This may mean we don’t see him against Purdue. Which. . . cool. Purdue is not a must-win, anyway, and we need a healthy Caris.
Very true. If there’s any game against the top 4 B1G games that I’m ok with him missing I think at Purdue is at the top of my list. We always seem to struggle there even when they don’t have by far the best defense in the country, so I don’t know how much of a chance we have even with Levert.
There’s also a bye week over the weekend. Still find the whole cryptic thing very odd though. I guess the best case hope is that it is something small and they are just being careful given last year’s events and LeVert’s future.
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What a difference Caris makes for this team. When he is in everyone is better, his ability to create is special. Hope he is back for the Maryland game because he makes us a much better team. That Purdue game is way different with him playing
I don’t think last night would have been different at all. Michigan got worn down and would of been the same with Levert. It’s like a football team who commits to the run and punishing the defense. All of a sudden in the 4th quarter the score gets out of hand. Think Bama
It’s tricky with Levert. He is a good player and Michigan’s best player. Offense actually runs better with him not out there. He dribbles so much that he makes the ball “stick” and movement suffers. With that said he is a shot maker and gets away with it a lot.
Now you and I are two of only a few people who share this unpopular sentiment on leverts affect on the offense but I disagree on the out come being no different. First off there appeared to be a complete lack of leadership on the floor. The number one thing he could have brought.Things were scattered and disjointed. Although he over dribbles and the ball sticks it wouldn’t have mattered. The ball movement was terrible anyways or it moved, just to the wrong places. His ability to drive and finish/create off the dribble could have been huge considering everyone but maar was playing poorly.
He could have come up with tough baskets when we needed it. Or maybe he would have heated up to. A few times this year when we started rough or were ice cold ( Illinois) levert went one on one or made something happen off the bounce to carry us or get us out of a jam. He may have stopped a few runs or seized our chances or the momentum yesterday to. We were like 10-36 or something on twos. Many to the rim misses/ blocks and very few dimes dropped for bunnies, all things that levert excels at. It could have been him swinging the ball not Irvin and making the right reads. We needed a spark or someone to combine with maar and levert very well could have been that man. Just another threat who could have made our strengths supersede theirs.
Also he would be the best player on the floor yesterday.having the best player in a basketball game always gives you a chance and is worth something. Also I missed spike yesterday. The type of game his energy and playmaking/ handling would have been huge. Think the dakich boost with a lights out three ball an easy pass into the lane for kick outs,
At one point in the second half Purdue was shooting 69.2%. Levert wasn’t changing the fact Michigan couldn’t stop them
We were up at points in first half / or within a few baskets. If we seize control then who knows what happens later is all I’m saying. Kept getting it to six in second half but never got over the hump. Or maybe they never pull away late first half. Lots of variables. Just saying that yesterday his skill set and leadership was needed.
Defense was a concern, but I think there’s at least a chance LeVert changes that game for the better in the first 30 minutes. Even when Purdue was scoring every trip in the second half, Michigan had it down around 6. LeVert demanding Rapheal Davis’ attention certainly would have helped.
Either way, that’s probably the toughest game on Michigan’s schedule and I’m not sure they come out with a win.
When Caris comes back, I wonder if we see a dip in Walton’s minutes to give MAAR more touches. Presumably with Caris at the PG.
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MAAR deserves way more minutes. Slithers to the basket way better than Walton.
The Levert injury is a built in excuse fellas. Michigab wasn’t winning that game with or without him. Bad match up and bad recruiting on Michigan’s part to get that win.
Don’t think it is a ‘built in excuse’… Caris is an All-American caliber player that leads Michigan in points, rebounds and assists. Michigan probably isn’t winning that game, but that’s also a damn good team that’s one of the worst matchups for U-M in terms of an elite defense and some dominant big men.
Muhammad has been shooting it better of late which has boosted his confidence a bit. Will be curious what he can grow into next year and if he can take the next step as a creator for others.
At this point, Walton seems far more comfortable as a ‘two’ alongside Caris that defends opposing ones. Caris does the heavy lifting and creating and Walton is there to stick threes off of kick outs.
I don’t think LeVert’s injury is an “excuse” at all – he is legitimately injured and needs to take care of himself with so much on the line for his career after Michigan – but I sorta feel that that using Dakich is. For whatever his limitations as a distributor, MAAR is much more impactful as a primary ball-handler than Dakich – who can barely crack the box score – and the backcourt is not SO short-handed as to require using the end of the bench in a big game. MAAR basically replaced LeVert’s production last night, minus an assist or two. And he was efficient.
MAAR played 39 minutes. Irvin played 38 minutes.
Dakich played 8, mostly backing up Walton when he struggled. Dakich also gave them a lift with his energy at PSU. He did really well for about 3 minutes and then tried to do too much there in the first half.
It’s not like MAAR lost minutes to Dakich.
I’m starting to get that sinking feeling regarding LeVert’s injury. Useless to speculate, but the frequency of his problems to that same area is a huge red flag even IF he can come back. Seems like a lot of injuries to prominent B1G players this year.
I’m more suggesting that MAAR shift down to the PG spot for those stretches and some combination of Irvin/Dawkins/Robinson/Chatman shift downwards to fill positions 2-4 (alongside maybe using Wilson as a stretch four for a bit, since that, we are told, is his true position, and he seems to have the green light to launch threes). That is, IF Walton needs to sit at all.
Hypothetical: what if Walton picks up 2 fouls in the first five minutes of a game? Does Dakich play 15 minutes “out of necessity”? Any way you slice it, that would be a big mistake.
Caris is our leader in just about every category. Do we win that game with him? Who knows, but his absence makes a difference. For comparison’s sake, MSU, the #1 team at the time, lost at Iowa by a similar score, 83-70, without Valentine. They assisted on only 11 of their 27 baskets. A huge drop from their numbers with Valentine. Caris is also our assist leader, and, importantly v. Purdue, our best rebounder. His length on defense, particularly in the 1-3-1, also makes a difference. Caris forces Painter to put Davis on him instead of Robinson. I think that you may be trying too hard to bolster your narrative that big man recruiting is the problem. It certainly was a factor last night - bad match up. But Caris absence made a significant difference in the area where we would have an advantage.
So if/when we go 0-3 over these next 3 I’m looking forward to this “I expected to be 0-3 or 1-2 in this stretch” I just can’t accept this thinking for this program.
There is no narrative I’m trying to support its reality. We still lose with Levert and I don’t think it’s much closer than the final score was last night. We would of still been worn down.
In a situation like last night Irvin shouldn’t have played 38 minutes. He wasn’t effective in the least, he actually tried to do too much which is surprising for a veteran player.
How has Michigan’s O done against their best opponents this year? Seems like SMU, Xavier, UConn and now Purdue has given them huge issues.
You have an opinion, but you didn’t counter any of the points I made backed up with facts regarding the Purdue game.
Do you think MAAR goes for 24 points on 10-16 shooting with Levert playing? Certainly MAAR doesn’t play 39 mins if Levert plays.
Players not named MAAR shot 13-45 last night for 29%. They weren’t winning any game last night with Levert around, maybe it would have been closer but we have seen this team not being close against their best competition so just chalk it up to the way they’ve been this year.
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