Michigan Wolverine Basketball Review
The Wolverines are three games into the Big Ten season and stand at 2-1 in the conference and 8-6 overall. All three games have been head-scratching events that defy conventional logic. This is nothing new to the 2009-2010, basketball team, this trend will likely continue until the very end. Hair restoration and stomach ailment products might be on tap for the cerebral and puzzled head coach of Michigan, John Beilein.
Michigan opened at Indiana and the game was close to a flat out physical and emotional disaster as the Wolverines were soundly beaten by an improving, but still young, squad of Hoosiers. Then, came the somewhat unexpected win in the game with Ohio State. The stars were aligned, with Evan Turner sidelined, and Michigan’s big two playing like a true big two after evaporating in Bloomington. The Buckeyes shut down their shooting late in the game and Michigan gained a valuable victory. Then came the game of two halves at Penn State.
Many Michigan fans may still not know that Michigan won the Penn State game, having viewed a monsterously horrible first half Wolverine performance and as a result changing the telly to the national championship game between Alabama and Texas.
It really was a game of two halves. Clearly, in the first half Michigan again painfully could not shoot from anywhere, actually going 0-12 from behind the three-point line and ending up with a glorious total of 16 points. The “here we go again” syndrome likely kicked in to the program followers watching the game. Compounding the shooting was poor transition defense, excessive turnovers, and a moderate production by the big two.
Then, the second half came and the lights came on as Michigan once again went to the opposite, good, end of the bipolar play the team has demonstrated and played like everyone had predicted months ago, that is very well.
Battle, the heart and soul of Penn State’s team, enjoyed a decent first half. But in the second half he was shut down by solid Wolverine defensive play, most notably Darius Morris and Manny Harris. Battle did not score in the second half, and that must be considered the biggest factor regarding the Wolverine comeback. Again DeShawn Sims looked like a guy who was tired of losing and took it upon himself to fulfill his part of the big two equation.
The shooting just about doubled in accuracy in the second half compared to the first half. This was a must for Michigan coming back from that great of a deficit. Leading the shooting awakening were Sims and Laval Lucas-Perry, the later hitting four critical three pointers, a contribution that demonstrated to Penn State that the Michigan comeback was serious and not just a fun little five minute run, whereupon the Wolverines would fall back asleep.
This is a nice victory for Michigan and a little dart to the heart to Penn State. Penn State is now 0-3 in the conference, meaning the Lions will need to roll big to escape the cement mixer of the bottom group of Big Ten teams fighting for the last NCAA spot. The Wolverines, now 8-6 overall, remain on the bad end of the thin thread as well. Soon back-to-back games against Connecticut and Michigan State might mean the pressure for a big win hits the season high point. So, the natural question is how will the team respond? The view here is that Michigan will respond well and play on the good end of the magnet. But will that be enough to pull off a big victory?
Coach Beilein must be frustrated by the light-switch approach this team has employed. Clearly he knows of the defensive letdowns, the lack of willingness to intelligently and physically rebound, and the shooting droughts that have plagued this team all season. Just as clearly, Coach B. has addressed the deficiencies, but observers can easily see that Coach is still hindered by a short bench and practically has no inside help for DeShawn Sims. Sims and Manny still show frustration that result in silly fouls and periods of no production.
But some things did go right and below is a list of positives:
• Sims has enjoyed two very nice games in a row
• The defensive help of the guards has improved
• The second half play has picked up (likely out of desperation).
There are concerns expressed below and previously that may snap the thread and lead to a sub-.500 season:
• Poor consistency
• Poor help-defense on the inside, in fact poor defense on the inside, period
• Unforced turnovers
• Mediocre (kind word) rebounding, especially giving up offensive rebounds (yes, it is possible for a team to rebound out of a zone)
• A very short bench (hopefully, one or two other guys get a shot and contribute)
• No third consistent contributor has emerged (the number three changes game by game)
• Shooting, shooting, and shooting.
The infamous silver lining is that for at least two of the three Big Ten games the Wolverines have come alive from the coma play brought about by poor shooting. The rebounding will likely never get cleared up unless there is a time and place where the rebounds just come by way of desire and willpower.
Next up is Northwestern and an opportunity for knowledgeable fans from previous times to witness what can be called “retro basketball,” that is, intelligent and scheme oriented basketball that does not merely throw out high level talent on the floor and simply decides the outcome by whose players play best that night. The Beilein/Carmody match-up is a rare throwback to former intelligentsia like Henry Iba, Don Donaher, and Fred Taylor.
The Wildcats have six contributors, about the same as Michigan, and look for a game that will likely settle out in the low 60-point range. Northwestern will run a high post, backdoor cut (scissor and baseline cuts) offense that used to be the standard in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Just as the “new” football spreads and wildcat formations are reborn versions of the single wing, the high-post center basketball offense has morphed into versions of the so-called Princeton offense. Sunday two versions will be on display at the same time, one more traditional (Northwestern) than the other.
Since this game involves two teams that will be in the bottom of the Big Ten cement mixer, fiercely competing for that coveted 6th or 7th tournament spot, the competition should be high-level. And those who enjoy system basketball should watch, regardless of the overall athletic talent on the floor. With the mystery that Michigan has been, the only prediction is to expect anything. But before watching the game, readers may wish to briefly read about Henry Iba, the father of modern basketball offense.
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Written by Doc4blu
Go Blue -- Wear Maize!
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