Grady did try to fight through the screen. CJ Lee prevented him from going through by accident. Watch the game again and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Manny is being matched up by a less athletic Northwestern game so I expected him to have a big game which he did in the 2nd half by repeatedly driving by them.

Today’s game was LLP’s 1st double digit scoring since Indiana game. Been a long time coming since he went to double figures.

I’ll watch it again but is it not ironic that Kelvin’s man gets a wide open look when he is on the court for one minute and the same thing happened against Penn State?

I understand Dylan but PSU, Kelvin gets the blame but today’s game. I saw CJ Lee was following his man closely when he set the screen. Kelvin tries to fight through it only that Lee hindered his progress.

Did Kelvin go over or under the screen?

If you’re talking about today’s game, I’m pretty sure that he tries to go over the screen. Lee tries to hedge the screen but Grady ran into him. That’s just from memory. I could be wrong though.

I was at the game, and I do remember Lee being in the way of somebody trying to get off a screen. I have no idea who it was though.

Also, those fouls were so annoying. It was frustrating being there in person and having the game stopped every 10 seconds. I’m pretty sure there was a string of 6-10 possessions that all ended in foul shots.

Grady clearly went under the screen, which was is a HUGE, HUGE no no when guarding Moore. It wasn’t close…Kelvin has a mental block on screens.

Even on a switch, Kelvin has to drive Moore into Lee. Lee was expecting Grady to go over, which is why they got tangled. UM lucked out on that one.

I completely agree that our defense has been greatly improved lately and that a lot of that credit goes to Lee. I also think that this improvement in D is the main reason I have confidence we can get to 9-9.

I would like to pose this question though:

If Grady does indeed have some sort of defensive mental block, do you guys think the best way to have him get over it is not play him all game and then throw him in and say ok guard the best player for this one possession and we’ll then evaluate whether you should play at all vs. Minnesota?

That being said I wonder why the hell he can’t deal with a screen.

I can understand CJ getting the majority of the minutes. Grady I think is the best ball-handler on the team. We needed him out on the court at the end of regulation.

One thing that still kills us on defense is Novak guarding guys 4 inches taller. Every team has an instant mismatch against us. No ones fault just the way it is with our lineup.

Ok guys, I hate to kill the argument but this win feels pretty good to me so let’s enjoy it for three days then get a streak going Thursday night. I’m gonna give CJ a pass for the last few minutes today because I’m sure he’s saved us a few headaches over the last 4 months.

This was a game that wasn’t going to get us into the NCAA Tourney but it would sure have kept us out. The team got it together in the nick of time and Manny showed a little assertiveness for a change. I think a win Thursday puts us squarely back on the bubble. Here’s to a win Thursday.

While it is great to see LLP get into double digits, he often looked lost and out of control in the first half. He had 2 (at least) bad turnovers within a couple minute span.

Has anyone else noticed that they are trying to get Stu to run the offense more often? I can’t remember him getting initial touches in the front-court like he has the past couple games. However, he seems to just hold the ball, maybe dribble once or twice, then get rid of it.

Michigan needs a big man and a point guard.

Did anyone else think the officiating was horrible today? It seems like going over the back is fine in big ten play. And there was no consistency in the defensive foul calls. Just what I saw today. Otherwise, ugly win, but still a win.

Ughhh…BC over Duke :(

I can’t help but wonder if the officiating today had anything to do with Beilein’s comments about how physical the conference has been.

I much rather have Big East officials than the Big 10 officials. At least they let you play, instead of calling a lot of tacky fouls. I just cannot stand them at all. Absolutely no flow in the game and it’s pretty much whoever gets the benefit of the calls are most likely to win the game.

Great bench production today, really helped Michigan a lot.

Great rebounding late by DeShawn, huge.

I think with Stu out there instead of LLP the offense runs a lot more smoothly. LLP seems to rush and force things too much, but I’m sure with time Beilein will get that fixed. There was also a difference in the turnovers LLP made and the ones Stu made–some of LLP’s were extremely careless and didn’t have a chance, while Stu was throwing some risky passes that just missed being converted (the Sims alley-oop try, etc). Also, Stu does a very good job facing full court pressure.

Big win for Michigan today, and great job by Manny stepping up in the second half. Go Blue!

Win is a win. I have a lot of the same thoughts as you guys. Novak is just so small down on the block that hes going to continue to get worked. Hopefully Morgan and Cronin can add some size next year. Grady needs to see the floor, his penetration of lanes in the zone allow for open looks. Everyone knows Stu and Zack can shoot so they are playing the so tight on the perimeter that the only way they are going to get an open shot is if someone besides Manny (GRADY) can penetrate from up top. Thursday is another huge game, hopefully Manny and Sims show up big time. And im still waiting for the game that Stu and Novak are feeling it at the same. We will win that game no matter what and you gota believe it will come for at least 1 game this year.

Where did this myth that Kelvin is a good at penetrating come from? It would be great to have someone that could get in the lane but that doesn’t make Kelvin that guy.

We tried it with Kelvin starting at point guard-it didn’t work. Beilein has opted for the defensive lineup and its the right choice-we are keeping games close and pulling some out. Its ugly but it works in the Big Ten.

Kelvin absolutely is able to get penetration and consistently did so back when he played (see Duke game — even just the espn.com highlight reel they still have for the game). Maybe he doesn’t take it all the way to the hoop because his size limits his efficiency down there but just getting into the top of key can pull the defender in from the wing or down below.

LLP is also quite capable of getting penetration.

Kelvin got in the lane against Greg Paulus… That was encouraging but since then he mostly relies on three point shots. His penetration is negated by the fact that he really can’t finish in the lane.

I agree with Dylan that we won the game pretty much entirely on the back of Manny.

A couple of thoughts, I wonder if it helped that we had to give Manny a long rest in the 1st half. He came out in 2nd half with all cylinders firing.

Also, I don’t want to prolong the Kelvin debate, but it seemed clear in latter part of the 2nd that Douglass and Lee were struggling to get the ball across the center line. Not getting a shot in a possession due to a turnover is nearly as bad, if not as bad, as losing a three-point shooter of a pick.

Come on, Dylan – whoever isn’t playing is equal parts Rickey Green, Glen Rice, and Cazzie Russell. Only an idiot would keep him on the bench, whoever he is.

kelvin sitting scares me a little bit to much…….hopefully he gets his act or whatever it is he has to do together or hopefully dar morris can step up and right in real quick next year or its going to be an interesting year again

Bottom line is that I (from an outsider’s perspective with no insight on what goes on in practice etc.) don’t understand why Merritt would play over Grady. BUT I ultimately do trust Beilein and hope that he can teach Grady whatever needs to be taught so that he can incorporate him back into his system. I also have been saying much too much on this subject as I don’t think it’s THAT big a deal.

I’m very pleased with Stu and Lee recently and hope Sims and Manny can play strong down the stretch.

Look forward to your preview on Minny as I haven’t seen them play all year.

and yes lets be real…….i have been reading these comments and manny is the only person who can consistently get into the lane and thats definitely it……kelvin is definitely quick enough and should be able to with ease but doesnt for some reason……..kelvin is just in a frusterating place right now

The real question is does Dave Merritt play better defense than Grady? Grady is a much bigger offensive threat than Merritt and our offense is much more dangerous with Grady out there. I would like to see CJ and Grady out there at the same time.

Also—it would be nice to seea lineup with Gibson and Sims in at the saem time. I understand that basically leaves noone behind them but if we can get them both out there at the same time that would negate a size mismatch down low. If they can avoid foul trouble we could steal some minutes with both of them out there together.

Lastly, just want to congratulate the team on their 2nd conference road win. We had to have this game, it was ugly, but they got it done on the road which is something they haven’t done much of this year. I say we’re right in it in terms of the bubble. We should beat Minny at home Thursday plus we still get Iowa on the road. That’s 2 games we should have which gets us to 8 wins. If we can beat Purdue at home I think we’re in (in addition to winning at Iowa and home against Minny).

Great Win.

A maestro performance out of Manny.

JB stole a lot of minutes out of some shaky lineups in the first half….and it was interesting watching him give up defense in favor of ball handling at the end…..plenty of coaching moves/decisions to dissect in this one.

BC winning sucked, Miami losing was good, hopefully USC will lose this game tonight….a very solid day in the making for UM’s tourney hopes.

Grady, if nothing else, is VERY good at breaking presses. I watched a team almost give away a game down the stretch by repeatedly turning the ball over in the face of pressure. I think its clear where im going with this. Grady by the way has a 2.5 assist to turnover margin which is tremendously better than Merritts 1 to 1 ratio.

Wow, I just looked at the box score. Stu Douglas played 40 minutes and didnt manage to score a single point or grab a single rebound! Its not all zeros though, he did have 4 turnovers. How is it possible to play that many minutes and not accidently get a rebound?
Just goes to show what an amazing effort Manny put forth, he put this team on his back. Beat Minnesota and were back in business.

Stu played some great defense all game long, that’s why he was in the game and has been part of the rotation a ton this year. Sure he scores at a decent clip and has had a couple breakout games aka UConn but he plays some gritty defense.

Don’t overlook Stu’s defensive effort. It was stellar.

I also agree with Dylan that KG’s ability to penetrate is vastly overrated due to one good game against Duke.

Great job getting a W in a game we had to have. A lot of credit should go to Beilein (as well as CJ Lee, Stu, and Novak) for somehow holding things together in the 1st half. Shurna couldn’t miss and Northwestern could have been up big at the half.

Manny was simply the best player on the floor in the 2nd half and overtime…finally.

I know that Stu and CJ and David play wonderful defense and I applaud them for that. We equally care about scoring points though right? We could just clone a team of CJ’s and have the best defensive team in the nation. The problem is that we would score exactly 8 points a game. Does Kelvin provide enough additional offense, ballhandling, and assists to outweigh what he gives up on defense? I would have to say yes. Is it just me or does our record with and without Kelvin seeing significant minutes seem to be a pretty clear indicator of his value. I challenge anyone good with stats to provide us with some clear quantitative data. I’m not saying not to play CJ, but maybe reduce his minutes a tad and just give Merritt a clipboard. Maybe I just see too many visions of the Duke game dancing in my head, but not giving KG 10 minutes a game seems nuts to me.

If Michigan gets into a shootout, they are not going to win at this point. Dylan’s run the numbers — the defense is much better with CJ in.

Wow I read every comment…all very stimulating, insightful, clever.

In Do or Die time, Michigan DID it.
This makes the MN game that much bigger now!

Let me add Sheps bullet for you Dylan…
Shep: 1 brick.

“Is it just me or does our record with and without Kelvin seeing significant minutes seem to be a pretty clear indicator of his value.”

I think it’s pretty clear that as a team we play better with CJ on the floor. The Penn State game at home was when KG got his minutes axed. Since then we’ve played like a decent basketball team. We’re 2-2 in those four games with the losses coming to you know who. KG averaged barely over 2 assists per game. As for his “ability to get to the rim”: 13 2pt FG in 22 games. That should speak for itself.

There’s times when I wish Grady was on the court – when our offense is sputtering and we need a bit of a change of pace. But it’s really only for the change of pace. I don’t think our offense is much better with him in the game. About the only thing he can do is catch fire while chucking up stupid threes – a PG version of Anthony Wright.

But his offensive contribution doesn’t come close to his defensive let downs. What guards have torched us since Grady has gotten the axe? The answer: none.

Great win!

This is a very interesting conversion regarding Grady. I’m not sure how I feel. I think there is one thing we all agree on and that is that Grady is better at breaking the press. I’m not so sure about the penetrating though. He can do it, but usually doesn’t in favor of standing around the three point line chucking.

I think Stu’s defense is way underrated by his stat line. Good defense doesn’t show up directly in statistics. (Well there is really only one defensive stat that people focus on and it is the most overrated stat in all of basketball, blocked shots.) At his position, I don’t think Stu is told to go get boards. He is told to get back to stop any free baskets going the other way.

Speaking of Ant above, he is turning into a nice spark off the bench, showing that he can come in cold and hit his first triple. (OK, maybe he should stop shooting after that)

Not sure I agree with Michigan being lucky to win this game. I think anytime you win on the road in the conference especially against a team that won at the Breslin Center. We are the fifth team out in the latest Bracketogoly meaning we are alive. That’s all you can ask for with the way this streakiness of this year’ team.

Check that we are the last team out….Lunardi just said he sees us playing our way in..great sign

Ugh. More hosting problems. I really suck at picking em. Seems like everything is back up, I’ll do some digging.

You guys that say we play better with Lee on the floor, do you think maybe it is a coincidence that we hit an easier part of our schedule? We should be able to beat Penn State on our home floor regardless of who plays the point, and MSU made us look plain silly offensively. Grady provides the spark on offense that we have been missing. Northwestern is also a game that should be won regardless of who is in there (and it may have been an easier win with someone who can actually break the press).

I cannot seem to understand why some people have such a problem with Kelvin Grady? He isn’t turning the ball over this year and people still have an issue with him! His assist to turnover ratio is solid for a point guard. If he isn’t great defensively then have him guard one of the weaker offensive players. But I think what he provides on offense negates the defensive deficiencies.

And don’t get me wrong, I am not saying CJ Lee shouldn’t play. He provides hustle on defense and lays it all on the line when he is on the court. However, there is no reason that David Merritt should get minutes over Grady as he provides NOTHING whatsoever. There is a reason that Merritt A. was a walk on and B. didn’t even make the team as a walk-on until his 3rd try!

There is also a reason that CJ Lee couldn’t see the floor for Manhattan, and Kelvin Grady received many D1 scholarship offers (even if they were mostly MAC and Xavier). Grady has the highest 3 point field goal percentage on the team, and handles the ball by far the best. There is no reason that he should see 0 minutes, NONE. And there is nothing that anybody can tell me otherwise.

Grady can dribble circles around CJ Lee and David Merritt, and would beat them in a 3 point contest any day.

People’s issues last with Grady were he was out of control and turned the ball over too much, in addition to not shooting the ball enough. This year he has completely cut back on his turnovers and has shot the highest 3 point percentage on the team. Some people no matter what he does will always have a problem with Kelvin Grady.

I just don’t understand it and never will.

dylan are we gonna get a recruiting update here soon i keep hearing a lot about moses morgan id like to know what is going on here with him, zeigler….. amongst others

I like the discussion on Grady vs. Merritt. I have a hard time judging the defensive differences between the two (maybe Grady makes the mental errors on screens). However I know Grady is a much better dribbler and shooter (not sure how people can claim he chucks up 3s, when he is the highest percent shooter with nearly Stu like range.) Maybe on offense he doesn’t make the right “reads” or something. My fear is that he will transfer if this continues or not improve enough.
Another point on Jevohn, I like when he plays, but can we have a rule that he doesn’t shoot 3s? Can that work in this offense? I like his baseline slashing, and acrobatic dunks, but he needs to not shoot outside of 15 feet. Let’s have the same rule for Gibson…
I think Ant can be a decent 3 pt shooter when wide open and at the line, it seems like if you took away his long contested (bad shots), he is decent.
Hey, Dylan can you do a blog poll of Grady vs. Merritt (don’t know if that is possible), would be interesting

I don’t think anyone has anything against Kelvin… we all wanted him to start, and when Beilein finally did put him in the starting lineup for a 7(?) game stretch, we played poorly. Yes, a lot depends on the caliber of opponent, but the fact is Kelvin was not getting it done, and it started on the defensive end (allowing guys like Jerimy Simmons to have career games). If someone wants to research our record with KG starting and how the opposing guards did, that would be helpful (don’t have time right now unfortunately).

I think Beilein recognizes that Grady is better on offense and CJ is better on defense. Normally, Beilein would go with the offensive player… he’s always won games by limiting turnovers, shooting a high percentage, and simply staying afloat on defense. But after watching how ineffective our offense has been in the Big Ten, Beilein finally made the decision to try a switch in his philosophy – if you can’t outscore ‘em, then outdefend ‘em (which is basically the Big Ten mentality). The key to making this philosophy change was increasing CJ’s role and decreasing Grady’s… and so far it’s been somewhat effective.

Having said all that, I still believe Grady should be playing over Merritt. Dave plays decent on-ball defense but often gets burned by backdoor cuts and commits a lot of cheap fouls.

Dave: Working on a recruiting update now. Should be up this afternoon.

Again, I’m not saying Grady needs to start. He just needs to get minutes. That is all I’m saying. Merritt’s minutes need to go to Grady and Merritt needs the Eric Puhls treatment, not KG.

Another perspective on Grady & refs.
1) With Novak, Stu, Manny, & Peedi on the floor you have enough offense without needing Grady. LLP takes over the other scoring minutes. CJ is a better defensive player (including additional size on a small team at the gaurd position). More importantly, this is not a running team. Which means Grady’s speed is wasted when everyone else is trying to catch up and Grady is not big enough to be a strong solo finisher. He was great against Duke as UM was trying to protect a lead and needed ballhandling. Grady’s skills simply have not been needed the last few weeks given the game situations.
2) Over the last few weeks there have been multiple complaints about the refs not making enough calls when Manny drives the lane. Now too many calls slows the game. You don’t get both. Based on the extra elbows thrown in the Big Ten the last two weeks, the refs probably have an added empshasis on controling play better.

TrueBlueInTexas: The issue with the officiating is that one day you have what looks almost like a football game and then the next you have yesterday’s game where everything is called, even fouls without contact.

We also don’t know if Beilein and Grady have some sort of a “you do this, you get that” deal going on.

I agree that Grady should be seeing most, if not all, of Merritt’s minutes.

However, it is easy to understand Beilein’s frustration when Grady goes under a screen with 10 seconds left in overtime, allowing a wide-open 3-pointer. Grady had no chance to contest that shot (doesn’t matter if you think CJ Lee bumped him). That’s just a huge mental mistake, and Beilein has punished mental mistakes all year. Even Manny was pulled in the 2nd half for missing a box out. LLP has seen plenty of pine for making mental errors.

Grady tends to make too many stupid mistakes at both ends of the floor.

When watching our offensive problems the second half of the year I have to put some blame on Stu and Zack. In the beginning of the year it seemed if a defender overplayed them, they were willing to put it on the floor usually resulting in a Sims easy 2 or a kick out 3 to a perimeter player. Now the majority of the time they pause and pass. Penetration to set up the three is much better than some of the forced 3′s we are seeing now. And this goes on the whole team, I think we can all agree Sims needs more touches down low. It is very hard for a post player to rebound, box out, and defend at there best when they feel their teammates are ignoring them when they are in good position.

Edit of my last post: not feeding Sims goes on the whole team. I should have been more clear.

in regards to Stu, I think you all are getting a little carried away with the great defense comments. Stu is slooow, and is an adequate not great defender. Even if he was the greatest defender in history, we should not be justifying zero points and zero rebounds in 36 minutes.

Dylan, I agree consistency in officiating across the whole Big Ten would be ideal. The reality is, at every level of ball, different crews officiate differently. What you should be able to expect as a player, coach, and fan is consistency for the whole game. It is up to the players and coaches to adjust to that games crew.

OK well sticking with the same example… Hightower did the MSU game Tuesday and the Northwestern game Sunday. It’s just frustrating at the very least.