After Michigan’s 90-80 victory over Oakland, John Beilein was pleased with how his team responded to adversity – from dealing with broken scoreboards to coming out strong in the second half. Watch video of Beilein’s comments in the embedded media player below or read the notes and quotes after the jump:
- Very impressed by Oakland.
- On the scoreboards, which weren’t working for most of the first half: “It’s very uncomfortable when you don’t know the score.” Kept asking people what the score was… happy with the way Michigan handled the adversity.
- Didn’t play “Michigan basketball” at the end of the first half, but happy with “how we played Michigan basketball in the second half.”
- On the end of a 4-year series with Oakland: “We made a 4-year commitment, and we did it, and it was great… Now you just gotta move on.” Seemed very hesitant to say anything too much about it.
- On 3-point shooting (team shot 54 %): “We knew we weren’t gonna be able to get to the rim, get some back doors, but we knew in particularly the two corner shots were gonna be open… We needed that, but we need to have a mix and attack the rim as well.”
- On Evan Smotrycz (20 points, 9 rebounds, just 2 fouls): “That was probably his best game since he’s been here.”
- Happy to see Douglass (13 points, 3 rebounds) play well. On Douglass’s dunk: “He has pretty good lift…but just score the two points. I’m happy he scored the two points.”
- The scoreboard issue was “distracting, but those are the things you gotta deal with.” Said there were times when he and the players had no idea what the score was.
- On Reggie Hamilton, who had 28 points: “It’s just tough to stay in front of him when you have a kid with that experience, that talent.”
- Very disappointed with “a couple of shots and some turnovers in the first half.” Something the team will have to continue to work on.
- On Hardaway, who had 18 points in the 2nd half: “I think he feels the game out, sees how they’re guarding him, gets more comfortable in the second half. We’re going to him regardless. He could go 0-for-7, and we’re going for him.”
- Not sure why the team shot so well. “I think once they start going in it may be a bit contagious.”
- Oakland has “Butler qualities with what they’re doing in their league.”
- Oakland forces you into playing a high speed, which Michigan is comfortable with as long as they limit the turnovers. “It really woke us up to what it means to play in a game like this, where you’re going up and down, up and down, if you don’t value your possession.”
- The key to Smotrycz staying out of foul trouble, like he did today, is to “play with your legs and not with your hands.”
- Novak gave a speech to the team at halftime. “He said listen, when we have two or three bad plays in a row, that’s where we have to be really consistent, use the shot clock, get a good shot.” Michigan didn’t do that at times in the first half but did for much of the second, which played a big factor in the victory.
