By Dylan Burkhardt | 2009-2010 Season | Posted on January 8, 2010 at 2:58 am
I have criticized Laval Lucas-Perry several times on this blog. Calling him tentative, critiquing his ball handling ability, and wondering if he truly feels comfortable in the offense. Luckily, whenever I am convinced that he has lost it he comes up with a huge performance, seemingly out of nowhere.
For some reason when the situation looks dire, there is no one whose hands I would rather have the ball in than Laval Lucas-Perry. His shot disappears at times and he might have a couple turnovers or silly fouls, but he manages to make big shots when Michigan needs them most.
None of Laval’s career performances have come at Crisler Arena. In fact, a majority of his double digit scoring games have come away from home including the best and most memorable.
at Minnesota – 21 minutes, 19 points, 6-7 (3-4 3pt),
vs. Oakland (at The Palace) – 14 points, 4-5 (4-6 3pt),
vs. Creighton (at Disney Milk House) – 18 points, 5-11 ( 4-6 3pt)
at Penn State (‘10) – 31 minutes, 16 points, 6-10 (4-8 3pt), 5 rebounds, 2 assists
at Northwestern – 8 minutes, 10 points, 2-4 (1-2 3pt), 5-5 FT
Somehow, Laval’s best performances have come not only in games that Michigan needed to win but mostly in games they actually won. Michigan has won 4 true road games over the last two years under John Beilein. Laval Lucas-Perry is averaging 15.8 points per game and shooting 59% from the field in those four victories.
By Dylan Burkhardt | Uncategorized | Posted on January 7, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Basics
Who: Michigan (7-6) at Penn State (8-6) Where: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, PA When: Jan. 7th, 7 PM EST TV: ESPN2
Radio: MGoBlue, WWJ 950 AM/WTKA 1050 AM Line: Penn State by 2 Stats: Live TFS Opposition Blog: Battle Does it Again Pomeroy Profile
Michigan’s game at Penn State last year was as close as that team came to hitting rock bottom. The blowout loss capped a three game losing streak in the midst of a terrible January stretch that saw Michigan start the Big Ten season 4-6. Michigan allowed Penn State to shoot an effective field goal percentage of 67% in what could only be described as a pathetic performance. To put that number in perspective, the worst eFG% that Michigan’s suspect defense has allowed an opponent to shoot this year is 58%.
The good news for Michigan is that Penn State is in rebuilding mode. Jamelle Cornley, Stanley Pringle, and Danny Morrissey have moved on and their replacements aren’t nearly as good. David Jackson, Jeff Brooks, Andrew Jones III, and Chris Babb round out the starting lineup around junior star Talor Battle.
By Dylan Burkhardt | Uncategorized | Posted on January 6, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Before the season I predicted a Freshman All-Big Ten team which included Royce White, DJ Richardson, Christian Watford, Drew Crawford, and Maurice Creek. Since then, White has been arrested twice once and Maurice Creek suffered a season ending knee injury. Watford, Richardson and Crawford have all put together very solid freshmen campaigns thus far.
In an effort to look at freshmen across the conference, I pulled the data from Ken Pomeroy’s statistics to find all of the freshmen who have played over 35% of the minutes at their position. 16 players fit the bill and here are their basic tempo free stats sorted by usage% (number of possessions that a player users). Click any header to sort by that column. For explanations of the stats, read the player section here.
Name
Team
%Min
ORtg
%Poss
eFG%
OR%
DR%
FTR
Ast%
TO%
PPG
RPG
C. Watford
IU
63.7
97.6
25.7
44.1
6.4
17.2
53.1
5
19.2
12.9
5.8
B. Paul
ILL
56
105.8
24.3
47.6
6.9
5.1
31
13.8
15.2
10.4
2.4
M. Creek
IU
58.7
125.3
23.9
64.1
6.6
9.2
29
17.3
13.4
16.4
3.8
T. Frazier
PSU
54.5
97.5
23
45.3
3.6
11.6
54.7
27.3
25.5
7.1
2.9
E. May
IOWA
67.3
98.1
22.7
49
7.9
16.2
42.9
14.3
21.6
9.5
5.3
D. Elston
IU
39
105.1
20.7
55
12.1
16.4
24.3
7.4
18.1
6.7
4.2
C. Payne
IOWA
80.2
89.9
19.8
48.5
0.8
9.6
28.7
24.7
29.7
8.2
2.6
D. Crawford
NW
59.4
120
19.4
62
7.8
11.5
21.9
15.9
12.9
10.2
4
K. Barlow
PU
41.3
85.9
19.3
43.8
7.7
10.1
31.3
20.9
29.9
3.6
2.4
R. Williams
MINN
35.2
113.9
18.6
61.2
6.8
6.9
37.9
7.9
16.5
6.4
2.1
A. Marcotullio
NW
44.2
120.5
18.4
61.6
1
10.9
23.3
17.7
9.9
7.9
1.9
DJ Richardson
ILL
71.2
110.5
18.3
52.2
2.3
7.7
21.9
6.2
10.9
11
2.8
B. Cougill
IOWA
44.8
106.6
16.3
56
9.4
17.2
22.4
7.1
18.1
5
3.5
D. Morris
MI
56.2
86.6
15.9
48.1
1.9
8.1
30.2
18
30.9
4.7
1.9
J. Hulls
IU
46.2
125.2
12.1
54.5
3.5
8.6
36.2
18.2
15
4.8
2.2
There’s plenty to note here, so let’s try to break down this list into some groups. [click to continue…]
By Dylan Burkhardt | Links,Uncategorized | Posted on January 6, 2010 at 9:23 am
Gilchrist Injures Knee
2011 super recruit, and Michigan target, Mike Gilchrist injured his knee last night and was taken to the emergency room. Gilchrist, the number one player in the class of 2011, is still on the Michigan radar after a fall visit to Michigan and most recently Mike Jackson was in California checking out the St. Pats star.
Most likely to go winless
Will there be a winless team in the Big Ten? Pomeroy says there is a 3.2% chance for the Hawkeyes
By Dylan Burkhardt | 2009-2010 Season | Posted on January 5, 2010 at 3:22 pm
In a year where most expected Michigan to be deeper and more talented than a year ago, it’s becoming painfully apparent that the bench is one of Michigan’s biggest weaknesses.
Michigan’s bench is playing just 25.1% of the team’s minutes which is the 314th lowest percentage in the country with only Iowa and Northwestern having a worse total in the Big Ten. For comparison’s sake, Michigan got 35.6% of their minutes from their bench last year, the third highest percentage in the conference.
Beyond playing minutes, last year’s bench also scored more points. Last year’s bench scored 30.8% of Michigan’s points while this year’s team has only scored 19.4% of the team’s total.
There are also some logical reasons that last year’s bench would have scored more points, primarily the fact that DeShawn Sims came off the bench for 9 games, boosting the bench numbers by a few percentage ticks.
Still, looking down the roster it is clear that last year’s bench was better able to contribute.
In the backcourt there were five players (Douglass, Grady, Lee, Merritt, Lucas-Perry) for two positions.
On the wing, CJ Lee proved to be a valuable backup for Manny Harris because he didn’t miss a beat defensively.
At the four position, Anthony Wright and Jevohn Shepherd gave Michigan a pair of options to try in spot situations.
Down low, Michigan had the same situation with Sims and Gibson.
The plan was to replace Merritt, Lee, Grady, and Shepherd with Morris, Vogrich, Akunne, Morgan, McLimans, and Cronin. Since then, Morgan and McLimans appear headed for a redshirt and Cronin’s career is over. [click to continue…]
Dumars is a 6’5” wing guard who was a 2-star prospect before he committed to South Florida, averaging 10.2 points, 2.3 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while captaining Detroit Country Day’s team to a 19-1 record during his senior year. Dumars shot 36 percent from three point range and 96 percent from the free throw line.
Dumars will be eligible after Michigan’s Fall 2010 semester ends in mid December of next year.
