As expected it was a very tough game up at Minnesota. Michigan stayed focused through an early Minnesota barrage of threes and managed to have the lead at halftime and even be up 5 in the second half. But then the wheels fell off, Michigan went cold and Minnesota warmed up again and put the Wolverines away.
There are a lot of telling stats in the box score. First, Michigan shot 31% to Minnesota’s 51%, you aren’t going to beat teams especially on the road shooting 31%. The way Michigan stayed in the game was out rebounding Minnesota 42-36 including 23 offensive rebounds for 23 more field goal attempts. No one besides Kelvin Grady really had a good day shooting the ball and numbers like Ekpe’s 1-9, Zack’s 2-7 and DeShawn’s 6-19 really stand out.
Down the stretch Michigan started forcing the issue and reverted a bit. When Minnesota packed the lane Michigan stopped running their offense (which had worked so well in the first half) and started jacking up bad three point shots. Manny took it one on five a few times and got pulled for it down the stretch. The same thing happened with Manny against Central and he will learn so I am not really worried about that.
Minnesota is a tough match up at home and I didn’t think getting the win was likely. The optimism had spiraled out of control after three wins. After being brought back down to earth a bit hopefully Michigan can beat a struggling Illinois team at home Saturday.
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Thanks to a suggestion I am going to start breaking up game previews and recaps so they are more organized, especially for people reading the RSS feed.
The Minnesota game at Crisler Arena was ugly, Michigan was outshot 59% to 36% and got flat out embarrassed at home. When I wrote the post game reaction I said “Don’t really know where we go from here… It’s not going to get any better.” Since that game Michigan has a close loss at OSU and a 3 game winning streak. So clearly I was wrong in that regard. Michigan has improved by leaps and bounds in the last month and appears to be moving in the right direction.
Minnesota is 2-3 since the Michigan game including an embarrassing home loss by 24 to Illinois. In terms of momentum it looks like Michigan is heading the right direction while Minnesota is falling off the map quickly (Is it just me or does their season remind anyone of Michigan last year?).
All that being said, this game does not strike me as a game Michigan should or will win. We have struggled against teams that play tough, physical man-to-man (MSU, Purdue, Minnesota) and the Barn is a tough place to play.
Coleman, Tollackson, McKenzie and Westbrook were all in double figures last game while only Manny (19) and Ron Coleman (shockingly with 14 points) were in double figures for Michigan. The encouraging things are Michigan’s recent strong play and the improvement Michigan has shown playing teams twice. Overall I think it is important to temper expectations tonight and not get ahead of ourselves and predict Michigan to win the next 5 games. I think Michigan keeps it close but falls short to a tough Minnesota team in need of a win.
Beilein on the recent success:
“Now it’s all forgotten,” Beilein said. “You go to Minnesota, I’ll be sitting up there on that stool and the crowd will be into it. You try to find your way through another game.”
UMHoops Prediction: Minnesota 70 - Michigan 67
Also be sure to check out FromTheBarn.org for a game preview from the Minnesota side.
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Aaron Fuller’s Mesa High team lost in the state playoffs last night 50-38. Fuller was not expected to play due to an elbow to the mouth:
Mountain View star guard Brendon Lavender injured his elbow when it landed in Mesa star Aaron Fuller’s mouth in the first half. Fuller is iffy tonight against Chandler Basha after having eight teeth pushed in. He didn’t play in the second half against Mountain View.
I am not sure how high school basketball in Arizona works but it seems that this was the playoffs and that the loss would mean Fuller’s season is over. Definitely a tough way to go out for Fuller, on the bench with a busted jaw. Ebuka, Watts and Fuller now would have completed their seasons and we will probably find whether they have serious interest in a visit or not very soon.
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Justin Watts’ Durham Jordan team was upset in the first round of the North Carolina state playoffs. Watts had 22 points in the loss, both Watts and Ebuka’s seasons are over so their recruitments should start to pick up steam.
Some updates on Jordan Morgan’s season as well. Jordan was named to the All-Catholic team, which is the highest honor in the CHSL. U of D got bounced in the first round from the CHSL playoffs but added in a couple extra games versus Detroit City, Grosse Pointe North, and Detroit Western (Thursday @ 6pm @U-D). U of D won the games against Detroit City and Grosse Pointe North. Jordan put up a great game against GPN, scoring 24 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists in a 66-54 win. U of D’s first round of districts will be at Mumford High versus Detroit Pershing on Wednesday 2/27 at 4pm. Jordan will be in the house Saturday for Jalen Rose night versus Illinois as well.
Stuart Douglass’ Carmel team fell for the 2nd time this season with a loss to state power Lafayette Central Catholic.
Carmel (17-2) tied the game in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer from Stuart Douglass, but could never regain the lead. Instead, the Knights scored 37 points in the final period to preserve the win.
Here is a little fluff piece on Stuart Douglass and the Carmel Greyhounds capturing their first Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference championship. Carmel coach Galloway had this to say on Stu:
It didn’t take long for senior Stuart Douglass to find his mark Friday night. The University of Michigan recruit made four 3-pointers in the first quarter.
When he comes off of screens and he squares his shoulders and gets his feet set, I think he’s one of the best shooters around,” Galloway said.
Corey Person, a probable preferred walk-on from Kalamazoo Central (via the Kalamazoo Promise) Had a monster game this last weekend scoring 21 points, 15 rebounds and dishing out nine assists against Loy Norrix. Person is reportedly a good student, leader and ball player and will be a great addition next year.
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Zack Novak and Chesterton rolled to an easy win tonight over Boone Grove. Brad from Indiana was nice enough to send in this report of the game. This sounds about on-par with what we have heard about Zack. He certainly appears to be able to fill it up and be a good kid. At this point I would say he seems like a solid, safe, plan B recruit. Also, here is an update on Novak from HoopsIndiana.com as well.
He only had 19 points, but he only played 3 quarters. His team won by 40 so they took him out. It was a very quiet 19 points. He moves very well without the ball and also can create his own shot. But the thing that stood out the most was his passing ability, he is a very unselfish player for the high school level. I saw all those kids last year play that went to Purdue in this area and I would put him right up there with them. Talked to some people in the crowd, he is a very good student, He also is a very good baseball player, and I get the impression that he would like to play baseball in college also. So it sounds like UM has everything this kid is looking for.
Also a bonus night cap special a nasty Darius Morris dunk.
[youtube aUw2KbT8VeE Darius Morris Nasty Dunk]
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CSTV has an article on the top remaining wing/shooting guard prospects on the board (they posted a similar one for big men that had Aaron Fuller previously). Some names of note for Michigan:
Quincy Roberts 6-foot-5 SG Harrisburg (Penn.) - This athletic wing can pop an open jumper from the perimeter and has the quicks and handle to break you down and then attack the basket. His list of schools includes Penn State, Pittsburgh, Duquesne, George Mason, Delaware and Arizona State.
Justin Watts 6-foot-4 SG Durham C.E. Jordan (N.C.) - This long and lean wing can knock down jumper from three or off dribble on the move. He has handle to create drive too. His schools include Illinois, Temple, Virginia, George Mason, Penn State and East Carolina.
Quentin Dailey 6-foot-3 CG Las Vegas Bishop Gorman - This Athletic Vegas combo has really developed into a solid combo guard over the past year. He can still score off the dribble or with perimeter jumper but looks to pass it to open man too. His list of schools includes Gonzaga, Michigan, Iowa, Iowa State, Oregon, Oregon State, Pepperdine and UNLV.
Ebuka, Kyle Cassity, Corey Person (a probable preferred walk-on for U-M via the Kalamazoo Promise), Stacey Waters and others are in the other names section.
The fact that Michigan is not listed on either Quincy or Justin’s kids lists may be telling, we’ll see. I have no idea who Quentin Dailey is but we are certainly casting a wide net.
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David Merritt got the results back from his knee injury and his best game in a Michigan uniform might be his last. U-M announced today that Merritt is done for the season and will get surgery on his medial meniscus on Wednesday afternoon.
“We feel just terrible about what has happened to David,” said Beilein. “He brought such a strong effort and other immeasurable intangibles to our team every day in practice and in games. His overall stats are not even close to what David means to this team. He is just a wonderful leader both on and off the court. The way he played against Ohio State was a testament to what he means to this team. He kept us in that game and that will not soon be forgotten.”
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This has clearly been a long season and anytime you have single digit wins there is a lot wrong. Before the season I wrote that Michigan had to stick together until the 2nd half of the Big Ten slate when their conference schedule finally lightens up. The schedule has been rough (ranked third by Sagarin, and 8th in the RPI) but does that excuse Michigan’s questionable losses to teams like Central Michigan, Harvard, and Iowa?
This season is showing how hard it is for a young team (of the “core 5″ there are 3 freshman and 2 sophomores) to learn how to win. The trips to Georgetown and Alaska were major blows to the team’s confidence. Then a home game against Boston College, a solid but not great team, and another disappointing loss, led to another loss and losing became more the expectation than the exception. A warn down young team headed to play Harvard in a game that seemed almost laughable to them and they saw first hand what it meant to play with heart, getting beat handily by a subpar team. Michigan is clearly a better team than Harvard who lost to Brown (who Michigan coasted by in week one) by 20 points, but they had not developed that winning edge.
Continue reading ‘Learning To Win’
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A couple quick Stuart Douglass videos here. Stu is #15 on Carmel (white/blue) and you can see him hitting a couple (deep) threes and dishing out a nice assist. Stu is going to play next year and I am almost positive of that. He brings something that this team lacks, consistent three point shooting. I also don’t think of him as a Reed-Baker-Deluxe type of player either. He is a legit 6-3+ and knows how to play the game. Since Beilein’s camp this summer I had heard good things about Stu and was not suprised at all when we offered him. Yes he may be a three star, and yes he may only average 14ppg, but the kid will come in and hit the ground running. I am not really worried about whether his star ranking goes up but I do hope he has success and can win the Indiana state title. I think it shows something about a kid when his team is winning games. Look at Manny last year when he guided his Redford Huskies all the way to the state finals. Also one note on the team, Lacy has the latest on yesterday’s hero Dave Merritt here, it didn’t sound good yesterday but we will see.
[youtube 81IPZvaRlzg Carmel vs Lawrence North]
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