Now that’s how you win in the Big Ten. Michigan didn’t look like they could handle Illinois on the defensive end early on but they tightened up the D in the second half and made the big plays down the stretch to pull off a W. It was a back and forth game and Michigan did just enough to pull off the win and avoid a damaging 0-2 start.
The story today for Michigan was balance. Michigan had 5 players in double figures and almost had a sixth in Kelvin Grady. In a game that featured 7 ties and 9 lead changes it was crucial for Michigan to have more than one option on the offensive end. Michigan isn’t going to be able to get by on the combo of Manny and DeShawn alone in the Big Ten and it’s encouraging to see complementary players stepping up.
Even in a balanced effort, Zack Gibson was the star of this one. Gibson was forced to step up when Novak went to the locker room in a bloody mess after colliding with Alex Legion. Gibson poured in 8 second half points including a triple and two dunks that had the crowd at their feet. Gibson brought energy to the game when Michigan needed something to get them over the edge.
Michigan was stellar offensively and played one of their best offensive games against a very solid Illinois defense. Michigan’s offensive efficiency (121.3) was the highest allowed by an Illinois defense that ranks in the top10 in defensive efficiency (avg 85.2). Michigan shot the ball very well with an eFG% of 59.4% and got to the line when they had to. They also held onto the ball with a turnover rate of 13.1% against a team that usually forces turnovers on almost 25% of possessions.
In a battle of offense versus defense it was Michigan’s defense that came through down the stretch. The defense held Illinois to 25 points in the second half after giving up 39 points in the first. They managed to shut down Calvin Brock in the second after a first half where it seemed like no one was guarding him. Zack Novak was no match for Mike Davis in the post but he fought hard and the bottom line is that Mike Davis can’t guard Zack Novak either. Illinois went with only one of the big guys for large stretches of the game so that they could try to guard Michigan. I was convinced at half time that this Michigan team wasn’t going to be able to guard anyone all year but I think slowly but surely they are learning how to get after it on defense.
The Big Ten is a dog fight right now and Michigan needed this one. There are 6 teams at 1-1 and preseason favorite Purdue is sitting at 9th. Michigan has the out of conference wins to boost their resume come March but they aren’t there yet, this is how games will be in the Big Ten night in and night out. Next up Michigan attempts to win a game at Assembly Hall and knock off the dreadful Hoosiers for the first time since 1995 before coming home for a tilt with Iowa. Michigan will be favored in both games and really needs to be sitting at 3-1 a week from now.
Player Bullets:
- Zack Gibson: Zack was feeling it on offense today and scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting and added a monster block in only 17 minutes. The best moment for me was when Gibson called for the ball and drove into the lane for a huge slam late in the game. The shock of the Crisler crowd was priceless. Michigan is a much better team when Gibson is playing at a high level offensively and hopefully this boosts his confidence.
- Zack Novak: Novak is a warrior, Zack hit shot after shot in the first half and it seems like he doesn’t miss. When you consider this is only his 14th game in college his confidence is pretty remarkable. Novak had 11points on 4-5 (3-4 3pt) shooting and added 3 boards and one assist. Novak is going to be giving up size in every game but he also forces defenses to guard him on the perimeter.
- Manny Harris: Manny isn’t going to be able to pick apart defenses like he could against the Florida Gulf Coasts of the world but he had a solid game in my opinion. Manny had 16 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 5 turnovers, 1 block, and 3 huge steals. He made a lot of big plays on defense (but also fell asleep a couple times) including a huge block and a couple run out slams. Hopefully Manny can find his three point stroke (0-5) but he needs to start taking better threes rather than frustration threes.
- DeShawn Sims: Solid but unspectacular night for Peedi with 13 points and 9 boards. DeShawn hit some huge threes but didn’t get that involved in the paint. In the end though I’ll take a near double double every night from DeShawn especially when other guys are stepping up.
- Laval Lucas-Perry: 13 points on 4-1 (3-7 3pt) shooting and 5 assists with 1 turnover. Solid night for Laval in his first start. Laval is still adjusting but you can see that he is getting more and more comfortable. LLP also had a big block on defense and brings the size and toughness to the D that we really need in the backcourt.
- Kelvin Grady: Kelvin had 9 points on 3-6 shooting including the huge layup late in the game. Both Kelvin and LLP are starting to get in the lane more and it adds a new dimension to Michigan’s game.
- Stu Douglass: Stu’s minutes are decreasing quickly but he is a solid backup for Laval. Stu had 2 assists and no turnovers off the bench today and didn’t take a shot.
- Anthony Wright and Jevohn Shepherd: DNP. There just aren’t any more minutes at the power forward when Novak and Gibson play this well. Shep is more athletic than Novak but he just can’t score it like Zack. I don’t think we will see much Ant Wright the rest of the year.
Gibson impressed. The one thing I’ve never liked about Gibson is his hands (he seems to lose a lot rebounds that he gets his hands on). However, in this game I remember one play where Stu fired a poor pass under the basket and Gibson caught it on the fly before it went out of bounds and kicked it back outside. I don’t remember if we scored on that possession but when I saw the pass I thought for sure it was going to be a turnover.
Gibson is never going to be a star and he has his faults but he is awfully skilled offensively and if he can get some confidence he’s capable of games like this in my opinion.
Here is the AP article… Some good stuff.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/b.....0901040357
Throw the top 25 and whatever else. This team needs to worry about themselves and winning games. Next two are huge because they are chances for bad losses.
Was Darius Morris there today? Is that why he is a topic on this post? What a great game for him to get to if he was.
Nope, sorry. I mis-clicked. D-Mo had a game yesterday (should actually have some coverage about it coming up) and his team lost a tough one.
This my be a stupid question but I have been wondering for a while. What does the ‘e’ stand for in ‘efg’?
eFG% is corrected for three point shooting, the formula is: (FGM + (0.5 x 3PM))/FGA. The ‘e’ actually stands for effective. For a full explanation… http://bigtenwonk.blogspot.com.....g-pct.html
For information on tempo free stats in general….
http://bigtenwonk.blogspot.com.....stats.html
I will add a list of links to stuff like this and other general resources on the sidebar.
The biggest thing in this game for me was that Beilein made the right adjustments and Illinois didn’t. Beilein switched to more of the 1-3-1 in the 2nd half and the players themselves became more aggressive in creating turnovers.
I’m confused why Weber didn’t arrange for Tisdale and Davis to get the ball more. Tisdale is technically more of an outside threat, but he could have eaten Sims and Gibson down low or at least gotten them into foul trouble. Davis is really athletic and should have dominated Novak even more than the did.
Thanks Bruce…
The other thing was that we finally hit our shots today. 40+% from three is excellent when you consider Illinois was holding opponents to 23% according to Dylan’s preview. Props to Beilein and the players for stepping up when they needed to today.
Onward to IU!
Great win!
Ryan, I’ve been wondering the same thing so thanks for asking.
The stats for Novak are off–he missed 2 for sure. But whatever, he played great and it was awesome to see him return. I do miss Shep some, and thought he would get into the B10 games for some D.
Dylan, awesome picture at the top
Were there any recruits at the game today? Thanks
Pretty sure Herbeck from Gabriel Richard was there
Great win. I predicted a loss-glad I was wrong. To be frank this team didn’t even play up to potential today. The defense in the first half was brutal. I was also ready to give up on Manny but after his second turnover in the first minute of the second half he finally decided to trying another approach. He has got to realize once the threes go in there will be more room for him to drive. Great coaching in the second half by Beilein. They guy is a phenomenal coach not just of strategy but of shooting.
I have a question. I see Daniel Horton in the tunnel with a sling on his arm. Who is the other bearded guy (?ex-player) who hangs out in the tunnel and was talking extensively to Jim Jackson at half?
Merlin, I think that would be Jimmy King, who waits in the tunnel to do halftime interviews for the radio broadcast.
JimC, good call on the Novak stats, he missed the one wild “heat check” transition 3 and also airballed a LONG 3 before the end of the first half. Should be 4-6 (3-5) but this guy defies numbers, what a find by JB.
Maybe a little early to be thinking about IU but I’m a bit worried. Indiana won’t get many wins this year in conference, but I don’t think they’ll be shut out either. You would think that they’ll come out passionate and ready to defend Assembly Hall in their Big Ten home opener. When’s the last time they lost one of those? Also, it will be just our second true road game of the year… at least we played well at Maryland.
Hopefully this UM team gets over the Assembly Hall jinx. We haven’t won there in a while.
Every time you watch this team you think ok they’re done. Like the 1st half seemed like they were overmatched inside and just hanging around because of the 3. Then they come out in the 2nd half and play great on D. Manny’s D concerns me. Seems like every time the other team gets a layup Manny is involved. Either not switching properly or just taking a play off.
In any event a key victory. Go Blue
Michigan hasn’t won their since 1995. Atleast that is what it said in that article.
I couldn’t be happier with this win. I don’t think we won despite poor play. We had a bunch of guys play some great ball today. Illi is a good team! I don’t know what kind of perfection people expect, but damn we’re a good team! It’s almost as if people are afraid to say that.
Every team has blown assignments at times on defense during games. This is basketball, after all, the other team is going to score. If we’re just hanging in by making threes, then we are converting on one of the keys to coach B’s offense. I mean, that’s not just hanging around, that’s the plan.
I realize Gibson scored some points today but for a big man to play 17 minutes and not pick-up one rebound is PANZY basketball and I just refuse to salute that.
Well, bluebufoon, would it have made you happier if he had grabbed a rebound and not contributed what we did, because we would have lost the game.
This was a fun game to watch and I expect that a lot of our Big Ten wins will look like this – good three-point shooting, defensive adjustments in the second half, not great rebounding but very few turnovers, and we seemed to push the pace in the second half, too. It was very encouraging to see Gibson contribute on the offensive end. I seemed to notice LLP being more successful on drives to the basket, and Grady even had that one nice drive that he finished. Manny seemed less frustrated early in the game when he drove and didn’t get a foul call and didn’t take himself out of the game mentally like against Wisconsin.
With respect to turnovers, after the Amaker era I assumed it was natural to have 20 turnovers in a game. Low turnovers by both teams made this into a very entertaining contest. I agree with Aaron that this win is because of an excellent coach making the right adjustments. Maybe Beilein was outcoached by Bo Ryan, but he was not outcoached today.
Evan
It is great to see everyone’s ideas and opinions without having to wade through the trolls on the forum. So please don’t tell them about this site. We just keep seeing another player step up and become important each few games. I predict one of these games Douglas has his turn.
Brent– I know what I said would probaly make me unpopular but just on princple I won’t salute a guy that hauls in 0 Rebounds, nada, zipidee doodah– a goose egg in 7 minutes of play. Its finesse/ pansy basketball and if I was Coach Beilein I would have Zach Gibson running at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning.
Excuse me Gibson played 17 minutes w/o a rebound not seven minutes.
Dude, lighten up. We won a very important game. Lay off the poor kid.
New basketball commit? I think it is a mistake because he just verballed to Lousville yesterday. But interesting. http://michigan.scout.com/a.z?.....id=3631932
there is some kind of rumor that michael chandler committed but he committed to Louisville so I’m not sure where it’s coming from.
U-M won’t win many games if he keeps playing like this, anybody can score but Gibson has a responsibility to pull his weight on the defensive end and on the boards and not only didn’t pull his weight today– he hasn’t all year.
I’ll take a pansy game from Gibson every game for the rest of the year, if that’s how you’ll define pansy
Let’s face it, Gibson is just not a rebounder. I know that doesn’t make sense based on his size, but his mentality and his body just aren’t on the same page (and they never have been, that’s just how he is).
I actually got the chance to play a few pickup games at the IM building with Zack a couple years ago, and even though there was no one else taller than 6′2″ or so on the floor, Zack rarely pulled down a rebound, and instead roamed around the perimeter the whole time, dropping 3s like crazy. He even ran the fast break and dished out some sweet passes. I remember at the time thinking “this guy seems like a guard trapped in the body of a center”.
Manny and Deshawn are both above-average rebounders, and even Novak is an above-average rebounder for his size. Does it hurt that Gibby is below-average? Sometimes, but I trust Beilein to use him to his strengths, and we saw some of those today.
Bluebufoon did you even watch the game?! There wasn’t a ton of opportunities for Gibson to rebound. He played in the game when Sims and Harris were both in – both excellent rebounders, and the Illini shot fairly well. I’m often pretty critical on Zack’s lack of rebounding, but your comments are plain mean. Grow up. The KID had a great game (including a block and two dunks. is that panzy enough for you?).
Great win today against a solid team, great intensity, great shooting, great coaching. I love how this year we seem to make the right adjustments coming out of halftime every game. Pretty much everything I thought we were doing wrong in the first half we didn’t do in the second half.
Here’s my question though: why weren’t we in the 1-3-1 all game? Maybe I have a bit of a selective memory, but in this game it seemed to be effective a far higher percentage of the time than the man-to-man was. What really turned the tide in the second half was all the turnovers and fast break points that we forced, and that was a results of getting deflections and steals off the trap. So why not stay in that defense every time, at least off of all made baskets? It’s not like every team in the Big 10 doesn’t know it’s coming.
Merlin,
Giddings already predicted this, but just to confirm, the bearded guy was definetely Jimmy King. Jim Jackson talked a lot about playing against the Fab Five in the Elite Eight and all the shit he took from Webber, Juwan, MoTaylor, and others when he played with them in the NBA. Jim Jackson is actually a pretty impressive analyst and seems like a great guy.
As to Gibson, there are other ways of evaluating whether someone is playing like a pansy other than the rebounding stat. Rebounding numbers can be severely affected by dumb luck and other factors like the opposing team’s shooting percentage. He played aggressively on defense and attacked the rim, which makes him a warrior in my eyes for at least this game. On the fast break dunk he was streaking down the court, calling for the ball, which showed me that he wants to be a finisher and isn’t playing with a pansy mentality.
Gibson can be an x-factor for this team. He has the offensive skill, it’s just a matter of confidence. Gibson actually put up decent rebounding numbers with the minutes he got last year. Gibson is often in decent position but lacks the strength and hands to secure the rebound.
I would like to see more 1-3-1 too, especially if Shepherd isn’t going to get off the bench. The zone will at least force a few TOs that lead to transition points. I know we sacrifice offense when Jevohn is in there, but I think his athleticism and energy can still be utilized in certain situations. It was painful to watch us get carved up in the first half today. But very pleased with how the guys responded.
on flight today and missed the game. my prediction of 10 point Michigan win was right on, but didn’t expect Gibson to be the hero. For us to win against teams like Illinois, players like Gibson, Shepherd, Stu need to show up. Great win today, almost a must to keep the tournament hope alive.
Jim Jackson was excellent today and blows Spencer Tollackson out of the water.
About Gibson, although he could probably get more rebounds, he really was the player of the game. It was maybe the best game of his career so far. I was thrilled.
As for Douglass, personally I’m not concerned at all that he didn’t score…because he didn’t shoot which is fine. We really need a few good role players who aren’t thinking about their own stat line.
LLP’s played 30+ minutes in our two Big Ten games, and is now in the starting lineup. He had five assists, proving that he does have the ability to distribute. Novak’s become a fixture as well. So four pieces are set.
Would love to see any of Grady, Shep or Gibson in the starting lineup for Merritt.
To think we began the year with a starting lineup of Merritt, Douglass, Harris, Wright and Gibson and were still able to beat UCLA…
JB is obviously an excellent x’s and o’s coach, but I just can’t get over his ability to scout. That is going to always ensure we have valuable recruiting classes, with or without 4+ star kids. I mean it absolutely boggles the mind that Michigan was the only school to offer Novak a scholarship. Really? Not even a school like Indiana State offered him? They must be kicking themselves now. The guy is like Dugan Fife with more fight and strength. He was the third leading scorer in Indiana, so how did he go under the radar and what were schools so worried about? He could be a good sized 2 guard for a lot of schools. I’m even pretty sure that he would get meaningful minutes for most of the top 10 teams in the nation. I think Vogrich is going to be another 3 star gem and possibly even JMo, but less likely.
I beleive that novak had weight problem before his senior year. I love how beilein recruits. beilein offers kids that he wants but not what their ratings are.
Good post Ken, but I do think Jordan Morgan will be very good for UM. He’s got a lot more skill/athleticism than his description as a “big body/banger” belies. I’m excited about what Beilein will do with him.
Jay, I was thinking about how we beat UCLA the other day as well. We had no LLP, Wright was getting a lot of minutes, and Novak was not even a factor yet. Very interesting.
The final pass from Wright to Sims was a thing of beauty. It helped that UCLA was off their game that day.
UCLA was off their game and the 1-3-1 was amazing. They only scored a little more than fifty. And to think we’ve given up about 40 in the first half the last two games…