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Calvin and I made the trip up to Bay City to check out Mount Pleasant versus Flint Northwestern in the state regional semifinals. The game was an interesting match-up as it pitted Northwestern’s athletic and scrappy team versus Mount Pleasant’s more methodical squad. Northwestern appeared to be more talented as a team but Trey Zeigler was easily the most talented player on the floor.

Zeigler finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds as Mt. Pleasant came away with a 57-49 win.

The 6-foot-5 185 pounds that he is listed at seemed very fair. He was the tallest player on the court and certainly used his size to his advantage. He consistently showed the ability to post up smaller guards. Once he got the ball in the post he was a very capable finisher inside.

Zeigler has a very good handle and consistently used it to get into the lane. He looked for his teammates often as well and made some very nice passes, I had him down for 3 assists but there were a couple others that just weren’t finished. He also had a couple turnovers but they were usually trying to make a pass that wasn’t there.

Zeigler actually played point guard for long stretches of the game and he is most effective when he can get in the lane. Once he gets there, he is capable of taking it all the way to the bucket but he also has a nice midrange game, something that we often reference as missing from this year’s Michigan team. He finished a number of ways in the lane: he used the backboard, went to a floater, and took it all the way.

One of the things that stands out when you watch Zeigler is that he plays very under control. His athleticism allows him to look like he’s almost just gliding by people and he doesn’t look like he is exerting much energy.

No scouting report is complete without the negatives. First off, his jump shot needs a bit of work. There’s a bit of a hitch in his shot and it just looks a little bit unnatural. There isn’t a lot of rotation on his jumpshot and it tends to be a little too flat. He wasn’t hitting the jumper but he didn’t really need to take many jumpers with his ability to get in the lane.

Most importantly, he needs to practice his free throws. Trey finished 2-for-13 at the line. It became so bad that Northwestern implemented a “Hack-a-Trey” strategy late in the game and it almost allowed them to come back. Free throws are obviously a huge mental issue but he also has unique free throw form. He doesn’t take any dribbles before he shoots (he just tosses the ball up to himself) and this creates a stop-start motion that seems a little too quick to be consistent.

Overall there’s a lot to like about Zeigler’s game. He is a versatile player that has the ability to stuff the stat sheet. With his size and athleticism he is a very good rebounder but he can also score the ball in a number of ways. It wasn’t his best day shooting the ball but it isn’t fair to judge his shooting ability on just one performance. Zeigler’s ability to do a little bit of everything is the the real takeaway when you watch him play.

Next up for Mount Pleasant is a rematch with Arthur Hill (Weds., 7PM), a team that blew out the Oilers earlier this year. It will also be a battle of Mr. Basketball candidates as Zeigler takes on USC bound Maurice “Pookie” Jones. I’ve seen Zeigler, Jones, Appling, and McCallum play this year and if I had a vote for Mr. Basketball it would have to go to McCallum.

Signing day is a month away and judging by John Beilein’s recent travels, it’s clear that Michigan realizes the importance of finishing strong on the recruiting trail. After the Friday night loss, Beilein headed straight for Mount Pleasant, where he watched standout Trey Zeigler take on 2012 prospect Matt Costello. Beilein also managed to check out Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell in Indianapolis and Markus Crider in Dayton over the weekend.

Here are some important dates to remember over the next couple months. NBA early entry deadline: April 27th. NBA early entry withdrawal deadline: May 8th. NCAA signing day: April 14th.

Continue reading ‘Recruiting Roundup (3-15-10)’

Even though Michigan isn’t dancing this year, I setup a group over at Yahoo! and it’s open to the public so anyone is welcome to join in the fun. There’s no prize or anything but you can prove yourself as the most knowledgeable basketball fan around.

You can join the group here and the ID# is 77772.

Box score.

Michigan battled with Ohio State and continuously fought back despite being  behind by double digits for long stretches of the second half but in the end it wasn’t enough. Manny Harris single handily carried Michigan back into the game but it was all for not after Turner’s 40 foot running jumper as time expired.

Turner’s shot was tremendous and there’s a reason that he’s the best college basketball player in the country. Still, it was a running 40 footer from a 28% three point shooter. That’s not a high percentage shot from anyone.

First off, I don’t have a major problem with not defending the inbounder. If you are going to take a running shot like that, the inbounds pass isn’t all that critical. Guarding the inbounder comes into play if they are able to make a very long pass downcourt, Turner caught the ball at free throw line extended. It was a pass that could have been made even with Zack Gibson guarding Lighty.

What you do have to do is impede his progress at some point before half court. This didn’t happen because Buford set a great screen on Douglass. Once Turner is across half court, you simply can’t foul him so actually contesting the shot is tough to do. If you watch the replay, Douglass did have a bit of a hand in his face but not fouling has to be the #1 priority in that situation.

Still, Michigan needed to slow Turner down. I would have put one more player in the backcourt, especially with Buford back there as well, in an attempt to slow Turner down but I also realize that Beilein didn’t want to give up the long pass and a potential good two point look. 2.2 seconds is a time frame where you really have to think about throwing the ball further down the court. 4 or 5 seconds and you are more likely to see the kind of play that Ohio State ran because you can run the length of the court easier.

If Turner misses that shot, are people questioning whether Ohio State should have thrown the ball further down the court in attempt to a get a better look? It’s a thin line. At the end of the day, Turner made a hell of a shot and made it look ridiculously easy but not forcing Turner to work in the backcourt falls on Michigan’s defensive plan.

Back to the other 39 minutes and 57.8 seconds. There were a bunch of “here we go again” moments starting with Michigan’s collapse at the end of the first half which allowed Ohio State to close the half on a 25-6 run. Michigan consistently cut the lead to 5 or 6 points ago but Ohio State typically answered, pushing the lead back to ten. But for one of the first time this year, Michigan managed to play through their mistakes.

Then Manny Harris took over. Harris had 22 of his 26 points in the second half and scored in just about every way possible. He got to the free throw line, he took the ball to the rack, scored in transition, hit three point shots, and even scored in the midrange. Harris had some definitely low points this year but this was one of the high notes.  It was a firm reminder of just what Manny can be if he returns for his senior year. Harris provided no update on his future after the game, saying it would be “wrong and selfish” to discuss his future after the loss which is certainly reasonable.

Looking at the four factors… The game was pretty much a dead heat. Michigan outrebounded the Buckeyes and got to the free throw line more often. Ohio State outshot Michigan by the slimmest of margins (Turner’s last shot was the difference) and also won the turnover battle. Michigan turned the ball over 9 times in the first half but did a much better job in the second.

It was a valiant effort from Michigan but in the end it just wasn’t enough. The adage about “big time players making big time plays” is a cliche but in today’s case it was just the truth. Manny Harris was phenomenal but Evan Turner had the ball last, even if it was only for the last 2.2 seconds.

It’s fitting for this season to end with one more punch in the gut but now it’s time to move toward the future with signing day only a month away. You can bet that the players returning on this roster will be hungry. Any sort of complacency that developed during last off-season won’t be tolerable. In terms of what happens on the blog… We’ll have a series of posts examining what went wrong this year followed by a series of posts hypothesizing how to fix things. We’ll also continue to cover recruiting and everything else that we’ve done before.

Player Bullets:

• Manny Harris: As I said in the post, Manny was just phenomenal. Some of the shots that he hit down the stretch are ones that we just haven’t seen from him. If Harris is able to supplement the rest of his game with the pull up jumper and a little runner, he will be far more dangerous. I don’t think he’s an NBA prospect right now but I wouldn’t fault him for putting his name in the draft without hiring an agent, leaving the door open to return.
• Stu Douglass: Stu hit some huge three pointers in the second half and kept Michigan in the game. It was a long year for Stu, playing a lot more point guard than might have been expected but this was a great performance from Douglass.
• DeShawn Sims: Peedi shot the ball very well but he had a couple of frustrating turnovers, mostly in the first half. It was still an all around solid performance from Sims in the last game of his career. I’m going to miss Peedi shooting those baseline fadeaway jumpshots, that’s for sure.
• Zack Novak: 8 points (3-6 shooting) with three boards for Novak. I was shocked to see his two drives, including the pretty scoop layup under the rim. It’s something we expected more of this year but never really saw.
• Zack Gibson: Gibson provided a few quality minutes and it was great to see him play hard down the stretch. Gibson was woefully inconsistent throughout his career but he did have his moments of glory.
• Laval Lucas-Perry: Three rebounds, 2 steals, and two assists is nice but Laval’s shooting was just painful down the stretch this year. It’s the cross roads for Laval, he needs to make major strides this offseason.

There’s not a more fitting way for this season to end than another heartbreaking loss. Michigan has lost a number of close games this season and this was probably the most painful loss yet.

The clock looks suspiciously close to starting late but I don’t think the officials are allowed to review when the clock started. Not to mention, it is always going to be human controlled so you just have to go with it. Thad Matta certainly didn’t look open to the idea of a review, judging by the rage he unleashed on the scorers table. Bottom line: Turner hit a ridiculous 40 foot shot at the buzzer. There’s a reason he’s the best college basketball player in the country.

I’ll have a full post-game later, including thoughts about defending the last play.