Not sure how I feel. Really feel like their not much better than us. In the first half ucla hit a lot of ridiculous shots. They couldn’t replicate that. We shot well but they were good looks. We got good shots and hit them. I felt like if we played those shots again we could hit them again because many were open.
The refs really were dirty in the first half, Wagner gets more iffy/ phantom calls of day player I’ve ever seen. Three of those were not fouls. They totAlly took him out of the game which is a shame cause he started hot. They took him out of the game. I don’t think ucla could guard him. I’m not sure anyone can guard him in college actually, I think Wagner is that good.
Donnall has solid offense too. I’d like to see him on more pick and pops/ face offs. Other positives was that maar woke up. He needs to play aggressive like that every gAme and attAck the rim. He’s tough to stop on the drive plus it leads to nice put backs of we crash. Duncan is getting better,
Irvin played well at times but again took bad shots in critical moments while the gAme was close. He needs to really concentrate on driving as he is good at it or shooting jumpers when open.
Walton was meh again. Still even he showed he can drive. I’d like him to drive more and try and get to the line/ get lay ins. We need to cut too so he can threaten the pass.
Although we got blown out late I really think this team could still be very good. The tAlent is there. Also we gave up a lot of sloppy second chance rebounds and loose balls just off being clumsy and letting the ball bobble around. Shouldn’t have happened. Should have been up ten at half really.
Transition might actually work for this team. UCLA has most talent in the country in my opinion. 50 in the first half was incredible. Proud of these guys.
But our offense was still scoring through sets usually. The talent is there. We need to keep spreading the rock. Once we drop its the zach Derrick show and Duncan, maar,dj, more and mark all go for theirs it makes us very tough to guard. Keep swinging and find the open man. Cut hard and run good aggressive offense and this teams offense can be very good. Everyone can shoot. Hell everyone can really score. Move the ball play smart and don’t settle and be aggressive and we will be a problem in March. Particularly feed moe. Refs robbed him today.
So if the stats I just saw were correct were averaging roughly 54-55 shots a game. Ideally wed play a bit faster at say 58 a game.id love to see a shot distribution of
wagner 12
Irvin 10
Walton 8
Maar 8
Duncan 8
Donnal 6
Dj 6
Spread it round. Damage them as a unit with that
Balance. All the guys have proven they can hurt you
UCLA has at least three lottery picks on that team (maybe not all this year), and Ball has a legit argument to go #1 in what will be one of the best drafts in a decade. I never thought I’d be one to be happy after giving up 102 points, but honestly I’m really proud of how we showed in a tough environment against an exceptional team that was shooting out of their minds. My only real beef was the poor start to both halves and the poor close to the first half which seems like a common trend, but I’m 10X happier after losing that game by 18 than I was after blowing that TX lead at home and scraping the win. Showed a different gear we can hopefully get to more often.
If they can ever string together the flow of that offense in the first half with some of the consistent, focused defense we saw in NY, we could surprise some people in B1G.
UCLA is the best team I’ve seen this year. That offense is going to be hard for anyone to stop. They put up 97 against a good defensive team in UK. They kind of remind me of 2012/2013 Indiana.
This was a house money game. We played well, but UCLA is just incredibly difficult to beat right now.
Our guys just need to continue to grind and go forward. Keep growing and find the consistency on offense and defense.
Battled a team that will be in the Top 5/Top 10 all year. I think this team needs to go home saying, look we can do this, and we have to be focused and be urgent. Carry the mindset that we have this gear and its attainable.
This will be used as a springboard going forward and I am excited to see the growth, maturation, and success from it.
Shooting 50 % you will beat most teams, that has to continue…62 minutes shared between Moe, Mark and DJ and only 4 rebounds…I hope I never see that again. What happens to this team after half time? Is it tired legs? UCLA did a better job defending the three in the 2nd half…we made no adjustments, in fact, our defense was worse.
Do you think Balls shooting will translate to the next level? That shot form reminds me of a 5 year old kid trying to chuck up 3’s. I don’t think he has any mid range game at all with that shot in the league and not sure he would be able to get it off quick enough to shoot over people since his release is so low. Kids a good talent just didn’t see an instant impact guy scoring wise with him. Think it might take some time. What are your thoughts?
Michigan’s shooting was incredible in the first half, but their total reliance on the three was exposed after half-time. It seemed every time they tried to score at the rim (Duncan, Walton, Irvin), they were blocked badly – proof of why explosiveness and verticality matters. I agreed with Dan Dakich that they don’t cut hard and for long stretches don’t even consider going inside. Was glad to see that they could handle the fast pace but if they don’t hit the three at a surreal level, this would have been an extreme beatdown.
Also, it’s pretty clear that X is going to take more time than we thought. Hope his game translates to this level/system.
“We just kind of ran out of gas in the second half defensively,” U-M forward D.J. Wilson said. “We couldn’t really stay in front of our man for some reason, pretty much everybody.”
I actually thought X showed excellent quickness and good ball-handling, though he did turn it over when he got too deep in the paint that one time. I think once he adapts he’ll be a better penetrator than Walton.
These are my general thoughts on the game reposted from elsewhere:
Both teams shot about 15-16% above their average from 3, so that is being overrated as the factor that determined the game. Both teams were way above their average shooting wise, but they both were by about the same amount. Michigan just happens to be a much worse shooting team. Michigan was never gonna beat UCLA based on their 3 point shooting. If they were gonna win, they needed to take advantage of Wagner/Wilson’s talent and win in the paint on both sides. Instead they got destroyed inside as well. Check the shot chart… UCLA had way more buckets inside and pretty much never missed once they got inside. And Michigan only had about 10 baskets inside all game. UCLA out rebounded us by a decent margin as well, and got to the free throw line way more frequently.
If both teams shoot normally, this is still ends up a 20 point L that people are complaining about, but just because both teams shot threes better than usual people are ignoring the rest of the game.
After this, Michigan still is what I thought they were. Bubble team right now.
Not super down (because it’s what I expected), but I don’t think this game is a shining beacon of hope like some have tried to spin it as.
I’m not necessarily qualified to assess shot mechanics translating or not, but what I would say is that 1) he’s 6’6, 2) he just turned 19, 3) he has the poise of a 5y NBA vet. My presumption and what I would assume of NBA teams is that there will always be something that needs to be addressed even with top picks, and that may he his focus area but others have both been effective not shooting well (JKidd his eternal comp) or drastically improving their shooting from mid-range and out once in the league (like DRose)
I watched Lebron’s first nba game which was preseason game against the Pistons in 03, and watching Ball up close yesterday reminded me of that game b/c he just had the same comfort and almost anticipation/decision making on his passes at that age. Extrapolate that 3-4y when he is 23, stronger, 6’6+, has had time to develop a shot/defense, and understands how to use his size/leverage effectively and I think he will be an impact NBA player even if his shot only ever gets to average. Maybe Fultz/Jackson/Tatum/Giles give him a run for #1 pick, but i’d be shocked if he fell out of the top 5.
It’s hard to filter assessment through a loss of that magnitude–let alone see the positives–but that game could bode really well for the rest of the season. I think Walton may be right that they need(ed) to play with a little more joyful abandon. Beilein’s best teams have really had fun out there, and communicated it to onlookers.
I thought Dakich was spot on with the lack of motion killing the offense. Multiple culprits on bad possessions. Wish we’d play x more each half to give guys energy to defend and move.