This entry is a little overdue, but I guess late is better
than nothing. Over the past 2+ weeks the
Michigan basketball team has been busy. They
have moved from likely over-rated to an early Final Four favorite. I will exclude recapping the games before the
Wolverines got to New York over Thanksgiving for the preseason NIT. The Maize and Blue have discarded an
under-rated Pittsburgh team, Kansas State, NC State, and a MVC team on the
road. While there is room for
improvement, I cannot get over just how fun this team is to watch.
I would like to see Michigan improve their defensive intensity
as the conference schedule moves closer.
It looks to me that most of the players are average or above average defensive
individuals, but there seems to be some mental lapses at different points in
the game. A lot of these guys are still
very young, but they need to continue to learn that defense is the key to
winning another B1G championship. They cannot
just outscore everyone and expect to hang with the big boys. The biggest issue I am seeing is the mismatch
when Glen Robinson III is slotted in the 4 position. Defense in college is a much different animal
than in high school, and this challenge becomes even harder when you are put in
a position you are unfamiliar with and might be undersized. I have no doubts
that he will continue to improve with each game, and I am very excited to see
him matched up against Christian Watford or Brendan Dawson. The other area I have been a little
disappointed in is the help side defense.
Too many times I have seen the on ball defender be overly aggressive
with the understanding that he has help behind him if/when the ball handler
gets past him. The help defender has
been late in rotation on many different occasions. The problem with this is either the ball
handler can get into the lane for a high percentage shot, or it sucks the
defense towards the ball to allow for wide open 3 point attempts. Michigan is not the only team with good
shooters. Of course it helps when you have NBA talent big men, most teams in
college basketball will struggle against these teams.
Yes, this is the most talented team I have ever seen
assembled in Ann Arbor, but there are times when the offense becomes
stagnant. In these times they seem to
settle for long 3 point attempts as the shot clock winds down, and with each
bad shot the opponent gains confidence. If
Michigan would put together a solid 40 minutes of basketball there is one team
on their schedule that can compete, and it makes the Wolverines in the
conversation for a 1 seed. Beilein lets
his team play, which means he lets them get into trouble and try to find their
own way out of it. I cannot fault a
coach for trusting his players. These
offensive lulls need to be fixed before Michigan gets into the B1G schedule,
and at this point I have little doubts that they will be.
I have been really impressed with how well this team has
taken care of the ball this season.
While Michigan State has a lot of youth and are struggling to keep their
turnovers under 18, Michigan is averaging less than 10 a game. Trey Burke is front and center in this
discussion because he has the ball in his hands more than anyone else. I definitely think he made the right decision
in returning to school for one more year, and he is looking like the best point
guard in all of college basketball right now.
The balanced scoring might be this team’s greatest
strength. Last year the key to slowing
down Michigan was to lock up Trey Burke.
So far in this young season most teams are trying that same
technique. Burke has been held scoreless
in 2 first halves already. This season
the pressure is not on him to lead the team in scoring. Tim Hardaway is in All-American form at this
point in the year, GRIII is the definition of an efficient scorer, Jordan
Morgan demands attention down low, and Nik Stauskas is one of the purest
scorers I have ever seen at 18 years old.
Oh yea, I forgot to mention B1G All-Freshman Mitch McGary. This team is loaded folks. Even though
Beilein runs a slow tempo style offense, Michigan should be near the top of the
B1G in points scored per game.
I know we are only 7 games into this new season, but I can
only be impressed with the results so far.
Michigan has won these 7 games against a variety of opponents as
well. Pittsburgh is a big and physical
team that is at the top of the Big East in rebounding and defense every year.
Kansas State runs a post oriented offense, forcing the Wolverines to focus on
post defense. NC State is likely the
most athletic team Michigan will face this season, outside of Indiana, and they
play a very high tempo style. It is giving me confidence that the Wolverines
can be successful against any style an opponent wants to play.
Looking forward, Michigan plays an over-achieving Western
Michigan tonight and then a disappointing Arkansas team on Saturday. I will be looking for a complete outing on
both ends of the floor to give the Wolverines their first blowout win since
before New York. Then on Saturday, Trey
Burke and company will be looking for revenge against the Razorbacks. It will definitely be an exciting week where
the big blue cagers hopefully stay undefeated.
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