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Game 9: Eastern Michigan at Michigan Post Game

By Dylan Burkhardt | 2008-2009 Season | Posted on December 13, 2008 at 6:50 pm


After a rough first 9 minutes, Michigan regrouped and took care of business. This one was a tale of two halves, Eastern got out to an early 18-11 lead and Manny Harris went to the bench with 2 fouls when the Michigan “role players” stepped up. Everyone is calling for David Merrit and CJ Lee’s minutes to go to Laval Lucas-Perry but they at least gave Beilein something to think about today.

A couple of notes about the teams performance in general. The turnover percentage was phenomenal, Michigan turned it over on only 7.1% (5 out of 70) of their possessions and had 24 assists. Michigan also shot the ball very well, 52.2% (48.5% 3pt) for an eFG% of 64.2%. This is starting to look a lot more like patented “Beilein ball”, hold onto the ball and make 16 threes (school record!).

The only glaring flaw was the poor rebounding (also typical of Beilein ball). Eastern Michigan rebounded 37.2% of their missed shots and Michigan didn’t really get a body on anyone to box out all night. Jerry Dunn actually went with man to man almost exclusively in the 2nd half and scrapped the 1-3-1. I would assume this had to do with Eastern getting some easy looks coupled with the poor rebounding and going with something he’s more comfortable with.

Player Bullets:

  • Dave Merritt: Dave had a big first half and really stepped up when Michigan was down early. In the first half he made both of his three point attempts and also had 3 rebounds. Merritt finished the game with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal.
  • CJ Lee: CJ and Dave showed exactly why they are chosen as captains. CJ also hit a pair of three pointers in the first half when Manny went to the bench and Michigan was down. CJ isn’t the best shooter but those were just huge shots and he was ready when he was called on.
  • Manny Harris: Manny decided to put on a clinic in the second half. Manny was held to 2 points (and 3 assists) in 8 minutes in the first half after picking up his 2nd foul. In the second half he decided to show off his three point shooting, including a stretch where he hit two threes in a row and scored 11 straight Michigan points. Manny finished the game with 22 points in 23 minutes on 8-16 (4-7 3pt) shooting, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 TO.
  • Jevohn Shepherd: Shepherd is another guy who had a huge first half. In the first half Shep was 6-7 for 13 points. He didn’t get going in the second half but he wasn’t afraid to make plays in the first. Shep’s improvement is clear and he has established himself as the starting 4 on this team. Overall it just seems like the game has slowed down for Jevohn, as someone that has been a fan since he was a recruit I’m glad to see him playing well.
  • Kelvin Grady: Yet another guard who had a huge first half. Kelvin was letting them rain from long range with 3 three pointers in the first half. Kelvin added a layup in the second and finished with 11 points on 4-5 (3-4) shooting and had 3 assists and no turnovers. He looks far more comfortable and confident on the court and that’s going to pay dividends down the road.
  • DeShawn Sims: DeShawn looked to be on cruise control today. He scored 18 points but was only 7-17 (1-5 3pt) and really seemed to be settling for decent shots instead of getting inside.
  • Zack Gibson: Scored some points in garbage time but is really struggling with his confidence. Michigan is going to need him this year so hopefully he can get it together.
  • Eric Puls: He’s got the Beilein stroke! Great to see him get in there and make a three late.
  • Ben Cronin: Cronin not getting in the game pretty much seals his fate as a redshirt. I noticed Pat Beilein talking to Ben for a while during the last time out and it looked like he was explaining the situation to him. I also got an email that Beilein mentioned Cronin would redshirt at an alumni function before the Maryland game.
  • Others: Quiet day for the freshman, it was good to see Stu make a three but Novak never really got going. Anthony Wright didn’t get many minutes but didn’t force things either.

Overall Michigan took care of business and got the easy win. It was a little sloppy early but I think not having Beilein on the bench could be part of that. Hard to complain about a 31 point win no matter who it’s against. Hopefully Beilein can rest up and is ready to go next Saturday’s game at the Palace which should be the debut of Laval Lucas-Perry.

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Game 9: Eastern Michigan at Michigan Preview

By Dylan Burkhardt | 2008-2009 Season | Posted on December 12, 2008 at 3:11 pm

Update: The BTN Ticker is reporting that John Beilein will not be on the bench due to inner ear vertigo. Jerry Dunn will be the acting head coach. (Thanks to Giddings for the heads up)

Basics:
Who: EMU (2-6) at Michigan (6-2)
Where: Crisler Arena
When: 4:00 PM ET
TV: BTN
Preview: Stat Sheet
Radio: MGoBlue, WWJ-AM (950), WTKA-AM (1050)

Zack Novak

The Eagles will make the short bus trip into Ann Arbor to face a Michigan team coming off of one of their biggest wins in recent history. Eastern Michigan hasn’t beaten a division 1 team this year and their only wins have come against Marygrove College and Wayne State. Eastern’s best performance is probably a 1 point loss against an underwhelming Georgia team.

The leading scorers for the Eagles are Brandon Bowdry (14.4 ppg) and Justin Dobbins (11.4 ppg). Bowdry is a do-it-all forward who also averages 7 rebounds per game while Dobbins seems to stick to the paint. Freshman point guard L.J. Frazier (9.3 ppg) anchors things in the backcourt and averages 4.1 assists per game. Frazier is also the Eagles main deep threat, he is a 47% three point shooter and 16 of his 21 made field goals this year have been from long range. The other three point threats for EMU include Soloman Farris (8.8ppg – 45% 3pfg) and Zane Gay (6.3 ppg – 36% 3pfg).

As a team Eastern shoots the ball at an eFG% of 48.8, turns the ball over on 25% of their possessions, rebounds 33.3% of their missed shots, and has a free throw rate of 28.2. So in general they shoot a little worse than Michigan (51.2), turn the ball over a little more (19.7), get to the line a little less (31.5) and rebound about the same (32.9). They also tend to play just a bit faster than Michigan, averaging 66 possessions per game compared to Michigan’s 64.

Overall this is one of those games where Michigan just needs to take care of business. They have more talent than Eastern Michigan and need to control the tempo and set the tone early on in the game. For fans’ sake hopefully this game plays out a lot more like Norfolk State than Savannah State. Let’s hear your thoughts and predictions in the comments.

Zack Novak was profiled in the Free Press today:

That didn’t sit well with Zack Novak, now a freshman guard at Michigan. He had been one of the best players in northwest Indiana since his freshman season. Yet when the preview sections hit the newsstands, he didn’t make the preseason list of the area’s top-five players.

Novak’s reaction: “Oh, yeah? This guy is on that list? Well, I’ve got a little something for him.”

Both Zack and Stu have gone through very good stretches over the first couple games. I’m sure they will both hit a few rough patches in their first year of college basketball but it’s clear that they have a role on this team. Novak is averaging 6.6 ppg but is averaging 11.25 ppg and shooting 52.2% (12-23) on triples over the last four games. Novak has stepped up when Michigan has really needed a third option these last several games and it has paid off. For more on Novak the recruit, check out our interview from this summer.

Let’s hear your thoughts and predictions about Saturday’s game in the comments.

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Thursday News & Notes

By Dylan Burkhardt | 2008-2009 Season | Posted on December 11, 2008 at 3:11 pm

Michigan 63 – Notre Dame 59 (OT). Huge win for the womens hoops team last night as they knocked off #8 Notre Dame at home. For all your womens hoops info make sure to check out this blog. The team is 6-4 but they have played 4 top 15 teams and beaten two of them (Notre Dame and Vanderbilt).

Power Rankings. SI has U-M at #12 in their latest power rankings. They also mention this interview with John Beilein where he mentions that Michigan doesn’t deserved to be ranked. If he can continue to use this as a motivator I’m all for it.

“UFR” I’m still working on a UFR-type post for the Duke game. I have had a couple issues though and it will probably come out next week.

Mailbag. Start emailing me some questions, I want to have kind of a weekly question and answer posts.

Note: I upgraded to the new version of WordPress so let me know if you see any problems.

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Wednesday Links

By Dylan Burkhardt | Links | Posted on December 10, 2008 at 2:16 pm
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Recruiting Notes: Morgan, Vogrich, and Morgan

By Dylan Burkhardt | Recruits | Posted on December 10, 2008 at 9:25 am

I don’t know that I’m going to be able to post about recruiting once per week. I’ll stick to just a couple notables for today.

Jordan Morgan

Morgan got off to a bit of a rough start Monday night. U-D Jesuit blew out Detroit Community and Providence bound big man James Still but Morgan was ejected late in the third quarter.

Morgan received his first technical for disputing a call with an official. The second was called for hanging on the rim after a dunk. Morgan finished with eight points and six rebounds.

Not the best start for Jordan but it’s a long season.

Matt Vogrich

The Illinois guard had himself a great night in Lake Forest’s overtime loss to Warren. Vogrich was matched up with Illinois bound guard Brandon Paul. Vogrich scored 18 of Lake Forest’s first 20 points and assisted the other basket. Vogrich finished the night with 39 points and 9 rebounds. Vogrich had a shot to win it at the buzzer in regulation but his shot was long and he didn’t have enough in the tank to pull off the overtime win.

Moses Morgan

I forgot about Moses in my first recruiting update of the year, it looks like he is off to a solid start. Morgan had 21 points in a win over Coronado including 15 in the second half after being limited by fouls in the first.

Morgan also had 17 points in a win over Silverado on Monday night as well.

Morgan is definitely still a solid Michigan target and seems to be playing well. I’d imagine that John Beilein will try to get him back on campus in the near future.

Ray Lee

Freshman Ray Lee helped Robichaud to a win over Ann Arbor Pioneer last night. Lee had 14 points including a late three and a pair of free throws in front of John Beilein himself. Ray Lee was at several football games this year and Beilein is putting in the early leg work.

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Catching Up: News & Notes

By Dylan Burkhardt | 2008-2009 Season,Uncategorized | Posted on December 9, 2008 at 3:45 pm

Inside Michigan Basketball. Inside Michigan Basketball ’08-’09 debuts on the Big Ten Network at 10:30 PM Thursday night on the Big Ten Network. It will also re-air Friday at 3PM on BTN.

Ben Cronin. Per Angelique, Beilein plans to make some kind of decision on Ben Cronin around the Oakland game (last game he can play). I fully expect the red shirt but we’ll see. This will also be Laval Lucas-Perry’s debut.

The Big Ten. The Chicago Tribune says that the Big Ten has announced it’s presence to the nation. Right now the Big Ten seems like a conference where everyone could go 500. Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan, Minnesota, and Northwestern have all looked great thus far in non-conference play. The kicker is that the teams that were picked to finish on top, Michigan State, Purdue, and Wisconsin, aren’t in this group. Assuming they can find their form there is a huge group of contenders. There won’t be many easy wins in the Big Ten this year.

John Gasaway, The Former Big Ten Wonk, takes a look at the conference with a focus on Ohio State and Michigan.

Recognition. A lot of people have been grumbling about Michigan not getting enough recognition on the national stage. I’ve got no beef. They made a big jump in the polls and if they keep winning they will be top 25. Not only that but people across the country are talking about Michigan basketball. Rush the Court calls Beilein the Q1 Coach of Year and names Michigan as a surprise team. The Rivals power rankings have Manny Harris as the #3 shooting guard, John Beilein 13th, and DeShawn Sims 18th. DraftInfo calls DeShawn one of this weeks top three performers. Plenty of other national writers are giving Michigan props as well, Jay Bilas ($), Seth Davis, and Fran Fraschilla ($) are just a few.

Wallpaper.

Renovations. The word seems to be out there that some sort of basketball renovations will go before the regents this January. Go Blue Michigan Wolverine makes mention of it here:

Been told by several people that Martin is going to take plans to the regents, or at least float the idea of something being done for the practice facility, in January. I believe it takes the regents three to four meetings to pass it all, before any new ground will be broken.

I’m working on a piece about all things Crisler including the arena itself and the game day atmosphere. This will probably come in the next couple weeks.

What’s Next?

  • EMU coach Charles Ramsey was suspended 3 days for fighting with a student.
  • Michigan’s opponents for the next four games have a combined record of 9-25. Only Oakland has more than one win over a division 1 team. EMU has beat up on Wayne State and Marygrove and North Carolina Central is winless.

These should be four easy wins but I just can’t forget Savannah State (who lost 100-38 versus Georgetown last night). Luckily I don’t think that John Beilein and his players will forget Savannah State either.

More links:

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