BasicsWho: Michigan (3-0) vs. Marquette (5-0) |
 |
There is no time for Michigan to hang around because they will be back on the court at noon tomorrow taking on Marquette.
The Golden Eagles lost their dynamic backcourt of Jerel McNeal, Dominic James, and Wesley Matthews but they are no slouch. Marquette rolled to four easy wins over the likes of Centenary, Maryland Eastern Shore, Grambling, and South Dakota. Marquette got a very nice win over a Xavier program in a very similar rebuilding position. (Box score with tempo free stats)
I didn’t catch the whole game but from what I saw, Marquette is small but very fast. They pushed the ball against Xavier in a 72 possession game and they won the game by forcing turnovers (28% TO rate for Xavier) and getting to the line (52.9% free throw rate). They managed to win despite getting dominated on the glass, rebounding only 18% of their misses and letting Xavier rebound almost half (45%) of their misses.
Lazar Hayward is the biggest scoring threat for the Golden Eagles. The 6-foot-6 wing is forced to play a lot of his minutes inside but that doesn’t hurt his production.
The other main scoring threat for Marquette is wing forward Jimmy Butler. Butler had a monster game versus Xavier, scoring 15 points on only 5 shots, hitting 7 of 10 free throws, pulling down 6 rebounds, and notching two steals and four blocks.
Beyond those two, Marquette appears to be looking for consistent scoring options. One guy who impressed me versus Xavier was 5-foot-8 guard Maurice Acker. Acker is a game changer with his speed, and managed to score 11 points off the bench to go along with five steals and four assists.
Overall Marquette’s roster is lacking any type of significant size. In their starting lineup versus Xavier, their tallest player was 6-foot-7, junior forward Joseph Fulce. Marquette big man Chris Otule suffered a season ending foot injury on Monday and gives the Eagles even less depth in the post.
What Marquette can do is force turnovers. Similar to Creighton, they have lots of quickness at the guard spots and play pressure defense. The good thing for Michigan is that they are great at holding onto the ball, even a game like today’s where they struggled at times, they only turned the ball over on 15% of their possessions.
Overall, Marquette should provide another tough yet winnable game. Lazar Hayward is capable of taking over a game but this is a team that Michigan can beat if they manage to play their game. The final huge x-factor is the extremely short turnaround time with a noon tip off tomorrow.
Great game today! Go Blue vs Marquette tomorrow. Hopefully it will be one of two wins vs big east teams this season.
I like UMs chances especially on the quick turn around. We know how Beilein does in tournaments. I think the X factor is how well Sims and Gibson defend Hayward. This will be our toughest game of the tournament.
It will be similiar to today’s game. We are going to need the top 6-7 players to play well and make there shots and do a better job at the free-throw line. Defensively the 1-3-1 will be important to slow down the quick Marquette guards and Lazar Haywards scoring output. It is better this way then to watch them play early season cupcakes like in the past that have an RPI of 200+. It’s more fun to watch them play good teams and have challanges and win. It just feels better!
Man…UCLA got DESTROYED by….wait for it…
…Portland! That was fun to watch. Anyone else see that? Also, I think Minnesota is a legitimate Big Ten Title contender this year. I think they are slightly better than us right now.
Portland is a fun team to watch. I live in Oregon and I catch some of their games. They had a real fun one last year against Gonzaga.
Yeah…that was a good one last year against the Zags. I live in Oregon too. Watching Portland certainly beats watching the Oregon Ducks…they need to get rid of their coach. “Hey Ernie: Quit!” should be the Eugene town motto. God I hated those “Hey Ernie” bumper stickers that everyone had when he started at Oregon.
I agree, Nick. As improved as Michigan might be, I think we might be 5th in the pecking order behind OSU and Minnesota. I’ll guess we’ll see how it plays out. All I know is it’s a bad year to be PSU, NU, IU and Iowa. The top 7 is going to DOMINATE.
Hopefully seeing UCLA struggle helps us with Zeigler.
I was really impressed with our win yesterday. Creighton is good, and is probably more athletic than we are top to bottom. They were also playing as if their season depended on it as the ESPN commentators were saying it was their last real chance to get a signature win out of conference.
Some observations are that Manny reverted to some of his bad habits again in terms of not being in control while driving and refusing to give it up when he had open teammates. Deshawn must have been frustrated a few times when he was open but Manny decided to take it himself.
LLP made some huge shots but I’d like to see him lower his center of gravity when bringing the ball up the court. That’s part of “being strong” on the ball. He just seems to dribble a bit upright, floating on his toes. Quicker guards will be able to rip him for sure. Stu actually does a nice job of shielding the ball with his body by getting low.
The depth in the Big Ten is a blessing and a curse. With M probably hovering at 4-7 in the Conference, an injury or a string of bad showings in conference play could leave us in the same camp as Georgetown and Notre Dame last
year. But I trust Beilein to ensure that this doesn’t happen.
Totally agree w/KJay about Manny needing to give it up. There was one play late yesterday where he could’ve dished to Deshawn for an easy slam, but instead drew a foul (& missed at least 1 FT i think). But Manny should get a free pass from everyone.
@Nick,
I had the same thoughts about Minnesota watching their game last night. That’s an awfully good basketball team coached by a guy who’s been to the top of the mountain. They’re going to be very difficult to beat when they’re playing well.
Jim, the play you’re thinking of is our final offensive possession of regulation and Manny hit both FTs.
Mith, the thing about OSU is that Turner is going to kill them a couple of times when he just can’t get it going. That’s the problem with playing him at the point, when he’s off he can be a turnover factory.
Question: Zack Novak versus Mike Ditka…who wins?
I shared the thought about Manny needing to give it more, but somewhere he found 11 assists so maybe we’re missing something.
My worries center around Rebounding and Free Throws. We were terrible in both aspects. Zach Gibson looked intimidated in there and had the ball stolen from him a couple times on rebounds he should’ve had. But in the end, the W is all that matters. I still think Minnesota is worse than us but that will sort itself out later in the season. PS: Manny had 11 assists and a nice one to Novak in the corner for a 3. He would’ve driven all the way last year. U-M needs to remember Sims in the post when the outside shot isn’t falling.
I didn’t think Manny was taking particularly bad shots yesterday, he was just missing them.
Someone also mentioned the depth in B10 as a potential blessing or a curse. I think comparing to last year, the B10′s best teams are better but their worst are far worse. I think having 4 bad teams (compared to 1) will allow the rest of the conference to stock up on some more easy wins that weren’t as likely last year. Last year we didn’t have that sharp drop off after NCAA quality teams.
Well for some reason we aren’t the home team today… no idea why, especially since Marquette was away yesterday and we were home. We’re wearing the blue jerseys, Marquette wearing gold. Hope that’s not too confusing after yesterday when we wore maize and Creighton wore blue…
@ Other Matt
Harris is a threat to get triple doubles in any game, and Turner is a threat to get quadruple doubles in any game.
Michigan is going to have to be a lot more deliberate today. I don’t think they can get into a track meet with a bigger team like Marquette.
As far as Ohio State, they’re such a frustrating team to watch. Have you ever seen as big and athletic a team as that act like such a jumpshooting team?
@AG2,
The Pistons during the Flip Saunders years?
Here comes tip-off…Go Blue! I hope we can go more than 6 deep with meaningful minutes today.
LLP, that was horrible.
I thought you had to touch a player to be a foul but apparently that doesn;t apply to LLP on that break.
Marquette getting to the hole at will. Definitely need better defensive effort.
LLP definitely got him on that one…it was a good call.
I am getting increasingly worried about our defense. Too many easy baskets yesterday and today. Heck, against Houston Baptist too.
Why do we play Wright at all? He’s a sub par shooter from long range who always is looking for his shot? Bad bad start….
Marquette’s quickness is definitely a problem. Novak can’t stay in front of his man. With LLP putting himself on the bench for the rest of the first half, we desperately need Morris to suddenly play like an upperclassman. Who else can we try? Vogrich is unlikely – can Akunne play man to man defense?
let’s try guarding somebody and see if that works
Does anyone know how to watch espn 360 from a blackberry? It won’t allow the pop up screen on my blackberry so the video will not load.
Marquette will not keep up this shooting…65% fg, 60% from 3…we are giving them some easy looks. But not that easy.
here we go
The 1-3-1 with Vogrich on top is more effective than I expected.
If Manny ever gets his jump shot going, this team will be unstoppable. Without it, however, is another story.
can Manny stop with the fadeaway 3s already?
pgrom: I don’t think he can…he loved that shot last year too.
Could be worse I guess? Down 9 at the half. We can score the ball on these guys but have to figure out a way to get some stops.
Its like Marquette is battering them with NBA talent. I’m not sure if the domination in the paint will stop but the lights out from 3 has to if we’re going to have any chance. Marquette is playing 100% perfect basketball right now. Imagine if they still had and Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews.
And it sounds like half of Milwaukee is there watching, too.
As others have mentioned you gotta hope that Marquette’s shooting percentage comes back towards their average in the 2nd half. If not, the only way we have a chance is by forcing turnovers out of the 1-3-1.
Also surprised that there aren’t more comments about the officiating, at least here at the game it seems atrocious, although they did eventually even out the foul count.
tuff 1st half
i can’t beleive Wolves will let Marq
shoot that well in 2nd half
Can’t let them dive to the basket, have to help. I they score after the extra pass so be it, but we have to force the extra pass.
Um has given up way too much penetration in the last couple games. I think this team is really missing a c.j. lee right about now.
I think the 2-3 zone is our best bet against Marquette. They are too quick for us in man…and we aren’t prepared to defend a team this quick in the 1-3-1. Just my opinion…thoughts?
That’s the way to start the half, Manny. Best player on the floor, he’s gotta take it to them.
Watch out. Manny came to play today.
We got robbed on that foul call.
And there’s the run. We’ve got a game.
The starting five looks just that much quicker that they can contain Marquette. They’re not going to be able to play all 20 minutes, though.
The lack of rebounding is enfuriating
The defence so far in these 2 games just is not where it needs to be, that’s the main letdown so far.
They’ve gotta tighten it up at that end if they want to win this game.
That was one of the worst “ESPN” signs I have ever seen.
This game as over when Deshawn let Hayward go right around him for an easy rebound and put back and then LLP missed two free throws. Then they came right back and hit two FT of their own to go back up 7.
We need to give it to Manny every time until they figure out how to stop him. He gets fouled or scores every time.
Who just stood there instead of taking away that shovel pass under the hoop when the guy was being double teamed? That was awful.
Gordon, good point. They won’t be able to keep fouling him if they want to keep their best players on the floor. It’ll force Marq to double-down and should open up some open looks on the edges. Knock down a few shots from outside and UM will make a run.
That was awful by Stu.
GIBBBSONN
It’s Zack Gibson to the rescue – who predicted that?
Marquette is struggling with UM’s height. Why doesn’t Beilein put both Sims and Gibson on the floor together?
Can’t buy a three. Some aren’t the best looks but we are missing a lot of good looks too. Frustrating game.
I was about to say the same thing about the threes. I almost think we should put Vogrich out there and just see what happens…
This is soooooooooo aggravating! I just told my buddy, I kind of hope they lose so we can use it as a learning tool. We have to play with more intensity and urgency.
“Why doesn’t Beilein put both Sims and Gibson on the floor together?”
If they were both out there together, one of them would be covering a guard on defense.
I think we might be overrated right now. That’s not to say that we’re not going to be a top 20 team at the end of the season, but we’re just not there yet. The shooting and defense just aren’t where they need to be if we’re going to seriously contend in what looks like a top-heavy Big Ten.
Legs look dead, even yesterday they looked lethargic but they gutted it out. Early season rust, but I would expect more spark. I never thought I would say this, but Gibson is impressing me!
This is dissapointing I expected us to come out and play better. Manny struggled like usual this weekend and looking at this weekend I question if we deserve to be a #15 team…some days yes and somedays no. I’m maze and blue true but seeing this lose just frustrates me.
Two concerns: One-the defense continues to be suspect. I don’t believe every team has their best shooting day when they play us. Marquette got way to many easy looks. Two-somebody(Stu, Novack, LLP) has to hit an outside shot. There were a lot of good looks that have to be knocked down. On a positive note, it is only the 4th game of the year and coach B will get things straightend out. Now lets get one more W in FL.
Tough loss. Really got outworked again, the short rotation coupled with OT yesterday probably did put a big dent in their legs. Obviously I am not going to jump to conclusions on this team, its far too early.
However, I am somewhat concerned with our defense against dribble penetration. This is the third straight game we have allowed teams to get to the rim with ease. When last years team made their run at the tourney they did it on the strength of solid defense and making teams take difficult shots. This year we are giving up far too many layups.
Some of this may be early season rust and fatigue, but I have not seen the defensive intensity necessary for this team to make a run in the Big Ten. I think Sunday will be very telling in terms of how this team responds.
frustrating game…we give up way too many open looks, both from three point land and down low.
I really wonder if fatigue is a problem right now. A lot of those shots, and even one of Laval Lucas Perry’s free throws barely hit rim. Maybe its because they’re playing the top 6 too much, or maybe because they played two pretty athletic teams.
Neither Alabama nor FSU played very well last night, but they’re athletic, so they could present some matchup problems.
And last of all. I can only hope Len Elmore is never let anywhere within 100 miles of another Michigan game. The man is the Joe Morgan of College Basketball.
We are definitely not a top 15 team right now…not with the defense we have…the shooting in today’s game and the free throw shooting the last two games have been disappointing, but I am not worried about either of those things. We will shoot the ball well this year. But the defense is not good at all right now. Lets hope it gets better for a big win tomorrow. Go Blue!
Better luck next time. You guys are a joke.
The dribble penetration is a interesting point. As much as we disliked the play of Merritt and Lee, they were scrappy defenders. D Morris is the best defender on the 1 now, but he doesnt play in long stretches because of his offensive stroke. The backups arent nearly as laterally quick, and you can see it by PGs getting into the teeth of the D
I’m not enough of an expert to say if Michigan is doing something wrong in the 1-3-1, but Creighton and Marquette both figured out how to handle it pretty well. I really, really hope that it’s just a matter of Morris and Vogrich learning how to play defense at the college level, because Beilein can teach that; it’s hard to teach guys to be quicker. I fear there are a lot of teams on the schedule that we can not defend man-to-man.
Dylan I hope you can remove the troll comment.
The amount of time Stu was left out there drove me crazy. Not saying it would change the outcome, but he was ice cold today, and should’ve gotten about half the minutes he got. That’s my beef.
Agree that we looked a step slow today, although to be honest we weren’t necessarily full of energy yesterday either. Maybe some guys still aren’t in tip-top condition.
Gibson is giving us more than he did last season. I think we need to start using him and Sims at the same time on occasion. While I liked putting Sims back in at the 5:00 mark (or whatever), I hated to pull Gibson when he seemed to be feeling it. If we’re in zone, we should be able to get by with them both in the game.
We need to get more from Morris. He can get to the rim but isn’t finishing.
I think the number one thing that is fixable at this point is free throws. We started the game 6/10 from the line and we’re just not getting there enough. Marquette’s pressure was too much for us today but as the season continues that kind of pressure should be answered easily with penetration, getting to the line, or kicking it out for open shots.
#10 big east team beat #3 big ten team. Problem?
With the 3′s not falling I’m not sure why we didn’t try and get Sims the ball more down low. Stu looked horrid as did the 1-3-1. Really hope Vogrich can contribute down the road because we need that extra shooter. Certainly not deserving of a #15 ranking right now.
What’s frustrating is how stacked Michigan’s side of the bracket was in this tournament. Alabama, Baylor, and Iona are not very good, while Creighton is a MVC contender, Xavier is an A-10 power with NBA talent, and Marquette is clearly better than certain punks from Milwaukee trolling this board seem to believe.
“Manny struggled in this tournament as usual.” Wha-?
Manny put the team on his back. DeShawn was really struggling. He seemed like he was getting handled down low, and it pains me to say this, but I thik Gibson brought better minutes underneath today than DeShawn.
DeShawn’s rebounding was very suspect today, and all his points were away from the basket. He was unable to establish position, and he caught all his entry passes 10+ feet from the basket, and was unable to get in closer.
We need Peedi to be banging down low a little more, especially against a smaller team like this.
Anyway, look at the box score, Manny was the only thing we had going for us today.
Tough game. UofM can win if their 3s aren’t falling, or if they aren’t creating turnovers on defense…but today BOTH of those happened. That’s just a killer. You HAVE to make your 3s or create turnovers in this system.
Congrats to Marquette…they were faster, stronger and more aggressive for the entire 40 minutes.
My take on the tournament:
1. Morris needs to finish better. He has missed a LOT of really close layins. I thought finishing was supposed to be his strength, but he easily left 6 points on the board today by missed lay ins.
2. I know Douglass is a good defender and has length, but his offense has regressed. Up until his huge 3 on Thursday he really didn’t do much offensively, and today I thought he was a liability. He is good at feeding the entry pass from the top, but his shot has really gone away.
3. LLP. I don’t know why so many people on other sites are dogging on him…I think he’s the most improved player from last year. He did have a few mental break downs and stupid fouls…but I think he brings more offense than Stu or many others.
4. Novak. Man, I hope you find your 3 point shot. Rough day today.
5. Gibson. I called him a key to the game today and I thought he played really well when he was in there on both ends of the floor. I’d like to see more Sims. I also think we need to try more Sims/Gibson at the same time unless one gets into foul trouble.
6. We cannot play man to man. Marquette is talented, but we’ll face even tougher teams later. Our man defense needs a lot of work.
7. FREE THROWS!!! Ugh. That seemed like a strength of the team last year, and this year it’s merely average. We can’t close out games unless this improves.
8. Ant Wright. Sorry…I’m still a skeptic. I think he’s a liability. He got beat off the dribble a few times (who didn’t?) and as soon as he comes into the game, he starts chucking up jump shots. For a coach that values possessions, I can’t figure out why Beilein plays Ant so much because every possession feels like a waste to me when he’s shooting. I’d rather have Vogrich in the game. He may give up more on defense, but at least he’s on offensive threat. Yes, I’m being hard on Ant…I’ve just never really liked what he brings to the table.
9. We didn’t deserve to be #15. I think most people felt this way. We are probably more of a #20-25 team. I’m glad we got that monkey off our back and can now focus on being the underdog again.
so we will play either Alabama or florida state at 5 on Sunday>?
Erik I like your analysis but just to point out to you Novak is shooting very well this year (45% from three). He only took two shots today one of which was a three – if anything he should have shot it a little more. Douglas on the otherhand is struggling and probably getting too much time and at this rate probably should only be playing about 15 min a game. As much as I love michigan basketball we need to play much better defense if we want to look like a 25 team, which we are definitely not yet.
good point troll – the big east is probably better than any nba conference and makes the big 10 look like an elementary school girls intramural league. this proves once and for all how dominant the big east is they own the big ten. probably why two of your three overrated #1 seeds got knocked out by state last year. get a life.
marquette is good, they have a lot of juco talent.
it’s a long season, we have a long ways to go. this tournament will be a good thing for us. Sunday’s game is big for us, gotta get the W.
UM is an okay team right now, but to be a good team (in the top of 5 of Big Ten) they need to develop the following:
1. better defense against dribble drives
2. keep Sims in the block, he does not need to shoot beyond 15 feet
3. develop someone besides Harris to drive to the hoop and finsh or dish.
4. I recommend UM play Gibson more, we need rebounding and spark
5. Manny needs to develop patience, let the game come to him. He doesn’t have to do it all alone.
6. Quicker feet on defense.
Whew, that Marquette team was athletic! They had 3 or 4 guys that could drive the lane. We simply couldn’t keep up, especially man to man.
I like that we’re taking the mitts off DMo a little more and allowing him to drive the lane; he’s just got to finish. I counted 4 easy lay-ins that he missed. Hopefully this will improve, and having him and Manny be able to create for themselves will be an asset mid-season.
The biggest issue? I’d say interior D. While we showed flashes of defending well down low, Marquette broke the 1-3-1 with painful ease and regularity. That and free throws (wasn’t Manny basically 100% at this point last year?!). Also, when you’re shooting something like 3-18 from 3 on a Beilein team its tough to win the game. I think this is a great game to have 4th in the season because the things we can improve were glaringly apparent and fixable. Gotta hand to Marquette, they were the better team today.
Judging by the reactions the team didn’t play well. Get the kinks out early in the season. Live and die by the three pointer, sounds like they died. They’ll get it together.
If the score holds up, it looks like Michigan will face Alabama in the 3rd place game Sunday at 5 on ESPNU. Alabama is also pretty athletic, led by JaMychal Green, but they are somewhat more mistake prone. They’ve played two pretty ugly games, one against Baylor, one today against FSU where Green fouled out.
I think Michigan can get to 20 wins, especially with 8 games vs. Iowa, Indiana, Penn State, and Northwestern. But some better defense would be appreciated.
Erik,
How, after four games (two real games), can you say that Douglass’ offense has regressed?
He had a tough shooting night, big freaking deal. He was 2-7 on the night, missed all from downtown. Not the biggest deal in the world. Every game we’ll probably have one of the role players go through one of these nights. Usually someone else will pick up the slack, but that wasn’t really the case today.
Stu has shown why JB has trusted him more than Morris early on. Stu runs the offense, can bring the ball up the court in pressure, is a decent on-the-ball defender and most importantly won’t make freshmen mistakes.
Hopefully Darius’ game will continue to progress as he gets more experience.
How about some positives: LLP looks like an upperclassman out there. His poor FT shooting will cringe-worthy throughout the season, but if he can be the definitive third option, that will be huge for this team.
Also, Gibson continues to do well, though not insanely awesome, in limited minutes.
Thank you, Sparty. Feel free to leave at anytime, having shared your deep insights with your clever moniker.
Stu poo,you may be realistic, but your writing is atrocious. Yikes.
How does one type “extremely removed” instead of “much more dangerous” anyway?
LOL Mith. Very good question.
Hey what is the deal with Cronin…is this guy ever going to heal, play, or is he going to ride pine all season…What happens when a player is perpetually hurt/unplayable…Do scholarships ever get revoked? Just wondering.
Maybe he’s going stick with the “invisible 7-foot man” role.
Hey guys. Took out some of the trash. I’ve been away from the computer all day. Will have thoughts tonight hopefully.
Well what to do now with Sparty? That was some pretty epic fail tonight. On the other hand, big up to Northwestern for handling Notre Dame. I have a feeling Cheeseburger Charlie isn’t the only one who will be looking for a new job next season.
It was tough to decide who to root for in that Sparty game… as much as I want the nation to respect the Big Ten, I knew that a Sparty loss to an unranked team would dull the talk of our loss to an unranked team.
Its still early, too! Minnesota could easily lose to Portland. At this point, I feel like the Big Ten Title runs through West Lafayette. Purdue’s win over Tennessee in the Paradise Jam is second only to Syracuse over UNC for biggest win of the year so far.
Dang, Minnesota loses to Portland… watch for all the pundits tomorrow writing articles about how the Big Ten is failing to live up to expectations this year with 3 of the “top 4″ teams losing to unranked teams today…
Giddings my man,
today was bad for the big ten, but we still have early season wins over butler, tennessee, cal, gonzaga, notre dame, maryland, arizona, creighton, and a few others. Portland’s no slouch either.
i’m gonna go watch butler-ucla to lift my spirits. i recommend you kick back and watch it in that markley chair. ha. hopefully we can get the “W” on sunday.
Utah over Illinois in Las Vegas. Last second layup at the buzzer.
Yeah, wow…bad day for the big ten. Only Northwestern saved face for the conference.