I’m just a moron on the internet, and Wagner hasn’t shot well away from Crisler over his career, but if he can drag Bamba out to the perimeter, we take away their single greatest weapon (his interior defense).
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Hopefully it’ll be similar to Purdue vs M last year when Painter didn’t feel he could play Hammond and Haas at the same time. That will be fun to watch play out. Or… maybe Coach Beilein will be forced to play Wagner and Teske/Davis together.
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You know, it’s interesting: Mich opponents are shooting more than 5 percentage points better from 3 (37.8) than Mich is (32.7). Only twice in Beilein’s tenure has Mich shot worse than its opponents from 3: the two losing seasons.
The fact that U-M is 8-3 despite that shooting disparity demonstrates the importance of limiting opponents’ 3FG attempts. Back then, Mich was mediocre-to-bad at it; this year’s team remains quite good in that respect.
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Agreed. It’s been talked about a bunch, but when Donlon left, I was really worried they would revert back to previous defenses of giving up the three. Very happy to see Beilein and Yaklich continuing to emphasize and make that a priority.
Speaking of threes, I didn’t mention it above but I’m not worried about Bamba much tomorrow. The fact Michigan shoots so many threes and Moe is a threat outside should really mitigate his defensive presence. I’m sure we’ll see some blocks but he’s not much of a concern with the way Michigan plays. You can also add to the fact he doesn’t really have post moves yet, so Moe shouldn’t get beat one on one defensively. I still really feel it’s a matter of do they shoot their average tomorrow.
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Yeah, I could see this happening. I could also see him trying too hard to make it happen and letting us off the hook a bit with Osetkowski or Roach. Seems quite possible to have an effect one way or the other.
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IIRC, Davis really struggled last year in the game in Ann Arbor.
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That game was so ugly though. Basically everyone but Mack and DJ struggled last year. Moe wasn’t bad either it looks like.
It was an ugly game, but Davis has sort of regressed as his career has worn on. He’s become less efficient and he hasn’t developed as a playmaker or passer.
How are you guys feeling about our quick turn around and preparation?
Huge win Saturday. 2 1/2 days to rest, prepare, travel, play. Any concerns?
With the Texas injury I have a good feeling about tonight. I really feel good about this game. But, do wonder if any of the above is concerning.
This sure feels similar and like a better version of Ohio St. They came out blazing there on a shorter turnaround.
I’ll definitely be very curious to see if there’s any carryover from Saturday. I’m most curious about Z. Does he continue to play with confidence or does he revert back? (Don’t care if he misses every shot but does he take the open shots without hesitation like he did Saturday?)
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Won’t be surprised at a loss, especially since Texas has had a week’s rest. But if they go out and just play within the system and game plan, Michigan could surprise. Between the first half at OSU and Saturday’s come-from-behind win there should be a gathering awareness that the talent is there.
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Sometimes the opposite plays out; teams get used to playing 2 games a week and come out sluggish when getting a full week off.
We’ll find out in a few hours. But I find it tough to see Michigan win unless either Robinson or Poole heats up from 3-point range…if one of those has a 3-for-7 / 4-for-8 type of game from 3, the rest of Michigan’s offense opens up.
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I feel pretty good about this one and am not worried about the Sat-Tues turnaround. The team probably feels pretty good coming of UCLA and it can be advantageous to play soon after a game like that.
I don’t think Texas has the offensive chops to carve us up inside like N.C., they struggle to shoot from 3, Jones is injured, and they are much more efficient in transition, which we prevent. In other words, there’s a good chance they won’t score much. Keep 'em off the boards, avoid silly fouls (especially Matthews and Wagner) and have Wagner hit his first couple shots and things could go well.
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Hope you are right, and they are young dudes. But if you think about getting on a plane after UCLA, recovering, one-two days of practice against seven. . . won’t hold it against them if they’re weary. OTOH, we’re not yet deep into the season, and we’ve been playing a lot of guys. Okay (hope) you win. Judging by the reckoning at mgoblog this game could help ensure Michigan goes to the dance–they have lots of incentive.
Not sure where you’re getting those stats, but they’re wrong. We’re shooting 35% and the opposition is shooting 36%. Regardless, that’s still not nearly good enough for a team with weak rebounding, poor free throw shooting and mediocre defense.
Many sites take out D2 games from the statistics since they don’t count for anything. Those are the correct stats against division 1 teams.
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Thanks for pointing this out. Wolverheel is correct—the stats I cited (from Kenpom) don’t count Chaminade. Which is just as well, since it doesn’t count for RPI either.
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lol… indeed, posts from users at mgoblog related to basketball are rarely anything but chicken little commentary
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