Penn State Recap

Michigan made their way back to the friendly confines of the Crisler Center yesterday for the dedication weekend.  Many of the past greats converged on Ann Arbor to take in the new facilities and the new look basketball team.  Unfortunately, one of the only welcome sites was the throwback uniforms.  The Wolverines hosted B1G-worst Penn State, and needed most of the 40 minutes to secure the victory.  It was obvious from the beginning that Michigan was still tired and struggled matching the energy level of the outmatched Nittany Lions.  On a positive note, a close win still counts the same as a 30 point drubbing.

The most discouraging aspect of the basketball game was the defensive rotation from Michigan.  Playing good defense usually consists of playing smart, understanding your role in the team’s strategy, and having a desire to defend.  Currently, I am not seeing any of those three executed by the Wolverines.  The freshmen continue to be isolated by the opponent, and they have yet to show any ability to force teams to change that strategy.  Trey Burke has even been a repeat offender in the last week.  While he has upped his on ball aggressiveness throughout the season, he is also getting beat by the ball handler more often.  This allows the point guard to get into the lane at will, where the rate of success dramatically improves.  Remember one of the keys for Michigan on offense? They are nearly indefensible if Trey gets into the lane where he has the option to shoot a mid-range jumper, take the ball all the way to the hoop, pass down to a rolling big man, hit a cutting GRIII, or kick out to Hardaway and Stauskas.  The past two games, Appling, Valentine, Marshall, and Newbill have been able to get into the lane mostly at will.  For a team that already struggles at rotations, this is usually the death blow.  In the Michigan State game it was mostly Appling just putting the ball on the hoop where the, now, out of position Michigan post player couldn’t box out Payne or Nix; resulting in 14 offensive rebounds. In the Penn State game it was dishing to a wide open center, Borovnjak, who was made to look like an All-B1G player by finishing with 17 points on 7-9 shooting.  While the added pressure on top has resulted in a few more forced turnovers on the year, Burke needs to choose his spots better to help the rest of the team stay out of lose-lose situations.  Michigan’s defense has never been confused with Wisconsin’s this season, but they were doing a very good job of defending the 2 point shot and then rebounding a high rate of those misses.  Before the Indiana game, the Wolverines were 3^rd in the conference at 2 point defense, but now they have fallen to dead last.  That is a pretty rapid fall from a considered strength.  The one consistency in all 5 of those games is that Morgan has not been 100%, but I personally don’t think that is the only reason for the slip.  Hopefully this week off not only brings the starting center back completely, but also gives the team time for rest and time to focus on defensive fundamentals.  If Michigan can get back to holding opponents around 40% 2 point shooting and rebounding those misses at a 70% rate or better, the Wolverines are the most dangerous team in the country.  That seems like a big if right now.  For reference, Michigan State shot 23-32 from inside the arc (72%) and one of the worst offenses in the conference (PSU) shot 49%.

Offensively, Michigan got back to their efficient ways of 1.19 ppp.  Before the game I was actually expecting this number to be closer to 1.25 or higher.  The Wolverine offense was really helped by shooting 35 free throws, more than they had combined in the 4 prior games.  The Penn State guards got into early foul trouble, which allowed Trey to do whatever he wanted with the ball in his hands.  He drove to lane effortlessly; hit open 3 point attempts, and found Stauskas and Robinson for easy looks.  Burke finished with 29 points.  The 2 starting freshmen also got back on track a little bit with Nik going for 18 even though he struggled with his deep shot and Glenn finished with 21 on back cuts and running in transition.  In case you are counting, that is 68 points from 3 guys.  Michigan scored 79 as a team.  Stauskas was effective in attacking the hoop and drawing fouls, and Glenn showed again some of his NBA potential by finishing 6-6 with 5 dunks and one put back layup.  Penn State could not take away the Michigan transition game that has been stagnant for much of the past two weeks, and when Trey Burke is leading breaks good things happen.  While the alley-oops and high flying dunks are spectacular, I still want to see Robinson use that athleticism against someone bigger and stronger (Watford, Payne, Thomas, etc).  I was impressed with the energy level from Robinson because the only way he gets alley-oop attempts is to beat his man down the floor, but I was most impressed with his effort in the rebounding game.  It has been noted everywhere how Indiana, Ohio State, and Michigan State were able to shut down Glenn from scoring, but I think those teams being able to take away his rebounding gave them a bigger advantage.  Even when GRIII is not scoring the basketball, his athletic ability should be cleaning up defensive rebounds and attacking the offensive glass. 

Thankfully, for both fans and players, Michigan has a week off before taking on a rising Illinois team.  Getting healthy and back to basics will be the key to this week.  I have been looking forward to seeing how the Wolverines respond this Sunday since the Indiana game.  It might be time to lower expectations further if Morgan is 100% and the defensive intensity is still lacking against Illinois.