Ohio State dominates Michigan in a 66 possession game. Michigan came out flat and played uninspired basketball for the first 20 minutes. The poor play in the first half was too much to overcome despite Michigan making a couple runs in the middle of the second half. This loss doesn’t necessarily set Michigan back any further but it is one less chance they have to do some catching up.
On offense Michigan was as bad as they have been all year. Michigan posted their highest turnover percentage of the season (31.8%) and their lowest eFG% of the season 37.8%. Naturally Michigan’s offensive efficiency was the worst it has been all year as well at 81.8 points per 100 possessions. Surprisingly the only thing that Michigan really did well was rebound the ball; Michigan pulled 37% of their misses off the offensive glass.
To add to their offensive struggles, Michigan just couldn’t stop Ohio State all game. The Buckeyes shot an effective field goal percentage of 62.5% and also posted a free throw rate of 56.8%. Evan Turner lived at the free throw line just like the first match-up and went for 24 points (thanks in large part to 13 FTAs). Inside the Buckeyes got 16 points combined from Mullens and Lauderdale. It was Jeremie Simmons who hit two huge three pointers in the second half that really put the game out of reach.
Michigan has to learn that they just can’t come out this flat if they want to win ball games. They aren’t playing against Savannah State and Indiana anymore. Â It has been a long time since we have seen Michigan play good basketball consistently for an extended period of time. We certainly haven’t seen it for more than 2 halves in a row.
Checklist. I listed four keys to the game in the pregame and here is how Michigan did:
- Contain BJ Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale: They only scored 16 combined points but were a huge influence on the game and also combined for 10 rebounds and 5 blocks.
- DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris: I’d give Michigan credit for this one. Manny and Peedi were pretty much the only ones out there playing.
- Secondary scorers: Fail. Everyone besides Manny and DeShawn made 5 shots for a combined for 19 points. That would fall under not quite good enough. Michigan got only 2 points total off the bench and 0 field goals.
- Win the free throw battle: Nope. Evan Turner got to the line all night and helped Ohio State to a free throw rate over 50%.
The 16 point loss really isn’t all that surprising when you consider that Michigan didn’t really do anything they needed to do to win the game. It’ll be a long bus ride home and back to the drawing board before heading out to West Lafayette on Saturday.
Player Bullets:
- Manny Harris: Manny should patent his own brand of triple double: 22 points, 12 rebounds, 10 turnovers, 4 steals, and 3 assists. Manny had half of the Michigan turnovers but I also think he kept us in the game. He drove the lane constantly which I’m sure he was told to do and did a good job getting to the line (11 free throws)
- DeShawn Sims: Peedi still struggles with the bunnies but that is nothing new: 13 points on 5 of 13 shooting, 4 boards, and an assist. Overall a pretty solid game for DeShawn but he got in some foul trouble in the first half and kind of disappeared in the second half three point shooting barrage.
- Laval Lucas-Perry: Laval had an absolutely terrible first half, there is no denying it. I guess the positive would be that he hit two three pointers in the second half. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stu back in the lineup as LLP tries to find himself.
- Zack Novak: The flagrant will probably be the topic of discussion this week and rightfully so. I wouldn’t expect Zack to be in uniform Saturday and maybe the rest will be good for him though; Zack is struggling with his shot (2-8 from long range tonight) much like everyone else on this team. The actual foul didn’t bother me that much, Zack was clearly frustrated and he will learn not to let guys get under his skin. The bottom line is that after watching an era of Michigan basketball where I wasn’t always sure if everyone “cared enough”, I am certain that Zack Novak does. On another note I have never heard ANY of the nicknames for Zack mentioned by the announcers tonight.
- Kelvin Grady: Not impressed with Kelvin on defense, Jeremie Simmons is not an impact player and he routinely took Kelvin off the dribble. Offensive Kelvin was solid but unspectacular with one made three pointer, 3 assists, and no turnovers.
- Stu Douglass: The three point shot was not falling: 21 minutes, 2 points, 0-6 shooting, 1 rebound, and 2 steals. I think Stu is getting better on his shot selection and I still like him running the point more than Dave Merritt at this point.
- CJ Lee: 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 12 minutes. CJ always seems to find a way to make an impact with his hustle and leadership.
- Dave Merritt: Completely ineffective against the full court press and only played 5 minutes.
- Jevohn Shepherd: Came in, turned it over, and returned to the bench. Shep will probably get some run on Saturday if Novak can’t go.
- Ant Wright: 0-1 shooting with 2 boards in 7 minutes. Ant was also on a short least and he pretty much got pulled after a bad pass to Manny across the court.
- Zack Gibson: Pretty much got abused on the defensive side of the ball. Zack missed a three and got one rebound in 11 minutes. He also had a pretty pathetic flop on the defensive side of the ball in the first half.
Agreed on the Novak foul. I’m not too concerned with it. He got bullied on the previous 2 free throws, and he was letting them know he’s not going to accept being pushed around. Obviously he needs to learn to be more discrete about things like that; an elbow to the face following a lane violation is kind of obvious. But at least he was fighting.
He definately deserves a game suspension, but I think that will be a blessing in disguise by shaking things up and showing JB that he doesn’t need to have 4 guards out there.
My buddy and I made the “Shot of Novak-aine” sign for the home OSU game, but that’s the only one I’ve heard of.
I was thinking the same thing about the “blessing in disguise”, RB. The thing is, Purdue doesn’t exactly trot out 7-footers like the OSUs and Illinois of the conference – Calasan and Johnson are really their only big guys who get PT, and they are 6′9″ and 6′10″ respectively.
Still, assuming Zack does get suspended, it will be interesting to see the starting lineup…
Haha well there you go, maybe the Big Ten Network has people going through the tape and looking for signs
I guess you are famous.
Johnson is VERY long though and will still give Michigan plenty of problems… Dallas Lauderdale is “only 6-foot-8″…
Man I’m sick of reading the player reviews after each game and having basically all but two of the players be listed as “completely ineffective”. I wish I could blame you for exaggerating, but no, it’s always the truth. When is this team gonna get it’s shit together?
Comment from Brick on the “old server ghost”…
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I’m going to bet the elbow was due to a cheap shot on the first free throw. Not condoning it, but it looks like he got it in the ribs on the first one. He should have gone a little lower, it was way too obvious. I like to go with an elbow to the lower ribs if necessary, it makes it look more like a hard box out.
It was a proper ejection and it wouldn’t be out of the question to see a one game suspension. This is the least of the teams worries right now. Maybe it will make someone else step up next game.
I’m not surprized by the outcome. Zack Novak plays very hard. He’ll learn the right way and the wrong way. Still a young man.
I think Michigan will definately match up better against Purdue than Ohio. The few times I saw Purdue this year I was thinking that.
It will really suck if Novak is out for this game cuz he’s played against some of these guys alot (probably more Hummel than Moore because Hummel/Valpo played in the same conference as Chesterton in high school).
Novak’s high school team and coach are going to watch him at Purdue also. They may end up learning Zack’s lesson too in a not so fun way.
Go blue!! And please, please let us win this one.
how many times in the first half did you use the word “embarrassing?”
as much as these earlier games have proved me wrong it seems to me throughout the big ten games we honestly don’t have the talent that some of these other teams do.
Couple that with the fact we come out flat and play absolutely terrible defense(can someone tell me why Novak is guarding Turner?)
I’m getting very sick of this short bench, how can Shep get in a rhythm when he is playing for 2 minutes then turns it over and is automatically pulled out. From my experience playing ball, it takes some time to get into the flow of the game. Especially with how little he has been playing lately.
At this point, again I’d have to say NIT here we come. Hopefully Vogrich, Blake, and J. Mor can come in and make a difference next year, because until we have more size and more depth our talent can’t match up to the upper tier teams in the big ten, PERIOD.
Im just starting to wonder where the team that beat Duke a little over a month went to. And I’m not talking so much about there shot making as much as their heart. They have not played inspired ball on a consistent basis. I know their not going to win every game in the Big Ten but where is the team that came back from 20 down on the road against Indiana. They need to be slapping the floor on D and pounding there chest when they make a good play. Just show us you care more about the name on there front of the jersey. This is BS Idk where it needs to come from whether its Manny and Peedi or guys like Dave and CJ but when Novak is the only one that is seemingly not just going through the motions night in and night out something has to change in a hurry or else this Michigan team will be like so many others…NIT bound!
a couple of points . in the last 5-6 games jb has had manny on the left wing where it seems he is not as comfortable going baseline with his left. my guess is jb believes manny is more effective going to his right thru the key which gives him more options on passing but takes away from his favorite and more comfortable shot attacking baseline with his right.
jb got his first technical tonight that I can remember and I believe it was a long time coming.the ncaa implemented a rule change restricting hand checking but in this big ten season I have not noticed a decrease but would guess that in the 2 ohio st. games and the wisconsin game the hand checking was ridiculous. manny could have easily had 20 ft attempts or fouled out as all of his drives to the basket had a lot of contact and it wasn’t until after jb’s T and a change in sides for one particular ref that manny started getting to the line.
as for novak he took a kidney shot on the previous ft and along with the mugging he took under the basket time after time his “pissed off” meter burst resulting in his flagrant foul…the dreadlocked dude he hit had been a spaz in both games and was of all the ohio st. players the one who got away with the most contact.
I’m with you guys. The effort just hasn’t been there. We can’t start out games that way on the road and expect to win. We also can’t turn the ball over that much. The first 10 minutes were just painful.
I don’t know what the solution is, but the only game I remember us playing at a high level was the Iowa game at home. Even Northwestern was a struggle. I still think if we come out and play a full game, we can win any of our remaining conference games.
The problem is, we haven’t done that since Duke. Iowa didn’t have the talent to stay in it, so we definitely screwed around toward the end. We won’t be in that situation on the road. The funny thing is, one of the articles I read yesterday had a quote from one of the players mentioning the fact that the energy hasn’t been there. If it’s been identified, why hasn’t it been corrected?
I just want to see this team get it together and make the tournament. I really think we’ll be improved in some of our deficient areas next year, because of the additions of Morgan, McLimans (sp?), and Cronin (I’m assuming) coming back from the hip surgery. Here’s hoping the guys can get it turned around this year. Go Blue!
OK, the loss was really no surprise. A win at Purdue would be huge, and we can forget all the OSU crap.
The solution is to get a guy like Dallas Lauderdale in every other recruiting class…..a bruiser to mix it up instead of Novak. Hustle and hard work can only go so far for a 6′4″ big forward in the Big Ten.
the team that beat duke was a mere fluke…….duke missed many many open 3 point attempts and michigan would lose by at least 30 if they played them now……..it sucks to say this but we are pretty much right where we were last year and its kinda scary becasue we should be getting better not worse at this point
I really don’t think the Duke game was much of a fluke. Back then, whenever Duke put themselves in position to put it away and win, I was confident that Michigan had the answer. I remember this being the first time in years I felt like a Michigan team had the ability to stay with a top team and actually win. I’ve lost that feeling.
After Novak threw the elbow, I knew he would be ejected and, more than likely, suspended for the next game. But while watching the melee afterwards I asked my friend the question, “Can you remember Michigan committing a hard foul this year…at all?” No, never. Was it blatant? Yeah. Stupid? Sure. But I also believe it was a retaliation. Dylan is right. It at least shows that Novak cares. Half of the time he’s the only one who looks like he’s trying. This is a soft team. Novak is undersized, in a shooting slump, plus every other negative you can probably throw at him, but at least the kid plays with emotion. Maybe it will light a fire under this team. Lord knows this group of pansies needs something of the sort.
Okay, maybe the “pansies” comment was harsh. Yet, it’s still much better than the profanity-laced tirade I would like to spew about UM’s effort, defensive intensity, etc.
Also, not an excuse for the loss, but the Big Ten officiating (and not just Michigan games) seems to get worse with every game I watch.
Time to regroup…and then go beat the #@*% out of Purdue. Go blue!
DeShawn Sims (from the Detroit Free Press):
“We’re trying to play ourself into a rhythm where we can feel comfortable,†he said after scoring 13 points, nine despite limited minutes in the first half. “Instead of just coming out relaxed, we don’t come out relaxed and comfortable, we come out like it’s our first time playing basketball. Anytime we start off slow, that’s what I think it is, we just don’t come out relaxed. Whether it’s things we do before the game or it’s individual’s mentally, we just don’t come out relaxed.â€
It’s a significant change from the start of the season when U-M opened 13-3, with wins over two No. 4 ranked teams, UCLA and Duke.
“The good teams, they show throughout the season, not only in their play, just their mentality when they come out on the floor,†Sims said. “We’re not a young team, but we still have to grow in that area, maintaining that same winning mentality after a loss or when things don’t go right. We just have to develop a killer instinct.â€
I guess half the battle is understanding the problem. I guess we’ll all see if they can correct it. Relax, fellas…
i like the killer mentallity comment……and its definitely the truest comment by anybody that i have read…..deshawn knows what they need
I figured the terrible three-point shooting and turnovers from the first half wouldn’t continue in the second half, and for the first 10 minutes I was right. I also thought OSU would tire themselves out with the press, but that would have been relevant in the last five minutes of a close game, which didn’t happen. I think we were down 8 with about six minutes to go and had a couple of turnovers that OSU turned into points. I basically zapped through the rest of the game and missed all the Novak excitement.
OSU played defense a foot past the three point line. Manny was the only one who could drive past them. Sims put himself in the right place to get the ball, where all that space was by the free throw line, but didn’t get it enough and missed too many shots when he did get it.
I would have liked to see that back-up line-up we used for a few minutes against NW, where we zapped the ball around on offense for a little bit. But Beilein knows more what he’s doing than I ever will.
There is still time for this team to return to exceeding expectations. I hope they start soon.
Evan
Novak to be suspended. Big Ten is investigating.
Novak to be maybe suspended…
Pending investigation.
It says here that Michigan has three days to respond re: Novak
http://www.mlive.com/wolverine.....t_inv.html
If the Big Ten finds that Novak’s elbow was a striking with malicious intent, and classifies it as “fighting”, then it’s an automatic suspension for the next game. That’s from Rule 10: Section 7 of the 2009 NCAA rule book.
I’m not sure I would consider what happened “fighting”. Suspensions stemming from a Class A or Class B flagrant foul seems to be a gray area. I would guess, regardless, that Michigan will respond by sitting Novak out for the Purdue game.
You can re-listen to Michigan @ Ohio State on maizeandblog.blogspot.com
Will JB get to make the decision on Novak or will Martin and MSC make the call like with Horton? We’ll see if it’s a new era of Michigan basketball. I say 1 game is fine.
More than one game would be outrageous IMO.
At least Novak isn’t afraid to be physical. Some of our guards seem scared that someone might touch them if they dribble to far, so they throw the ball to someone else.
The way that guy fouled LLP earilier in the game I kind of wish Novak had really tagged the guy. I think the tackle put on Perry was much worse then the little pop Novak gave him. I also saw that same guy grabbing jersey a few times. Don’t really care what anyone thinks of what I’m saying but those are easily the worst officials in the conference if not the whole country. Biggest problem is the refs never have to be accountable unless ESPN makes an issue out of a call. There was a lot of pushing and shoving and uncalled fouls which can easily lead to this sort of thing.
Can anyone tell me why JB doesn’t even give Shep a chance? If you look back to when we played Duke and we were playing good we had a starting five of Merritt (I wouldn’t mind LLP here), Stu, Manny, Shep, and Gibson. That way Gibson could possibly start the game of good and gain some confidence. Peedi coming off the bench provided an instant spark and you could see the intensity and effort of the team grow. I love Novak’s heart but come on now, this kid is a 2 playing the 4. Not to mention I think hes out third best 2 guard (LLP & Stu). I just think Shep brings a different aspect to this team that we sorely need. Why couldn’t he have guarded Turner? I believe in Beilin I just don’t understand his rotation. Unfortunately, NIT
Remenber when UM was riding high off the big wins over Duke and UCLA and many were being very cautious about expectations, lets also apply that now, in regards to the doom and gloom outlooks. This bad stretch can give way to another good stretch. Despite what many believe UM has been shooting way below their abilities, this will eventually return to normal and lead to some nice victories. In what was one of the worst played games ive ever witnessed, UM was only down 8 points with the ball in the 2nd half at OSU. This will turn around and all will pile back on the bandwagon soon enough.
Are they shooting below their abilities? Michigan is statistically the 2nd worst shooting team in the Big Ten. They’re a perimeter oriented team that can’t shoot perimeter shots!