Michigan-Western Michigan: It's Good To Be The King

#3 Michigan (8-0) 73, Western Michigan 41 (6-2)

As a freshman in 2007, I went to every single home game during what was John Beilein's first season in Ann Arbor. Michigan went 10-22 that year, including a December loss against Central Michigan at home. That CMU team finished the 2007-08 season with a 14-17 record. It was one of many stultifying losses in a season marked by transition, not unlike the 3-9 2008 football season. 

Fast forward through four entire seasons, and here we are. You might as well be Philip J. Fry, emerging from millennium of cryogenic sleep to find himself in the brave new world that is the 31st century. 

This isn't the Michigan basketball of yesteryear, when turning it over 23 teams against a mediocre Michigan directional school was met with nothing more than resignation. 

Even as Michigan struggled through most of the first half, they held an 8-point lead about 14 minutes into the game. Even when Michigan was sloppy with the ball or when the shots didn't fall, there was never a sense that this MAC team existed in the same plane of competence as Michigan, as was the case with CMU back in 2007. 

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With THJ shooting just 2-for-7 from the field and Nik Stauskas failing to connect from beyond the arc through over 15 minutes of first half play, Michigan looked to its trusty point guard to navigate it through the mildly choppy waters of the early stages. Burke was on in the first half this time around, unlike the past couple games when Michigan only needed him to facilitate the offense; Burke was 4-for-5 with 10 points and two steals through 16 minutes of play, powering Michigan to a 27-15 lead late in the half. 

After some sloppy play bogged Michigan down early on, the Wolverines settled down and continued to feast on Western's own carelessness throughout most of the half. The Broncos accrued 12 turnovers by the 3:56 mark, five of them Michigan steals (a pair from Burke and Morgan each and one from Stauskas). 

Michigan bled the shot clock on its next possession. Burke meandered around on the right side, and with only three seconds left on the shot clock, tossed it to newly minted contributor Caris LeVert at the top of the key. He rose, fired, and sank a trey to put Michigan up 15. 

On its next possession, Stauskas finally hit his first three of the game to put Michigan up 16. It probably says something that I'm using the word "finally" to describe a sequence during which a freshman hits a three in the first half of a game. 

For Michigan's next trick, THJ penetrated in the lane and found an open Mitch McGary at the basket for an open layup. 

I defy you to find a sequence of possessions such as the aforementioned trio in the entire body of work that was the 2007-08 season. I'm willing to guess that Michigan was not able to pull off an unbroken stretch of cold-blooded competence very many times way back then, against a Michigan directional school or not. 

Despite a relatively forgettable first half, Trey Burke and defense carried Michigan to a 35-21 halftime lead. 

Halftime Stats

--Michigan (1.04 PPP) 

--WMU (0.66 PPP)

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By the 7-minute mark of the second half, Michigan had built up a 27-point lead, 61-34. The Broncos were shooting 31.6% from the field at this point, with Darius Paul the only double-digit scorer (and even he was just 3-for-11 from the field). 

Unlike the Bradley game, there was no hanging around for Michigan's overmatched opponent. It was a masterful half in which Michigan completely suffocated a WMU offense that was already pretty bad in the first half, and the offensive end was a 20-minute Michigan bicep flex. 

Up 70-36 late, Michigan was able to roll out a lineup of Vogrich-Albrecht-LeVert-McLimans-Horford for the home stretch (Corey Person and Eso Akunne came in at around the 2-minute mark).

Michigan blew up the 22-point spread in what ended up being a smashing 32-point victory. In case you just roused yourself from a 5-year nap, no, it is decidedly not 2007. In a vacuum, a win like this is as memorable as a random face on the subway. But, with the memory of 2007 in mind, wins like these are prominent points of divergence, counterpoints to a once fundamental incompetence. 

It is a brave new world indeed.

Michigan-N.C. State: Showtime

"WE ON!"

#3 Michigan 79 (6-0), #18 N.C. State 72 (4-2)

The Wolverines took the Crisler Center floor in the big game maize jerseys for an intriguing early season contest against N.C. State for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Play early on was a bit sloppy, with each team committing a pair of turnovers within the first three minutes of play. 

The Wolfpack jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, but Nik Stauskas executed a masterful move to the basket, going behind the back and flying through the lane to lay it up on the left side while going right. 

On consecutive possession, THJ found the soft spot in the middle of the zone and calmly knocked in a free throw line extended jumper, and then, off of a block, Burke found THJ in the corner in transition. Again, THJ hit with a nonchalance that belied his 2011-12 shooting woes. 

At the 13:30 mark, the Wolverines were up 14-10, with THJ having already racked up nine points on 4-6 shooting. Shortly after, Nik Stauskas knocked in a trey, again with the 'Pack in the zone. Naturally, they went man on their next possession, where Michigan picked up an offensive board after a missed THJ three but eventually turned it over, again leading to a breakaway dunk for NCSU. 

With 23 points halfway through the first half, Michigan was well on its way to a prolific night on the offensive end against a shaky 'Pack defense. The zone was very clearly not working for them early on, as Dakich's constant admonitions of "you can't zone a Beilen team" echoed. Even worse for the 'Pack, C.J. Leslie picked up a pair of fouls, forcing him to sit at the nine minute mark. 

A beautiful pick and roll between Burke and McGary led to a McGary thunderdunk and a Gottfried timeout. Out of the timeout, Michigan went to the super secret weapon that is the 1-3-1; after knocking it out of bounds, however, they reverted to man after the inbounds. 

Yet another Stauskas trey put Michigan up 30-16. Mercifully, a tv timeout allowed N.C. State to gather itself again. Michigan racked up a 14-point lead with 7:54 to go in the half; with Trey Burke shooting 0-1 from the field and scoring zero points. It is a brave new world, indeed. 

With Eso Akunne taking a couple questionable shots, the 'Pack rattled off a 7-0 run, sticking with the zone on D, as Michigan started to cool off a bit from its previously torrid shooting pace. Luckily for Michigan, Howell had to go to the bench after picking up two quick ones, an unfortunate series of events for Gottfried, as Howell had basically single-handedly brought the 'Pack back during the aforementioned run. 

The 'Pack brought it down to five, but another Stauskas three stemmed the tide. I have to echo Rod Beard here: might need to just CTL+V that sentence for the next four years. 

A lapse in transition D brought Michigan's once sizable lead back to 5, at 41-36. The 'Pack continued to zone away out of necessity (foul trouble), and Michigan started to settle for low-percentage outside shots after eviscerating the middle of the zone earlier in the half.With the final offensive set of the half, Michigan pick and rolled up top and Burke penetrated all the way to the basket before a slick wrap around pass to GRIII for a layup. Michigan entered the intermission up 43-36, a solid performance but slightly unsatisfying after the aforementioned State foul trouble and a once 14-point lead.

Halftime Stats

Michigan: 

Team PPP (points per possession): 1.33

• Stauskas: 4-5 (3-4 from 3), 13 points
• THJ: 5-10, 11 points, 1 block
• Burke: 0-2, 0 points (!), 9 assists (!)

N.C. State: 

Team PPP: 1.16

• Warren: 3-4, 8 points
• Howell: 4-4, 8 points
• Wood: 2-4 from 3, 8 points

Michigan-Kansas State: Overnight Metamorphosis

Michigan 71 (5-0), Kansas State 57 (5-1)

With most people thinking about tomorrow's tilt in Columbus, the basketball team was busy flexing its newfound muscle and depth against a second straight opponent with a pulse. Michigan jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first five minutes of play, a lead that it never relinquished. As I sat in Madison Square Garden, a palpable sense of evolution filled the arena, of challenger becoming the challenged. 

As expected, Kansas State just didn't have the same depth, athleticism and overall basketball ability as Michigan. There's not much use in going through the game itself; Michigan was better, and it was obvious from the very beginning.

What is worthy of discussion is how different of a team Michigan has looked thus far from past Beilein teams. Watching Michigan trudge through a relatively mediocre performance en route to a win on Wednesday and then watching them dismantle what is probably at least an okay team tonight makes it fairly obvious that this is just a different entity we're dealing with here. 

This isn't any of Beilein's previous Michigan tourney teams, for which Michigan's hopes on a given night were always tenuously balanced on the shooting strokes of Stu Douglass, Zack Novak, Tim Hardaway Jr. etc. Michigan would run out onto the floor and attempt to balance expensive china on top of a stick sitting on the tips of their noses, every night for 40 minutes. Not a one of them could slip, not one of them could drop a single plate, or Michigan was sunk. Sometimes they managed to succeed, like the game in East Lansing on Jan. 27, 2011.. The game ended and we all marveled at the fake that not a single shard was to be found anywhere on the ground. 

Even when they won, even when Michigan entered the rankings --like last year going into Fayetteville at #19-- it always seemed structurally flawed, which is fine as long as the structure doesn't collapse, termites and all. Results will always rule the day, after all. 

It might be a little early to start making grand, sweeping statements about the state of Michigan basketball, but watching Michigan against Pitt and Kansas State this week was a legitimately new and exciting experience for me as a U-M basketball fan. I saw things that I had never seen before in a Wolverine basketball team, fundamental things that are common components in championship teams and/or contenders.

I saw a Michigan team that was not only unquestionably talented, but unquestionably deep, athletic, well-coached, experienced in spots, and so on. Think about how many of those factors were missing within the program since the Fab Five. Odds are, Michigan was missing at least one or two of those things in a given year. 

Now, Michigan is the king of the hill. 

Bullets: 

• Tim Hardaway Jr.: An unbelievable performance for THJ, the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. He went 10-15 from the field, expertly finding his way to good spots on the floor for him to pull the trigger when electing to take an outside shot. When he drove to the basket, he did so with a calculating and almost effortless precision. 23 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. As far as his injury goes, I was at the game, and he walked off on his own power after a minute or so of lying on the floor. He went into the locker room thereafter, reappearing after a short while to sit on the bench. You never know how these supposed head injuries will go, but it goes without saying that caution bordering on paranoia should be the order of the day here regarding a return to the floor. 

• Trey Burke: As difficult as it is to find negatives after a start like this, Burke has started slow during these two games at MSG. Maybe it's the MSG rims or something, but I'm not really all that worried. You want to know something that's kind of hilarious? Trey Burke, Michigan's best player, didn't take a single shot in the first half, and Michigan was still up 5 going into the break. It wasn't even really a "close" five, Michigan was clearly better. Burke had a nice second half, going 5-10 for 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a block. 

• Glenn Robinson III: Not a great day from the field (3-11, 9 points) but he was active elsewhere (12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block). Watching him out-athlete the Big Ten is going to be fun. 

• Nik Stauskas: Cold-blooded swag. Shot 3-6 from the field for 10 points (2-3 from beyond the arc). He is the kind of shooter for whom every 3-point shot looks good as soon as it leaves his hands. It appears that Beilein has finally found his huckleberry re: an elite shooter. 

• Jordan Morgan: Jordan "Bad Foul" Morgan reared his head. Morgan only had a chance to play six minutes, acquiring exactly 0.0 points and 2 boards. On the bright side, Michigan is no longer dead when Morgan decides to engage in some pointless tick-tackery 35 feet away from the basket. Depth is nice. 

• Matt Vogrich: Still a nominal starter because his defense is better than Stauskas'. Really wish he'd shoot like he did earlier in his career, although that's more of a general wish and not necessarily tied to his performance in this one. He went 1-3 from the field, with all three of his shots, oddly, being of the 2-point variety. 

• Spike Albrecht. Speaking of depth, it appears that Spike is a viable backup point guard. He even offered up a nifty trey on his singular attempt from the field. He played 12 solid minutes in which he didn't turn it over or do anything egregious. This is exactly what we needed last season, but alas, Michigan kind of needed Burke to pull a Martin/RVB circa 2012 Sugar Bowl, basically all season. Also, I hope I'm not the only one that thinks of Spike, the dog from Rugrats, whenever Spike's name is mentioned. No? Okay then. (This is what I get for growing up in the '90s.)

• Mitch "Crunk" McGary. Seriously, Mitch gets pretty jacked up. It's fun, but I kind of get the feeling that he's the type of guy that gets pumped up about literally anything. "Didn't nick myself shaving this morning? WOOOOOO YEAHHHHH." However, I am certainly not complaining, and I stick by my Jordan Morgan 2.0 comparison. He had six points on 2-4 shooting, 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 block. 

• Jon Horford: Can't remember where I saw this, but someone noted that Horford might have the best post move of any front courter...I have to agree. Horford was 3-5 from the field (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists). Some shaky moments at times on the defensive end, but I'm sure he's still recovering to a certain extent, and maybe the fitness level is not quite there. He likely won't ever be like his brother Al on the offensive end, but he has the ability to be a much better defensive player with the ability to pitch in a post move or two a game, in addition to whatever garbage points he can vacuum up. 

• Max Biefeldt: Is kind of just a rotational body at this point, but he might be a useful player in Big Ten play. Somehow had the ball just ripped out of his hands on the perimeter, which isn't good. Otherwise, he didn't attempt a shot in seven minutes (but did tally one block). 

Michigan-Kansas State Preview: So We Meet Again

Michigan (4-0) vs. Kansas State (5-0)

Time: 4:30 ET

Place: Madison Square Garden--New York, NY

Line: Michigan -4

Exposition 

Michigan enters the championship game of the NIT Season Tipoff at 4-0 after grinding out an ugly but encouraging 5-point win against Pittsburgh. If you care about meaningless preseason tournaments, Michigan can win one with a victory in the World's Most Famous Arena today against 5-0 Kansas State, now led by Bruce Weber. 

When Michigan went down by seven early in the second half, it wasn't hard to revert to the default state of Michigan fan pessimism. It was easy to wonder if maybe all this preseason hype was unwarranted, and that maybe we are underestimating the loss of valuable players like Stu Douglass and Zack Novak, just as we did in 2009 with David Merritt and C.J. Lee. 

Well, those fears were squashed via flourishes of freshman brilliance, with Trey Burke having somewhat of an off night. Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III took turns hitting bit shots, while Tim Hardaway Jr. caught fire down the stretch; he went 1-7 from three, the one make came with six minutes to go to put Michigan up by four. 

Once again, Michigan comes in with the proverbial bullseye on its back. I typically hate these sorts of sports clichés, but I think Michigan will find that as long as they have that top-five ranking next to their name, teams will give them their best shot. Translation: SPORTZ! Clearly the turkey stupor has lingered into today.

The Opponent

Kansas State enters this one at 5-0, with mostly no contest victories against North Dakota, Lamar, Alabama-Huntsville and North Florida before eeking out a 3-point win against Delaware in MSG on Wednesday. So, a pretty standard early season slate, which we will unfortunately need to extrapolate wildly from in order to say things about this game.

Based on the numbers alone, it would appear that KSU doesn't exactly have a star player; however they do get some balanced scoring. 5'11'' G Angel Rodriguez leads the way for KSU with 11.2 ppg and a team high 4.6 apg. 

Next up is 6'4'' G Rodney McGruder, who leads the team in field goal attempts with 54. McGruder is averaging 10 ppg. Luckily for Michigan, Rodriguez and McGruder haven't exactly been all that efficient thus far; in a combined 100 attempts, the two Wildcats have shot 39% from the field (and a terrible 28% from beyond the arc). 

Rounding out the top five are 6'2'' G Will Spradling (9.8 ppg), 6'7'' F Thomas Gipson (9.2 ppg) and 6'6'' G Shane Southwell (7.4 ppg). Of note, Spradling and Southwell are the top 3-point gunners for the Wildcats. Spradling has shot 9-20 (45%) from 3 thus far and Southwell is 7-10 (70%).

This will be an entirely different test, personnel-wise, than Pitt presented. Kansas State's starting five from the Delaware game in MSG Wednesday ran as such: 5'11'' Rodriguez, 6'6'' Southwell, 6'5'' Nino Williams, 6'1'' G Martavious Irving and 6'3'' G Omari Lawrence.

After giving up some second chance opportunities on Wednesday night, Michigan for the most part dominated the glass against a formidable Pitt front court. Needless to say, it would be somewhat of a disappointment if Michigan didn't dominate the glass against an undersized KSU lineup.  

The Gameplan

Despite being coached by former Illini coach Bruce Weber, Kansas State actually has a 34th-best in the nation assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.34. If you watched Illinois attempt to run offense last year, this is somewhat of a surprise. Despite having Brandon Paul and lottery pick Meyers Leonard, the Illini offense looked downright incompetent, and basically required historic performances from Paul to beat anyone of worth in the Big Ten. 

Is this is a product of the competition? Probably. To be honest, if Michigan can't force the same "dribble around the perimeter for 30 seconds then jack up a long two or a three" that became an Illini staple like the throwback screen in Al Borges' offense, I'd be a little disappointed in Michigan's team defense. 

Whereas the Panthers where slightly slower than an already fairly slow Michigan team, the Wildcats are a bit faster; they're averaging 69.2 possessions per game (to Michigan's 66.0). This should be another battle waged mostly in the half court, with occasional bursts of transition ball. That's the sweet spot for this Michigan team.

Really, Michigan won't need to do anything special to win this one. The Wolverines won on Wednesday despite: a) shooting 3-17 from beyond the arc, which would have seemed like an inconceivable outcome for a Beilein team as recently as last season and b) Burke shooting 5-16 from the field. I don't see either of those things happening again. 

 

Miscellaneous Stats

• Prolific pilferers. KSU is tied for 67th in steal percentage at 13.0%. 

• Offensive rebounding. Despite the general lack of the size in the KSU starting lineup, three reserves --Jordan Henriquez, Adrian Diaz and D.J. Johnson-- are all in the top 13 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage. Six foot ten inch freshman Adrian Diaz is right behind Mitch McGary, who is #2 nationally at 25.8%. 

• Block party. Again, KSU's bench is far bigger than its starting lineup; the aforementioned Henriquez, a 6'11'' senior, is 41st nationally in block percentage at 11.9%.

Ending Thoughts, Predictions, Etc. 

Simply put, I don't see enough top end scoring on KSU's part to keep up with Michigan, who should presumably bounce back after a poor effort from the field Wednesday night. Not only that, one wouldn't exactly be crazy to be skeptical of Bruce Weber's chops when it comes to coaching up a functional offense. 

Michigan simply has a more talented, better coached team than KSU does. This one probably goes a little smoother than Wednesday's game. 

Score: Michigan 72, Kansas State 61.

Michigan-Pittsburgh: We Kind Of On

Michigan 67 (4-0), Pittsburgh 62 (4-1)

Combine Michigan's first legitimate opponent of the season with the venue that is Madison Square Garden and you've got a game that produces a vicious cocktail of excitement and apprehension.

Pitt started the game with a long possession that resulted in a long 2 for Lamar Patterson reeling in an offensive board. Michigan's offense wasn't clicking early, with a missed three from THJ and a wild 2 from Burke. However, Burke converted on a nice pullup in transition after shaking James Robinson out of his shoes about halfway between the 3-point line and halfcourt.

 As Dakich's complaining demonstrated, the play earlier was a bit choppy due to some ticky tack foul calls. Through four minutes of play, Michigan was down 4-2, shooting 1-5 from the field; the rims, as always, are unforgiving at MSG.

After another offensive board, this time from Talib Zanna, Patterson knocked one in from 3-point land, putting the Panthers up 7-2. Needless to say, it wasn't an ideal start for Michigan, who looked fairly lifeless on the offensive end and less than tenacious on the defensive glass.

A corner trey from Stauskas gave Michigan some life. Glenn Robinson blocked a shot at the rim and Jordan Morgan took a charge on the following defensive possession. Pitt was able to get a couple easy buckets as the half went on, but things generally weren't easy when they were forced to execute their halfcourt offense.

After a Michigan steal, Mitch McGary took it about three quarters the length of the floor for a smooth finger roll, a brief flash of the potential we have with McGary as perhaps a Jordan Morgan 2.0 type player.

 It wasn't a smooth game on either end, as expected. Both teams started to heat up a bit from the outside as the half drew to a close. THJ pulled up for a nice jumper from just past the free throw line in the secondary break. After a rough start, Michigan was shooting 50% from the field with three minutes left in the half, although only 1-7 from 3.

Michigan went into the half down 29-33 after a mostly forgettable and extremely choppy 20 minutes of play. Most disconcerting was the fact that Trey Burke was 3-8 from the field and Michigan only had 3 total assists as a team.When Michigan scored, it wasn't via the natural flow of the offense; it either came off the bounce or in transition. Michigan has NBA talent to be sure, but this isn't the NBA we're playing in just yet. Going forward, Michigan will need to attempt to remain within the system more than it did in the first half of this game.

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Halftime Numbers
Michigan: 0.94 PPP
Pitt: 0.88 PPP

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Michigan went down 38-31 early in the half only to rally on the back of a pair of Stauskas jumpers and another from Burke. Michigan even switched things up a bit on defense, moving to the 1-3-1 for a brief stretch, which, if you'll read Michigan previews from national writers, is most definitely Michigan's base defensive set. Snark aside, the zone did seem to work (and Michigan actually went back to it at the 10 minute mark).

After shooting zero free throws in the first half, Pitt got the benefit of a couple block calls in quick succession on THJ. Speaking of Tim, his 3-point shooting came down in a big way. After coming into the game shooting an absurd 73% from 3, he shot 1-7 from downtown in this one. He did finish 6-13 from the field overall, however, good for 16 points, largely due to him attacking the basket. Like I said all of last season, SEARCH AND DESTROY, TIM.

All of Michigan's 38 second half points came from Burke, THJ, Robinson III and Stauskas. Just FYI, two of those guys are true freshmen, playing their fourth non-exhibition college game, in Madison Square Garden no less. I think we might have something there.

THJ hit a jumper to put Michigan up 55-50 with 3:30 to go. The Panthers didn't score again until there was only 1:15 left to go in the game.

There were a couple shaky moments at the end --including a Pitt foul on a steal attempt that didn't look like a foul at all, with Michigan only up 3-- but Michigan hit their free throws and came away with a solid, if somewhat ugly, win in MSG.

I'll have more comprehensive recaps than this one up in the future, with player bullets and whatnot (this one is admittedly rushed for various reasons). I will be at MSG for Friday's championship game against Kansas State, so it will be fun to watch a Bruce Weber team try to "run offense" in person.

On a serious note, Michigan pulled out a solid, grit-astic win against a very B1G-esque team, which bodes well for the conference schedule. Michigan's freshmen looked good and not at all overwhelmed (for the most part), and despite Trey Burke's struggles from the field, Michigan was able to gut it out to remain undefeated.

Also, like the Michigan fans at MSG, I would like to remind everybody that we are playing some team on Saturday, and hey let's beat them.

/#BEATOHIO chant at a basketball game against Pitt