Northwestern Recap

Last night was Michigan’s first game of the season to play a repeat opponent as Northwestern came to Ann Arbor.  If you don’t remember the first meeting in the beginning of January, it was the Big Ten opener for both teams and the Wolverines came away with a 28 point victory.  Northwestern tried to run with Michigan and it became clear there are only a handful of teams that could even dream of being successful playing an up-tempo game against the maize and blue.  So it seemed obvious that Bill Carmody would want to slow down the pace of the contest in the second matchup.  It was the only part of the Wildcat’s game plan that worked; Northwestern did manage to limit the possessions.  It actually was the slowest tempo game of the season.  Michigan didn’t mind the change of pace, though, as they cruised to a 1.31 ppp game and another 20 point conference victory. 

Northwestern has to be ecstatic that the Wolverines are off their schedule now since the nation’s number one team has a combined 1.345 ppp in the two games against the Wildcats.  What is even more impressive is that Michigan has an efficiency margin of .415 ppp in these contests.  In case you were wondering, Michigan has been around a .25 ppp efficiency margin for the season so far.  It has to be frustrating to be a Northwestern fan because I thought the Wildcats played a great first half considering their opponent, but Michigan played a near perfect 20 minutes.  In the first frame, the Wolverines did not turn the ball over once and had a questionable loose ball foul in the last 2 minutes.  At one point the Wolverines were shooting 10-11 from the field, and finished the half over 60%.  I thought it was the best ball movement for an extended period of time that Michigan has shown this entire season.  Trey Burke had 10 points in the first 11 minutes, but still passed up multiple decent shot attempts to find a player with a better opportunity.  The biggest benefactor of this was Nik Stauskas, as Burke found him 3 times for wide open long distance attempts.  Tim Hardaway passed up a good look from the top of the key to find a rolling McGary for a layup.  GRIII also passed up a long two for an open shot from Hardaway.  It was a 20 minute clinic of basketball, but the scary thing is that the Wolverines weren’t even operating at full capability.  John Beilein is still introducing new aspects of the offense as the season goes on. The past two games Michigan has actually ran a few plays for the center position to create his own shot. 

Of course I was impressed with the offensive production in the first half and the last 9 minutes of the second.  Trey Burke is showing people why he should be the favorite for the player of the year awards, and each game the stat line looks a little different.  Burke, Hardaway, and Stauskas are all threats to score 18 or more in a game.  Robinson is still the fourth offensive option but can quietly score 15 or more.  Also, lately the center position is becoming yet another offensive weapon.  Horford and McGary combined for 16 points and 18 rebounds, and that is without the starter. 

Northwestern did not shoot the ball that well.  I think a lot of that had to do with their strategy to take the air out of the ball; most possessions the Wildcats did not start their offense until 10 seconds were left on the shot clock.  Michigan did a good job of closing out on shooters though, but Northwestern is a very limited offensive team.  The Wolverine defenders did not really have to worry about dribble penetration from anybody by Reggie Hearn.  For stretches of the game it seemed like Michigan really locked down on the defensive end, especially in the second half to put the game out of reach.  Still, it was a very good tune up game before the clash with Indiana on Saturday night.