll reiterate that I'd rather Trey do it than someone else. 

• Hardaway--I'm getting to the point where, instead of tinkering with a recalibration of expectations, I'm just throwing all preconceived notions out the window and starting with a blank slate. If anything, it makes watching him play less frustrating. Went 3/8 from the field (1/4 from 3), 2/2 from the line. The song remains the same. 

• Novak--The Mayor of Gritville traveled away to Fayetteville to remind these Ozarkian folks what the best ville-suffixed city is. He did have one charge, but overall these refs seemed to not know how to call the charge, even more so than usual. Led Michigan with 17 and was simply an assassin from the field (6/9 overall, 5/7 from 3). This team is going to be so much less ragey and intense when he's gone and it will be terrible. 

• Douglass--A very rough day from the field (2/10 overall, a horrible 1/8 from 3), but he did pitch in 5 assists to 1 TO. Maybe I'm confusing him for Vogrich with this, but did seem to get beat more on the bounce in this one than is normally the case. To his defense, Arkansas is a pretty quick, athletic team. Quite honestly, they might end up being the most purely athletic team Michigan has faced all year when all is said and done. 

• Morgan--Yes, you could say that his point totals are entirely dependent on others finding him wide open near the basket, but he doesn't score those points if he isn't running the floor hard. A great second half of dunks and layups for Morgan...consistently beat Arkansas bigs down the middle of the floor. That's the type of effort we need from him. He's still somewhat hit or miss around the basket when he has to actually maneuver himself around a defender. I would have liked to have seen him take that jumper instead of hesitating before that 3-second call was made. I remember him making a nice elbow jumper earlier this season, and this one would have been just outside of the paint. Now isn't the time to experiment, I guess, but I think the 10-13 footer is a shot that he can make. 

• Smotrycz--An absolute ghost. Finished with 4 points on 1/2 from the field in 15 nondescript minutes. Did have a pair of offensive boards, including a tip in right after the Novak flagrant foul sequence. Usage is obviously down since entering the doghouse, but 15 minutes is more than enough time to do something, anything. Although it didn't hurt us in the end, having that Arkansas player come across the lane to rebound a free throw from Smotrycz's block is embarrassing from both a technique and an effort perspective. As they are playing now, Smotrycz and THJ are preventing this team from being a a sure thing re: the tournament. 
• Vogrich--0/2 from the field, was shook by Young pretty badly on one defensive sequence. Dropped a dime on the Novak three before the end of the first half and showed some nice smarts in driving and dishing to a crashing Smotrycz on another occassion, leading to a pair of free throws. Still a painfully limited player, and despite having flashed great range from 3, is shooting 24% from there. 
• McLimans--Two minutes...not a factor again. Not really a good sign that's he gotten four minutes combined in the last two games, especially with Horford still being out. 

Michigan-Michigan State: Survival of the Fittest

Michigan 60, Michigan State 59

On the heels of a faith-shaking performance in Iowa City over the weekend, there couldn't have been a better opponent to have come into Ann Arbor than this one. Another uninspired performance at home against a rival squad and it would have officially been time to invest in real estate near some hills, to which we would have to run. Somewhat lost in the shuffle is the fact that the Spartans came in with a shiny #9 ranking despite a recent loss at Northwestern; this wasn't Izzo's best or most talented team, but they are contenders once again. The Darwinist order of the Big Ten states that if you don't hold serve at home, you're as good as dead, resigned to the dustbin of history (also known as "receiving an invitation to the NIT"). 

Luckily, to continue the evolutionary/natural selection theme, the Wolverines shed the brittle shell they wore in Iowa City in favor of a much grittier, tougher one at home, a shell that, for one, included a non-starting Evan Smotrycz as part of its makeup (perhaps one of the major culprits in the decidedly un-gritty performance at Iowa). 

The first half was eerily reminiscent of the first half of the Wisconsin game. The Wolverines led the entire half, with the Spartans surviving by using their elongated necks to reach the choicest of produce size to pull in board after board on the offensive end. The Spartans scored 20 of their 29 first half points in the paint, largely a product of corraling 25% of their misses. The Spartans, particularly Wood, were not connecting from outside whatsoever, allowing the Wolverines to pull into the half with a 7-point lead. 

However, it didn't come without some difficulty, as MSU rattled off a 9-0 run late in the half before Stu executed the old-fashioned 4-point play and THJ converted on a pair of free throws. Minus the Spartans' poor shooting, it was a fairly foreseeable half. Michigan came out with energy and knocked down some shots, only to give up some second chance buckets to Green, Nix, et al. Being a Big Ten home game, the Spartans naturally attempted zero free throws in the entire first half (not that I remember any fouls that should've been called). Burke and Appling took turns zipping up and down the court, flashing some serious ESSS EEEE CEEEE speed in the process. Sidebar: this match-up is only going to get better with these two floor generals running the show (assuming, you know, nobody goes pro and whatnot). 

The second half continued to be the Trey Burke show, as the rest of the team seemed to shut it down for a stretch that attempted to squeeze the life out of Michigan's hopes for a victory. The offense bogged down for extended periods of time, leading to a few frenzied possessions extending late into the shot clock only to result in a Burke drive into trouble down low near the baseline.* Michigan found themselves down 4 (57-53) with about 4 minutes left in the game. THJ had another rough outing overall, but he did score two big buckets late to put Michigan down 1 before Burke pulled down a defensive rebound and pushed it down the court with the alacrity of one Derrick Rose, finding a wide open Stu Douglass near the basket. Michigan produced a final stop of one of the most gut-wrenchingly long possessions ever. The ball clanged off the glass and the rim, effectively squashing the memories of Kalin Lucas's late game winner that haunted me just several seconds earlier. Three in a row; GAME BLOUSES. 

AND LET'S DANCE.

Click for one of the greatest things ever (HT: swamyblue)

A win's a win, but like I said after the OT win against the Wildcats...we cannot count on Denard to bail us out every time with his emanations of pure cheer and awesome rays. I mean, superstition dictates that he and Roy have to be at every game from here on out, right? 

It was hard-fought and at times even a bit aesthetically displeasing (especially on the offensive end), but, in conference play, all that matters is the end result. Michigan held serve, and beating a quality Spartan squad sure doesn't hurt. For now, Michigan retains its spot at or near the top of the Big Ten food chain. In LOTR terms, this game was the celebration in the Shire in The Fellowship of the Ring, full of merriment, drink, and cheer, yet untainted by what was to come. The next five games, on the other hand, represent the perilous trek to Mordor, ending, of course, with a trip to Breslin. So it begins. 

/end nerdery

*This is one of the few criticisms I have of him thus far; he seems to put himself in bad spots from time to time by dribbling down into the opponents' bigs near the baseline--about halfway between the hoop and the corner, which is essentially No Man's Land against defensively-attentive squads--or attempting the sometimes dicey pass across the baseline to the other corner. This is a minor quibble, and sometimes the offense just collapses like "a flan in a cupboard", to quote Eddie Izzard, necessitating some seemingly ill-advised dribbling. 

Player Bullets, Also Known As "Trey Burke And Those Who Are Not Trey Burke":

• Burke--The heading for this section has probably never been more apropos than after this performance. Burke's defensive performance against Jordan Taylor was impressive, but the freshman scored a third of the team's points en route to essentially putting the team on his back last night when it counted. He flashed some range that I previously thought only Vogrich had, hitting a trey from the top of the key while standing just in front of the edge of the M at half court. Twenty points on 8/11 shooting (3/6 from 3), including two steals and two blocks (!) on the defensive end, make for arguably the most impressive performance for the young freshman to date. He did get a little dribble-happy around the perimeter at times, but, like I said, I think that was more a product of the offense just not doing anything and the pick and roll being mostly ineffective (from what I remember) after a few instances of success in the first half. If this was hockey, I'd give Trey, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stars for this one. Rod Beard asked the question during the game, but I think the answer is pretty obvious: Trey Burke is our best player. I've mentioned this before, but Burke often reminds me of a poor man's Derrick Rose, and a poor man's Rose is still far richer than whatever most teams in college basketball are trotting out. 

• Hardaway--Another rough performance from the field from THJ. The fact that we won in spite of this is encouraging...I have to think that the light will go on eventually. THJ's early struggles seem to weigh on him in a fashion that affects his play for an extended period of time, leading to a feedback loop that pushes him to take tough perimeter shot after shot. When he did attack the rim, good things happened more often than not (4/4 from the FT line). With that said, he did score two clutch buckets in crunch time, and that's what counts when the dust settles. He also didn't seem to be 100% after coming up a little gimpy early in the game, so take that FWIW. 

• Novak--Another gritty performance for the Mayor of Gritville (population: Zack Novak). Ten points on 4/8 shooting (2/5 from 3), including two very impressive 2s. The first was his classic jump stop move past a defender in what seemed like a hopeless situation, resulting in an easy bunny. The second, a fadeaway near the elbow with the shot clock running out and a man in his face that dropped in without touching the rim. Tremendous. Only one foul in a game such as this is another point against benching him in future in two early foul scenarios. 

• Douglass--Got the start over Smotrycz and it appeared to be the right decision. Stu is a limited player in a lot of respects, but his experience was an obvious asset, especially considering that he logged 36 minutes compared to Evan's 10. Nine points on 3/6 shooting (1/3 from 3) four boards and yet another steal lead me to believe that he should continue to start as we head into the Stretch of Doom of the schedule. 

• Morgan--Honestly, given MSU's size, this was not a game that Morgan would likely have had a lot of offensive success. He did look good early on the pick and roll with Burke, which was encouraging. Was fed a couple other times as well, including one instance when he was unable to convert on that little hook shot in the lane that he often makes. Only four points, but it's very good to see him get involved early instead of being mostly invisible until the second half. I'd like to see us continue to get him involved as such. Despite the Spartans dominating the boards, I thought he held his own defensively (he did also contribute a clutch block of Appling on the final possession, an underrated play in that entire sequence). 

• Vogrich--A pair of boards, as well as an impressive reverse layup that I didn't think he had in him. Bench minutes were hard to come by in this game, which is going to be pretty unsustainable down the stretch if Michigan doesn't want the starters to wear down considerably. Not much of an offensive impact but he continues to grab some boards and generally not do anything stupid with his minutes. Overall, I've been pretty pleased with his play of late. 
• Smotrycz--It's fitting that somebody should enter the doghouse for a game in which one Lloyd "Doghouse" Carr was sitting right next to the Michigan bench. It's hard to say how permanent this move will be, but given the lackluster performance at Iowa, and Stu's generally positive play last night, I think he should continue to come off of the bench, working his way back up to more regular minutes. He did flash some quick hands, snatching the ball from a Spartan big twice; did turn it over on the first one while bringing it up the floor on the break, as he is wont to do. Again, he needs to learn what he can and can't do; there's no shame in knowing one's limitations. In the game of basketball, knowing what those are, even if it depresses the ol' stat line, gets you minutes and, eventually, out of the doghouse. On the positive side, he did have two nice takes to the basket, one resulting in a 3-point play. When the 3s aren't falling, we need him to do more of this. His handles aren't good enough yet to be taking it out in the open floor or anywhere in the middle of the floor, really, but he has been surprisingly effective off the dribble from the wing. 
• McLimans--A bit surprised to only see him get 2 minutes, particularly given MSU's size across the board. I guess it's just a product of the game being close, but, as I mentioned in the Iowa recap, I'd like to see him get a few more minutes, especially in light of Horford's continuing absence. 

Michigan-Northwestern: Denard Robinson Carries Michigan Basketball To Victory, Cures Cancer, Convinces NBC Execs To Cancel "Whitney"

Michigan 66, Northwestern 64 (OT)

First, just to get it out of the way...boy was I off on my prediction. I guess by some sort of eyeball test reckoning I saw how much Ohio State beat them by and figured "hey shave about a third off of that and that's us." I was wrong, so so wrong. I didn't put much stock in the "let down" theory because I figured that Beilein--a guy who jokingly asks reporters if they're drunk when they bring up Final Four hype--wouldn't let them underestimate any opponent, and I'm positive he didn't. Michigan's ills in this one are specific things you can point to, so we can dispense with the sports talk radio-isms.

Michigan opened the game getting good look after good look, many around the basket, and not hitting any of them. They started 0/8 from the field, Novak picked up 2 fouls 3 minutes in and was sent to the bench per the Coaches Rulebook, which states that 2 early fouls=bench for the rest of the half no matter what.

This has nothing to do with the game, but they played "Pour Some Sugar On Me" as the football team took the court halfway through the half during a timeout. Additionally, Limp Bizkit was played near the end of the game to get the crowd PUMPED UP for the final defensive possession. Limp. Bizkit. Come on.

Another thing I was sort of wrong about: the importance of defending the 3. Well, sort of wrong. Northwestern shot 46% from 3, but they only attempted 13. Northwestern was able to hit some early, and that just opened the floodgates for the back cut-palooza that was most of the rest of the game. Time after time, Michigan defenders were caught napping, and the Wildcats capitalized with easy buckets. As expected, both Shurna and Crawford got theirs, scoring 12 and 11 respectively in the first half alone. Quite frankly, Michigan was pretty lucky that NU bungled some open attempts around the basket, as well as that one breakaway attempt where the ball just sort of stuck to that guy's hip. At the halfway point, NU was shooting 60%. Michigan? A dreadful 28%. Michigan was incredibly lucky to only be down 7 after that half, in which seemingly only THJ came to play.

Thankfully for Michigan, Denard Robinson was in the house, dancing and smiling and sprinkling good cheer and hope here and there and everywhere, and maybe some of Bugs Bunny's "Special Stuff" in Jordan Morgan's water bottle. Morgan came out and scored a couple baskets to show that he was alive and stuff, but Shurna kept Shurna-ing around despite looking like a guy who desperately needed to go work on his Senior Design project. Michigan bumbled around for the first 6 or 7 minutes, but Denard kept dancing and smiling and willing the Wolverines to play less horribly, and slowly but surely they did. Then it happened. THE DUNKENING. Zack Novak said bastante and then rained down the grittiest thunder dunk you've ever seen. It was 46-44, Michigan's first lead since the early stages.



A huge THJ 3-ball tied it up 54-54 with 2:44 left, and neither team scored the rest of the way, which included Michigan summoning up one more stop to force overtime. Although the refs saw fit to not punish Dave "Arm Bar" Soboleswki (somewhere, William Gholston saw that and was like "Yup, that's how it's done") despite having the video evidence to do so. It could have changed the game with a 2 FT+the ball penalty, but Sobocop only made 1--ball don't lie--and they came away empty on the gifted possession. An exchange of two straight possessions where Northwestern could simply not clean up the defensive glass led to two straight trips to the FT line for Burke. THJ almost derped it away at the end, committing the sin that gives basketball coaches everywhere the spins: fouling a 3-point shooter with 0.3 seconds left. Fortunately, this did not end up hurting us.

To say this was ugly and a little bit disappointing would be an understatement...we simply cannot depend on Denard Robinson to bail us out every game.

As I've said before, I'm more concerned about the individual play of certain folks rather than what the end result looks like or "means." We won, that's what it means, overcoming horrible shooting and often questionable officiating in doing so, but certain players absolutely need to step it up or Michigan will continue to have a hard time throughout the rest of the conference schedule.

Player Bullets, Also Known As "Trey Burke And Those Who Are Not Trey Burke":

• Burke--Did not have the type of game that I figured he would in the preview, which turned out to be the worst predictive attempt of all time. Nineteen points is nice, but he continues to shoot very poorly (5/17 overall, 1/6 from 3). Did make some clutch free throws at the end though, and 7 boards and a 7:1 assist: TO ain't nothin' to scoff at. If he can find his shot then seriously look out. 

• Hardaway--Another person who had a very different sort of game the predicted. He came out on fire from beyond the arc, finishing 5/9 (7/13 from the field overall). I only distinctly remember one egregious 3 taken. I just wish he would SEARCH AND DESTROY more often; I feel like there is no game where his stat line should read "FTM-A: 0-0." Nineteen points and 6 rebounds with that percentage from 3 is a very good day, the final derp moment and no FTA notwithstanding. 

• Smotrycz--The Smoshtrycz, what happened? You were so awesome for a while there and then the 3s stopped falling and all that was left was awkward dribbling and mediocre defense. Smotrycz has to bust through this wall and start producing if Michigan wants to beat anybody of consequence. His shooting percentages were bound to go down, obviously, but his looks today were almost all very good ones. 

• Morgan--I hate to say this (I really, really do), but...Courtney Sims. There, I said it. How many more times will he be invisible for a half only to come out in the second half like somebody literally lit a fire underneath him? I like him as a player, but the effort needs to consistently be there. It's not even effort, really, it's...I don't know, toughness? Yes, he was often surrounded by multiple defenders when he had the ball near the hoop, but Morgan isn't exactly built like McLimans. GO UP STRONG. 

• Novak--In addition to Zack's burgeoning AND1 career, you can probably find him in next year's NBA Slam Dunk contest. Not having him for most of the first half most definitely eliminated probably the lone galvanizing force that could've pushed Michigan out of that malaise. 

• Douglass--Not a great day for Stu. He continues to be entirely ineffective from outside. Not only is he missing, he continues to take one or two truly bad threes a game. He was 0/6 from outside and a little careless with the ball, too. When you think about it, it's really a wonder that we managed to win this game with so many guys playing so horribly. 
• Vogrich--Continues to be surprisingly gritty. A pair of steals and 1/3 from downtown, the make being one of his standard NBA range bombs. 
• McLimans--Remember him getting beat on a back cut at least once, missed his one attempted 3. Only 2 minutes of play. 

Michigan-Wisconsin: That Was Wisconsin That Was Yesterday

Michigan 59, Wisconsin 41

After a frustrating but valiant performance in Assembly Hall, Bo Ryan's troupe of basketball-aesthetics-destroying minions rolled into Ann Arbor to grind out a much-needed conference win. Despite an abundance of pre-season hype, the Badgers had managed to lose four games, including two consecutive home losses (including an unforgivable one against the generally hapless Hawkeyes). Nevertheless, the Badgers are still a team that presents the same set of obstacles to its opponents as it has in years past: tough defense, a grinding slow pace, and efficient 3-point shooting. As Dylan detailed in his discussion with Bucky's Fifth Quarter, the last cornerstone of Wisconsin basketball--3-point shooting--has taken a significant nosedive, namely in the form of one Jordan Taylor, who comes in averaging about 5 points a game less than he did last season. However, he did drop 28 on the Spartans in the second aforementioned home loss as the Wolverines performed whatever voodoo Bayou magic that drove them to victory in the Superdome. 

Michigan, as we know, has had its troubles on the defensive end that, to me, will determine this team's fate far more than Tim Hardaway's penchant for shooting and missing from beyond the arc. The Wolverines have had trouble defending the three against even the tiniest of minnows on the schedule, and thus defending against the three against a slumping Taylor, a 52.6% shooting Josh Gasser, and Ben Brust, would have necessarily been one of the keys to the game, in addition to a settling down of Trey Burke's game after some dodgy moments in B-Town, a return to prior form for Smotrycz after a pair of relatively quiet games, and, lastly, yes, Hardaway being a little more efficient and prudent in his shot selection.

To put it simply, this was a conference win that Michigan needed to have. The first half went about as expected, pace-wise; however, I don't think anybody could've expected the defense to be as airtight as it was. Aside from the Badgers only scoring 19 in the first half, they were very little threat to do much of anything. Burke did a masterful job containing Taylor all day, making you wonder at times which one was actually the freshman. Michigan went into the half up 24-19, with Michigan's own poor shooting and Wisconsin's offensive rebounding keeping the game somewhat close.

The second half was more of the same, and it was awesome. Michigan played more of that tight boa constrictor defense; there were few open looks and penetration was nearly impossible. Other than the Taylor vs. Burke matchup, the game hinged on the Wolverines' treatment of Berggren (#40). Kudos to Beilein et al for doing the scouting and recognizing that he is not exactly Shaq or Webber [REDACTED] when it comes to successful passing big men. Michigan played solid defense all-around, but when they did take their chances they doubled Berggren on the block, usually with Hardaway as the doubler. The result? Either: a) a Berggren turnover, often leading to a quick transition play or b) a missed open three if Berggren managed to dish it out. In short, GAME BLOUSES.

Michigan held Wisconsin to 41, by far the latter's season low, and they only got there via a good day on the offensive glass. Wisconsin might not be the team they have been in recent years, but Michigan held serve at home and looked impressive defensively in doing so. It was a smashing victory of the Bo variety (not the above Bo...the real Bo). It's easy to be excited about what Michigan has in Burke, Hardaway, and even Novak's burgeoning AND1 basketball career, but what will carry Michigan through the B1G schedule with a youthful, undersized lineup is defense.

Player Notes, Also Known As "Trey Burke And Those Who Are Not Trey Burke":

• Burke--As mentioned, outright blanketed Taylor in his best Darrelle Revis impression. It was just about as impressive as anything Burke has done to date, especially after Taylor just recently dropped 28 on the Spartans. Only 14 points (on 6/15 shooting) and 2 assists, but did show some strength on the attack that I haven't necessarily seen from him yet, specifically one basket where he entirely absorbed contact on the block from the obviously much bigger Berggren in order to knock in a bunny. 

• Hardaway--Tim returned to "Search and Destroy" mode today. Like Burke, the shot is still a bit off, but that will come with time. I'm not sure if the fact that he took only three threes is significant or not--i.e. by design/coaching instruction or just the flow of the game--but he did make two of three, FWIW. Was aggressive and creative around the basket even after a tough first half. I like it. KEEP DOING THAT. 

• Novak--The Mayor of Gritville had another impressive day putting the ball on the floor and being all-around gritty. Two sequences in particular come to mind. 1) One in which he swatted the ball from Berggren after he brought it low, leading to a fast break, a Morgan score, and a Wisconsin timeout after Michigan went up 32-19. Big play here, as Michigan had defended nearly the entirety of the shot clock only to relinquish an offensive board after a missed three. If Novak doesn't make that play then maybe the Badgers mount a run? 2) The seminal moment of gritty grit grit...yes, the play where both Douglass and Novak dove on the floor one after the other, with Zack corraling it and executing a nice little flip to a streaking Burke who went to lay it in uncontested. The three-ball was off today (0/4), but otherwise a cool 12 points on 5/6 from 2 isn't so bad. Keep working on that handle, Zack, and we have The Professor 2.0 on our hands. 

• Morgan--Only 19 minutes in this one. A quiet day for Morgan but he generally did his job on the boards, reeling in 11 on the day, 5 of those of the offensive variety. 

• Smotrycz--Has cooled off significantly and as expected. There was no way he would continue the torrid pace he was on near the end of the non-conference schedule. Only 3 points and 1/5 from 3 (including some pretty good looks) in 25 minutes would be more worrisome against a team not named Wisconsin; hopefully he can find his way back into the offense after a tough start to the conference slate. Got easily backed down by Berggren for 2 once when Hardaway didn't double; somebody get this man some Cottage Inn STAT. 

• Douglass--The only bench guy worth mentioning, as he's essentially playing starter's minutes. You know it's just not your day (i.e. Taylor) when Stu Douglass straight up pilfers the ball from your hands like it's a sack lunch. Had five steals--FIVE!--on the day. A three or two and some defensive activity from Stu would be a tremendous contribution from him from game to game. 

Michigan-Penn State: Search and Destroy

Michigan 71, Penn State 53

The theme of Tim's night from the field

After a ho-hum non-conference slate that saw Michigan make people intermittently excited and worried about the rest of the season, the conference schedule began tonight against a struggling Penn State squad in the friendly confines of Crisler Arena the Crisler Center. Penn State after making the tournament last season, figures to be one of the worst teams in the conference this year. Tim Frazier is a very nice player (17.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 7.2 apg), and has done a very nice job replacing Talor Battle's outgoing production; unfortunately, other departures--such as Jeff Brooks and his 13 ppg--have not been replaced as adequately. As such, if this was an MGoBlog football preview, this game would be at least an 8 on the "need to win" scale. A loss at home to what seems to be the worst team in the conference would have been nothing short of disastrous. In his non-conference rundown of all B1G squads, Dylan at UMHoops summarized PSU in a manner that reminds me of 2007-08 Michigan basketball: 

Penn State’s offense, centered around Tim Frazier, is the worst in the league and its average defense isn’t enough to save it.

Thankfully, the Wolverines took care of business in front of what I imagined to be a depleted home crowd (at least the student section, which seemed full but only approximately 10% MAIZED OUT). Missing Michigan-Penn State to go home and see their families? I guess some students just don't get it. 

In any case, it was as smashing a victory as one could expect and the halftime entertainment was apparently a Quick Change performance. REAL GOOD TIME, indeed.

Michigan came out in the first half and shot threes early and often with very little success. Luckily for the Wolverines, the Penn State offense was about as anemic as the Penn State football team's. Despite reading all the scouting reports and looking over the stats, there's always a little bit of doubt with respect to how bad a team may or may not be, and with Michigan sort of struggling against some who dat non-conference opponents, no one can be taken lightly. In this case, Penn State's reputation of being mostly "total garbage" was actually true. Other than Frazier, who isn't much of an outside shooter, the Nittany Lions couldn't do much but hope to GRIT their way to some garbage points via offensive rebounds. Sorry guys, but Zack Novak is on our side, and there's only room for one TRUE GRIT in this town.

Michigan went up by 14 (36-22) at the half and more things happened in the second...but nothing of note that can't be mentioned in the section below. You know that you're not doing so hot when you're down 20 with a few minutes to go and the commentators are talking about how hard you tried, even tossing in the word "grit" in that euphemistic verbiage salad. With that, Michigan goes to 11-2, with the next outing coming on New Year's Day against the Gophers. Unfortunately, I'll be on the road to NOLA so I won't be able to watch and thus won't able to write a post on it. So, to the notes. 

Players Notes, Also Known As "Trey Burke and Those Who Are Not Trey Burke":

• Burke--Another rough night from the field, going 3/11 (and an abysmal 1/7 from 3), but he still notched a solid 13 on the back of a 7/7 showing from the charity stripe. Additionally, it's hard to complain when your freshman point guard puts up 7 assists to zero turnovers. Penn State isn't a squad of defensive ninjas like say, a Purdue is, but it's encouraging to see your point take care of the ball to that extent, even if it is against probably the worst team in the league. 

• Hardaway--As the hockey guys say, HOLY JUMPIN'. Glad I picked Tim in UMHoops' Pick To Click challenge. The story if his game is told by his shooting splits (from 2 and 3): he shot an almost perfect 10/11 from 2 and 1/7 from 3. In any case, Tim continues to showcase new moves and ways of getting to the basket. Last game he executed a nice little euro step tonight he had a nice drive to his left and a spin back right for a bank from around 10-12 feet. He also had a Magic-esque running hook through the lane, which good luck stopping that shot B1G defenders. He was also superbly set up by Smotrcyz on a couple backdoors in the second half, but overall this was by far his best game of the season for the simple fact that he was the aggressive slasher/2-point finisher that we all know he can be. He dropped 26 in this one so imagine what he'll start to do once he finds his shot from beyond the arc. 

• Novak--A run-of-the-mill gritfest for True Grit. Despite only 7 points, a 4:1 assist:turnover, 4 boards, a steal, and a block make for another Swiss Army knife of a stat line for Zack. He continued his with-the-ball improvements, posting up (!) a PSU defender, backing him down like MJ backing down John Starks or some other such scrub, and executing a flawless fadeaway jumper. Yes, I am talking about Zack Novak. Fadeaway jumper. Zack Novak. Not MJ. 

• Smotrycz--Only 2/4 from three...keep that up and you'll find yourself in St. Saban's Memorial Dubious Injury Infirmary, son. But seriously, another solid game for The Smoshtrycz despite not filling it up a la the last few games. Two assists to Hardaway late in the second half were particularly impressive, but 3 TOs indicates that ball security will likely continue to be an issue. Had the ball in the open floor near mid-court in the first half and attempted a one-handed pass that resulted in a turnover...I'm sure he got an earful from Beilein after that one. Otherwise, did have a nice strong take (no, not the Jim Rome STRONG TAKE kind) from the 3-point line to draw a block call. He seems to be able to do that sort of thing. He can take the ball from the arc and go to the basket with success, but once he starts to dribble for an extended period of time, with his back to the basket in the post or elsewhere, things start to get dicey. 

• Morgan--A pretty unsatisfying performance for Morgan, only scoring 2 points. He couldn't finish on a nice feed once, and awkwardly traveled around the basket another time. A little bit disappointing after a great second half against Bradley, but it's not a huge deal given the final score and productivity of other players. However, Michigan absolutely needs more from Morgan, and it probably starts with him attempting more than 4 field goals, but he does need to be a little stronger around the basket. I can live with him getting his shot blocked but there are times when he gets the ball and should at minimum draw a foul but doesn't. 

• Douglass--Seven points on 2/6 shooting from 3; had an attempted dunk--still a hilarious concept despite it having already lost its novelty--that he couldn't finish but did send him to the line. 

• Vogrich--Took a charge (again...the GRIT, it's spreading), also made two threes from pretty much Ypsilanti. With the way Smotrycz is shooting and Vogrich's ability to knock it in from NBA range, you've got to think that driving lanes will be there for Hardaway and Burke like running lanes were for the A-Train. Vogrich's shooting percentage still isn't good, obviously, but this would be a good time to start to turn it on. 

Michigan-Alabama A&M: All Over But The Shoutin'

Michigan 87, Alabama A&M 57

Before the day of glorious bottom-tier bowl games began, Michigan took on the Alabama A&M Bulldogs, who hail from my former hometown, the sprawling metropolis that is Huntsville, AL. They came into the game with an 2-3 record, their closest loss being a 9-point defeat at the hands of Tulane (their other two losses were smashing defeats against fellow Yellowhammer State opponents, South Alabama and Alabama). One of their 2 wins came against "Talladega," which I'm convinced is simply a roving band of Talladega Superspeedway-goers looking for something to occupy their time until the next race.

This wasn't a very good basketball team. I'm not sure if it's quite on the level of the 2009 Michigan-Delaware State game in the Big House as far as tomato cans go, but it's not a game you'd write home about either way. Obviously. But, with the Sugar Bowl still a ways away, I'll take any form of Michigan sports and I will not complain. 

Michigan took care of business against the Golden Lions despite stretches of reckless and/or lackadaisical play. However, with these types of games, as long as nobody gets hurt and you're not sweating it out in the final seconds, it's all good. If the game is in the final minute and your overmatched opponent isn't trying to foul, you've probably done enough to put the "sky is falling" rhetoric on ice until the next game.

Like APB, the Bulldogs played hard with great TOUGHNESS for 40 minutes but were simply unable to account for Burke's ability to create and Michigan's perimeter shooting, which was tremendous (45.5% from 3). This was pretty much what the APB should've looked like. Michigan didn't really seem to play all that well in the first half, yet still went into the break with a 41-27 lead. Coming out of the half, Michigan unleashed the 1-3-1 on A&M, resulting in a Morgan charge call; from that point forward it was all over but the shoutin'. Five minutes or so into the second half, the Wolverines found themselves up 25. Michigan is still turning the ball over a little too much, but that will improve with time as the level of competition forces the level of play into a certain pared down mode (see "B1G-ball"). In the end, as Bo would say, it was a smashing victory. 

And yes, for the second game in a row I think some band respect is due..feel free to let the following sound dramatically in the background as you read through this recap of the most obviously critical game in Michigan's season:

Player Notes, Also Known As "Trey Burke and Those Who Are Not Trey Burke": 

• Burke--Man, that crossover behind the back dribble three pointer was something. Not to tear Darius Morris down, but I don't think that's a thing that he had in his arsenal, as great as he was. Burke lead the Wolverines with 19 points on 6/10 shooting (3/3 from 3). Also, despite being in the game with about 5 minutes to go for some reason, he "only" logged 30 minutes, which is good. Then again, with only two games between now and New Year's Day, it's reasonable for Beilein to feel comfortable giving Burke and others these minutes. 

• Hardaway--Still trying to find his game a little bit, but when you score 13 points and people are still thinking of even slightly negative things to say, you know the expectations are pretty high. If Smotrycz can continue to be a reliable third option and Hardaway plays like we all know we can, this team will seriously challenge for a conference title, even without much of an inside game. 

• Novak--True Grit got a little Hollywood on us this afternoon, doin' some fancy dribblin' and whatnot. Again, Novak's ability with the ball in his hands is the biggest improvement in this team other than the outside shooting from the 1 spot. Yes, it's A&M but Novak wasn't really ever able to use the dribble for any purpose before this year, even against cupcake opponents with lower level athletes. the one play where Novak took it coast to coast, hesitating for a split second at the three point line before blowing by the defender to the hoop for an easy layup, was amazing. Plus, he continues to utilize the dribble to effectively set-up his mid-range game. These are the types of things that are developed by years of practice and technical coaching that lead, eventually, to having the confidence to try and execute these skills in a game. Also, a 4:0 assist to turnover ratio continues his streak of sparkling assist to turnover ratios. 

• Smotrycz--After a pair of almost double-doubles, The Smoshtrycz finally got one today, dropping 17 points and 11 rebounds. He even grabbed 3 steals, doing all of this in a mere 22 minutes of playing time. The Smoshtrycz is slowly but surely evolving from X-factor to reliable contributor. He's obviously not there yet based on three games against Oakland, APB, and Alabama A&M, but the progress is obvious. Only negative continues to be turnovers; he had 3 in this one. 

• Morgan--Morgan is Morgan...he'll get set up for some layups/dunks and grab some garbage points or he won't. He ended the game with 6 points, although early foul trouble yet again cut into his minutes. 

• Douglass--A solid game off the bench; 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and no turnovers is a good stat line for him. 
• Vogrich--Took a couple of threes, missed them both. Did have four rebounds...he's only averaging 1 a game but every time I watch I feel like he's grabbing a few more than that despite being Matt Vogrich. 
• McLimans--Got a haircut. Had a nice tip in for 2. Also had two blocks...he is tall. 
• Akunne--AKUNNE MATATA...sorry, had to. Five points for Eso, a veritable offensive explosion. 
• Brundidge--Got a solid chunk of playing time today (13 minutes); 3 points, 2 boards, and an assist for the freshman. It's still way too early to make any predictions about his career. Was called "thick" by Eric Collins, which would be good if you're a Wisconsin tailback and not a guard of the basketball variety. I'd like to see more of him against Bradley and even PSU if possible. 

Michigan-Arkansas-Pine Bluff: Taking Care Of Business

Michigan 63, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 50 

This is a post about a game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff*; if you choose not to read it (and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't) here is a random video of APB's band "battling" Jackson State's that is probably just as worthy of your time. 

After experiencing the horrors of radio-based sports consumption on Saturday, ESPNU kindly allowed me to watch this crucial early December matchup. Michigan took on Arkansas-Pine Bluff, its second opponent in a row sporting a mascot of the Golden, ferocious mammalian variety. As the Wolverines finished up the pre-game warmups and the stands were distinctly only somewhat full, it was hard not to get the feeling that this was all just practice for the intensity of basketball in March. The excitement was palpable, and Michigan players were chucking up bricks during pre-game warmups like Denard overthrows first quarter screens out of sheer nerves and a relentlessly overpowering excitability. 

Okay, that's enough of that. After the Golden Lions jumped out to a 6-5 lead, Michigan went on a 19-0 run and the game was essentially over. The Lions are a bad team from the worst conference in America and it showed. The only Lion to really show some skill was guard Lazabian Jackson**, who lit Michigan up from outside, going 6/11 from three, including a few impressive makes from a few feet behind the line. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat and say "nice shot." APB scored 27 non-Jackson produced points, so overall its hard to complain too much; 27 points plus 23 from a guy shooting the lights out from NBA range makes for a solid night on that end.

Despite the lack of talent, the Lions competed admirably and Michigan continued to turn the ball over with regularity, resulting in a somewhat underwhelming 13-point win. The decisiveness of the victory isn't necessarily that important, but you would've liked to see a little better play and a little less carelessness with the ball, which is starting to become a bit of an issue. Nineteen turnovers in this one and 17 against Oakland...not so good. Burke is a freshman and the primary ball handler so I can live with his mistakes, but guys like The Smoshtrycz need to cut back on the turnovers. There won't be much margin for error this season in the conference schedule, and it's not hard to imagine a bad loss via ALL THE TURNOVERS at the hands of an Iowa or a Penn State, potentially doing some dastardly things to Michigan's tournament resume. Just repeat "this is a young team" ad infinitum and you should be okay.

At the same time, APB's own hilariously sloppy play contributed to the overall pace (or lack thereof) of the game to a certain extent. I thought that Michigan might put up 70 or even 80 last night but a choppy, sluggish end to the first half (other than the buzzer beater, of course) and a generally meh second half resulted in a paltry 63. UNACCEPTABLE (but not really).

The turnovers and the lack of an inside game are disconcerting, but we've known about the latter for quite a while now so it isn't exactly much of a surprise when we can't really go through the post for offense, even against a team like APB. We are who we are and that's that. Once again, come on down Mitch McGary.

*FERGODSAKES.
**I don't know what his recruiting profile looked like but he should've been a 5-star based on name alone. Lazabian Jackson, coming to a college basketball venue near you to make ALL THE THREES.

Player Bullets: 

• Burke--After an outstanding first half (ending on a 3-point buzzer beater), his production tailed off in the second, although not for lack of usage. He missed some solid looks and couldn't connect on that patented tear drop in the lane, so it's not like he wasn't getting good chances. In any case, another solid game from a guy who continues to exceed his years every time he steps on the court. I haven't been able to watch all that much college ball other than Michigan outside of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge and a smattering of games here and there, but I'd imagine that Burke's speed and ability to find the open man--whether on the perimeter or Morgan in the paint--has to put him in the discussion, at some level, for best point guards in the country. Again, it is a little bit concerning that Beilein wasn't able to put him out there for less than 37 minutes against a team like APB, but thus far he's proven that he can handle it. 

• Hardaway--Another relatively quiet performance, although he only played 19 minutes so whatever. Tim went 3/6 from the field (2/4 from three), and it seemed early on that Michigan was actively trying to get him involved by running him off of screens and such. He took a bit of a tumble in the first half while contesting a three but he did return and seemed to be okay. In any case, this type of thing is more reason to find ways to limit some guys' minutes, namely him and Trey, in the next two games. 

• Smotrycz--The Smoshtrycz chipped in a team high 16, as well as eight boards, in his second almost-double-double in a row. However, the old Smotrycz reared his head a little bit, committing five of Michigan's 19 turnovers. Did turn it over once on the block while trying to make a move of some sort; again, that part of his game is still a work in progress. 

• Novak--Zack just Novak'd around, as usual. While his offensive production has seemed to have taken a slight dive of late, he's made up for it in the last two games by dropping dimes more than anybody on the team save Burke; an 8:1 and 6:1 assist to turnover ratios against Oakland and APB respectively is not half bad. Perhaps the most underrated improvement in this team is Novak's ability to do things with the ball in his hands. He seems to have some added confidence in taking a purposeful dribble or two into the lane to set up his mid-range game, which has evolved from being basically non-existent to the pleasant surprise it has been thus far. He had one very impressive take where he split a pair of defenders and used jump stop to propel himself into the lane and draw the defense enough to find an open McLimans at the opposite block. As usual, he did take at least one charge. 

• Morgan--A very quiet night for Morgan, only attempting two field goals (his one bucket was a nice little hook shot off of a rebound). 

• Vogrich--A very solid game for Vogrich. He hit a few threes despite entering the game having gone 1/13 from outside going into the game. He was also active elsewhere, chipping in three offensive rebounds and a couple steals; anything outside of production from 3-point land is gravy. 

• McLimans--Logged 11 minutes after getting 6 and 1 in the last two games. Set a crushing pick right before the half to free Burke for that buzzer beater; after seeing that, maybe we should hand him over to Barwis Wellman and see if we can't turn him into a solid replacement for Mark Huyge on the right side of the offensive line. /bad cross-sports jokes

• Douglass--Missed a few very good looks from three. I guess as long as either him or Vogrich are on from outside in any given game then we'll be alright. Last game it was Stu chipping in the double-digit bench points, this game it was Vogrich.