Thoughts after rewatching U-M's 73-57 victory at Indiana ...
First off, this was “frustrating” for a 16-point win, which shows you how spoiled Michigan basketball fans are these days. As we wrote in the game column, Michigan brought its C+, B- game and won on talent. Senior point guard Mike Smith had a nice scoring game with 14 points, but his five turnovers were all atypical, lazy passes, and the Wolverines missed several opportunities to really put the game out of reach earlier.
There’s a difference between being up 11 or 12 compared to up 14 or 15, both psychologically for an opponent and, with the clock ticking in the second half, physically. U-M always seemed on the cusp of getting there, but they could never get over the hump until about 11 minutes remained and it was 59-42 on an Isaiah Livers putback dunk.
The worse sequence came at 10:40 of the first. Fifth-year senior center Austin Davis goes to the line after a flagrant one hook and hold, misses both, and then IU steals a lazy inbounds pass from senior Chaundee Brown and scores the other way.
Instead of a potential 10-point game, it’s four, and the Indiana bench is into it.
They were also short on their jumpers early. We thought they’d need some time to get in the groove with less than a 48-hour turnaround, and they did. Senior Eli Brooks was well short on his first triple, a wide-open look from the corner he’ll usually bury. Brown was short all day.
Not Franz Wagner, though. The sophomore is showing why he’s a top-15 or top-20 pick now and has elevated his offensive game. He is playing with insane confidence right now. He was the reason U-M was up early and matched IU's intensity.
But even Wagner was ducking under screens early rather than fighting through them. IU is not a good shooting team, but the Hoosiers got out to an early lead when Wagner and Smith chose to go under rather than fight through, leading to a couple of early triples.
That’s where the Wagner criticism ends. He’s become an unbelievable all-around player, and guys can’t even rest on the rare occasion they do get around him because he’ll erase them at the rim with his length (which he did again once Saturday). He’s starting to get that “get off my court” look when he’s got it going like his brother, Moe, used to.
Confidence.
A lot of frosh Center Hunter Dickinson’s posts started well past the block in this one, and he kind of settled in that respect. He’s much better, as many are (especially his size) when he can get it and finish it rather than backing down and making a few moves, something Luka Garza has mastered.
He’s also rushing a few putbacks now he’d normally make. Still, he was a force on both ends. His presence alone opened it up for the shooters in the second half.
Khristian Lander of all people helped keep Indiana in the game with a few long ones he wouldn’t normally make. The former Michigan recruit was considered one of the top ’21 targets and grew up a Michigan fan, but he reclassified and plays 9.8 minutes per game for the Hoosiers.
That rarely works out for these kids. Derryck Thornton Jr., another former Michigan recruit, to Duke, etc. … they should be a cautionary tale. It’s not as easy or as sexy as it sounds. Lander’s long three that made at 5:34 of the first half was his first bucket that wasn’t a free throw since Feb. 7, when he went 1-for-6.
Trayce-Jackson Davis will be first-team All-Big Ten, but he sure missed a lot of easy ones. This could have been a single-digit game much of the way if he would have finished. Dickinson had something to do with a lot of them, and he’s intimidating, but Jackson-Davis missed a lot he should have made.
Still can’t believe how many open looks Isaiah Livers got. Leaving him like that is almost — not quite, but almost — like leaving Glen Rice alone outside the arc. It’s money. This was the difference in a relatively tight game and a comfortable margin in the second half (again, even though Michigan could never really put it away until late). His three straight triples to start the second half … well, IU coach Archie Miller should be ashamed.
Bad things still happen a lot when he puts the ball on the floor to try to get to the rim, but that’s okay (as long as he doesn’t force too many). He’s become an outstanding two-way player. He took it personally when Race Thompson posted him for IU’s first two points of the game, and nobody got that low on him again.
Brandon Johns … there aren’t many guys I’d rather see succeed than the junior forward, and he’s got the skills. He just doesn’t have the confidence. He plays his butt off, but if he played to succeed rather than worrying so much about making mistakes, he’d be a really good player.
Unfortunately, the mental part is not something that’s easy to fix.
Fifth-year senior Austin Davis … you love the effort, and they’re lucky to have him (though you wonder how much better this team would be, even, with Colin Castleton as your backup five. He’s averaging 13 a game at Florida). That said — Davis is such a smart guy, but he’s often still a half-second slow processing the game on defense. Wagner had to tell him once not to help when it wasn’t necessary.
None of the bench players was in the black in plus-minus Saturday. Brown usually is, but he wasn’t on his game — short on his jumper and a half step slow despite not playing all that many minutes against Iowa.
He still came up with a huge triple after IU cut the lead to 13 at 8:43 of the second half.
Other thoughts:
• For all the bad turnovers, Smith still had some huge triples in the first half to keep U-M a length ahead, including one at 22-21 with 8:30 remaining. Howard told him to hunt his shot at times — that they still needed his offense on occasion — and he’s responded.
Again, you often don’t know what you’re getting with these smaller school transfers, how their games will translate (Jaaron Simmons). This one couldn’t have gone better. You still worry about a team with bigger guards trying to post him up (bet Tom Izzo tries this week), but he’s come so far defensively, too.
• The difference between Juwan Howard on the sidelines from year one to year two is stunning. He was somewhat stoic on the bench last year. This year he’s always calling his guys over and teaching, working the officials. He’s got the “swag” on the sidelines, and if he was somewhat unsure of himself in year one while he was breaking in, he’s not anymore.
He is an intimidating presence on the sideline. I think that’s underrated.
• How Wagner’s and-one in the first half wasn’t an and-one … good Lord. That’s about three that haven’t gone U-M’s way in the last few games.
That said — I thought Michigan got a friendly whistle, a lot of ticky-tack fouls. Don’t expect that to be the case in any of the three games next week. Those will be physical wars.
Saying that, this is not a “soft” team, and that’s a game Michgian can play, too, and one Howard might even relish. As long as there are no cheap shots (MSU vs. Ayo Dosunmu), it should be entertaining … as long as it doesn’t get out of hand and one team doesn’t get away with playing “goon ball" that keeps them in it.
Tom Izzo apologized publicly for the Dosunmu incident, but do you think he really meant it? Illinois fans certainly don't, and the Izz probably loved it. But there's a game to play before then, obviously, and it's a huge one. If the Wolverines beat the Illini Tuesday night in Ann Arbor, they will cut the nets (literally).
Onward.
First off, this was “frustrating” for a 16-point win, which shows you how spoiled Michigan basketball fans are these days. As we wrote in the game column, Michigan brought its C+, B- game and won on talent. Senior point guard Mike Smith had a nice scoring game with 14 points, but his five turnovers were all atypical, lazy passes, and the Wolverines missed several opportunities to really put the game out of reach earlier.
There’s a difference between being up 11 or 12 compared to up 14 or 15, both psychologically for an opponent and, with the clock ticking in the second half, physically. U-M always seemed on the cusp of getting there, but they could never get over the hump until about 11 minutes remained and it was 59-42 on an Isaiah Livers putback dunk.
The worse sequence came at 10:40 of the first. Fifth-year senior center Austin Davis goes to the line after a flagrant one hook and hold, misses both, and then IU steals a lazy inbounds pass from senior Chaundee Brown and scores the other way.
Instead of a potential 10-point game, it’s four, and the Indiana bench is into it.
They were also short on their jumpers early. We thought they’d need some time to get in the groove with less than a 48-hour turnaround, and they did. Senior Eli Brooks was well short on his first triple, a wide-open look from the corner he’ll usually bury. Brown was short all day.
Not Franz Wagner, though. The sophomore is showing why he’s a top-15 or top-20 pick now and has elevated his offensive game. He is playing with insane confidence right now. He was the reason U-M was up early and matched IU's intensity.
But even Wagner was ducking under screens early rather than fighting through them. IU is not a good shooting team, but the Hoosiers got out to an early lead when Wagner and Smith chose to go under rather than fight through, leading to a couple of early triples.
That’s where the Wagner criticism ends. He’s become an unbelievable all-around player, and guys can’t even rest on the rare occasion they do get around him because he’ll erase them at the rim with his length (which he did again once Saturday). He’s starting to get that “get off my court” look when he’s got it going like his brother, Moe, used to.
Confidence.
A lot of frosh Center Hunter Dickinson’s posts started well past the block in this one, and he kind of settled in that respect. He’s much better, as many are (especially his size) when he can get it and finish it rather than backing down and making a few moves, something Luka Garza has mastered.
He’s also rushing a few putbacks now he’d normally make. Still, he was a force on both ends. His presence alone opened it up for the shooters in the second half.
Khristian Lander of all people helped keep Indiana in the game with a few long ones he wouldn’t normally make. The former Michigan recruit was considered one of the top ’21 targets and grew up a Michigan fan, but he reclassified and plays 9.8 minutes per game for the Hoosiers.
That rarely works out for these kids. Derryck Thornton Jr., another former Michigan recruit, to Duke, etc. … they should be a cautionary tale. It’s not as easy or as sexy as it sounds. Lander’s long three that made at 5:34 of the first half was his first bucket that wasn’t a free throw since Feb. 7, when he went 1-for-6.
Trayce-Jackson Davis will be first-team All-Big Ten, but he sure missed a lot of easy ones. This could have been a single-digit game much of the way if he would have finished. Dickinson had something to do with a lot of them, and he’s intimidating, but Jackson-Davis missed a lot he should have made.
Still can’t believe how many open looks Isaiah Livers got. Leaving him like that is almost — not quite, but almost — like leaving Glen Rice alone outside the arc. It’s money. This was the difference in a relatively tight game and a comfortable margin in the second half (again, even though Michigan could never really put it away until late). His three straight triples to start the second half … well, IU coach Archie Miller should be ashamed.
Bad things still happen a lot when he puts the ball on the floor to try to get to the rim, but that’s okay (as long as he doesn’t force too many). He’s become an outstanding two-way player. He took it personally when Race Thompson posted him for IU’s first two points of the game, and nobody got that low on him again.
Brandon Johns … there aren’t many guys I’d rather see succeed than the junior forward, and he’s got the skills. He just doesn’t have the confidence. He plays his butt off, but if he played to succeed rather than worrying so much about making mistakes, he’d be a really good player.
Unfortunately, the mental part is not something that’s easy to fix.
Fifth-year senior Austin Davis … you love the effort, and they’re lucky to have him (though you wonder how much better this team would be, even, with Colin Castleton as your backup five. He’s averaging 13 a game at Florida). That said — Davis is such a smart guy, but he’s often still a half-second slow processing the game on defense. Wagner had to tell him once not to help when it wasn’t necessary.
None of the bench players was in the black in plus-minus Saturday. Brown usually is, but he wasn’t on his game — short on his jumper and a half step slow despite not playing all that many minutes against Iowa.
He still came up with a huge triple after IU cut the lead to 13 at 8:43 of the second half.
Other thoughts:
• For all the bad turnovers, Smith still had some huge triples in the first half to keep U-M a length ahead, including one at 22-21 with 8:30 remaining. Howard told him to hunt his shot at times — that they still needed his offense on occasion — and he’s responded.
Again, you often don’t know what you’re getting with these smaller school transfers, how their games will translate (Jaaron Simmons). This one couldn’t have gone better. You still worry about a team with bigger guards trying to post him up (bet Tom Izzo tries this week), but he’s come so far defensively, too.
• The difference between Juwan Howard on the sidelines from year one to year two is stunning. He was somewhat stoic on the bench last year. This year he’s always calling his guys over and teaching, working the officials. He’s got the “swag” on the sidelines, and if he was somewhat unsure of himself in year one while he was breaking in, he’s not anymore.
He is an intimidating presence on the sideline. I think that’s underrated.
• How Wagner’s and-one in the first half wasn’t an and-one … good Lord. That’s about three that haven’t gone U-M’s way in the last few games.
That said — I thought Michigan got a friendly whistle, a lot of ticky-tack fouls. Don’t expect that to be the case in any of the three games next week. Those will be physical wars.
Saying that, this is not a “soft” team, and that’s a game Michgian can play, too, and one Howard might even relish. As long as there are no cheap shots (MSU vs. Ayo Dosunmu), it should be entertaining … as long as it doesn’t get out of hand and one team doesn’t get away with playing “goon ball" that keeps them in it.
Tom Izzo apologized publicly for the Dosunmu incident, but do you think he really meant it? Illinois fans certainly don't, and the Izz probably loved it. But there's a game to play before then, obviously, and it's a huge one. If the Wolverines beat the Illini Tuesday night in Ann Arbor, they will cut the nets (literally).
Onward.
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