Happy New Year faithful readers, I hope the holiday season
treated you well. I took a much needed break from work and an unintentional
break from blogging. Now that the bowls
are over for the B1G, it is time to fully shift the focus to the nation’s best
basketball conference. Michigan opened
its championship defense last night in Evanston against the depleted
Northwestern Wildcats, and they came away with a lopsided 94-66 victory.
I have to be honest, before the game started I thought the
Wolverines would come away with a 12-15 point win in a game where the outcome
was never much in question. Michigan is at
the top of the food chain in the NCAA basketball food pyramid this season, but
sometimes they like to just play with their food and give them hope for life a
little too long. This wasn’t the case
last night as the outcome was decided before the first media timeout. The Wolverines came out with the most
intensity that I have seen this year, and also it helped that they didn’t miss
for most of the half. Northwestern has absolutely no answer for Trey Burke, who
has been able to score at will against all 14 opponents so far this year. After
Bill Carmody changed the defensive focus to all eyes on number 3, Burke showed
the 2nd facet of being the best point guard in the country, his
passing skills. The sophomore then got the rest of the Michigan rotation
involved. By the end of the game, every
starter was in double figures and Michigan finished off their most dominant road
victory in recent memory.
I was very impressed with the offensive efficiency,
again. While this Wolverine team might
not score as much as Indiana, they are clearly more efficient at this point in
the season. Last night, Michigan scored
1.33 points per possession which is unheard of.
The scary thing is that it was only the 2nd best outing of
the season. It is really fun to watch
this year’s team because there are so many more options besides Trey Burke. Sure,
Burke is the key to everything, but if you focus all of your attention on
number 3 he will find 2 guaranteed NBA players, the best jump shooter in the
country, and one of the best centers in the Big Ten. Oh I forgot, that is just the starting rotation.
The defense definitely looked better in the first 10 minutes
of the ball game, and having Tim Hardaway back definitely helps. Once the game was in the bag, the defensive
effort became a little lazy. It will be
very interesting to see this Michigan team play an opponent that forces a full
40 minutes of effort on both ends. The
Wolverines are one of the most athletic teams in the country, so there is no reason
why they shouldn’t be able to put the clamps down on defense.
Michigan welcomes Iowa to Crisler for the first home
conference game of the season. The
Hawkeyes are fresh off a disappointing loss to Indiana at home. Just seeing the box score you might think
Iowa should have had a moral victory, but watching the game told a different
story. Iowa let a great opportunity for
a huge win slip through their fingers, and for a team that will be on the
bubble for most of the season Monday’s loss will be disappointing. The schedule doesn’t get any easier to get
their first conference win of the season.
Iowa is still a program in process. Many compare them to a John Beilein Michigan team
from season’s past. They run a unique,
complex offensive system and have under-rated scrappy players with chips on
their shoulders. The Hawkeyes can be a dangerous team. Iowa plays at a quick pace and likes to put
pressure on their opponent’s transition defense. They are led by Detroit native, Roy
Devin-Marble, and he is coming off one of his worst games in an Iowa
uniform. The high tempo offense works
extremely well if you are working with superior athletes, but in the Hawkeye’s
case it can lead to many unforced turnovers.
A problem that could be deadly against the efficient Wolverines. One way
Iowa counteracts those problems is at the 3 point line. If the Hawkeyes get into a rhythm they can
make 12+ shots from long range. The
defensive side of the ball is still lagging behind the offense though. Iowa is one of the worst fundamentally sound
defenses in the conference, which usually will spell disaster on the road. The Hawkeyes want to force turnovers to start
the fast break, but the aggressive style has a tendency to lead to over-pursuit,
fouls, and offensive rebounds.
It will be important for Michigan to play better perimeter
defense to limit 3 point attempts, and outside of Marble the Hawkeyes struggle
at dribble penetration. I fully expect
the Wolverines to dominate the glass in this game as Indiana did against
Iowa. On the offensive end, Michigan
presents mismatches at nearly every position.
I would imagine that the Hawkeye’s strategy will be to force the ball
out of Burke’s hands. Look for Stauskas
to have a bounce back game, and for Robinson to be more assertive on
offense. On paper Michigan is the
considerable favorite, and it will be interesting to see how Iowa bounces back
on the road.
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