Congrats to Manny Harris, his first BigTen Player of the Week award. The kid is having himself a great year and carried the team yesterday. Hopefully there are many more of these in his future.
Harris was a key contributor to U-M’s first three-game win streak of the season. For the week, Harris averaged 21.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 94.7 percent from the free-throw line and 57.1 percent from long range. The Detroit native posted his 21st and 22nd double-digit scoring performances of the season with 15 points at Iowa and a career-best 27 points against Ohio State. At Iowa, after the Wolverines scored just 16 points in the first half, Harris was an integral part of a second-half Wolverine run. He scored all 15 of his points in the second stanza, helping Michigan post an 18-point turnaround in a 60-52 win. Harris’ eight-of-eight free-throw performance down the stretch helped seal the come-from-behind victory for Michigan. He also added three assists and three steals against the Hawkeyes. Versus Ohio State, Harris closed the game with a career-best 27 points. He was seven-of-19 from the field with three long-range baskets, adding a 10-of-11 free throw performance, including seven-of-eight in the final 2:41. He also added seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in the win. This is the first career weekly accolade for Harris.
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Post-Game: Wow. What a game, a lot of thoughts on this one. The first half was fun to watch, a lot of up and down and high scoring. A Big Ten game high scoring? Letting OSU shoot 68% in the first half was clearly not good defense but in the second half we tightened up and held them to 33%. We cut down on Butler’s penetration and made Koufas work for his points. In the first 5 minutes we really stuck it to Koufas and he was rattled and got pulled. We were up about 4 points with 4 minutes left and I got a little deja vu but this team held in there and showed a lot of heart with 3 freshman and 2 sophomores on the court.
David Merritt: What can you say. Kid had the crowd going wild in the first half and was just making plays NOBODY ever thought he would make. We were struggling to score and he made big buckets three times. He should have had one more layup and that desperation three at the end almost went.
Manny Harris: This is our leader, and luckily he’s only a freshman. I am fully confident that Manny will lead this team back where they need to go. Kid was hitting his threes and if he is making those he is too versatile to guard. He has the slow release on his three with the knee bend but its almost like that helps him with his pump fake. Made the big free throws down the stretch (unlike that other Harris) and gutted out the win.
DeShawn Sims: Hit some huge threes, but most importantly had 7 rebounds. Kid might finally be getting it, you have to go hard for 40 minutes. He also did a great job on defense I thought, sticking with smaller guys off switches a lot. He has gotten a lot of flak all year for his poor defense but he might be turning the corner.
Another great part about today was everyone stepping up and making plays when they were needed. Ant Wright had a three and a facial on the baseline (notice Ant played 27 minutes and Ronnie only 15). Zack Gibson had a huge offensive rebound and put back. Ekpe was a monster on D with 6 blocks (and 4 steals and 5 points) also hit his free throws at the end. Kelvin Grady with the big time steal and a couple huge buckets that made up for his lackluster play early.
Great effort, the crowd was great. Rich Rodriguez was great at halftime, Beilein went and thanked the Maize Rage before the game as well for their support through tough times all year. Let’s hope this is the start of turning the corner. Also one other note, this Matta/Beilein rivalry is personal and it has history. Could make for a fun series between Michigan and Ohio State in both sports. These two guys know each other from their Richmond/Xavier days.
Recruiting Note: Zack Novak was in attendance.
Continue reading ‘Game 23: Ohio State at Michigan’
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Post-Game: Big win, thats two in a row, and one on the road. Anytime you can come back and win a game after being down big and scoring 16 points in the first half it’s an impressive effort. I love to see the heart this team shows on the road, they don’t quit. This is one way playing all those big time games in the non-conference may help this team in the long run.
Michigan won this game because of defense, Iowa shot 36.5%, and rebounding, 30-29 rebound total in Michgan’s favor. There was a span in the 2nd half where Iowa had over an 8 minute drought I think. Couple that with Michigan getting timely shots from everyone they needed (Ronnie, Grady, Manny, Ant, etc.) and you have a road win. Iowa is not a push over at home either with wins over Ohio State and MSU. Grady’s numbers were impressive (35minutes, 7 points, 9 assists and 0 TO) it’s funny what happens when people hit their wide open kick out threes. No where to go but up so hopefully the team can keep building momentum.
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“They didn’t believe it, but this team is growing,” said U-M forward DeShawn Sims, whose seven points late in the first half kept the flicker alive entering the break.
Continue reading ‘Game 22: Michigan at Iowa’
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Here is another video of Quincy Roberts. There is a huge (sad) story behind Quincy Roberts, and I am not going to share all of what I have heard. However there is a chance that Michigan lands this kid, it’s just a VERY small chance in my opinion. Also, ignore the part about Miami, that scholarship offer isn’t on the table anymore. The kid is a player and he could contribute (start?) from day 1. One other encouraging note, I continue to hear GREAT things about Laval Lucas-Perry in practice.
[myspace 2038983131 Quincy Roberts Highlight Film]
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[youtube 9a1TcvyH2Ac Harrisburg vs Steel High]
Rough loss for Michigan State, the BigTen is wide open now and Purdue continues to impress. Reading those reports of the SYF AAU team making splashes at national tournaments makes a lot more sense lately. Kalin Lucas is going to be a star in the Big Ten though if he isn’t already. Bottom line it seems like MSU will go wherever Drew Neitzel and Raymar Morgan take them. Our friends at Spartans Weblog has a great report on the game.
The bomb has been dropped on Indiana it looks like according to the AP and ESPN.
The NCAA sent a notice of allegations to Indiana University last Friday detailing major violations in the men’s basketball program, multiple sources told ESPN.com.
Larry MacIntyre, assistant vice president for university communications at Indiana University, confirmed to ESPN.com that the school did receive documentation from the NCAA last week.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, Kelvin Sampson might be leaving as soon as he showed up. Looks like this is going to be a mess.
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2009 big man Mason Plumlee landed a big time offer recently ($$) from Duke. This is clearly not good for Michigan’s chances at Plumlee but there is still a sincere interest in Michigan. Plumlee and (especially) his family love Coach Beilein and have visited multiple times (once family, once everyone). I suspect big time offers like this will continue to pile up for Plumlee and Michigan’s chances will continue to decline.
And just to pain all of us, a video of Brad Redford for what could have been:
[youtube Oxc09r04pJI Brad Redford Bombs Away]
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There was talk of Jalen Rose being around practice this summer and actually filming a video. Well now it is announced that Jalen will be honored during pre-game and half time of the Illinois game on February 23rd.
“I am very excited about this opportunity to come back to Ann Arbor for this event,” Rose said in a statement. “As a Detroit native, I was bred to bleed Maize and Blue, and having the opportunity to attend the university, be a part of the Michigan family and contribute to the many accomplishments of the Fab Five, was the experience of a lifetime. I am humbled and honored to be acknowledged in this manner.”
At least there are some good halftime shows coming up, rumor had it that Rich Rodriguez would address the crowd for the Ohio State game as well. It’s great to see Jalen back in Ann Arbor and getting involved.
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