Michigan-Purdue: Learning To Fly

Michigan 66, Purdue 64

There were 3.8 seconds left, and Evan Smotrycz was on the line after Michigan capably whipped the ball around berserker Boilermaker defenders trying to foul. A defender stood between him and an open Zack Novak, but he somewhat awkwardly held on to it. Purdue had no timeouts, and even if Smotrycz missed both, their chances of victory were minimal...and yet, it wasn't over. There are those that will be quick to say that it's not over until the clock reads all zeroes, as if there is some yet un-mined nuance of wisdom in the statement. Most fans will find this person annoying; that is decidedly not the case for Michigan fans. Evan Turner. The Wisconsin game. I don't even have to say any more and you know what I'm talking about. End of game scenarios are inextricably linked with fear; College Basketball rings the Pavlovian bell and Michigan fans are conditioned to cringe. 

The door was slightly ajar, and it pushed open slightly when Smotrycz got fouled. He made the first free throw, calmly and without difficulty, pushing the door back so that it was very nearly shut. He missed the second. I braced for the worst.

When the final heave harmlessly careened off of the backboard, I breathed a sigh of relief. You could say it was the Universe's way of meting out a makeup call.

Sadly, putting this picture in a post does
not magically make this football season.
(HT: Mike DeSimone)

I continue to wear my 2007-08 Michigan basketball shirt in order to give me the opportunity to look at it during games and realize how far we've really come. The last time Michigan had left West Lafayette victorious came a month and a half after John Navarre and Chris Perry led Michigan to a bowl victory against Rex Grossman and Ron Zook's Florida Gators. It was a long, long time ago. Purdue might be down, but don't let that convince you that this win was anything but incredibly meaningful for this team and this program. The fact that Purdue's final desperation heave didn't fall is, in a way, revealing. Maybe this is the cosmos's way of letting us have start to have nice things.

Michigan not only went on the road and won at an extremely difficult place to get a win, they weathered the storm of a 17-3 Purdue run that extinguished Michigan's 10-point lead and then some. It would have been easy to stop there, to say it's not our day and that winning on the road in this conference is just an added bonus, the extra scoop of ice cream that a disinterested employee doesn't bother charging you for.

At the under 8 minutes TV timeout, Michigan was down 47-51. In the remaining minutes, Jordan Morgan, Tim Hardaway Jr., Trey Burke, and Stu Douglass all scored, and Zack Novak contributed the final brilliant assist. This was a team effort. Also, for a team that seems to rise and fall with Jordan Morgan's production in a correlative fashion, it is only fitting that the winning basket was one of his patented thunder dunks.

A Big Ten road win and a 16th win (when Michigan had 19 pre-Big Ten Tournament wins all of last season)? It's a start.

Player Bullets, Also Known As "Welcome Back Tim":

• Burke--It's hard to complain too much after a cathartic win like that, but the freshman has been having a hard time from the field, going 3/10 (0/2 from 3) with two of those makes being layups. Trey had some trouble containing Lewis Jackson, which is a little disappointing after his performance against Jordan Taylor but is also understandable...Jackson is unbelievably quick (he could probably be a slot ninja type in an RR offense). Trey also had one of his most glaring "freshman moments" to date, when Michigan had the ball with under a minute to go, up 1, with the opportunity to run some clock out. It all worked out in the end, but you certainly would've liked to see the offense run for a little bit before having Trey go into play-making mode. 

• Hardaway--First, the bad...THJ had some significant issues on the defensive end. Early in the game, I remember him getting blown by with ease, only to get bailed out by Burke, who was in position to take the charge. Not long after that, THJ was lackadaisical in closing out on an open 3-point shooter (this is not the only instance of this). As much as people complained about aspects of his offensive game, his defense has been equally worthy of criticism. With his size and overall athleticism, he could be an above average defensive player if he wanted to. With that said...man it's nice to see THJ fill it up again. A solid 8/15 from the field (2/6 from 3) and a diverse execution of his offensive repertoire equals a happy me. Hopefully this was the adrenaline jolt he needed to get his game back on track for good. 

• Douglass--Stu has secretly been a really good player for us (minus his outside shooting, which has been either really bad or killer)...it wasn't even a secret this game. Here's the line: 12 points (5/8 overall, 2/3 from 3), 5 boards 3 assists, 2 steals, and only 1 turnover. That is a very good game, and Stu has quietly been a mini-revelation since Smotrycz's benching. 

• Novak--Had a sort of quiet game on the offensive end, but he did only shot the ball four times, going 2/4 overall (1/1 from 3). On the other hand, contributed 8 gritty boards, as usual. He also pitched in 3 assists, the most crucial being the final one during which he created the play on the bounce to find an open ready-to-dunk Morgan on the block. That's not a play that City of Gritville's best and only resident could make a year ago. 

• Morgan--When Morgan is on, this team is so much more fun to watch. I would argue that when Morgan's play/statistical contribution (yes, again, some of his points are due to just being wide open) is the biggest indicator of Michigan's success on a given day. If I didn't know what the score was, and you told me that Morgan had gone 5/7 from the field for 12 points, I would guess with confidence that we had won. By the way, this is the second time that someone has grabbed him by the arm like that (the first being the incident during the Northwestern game)...hey, tiny Big Ten guards. Stop that. 

• Vogrich--Only five minutes...made his one field goal attempt (and it wasn't even a 3). 
• Smotrycz--A very solid performance from the bench, going 3/5 from the field and 1/2 from 3, good for 10 points. Throw in the only one turnover and I'll take that from him every time. I don't think he's close to starting again yet, but this was a good first step toward that end. 
• Akunne--Resurfaced in this one only to get hurt at some point during his 2 minutes of play. Hopefully it's not too serious; he's obviously not a big piece, but Michigan can't really afford that many injuries, even to low-usage depth guys. 
• Brundidge--One minute. Looked awkward the one time he had the ball. It's hard to really say anything about him when he plays so few minutes. Hopefully Michigan will be on the winning side of a blowout one of these days so we can get a better look at him.

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-Bradley: Onward and Upward

Michigan 77, Bradley 66

Michigan looked to finished out the non-conference schedule in as drama-free a manner as possible. They came away with the win and the game was actually fairly exciting, which, considering the opponent, is sort of the problem. The Wolverines took on a 5-6 Bradley team--Bradley, an entity doubling as a university as well as, potentially, an anonymous generic dude living down the hall from you in West Quad--in one last contest before the Big Ten schedule began. Michigan pulled away with about 8 minutes left in the game, but everything till that point was essentially an outline of the strengths and weaknesses of this time in one overt archetypic package. 

Michigan got killed on the boards as we trotted out positively Lilliputian lineups (even more so than usual). I think this team misses Horford in the interior I little more than we know. Additionally, the fact that most of Bradley's points were unassisted indicates a some lacking on-the-ball defense, which, given our general lack of athleticism, is understandable but not encouraging. At the same time, Bradley players were often reckless or out of control in their 1-on-1 game, so I guess it evens out. 

The first half didn't exactly go as planned. Michigan shot the ball well early on, but eventually cooled off, especially after Bradley went to the zone with 6 or so minutes left in the half. Michigan was quite simply dominated on the boards, giving Bradley a number of second chances that negated the Braves' pedestrian shooting percentages. As such, Bradley was able to keep pace despite not assisting for field goals nearly as much as the Wolverines, and a very deep three from Brown sent the two teams tied at the half, 33-33. Michigan was 12/34 from the field and 7/18 from 3, with very little inside game to speak of. Jordan Morgan had two points at the half. 

Thankfully, the Wolverines began to involve Morgan, leading to several high-percentage shots that started to blow the game open. Morgan's 13 second half points were essentially what allowed the Wolverines to leave the pesky Braves in the dust. A pair of dunks by Morgan and Hardaway (the latter on a nice lob from Stu) got the crowd going and put the game away. Michigan shot well from outside, but it seemed that Michigan's best option--as Beilein et al asserted during BTN's halftime peek into the Michigan locker room--was the fast break/pushing the ball. That's not to say that Michigan's half court game is Memphis-esque or anything, but with a guy like Burke running the show, not running is like putting Denard under center with regularity. 

Aside from the game, listening to Gus Johnson and the two live looks into the locker room were pretty great (if you were at the game or unable to watch, it's definitely worth watching for these two things alone). Watching Bacari Alexander motivate the team before the game by wrapping tape around them as part of a teamwork talking point was priceless. Also, hearing Beilein talk about actual basketball stuff and using actual basketball verbiage was interesting and I wish this sort of thing was shown more often. 

As for the Gus-isms...they were flowing indeed: 

• "Shayok Shayok!" This was said maybe 50 times. 
• The always classic "Ha haaaa!" after Shayok gets an "and 1" opportunity.
• Lastly, this, upon Michigan going up by 15: "Wolverines poppin' their collars now!" GAME BLOUSES, BRADLEY. 

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

• Burke--Trey struggled a bit from the field (5/13 overall, 1/7 from 3), but he still managed to score 12 and drop 8 assists to one turnover. Of course he is not him, but, as a Bulls fan, watching Burke accelerate down the court continues to remind me of Derrick Rose. The sequence in the first half--after Bradley had briefly taken the lead 26-25--comes to mind. Trey blocked a shot and accelerated to get the ball and take it the other way for a layup. It truly is a treat to watch. 

• Hardaway--It was clear that Tim was trying to find his shot early, taking 3 threes and a 2 within the first 5 minutes or so. He, like Burke, also struggled from three, going 2/9. However, 16 points and an 5 assists to zero turnovers is a solid game, outside shooting notwithstanding. Nine threes is a few too many, but I'd rather he shoot than not. Showed a nice aggressive "euro move" in the first half. 

• Smotrycz--Simply on fire from outside. The Smoshtrycz came into the game shooting a torrid 55% from 3-point land, and he only upped that percentage by going 5/7 in this one. He tied his career high of 20 points, and also broke the string of almost double-doubles by snatching 10 boards. He has to cool off eventually, but we can only hope that he can continue to shoot the lights out at this pace. 

• Novak--A gritty 11 points for True Grit tonight. Also continues to drop dimes at a surprisingly high rate, with 4 more in this one (although 2 turnovers make the ratio not as sterling as the past 3 games). Again showed off his newfound handles with a nice take that saw him power through a defender into a jump stop and an 8-9 foot bank shot. 

• Morgan--Two different players from the 1st half to the 2nd. After getting blocked twice on the opening possession, he was essentially invisible the rest of the first half. In the second, missed missed a few shots against the zone and then decided to get Morgan involved. He was aggressive, and although many of his points come as the result of being the benefactor of top notch point play (whether from Morris last year or Burke this year), the majority of his baskets in this game were the result of hard work. 

• Douglass--A quiet game, yet somehow played 33 minutes. Only three points, but again, scoring is not a huge issue as long as he's playing defense and doing other things, like notching a 6:1 assist to turnover ratio.

• Vogrich--Took a charge (the GRIT, it's spreading), 0/2 from the field. 

• McLimans-Only three minutes...despite being insanely tall, got shot blocked once from what I remember. 

• Brundidge--A few nondescript minutes halfway through the first half; drove for a mid-range shot that got blocked from behind. We're going to need a little more from somebody if Trey's going to keep playing 37+ minutes, but that somebody doesn't appear to be Brundidge right now.

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. 

Michigan-Iowa State: Steele Jantz Isn't Walkin' Through That Door

Michigan 76, Iowa State 66

I went into this game thinking "How weird/sad is it that it's noon on a Saturday while football is being played elsewhere and I'm watching Michigan basketball?" Suspending my disbelief that the regular season is over for the duration of this post, I will say that Michigan needed this one or else, to quote Russell Peters, "somebody was gonna get a hurt real bad," where "somebody" here refers to Michigan's tournament chances. Fortunately, Michigan pulled it out as an at home 7-point favorite should. I donned a 2007-08 Michigan basketball shirt that I got via a t-shirt tossing as a freshman at a game against CMU (which we lost), laughing the whole time at how far we've come as a program since that miserable 10-22 season

Jordan Morgan started Michigan off with four straight points, after which the Cyclones went on a quick 8-0 run to take a 10-4 lead. Luckily for Michigan, Trey Burke was on from the outside; a couples three and a layup later and Michigan was back on top. It was a strange half; it didn't seem like Michigan was doing anything extraordinarily well, but I looked up and Michigan was up nine at the half. After not very long, Michigan blew it open in the second, and held a seemingly permanent 16-20 point lead until the final three or so minutes, where teams of Michigan's level usually allow the opponent back into the game just enough that you wouldn't dare change the channel in favor of the Southern Miss-Houston game. Iowa State's late run doesn't really concern me so much as the individual plays from Michigan's side that made it happen: turnovers (including one play where Royce White just sort of snatched the ball from Smotrycz as if it was a gift given to an unappreciative friend), a lack of rebounding, etc. In short, the symptoms of a young team with a big lead doing what a young team with a big lead does. 

Otherwise, the narrative really hasn't changed much. Michigan needed this one and got it; a loss would've been fairly disastrous, and Michigan put the outcome beyond doubt for approximately 95% of the game. That's good, particularly on the heels of a somewhat disappointing loss on the road in Charlottesville. Given the disparity between the pre-Maui and Maui and on Michigan, it's clear that this is a team that's still finding itself. When you look at the individual parts, this is even more obvious. Burke has been astonishingly poised and consistent for a freshman, despite being bottled up for the first time against UVA. The post-Morris version of Jordan Morgan is like the post-Braylon version of Henne...just trying to figure it all out, man. Hardaway is still trying to find a balance between outside shooting and getting to the basket/mid-range shots. Evan Smotrycz is talented but still seems like a teenager who grew half a foot overnight and it still getting used to his body. He is 20 so I guess that's technically almost true, but the added weight is taking some getting used to. He is improving; where as the idea of him putting the ball on the floor last year was a cringe-worthy concept, this year it's more of a 50-50 proposition. Horford is Horford, the consummate work-in-progress player. Douglass and Vogrich are trying to find their shots. 

The only negative takeaway from this game is that Royce White absolutely dominated us on the inside, adding one more data point to the unfortunate reality that we are not very big or athletic and will continue to get owned by big men with a pulse. I didn't know anything about him so I naturally gave him no respect (like I did UVA's Mike Scott, assuming he was just an athlete scoring garbage points); I was so wrong. The guy is sophomore but looks like he could be a power forward on a mediocre NBA team's roster, which says more about the athleticism of our bigs than it does him, probably. White looks like a quality player with some nice quicks for a big, but if we're going to get completely destroyed by dudes that play for Iowa State then we will have some issues against actual teams. 

This was likely Michigan's last real test--I hope?--until the conference slate begins; some of the aforementioned can be improved upon in an environment of limited competition. Some cannot be. Either way, a win's a win, and all the youth and room for improvement makes this an exciting team to watch. The process is almost as rewarding as the destination itself. EMBRACE THE PROCESS. 

/Ron English'd

Player Bullets:

• Burke--Awesome. Seriously. I miss Morris's ability to get into the lane at will using his size but Burke's outside shooting and distribution is getting to be just as fun to watch. He will surely hit a rough patch or two at some point this season, but he seems to have the perfect demeanor to weather those storms. While Morris thrived on a sort of expletive-based verve, Burke is a cool customer. Both work, but the latter is particularly surprising for a freshman. The minutes he has been logging thus far is somewhat worrisome, however. I guess I'd have to go back and see what kinds of minutes Morris was getting last year (I'd imagine they were similar if not higher), but you'd imagine that Morris's body would be more capable of handling a long season, including a TOUGH Big Ten schedule. I actually didn't realize this until looking at the box score just now but apparently he went 3/11 from three, which: a) is not good and b) only in a Beilein offense can you shoot 11 threes and be okay. 

• Hardaway--An encouraging performance after he was relatively invisible at UVA. It's well-known that his 3-point shot needs some work, and he tends to go to it a few times a game when you'd like to see another shot. In a basic sense, it was refreshing to see him actually get some shots up (then again, not being in foul trouble helps, doesn't it?). Putting up 19 after getting 5 in the last game is nice, although the similarly bad 2/7 from three isn't all that encouraging (a minor concern on this day, though). 

• Novak--The grittiest man this side of the Mississippi had somewhat of a quiet day on the offensive end,  going 1/4 from the field (he did go 6/6 from the line). However, as usual his gritty ways propelled him to excellence in other portions of his stat line, namely rebounds, of which he grabbed 11. With Hardaway, Burke, and even Morgan filling it up today, Michigan didn't really need him on the offensive end, but his rebounding and general gritastic exploits continue to be amazing. 

• Morgan--There were a couple times where you would've liked to see him have the strength to finish around the basket, but that only happened twice from what I remember. Otherwise, a great outing for Morgan (probably one of the best of his career). He was aggressive, and even showed some range in hitting an elbow jumper. That could be an invaluable tool if he can hit that with any sort of regularity, although  I doubt he has the green light to shoot that more than once or twice a game. 

• Smotrycz--He fouled out for the second game in a row, which...stop that. Otherwise, a solid day, going 3-7 from the field and pulling in 7 boards. Not everybody can score in double digits every game, and with the aforementioned trio performing the way that they did, it wasn't necessary. I'd like to see him build up some confidence in his offensive game in these contests before the B1G schedule begins. 

• Douglass/Vogrich--I'm just going to pair these two until there's a reason not to...Douglass did have a nice charge that wasn't a charge, so there's that. Regardless of how he's shooting, we'll need him to play some good minutes backing up Trey or he [Trey] is going to have nothing left in the tank by the end of the season. 

• Horford--Fumbled a perfect feed from Burke that would've resulted in a sure dunk...still pretty much a non-entity on offense. 
• Akunne--Hit a three; if he can contribute any points at all then I'd say that his minutes=win. 
• McLimans--Scored five points in six minutes...might as well call him Fielding Yost because he's practically scoring a point a minute. Blake "Point-a-Minute" McLimans...yes.

Michigan-Virginia: B1G-mas in November

A brief departure from post-Ohio euphoria. 

Michigan 58, UVA 70

The Wolverines traveled to Charlottesville last night to face Tony Bennett's Cavaliers, hoping to build on the momentum of a 2-1 showing in Maui. The game was relatively even more than three quarters of the way in, but foul trouble and the inability to rebound killed Michigan in this one, as they fell 70-58 in the first game of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

This one was tough to lose on a number of fronts. For one, Michigan was yet again hampered by foul troubles, leaving you with the sense that we weren't even playing with a full deck for large segments of the game. This time it wasn't even Morgan, as Hardaway picked up two in the first six minutes of the game (leading him to miss the rest of the first half, ending it with 1 FG attempt and 0 points) and Smotrycz, who picked up a 4th about halfway through the second half. Michigan only had points from Burke, Morgan, Smotrycz, and The Gritty One in the first half. That's not good.

Of course, it also gives the conference a loss, but, you know, whatever. Sorry B1G. This doesn't kill Michigan's tournament chances or anything; UVA will at minimum be a bubble team, much like their in-state counterparts at Virginia Tech circa the entire Seth Greenberg era (seemingly). However, this could really hurt if Michigan is also a bubble team (which, I hope not, but it could definitely happen). They play solid defense and their offense is somewhat uninspiring but very B1G-like: tough defense; a big guy that manufactures some points of off grit-based rebounding, little post-moves, and the occasional mid-range shot, and your array of generic three-point bombers. You could say it was sort of a preview of what league play will be like, giving this one an added layer of disappointment.

The first half had a decidedly BIG TEN BASKETBALL feel to it: low scoring, tough defense, and offense that, if it was a person, would probably dress like somebody from Des Moines. Somewhere Bo Ryan was watching this game in a dark room going GOOD GOOD. Earlier I said that despite Burke's early season performance, UVA would be a solid test for him even after Maui. The Cavs got into Burke's face early and often. Evans was a quick little guy (who went to the same high school as Allen Iverson and therefore is subject to comparisons every time he crosses anybody over) and he disrupted Burke to a level that he had not been subjected to thus far this year. UVA mixed up it up occasionally, putting the bigger #22 on Burke. In any case, with Burke getting extreme pressure and Hardaway out most of the first half, you can understand why Michigan was pretty much unable to generate much going to the hoop. Thankfully, Novak hit a couple shots from outside, as he is wont to do.

The second half bumbled along at a similar pace until things started to pick up slightly; Michigan went up 5 at one point, but it was not to last. After having 1 shot in the first half, Hardaway took quite a while to get his second in the second half, and he ended the game with only five points. Michigan cannot really beat anybody of consequence if Hardaway produces so little in addition to not really getting to many good shots in the process.

Michigan hung in there for a while because the Cavs weren't exactly shooting the lights out either. Michigan actually shot a higher percentage from three and overall than UVA, but the game was lost on the boards and at the free throw line, where Michigan went 4/7 and the Cavs went 17/22. Likewise, Michigan got dominated on the boards 33 to 24: Harris, Scott, and Sene (off the bench) had no trouble going right over our undersized interior. As far as Michigan has come as a program, it's still painfully obvious that we lack athleticism or enough bodies, period, down low. Come on down Mr. McGary.

Some scattered thoughts in bullet form:

• Hardaway--Probably one of the most frustrating games of his career. Foul trouble killed him in this one, and he never really got involved. He's obviously best when attacking the basket and going mid-range as opposed to outside the arc, but it was tough sledding with the way UVA was playing D. In short...a good learning experience on the road against a solid, well-coached team. 
• Burke--Despite the start to the season (including a very impressive stint in Maui), the Burke hype train somewhat came down to earth. He had trouble making anything happen due to the pressure, which led to a lot of dribbling and a lot of late shot clock clunkers. He's definitely better than freshman Morris but for the people on the Internets saying he's already better than last year's Morris...let's just hold off that one for a second. It's hard to imagine last year's Morris not having success against a slot ninja-sized (okay, not quite) guy like Evans. 
• Novak--A true hero, as usual. Making timely threes, taking charges, being awesome. Unfortunately, other than "being taller," there's only so much he can do. 
• Smotrycz--A work in progress. He made some things happen (he did chip in 10), including a nice take in the first half after being left uncovered on the perimeter. He countered that in the second half by traveling while trying to make a post move. I like what he brings to the table and I think he'll be pretty good eventually, but right now he's still trying to figure out what he can and can't do. 
• Douglass--Meh. Save for one three, limited impact in this one. 
• Morgan--A pair of buckets and a trip to the free throw line. He did make a nice play on his second basket, sort of play-actioning his way away from the hand-off to Burke and shooting through the lane for a wide open dunk. 
• Horford--Still just kind of a guy. He did attempt one little baby hook in the first half and it was all backboard and wide right like a Seminole field goal. It wasn't pretty but at least he has the green light to try these sorts of things; eventually he'll start making them.