Pax Juwanica
1/22/2021 – Michigan 70, Purdue 53 – 13-1, 8-1 Big Ten
Hey, remember that from 10,000 years ago? Really something, that game that happened in the immediate aftermath of a positive COVID test from Sasha Stefanovic. That decision was then rendered moot by a department-wide shutdown because apparently nobody at any level of government has enough sense to quarantine someone coming back from the place where the scary new COVID variant originated.
But anyway: Michigan rolled into Mackey, jumped out to a double digit lead, and never looked back. Without Stefanovic a bunch of usage fell on Jaden Ivey, who cannot shoot but enjoys it nonetheless. Michigan forced Trevion Williams into a 6/19 shooting night by turning his usual reliably okay shots into reliably terrible ones. Purdue never got it back to single digits after Michigan went up 25-14.
Just another day in the Pax Juwanica. Michigan doesn't seem fully put together just yet—there's a lot of balls booted out of bounds and the talent level on the roster is good but not overwhelming. And they just roll onto the home courts of NCAA tournament teams and casually batter them into dust. This one does come with an asterisk since Stefanovic is shockingly impactful for a guy with 15% usage…
cupcakes excised
…but it didn't feel like one gunner zipping around the court was going to change much about the shape of this game.
Onward, with a title in the crosshairs… ah right. That.
[After THE JUMP: doubling gets dodgy]
BULLETS
I mean okay keep doing that I guess. The doubling will continue until morale improves.
Dickinson did have six turnovers in this game but they weren't from post doubling. He had two moving screens, the eurostep travel-type-substance, and a couple that happened on attempted post ups before a double arrived.
It is not a coincidence that as soon as everyone started doubling Dickinson's face off Michigan's three-point shooting went nuts—with the notable exception of the Minnesota game. M went 9/16 against Wisconsin, 12/24 against Maryland, and 6/15 against Purdue. They're up to 39% in conference play, which is a half point behind Iowa for first.
One foul and three minutes short. This was a game for Austin Davis and Austin Davis was Austin Davis in it, hitting 3/6 from the floor and walling up against Williams effectively. He also picked up four fouls in seven minutes, which was fine. Williams ended up going 2/4 from the line, and the shots he got up against Davis weren't much better than the ones he got up against Dickinson:
Other guys in the Williams vein should get a dose of Davis.
Also the other two guys. Michigan played Brandon Johns and Terrance Williams (briefly) at center, which also went fine. Johns was mostly against Edey and Edey did almost no damage against him. Edey's only bucket was off a confused switch that saw first Brown then Livers end up on him.
Meanwhile Johns set up Livers for a catch and shoot 3 and chipped in a few points, including a bonafide finish through Trevion Williams:
Ace keeps banging the drum about Johns as a defender at the 5 and he's not wrong; if he can just chip in like he did in this game instead of contributing to the turnover issues he's going to be super valuable in games that are not Austin Davis games. Rotation permitting.
Some missed shots but no big deal. Franz missed this and had a couple other shots at the rim that didn't go down, so his day wasn't particularly efficient, but whatever these are going to fall:
He also had five assists; he's creeping up on Eli Brooks for second place on the team.
He's in fact just a tenth of a point behind him. His usual output of blocks and steals has seen him creep into the top ten at both in conference play (9th and 6th, respectively). Also his TO rate in conference play is 8.6. His usage is relatively low but that's because of the TO rate; he's getting up 22% of Michigan shots when he's on the floor.
Oh right. The last post didn't mention Isaiah Livers, Michigan's leading scorer in that game. This post almost concluded without mentioning Livers after a Kenpom MVP double-double where he put up 22 points on 17 shot equivalents. Livers has moved that midrange back-down jumper into the good shot category—has he missed it this year—and was judicious in his forays into the lane, picking up three assists to one turnover.
We noted that his TO rate had just about doubled; he's bringing that back down with a total of 1 TO in the last two performances. This one was more impressive because against Maryland he only took 3 twos. Nine in this game.
[Campredon]
For the first time this year: a ref complaining section. I mentioned on the podcast that I'm generally happy with the state of college basketball officiating. There are still some baffling calls, as there always will be, but verticality plus a new militancy against flopping has really improved the game. (Reviews, on the other hand, have not.)
This was the first game where I got really frustrated with the officials this season. I thought this sequence was fairly emblematic. You've got Zach Edey moving forward on his contest of Dickinson without a call immediately followed by contact to Eli Brooks's chest being called a blocking foul:
Then you've got the aforementioned eurostep "travel," Zach Edey crushing Eli Brooks into the ground as Brooks boxed him out, an incredibly bad block call on Livers, etc. Brooks was right when he repeatedly told Paul Szelc that "you're supposed to protect me."
January 25th, 2021 at 4:33 PM ^
Ain't it great to have sooooo many things to grin about.
January 25th, 2021 at 4:41 PM ^
Reffing: Not to mention the foul called on Austin when he was boxing out Edney and Edney went over the back of him. Absolutely terrible.
January 25th, 2021 at 6:01 PM ^
Reminds me of when a friend got whistled for the same kind of foul and got T'd up when he asked the ref "what was the foul, over the front?"
(We were in 8th grade)
January 25th, 2021 at 7:30 PM ^
that’s a great line.
January 26th, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
That's worth the technical for a vicious burn like that
January 25th, 2021 at 6:25 PM ^
It's Edey, although now I'm picturing Austin Davis boxing out Tyus Edney of UCLA coast-to-coast fame.
And I just rewatched that clip and holy moly do those Missouri jerseys look like copies of the late 80's Michigan unis (although I think we only had white and blue back then?). I did a double-take b/c I was confused at seeing Michigan players by the bench. If the 89 and Fab Five uniforms had a baby, it would look like the Mizzou uni from that era.
Michigan unis from 89:
Mizzou unis from 95:
January 25th, 2021 at 6:36 PM ^
You're right, I got the two mixed up in my mind despite there being a three feet height difference between the two of them.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:46 PM ^
"Yeah Baby"
January 25th, 2021 at 4:42 PM ^
I've traveled to the UK twice in the last 3 months and traveling anywhere has never been easier. Never was asked if I was "essential", if I was going to quarantine, if I quarantined, if I had symptoms, where I was going, etc. On one of the trips, the only level of customs check was scanning my passport at a kiosk returning home. Fun times. Not to mention I shared a 787 jet with like 19 other people.
January 25th, 2021 at 5:37 PM ^
Not that I'd go the UK in the winter, but I wish I knew which countries have travel bans and which have "travel bans".
I like to travel, but relying on 3rd world bureaucracies for your vacation going off without a hitch is not my comfort zone. Knowing ahead of time they don't care would be helpful.
All 3 of the U.S. vacations we've taken since the Covid have been great without all the people around.
January 25th, 2021 at 5:52 PM ^
Now that England is officially the third-world country it turned half of the rest of the world into, one will need to exercise more caution in visiting. There was a spate of stabbings in London while my wife and daughter were there last year that had them very fearful.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:18 PM ^
Somehow you seem pleased about this. This is exactly how this issue explodes exponentially and persists perpetually.
We have very good friends in Laos whom we visited in late Oct/early Nov of 2018...so just before it all hit the fan. They came back to the states this summer for a visit and quarantined for two weeks each-on both ends. Last week they reported that there had just been two new cases reported there. We chuckled back at them "Oh wow!!! TWO!!!". "First" and "Third" have been flip-flopped-we're pitiful.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:33 PM ^
There are countries who have locked this virus out, no argument. I don't know how much you read international news, but the methods these countries tend to use to get those results make the most extreme measures here look like Sunday school.
I understand it's possible. I also don't delude myself into believing our country and our people would tolerate what it takes under any circumstances. It's just not how we are wired. Like it or not.
And it's not the rednecks and hillbillies jamming up the shopping malls when I drive by every weekend either.
January 25th, 2021 at 10:34 PM ^
This isn't really true. Depends on the country a great deal. Besides serious entry restrictions, lots of countries doing well are actually way more lax than the US precisely because there's not a lot of spread going around.
January 26th, 2021 at 8:44 AM ^
Speaking from direct experience: Laos and Vietnam have many things in their favor in this regard. A significant percentage of their population has long worn masks in public-specifically related to the high percentage of the transportation being by moped and the protection masking affords from dust and other particulates. (And BTW, every American should experience the transportation of Saigon and/or Hanoi-a miracle of motion and cooperation.) Wearing a mask, for them, is standard operating procedure-not a big deal.
The greatest difference between Laos and Vietnam and the US is cultural. Theirs is a communal mindset versus our individual one. They live in multi-generational homes and the well-being of others is as important, if not more so, than their own.
Additionally, our generally held, preconceived ideas about draconian governmental measures by these socialist countries are patently false-including from the business side. There is no way possible to regulate the normal business activity that takes place in these two countries. In fact, I would say that they are more "free market" than we are. And the press is as free as ours is as well-plenty of discussion of options as well as criticism. Our toxic news sources makes our information bubble smaller than theirs'.
Just the way it is.
January 25th, 2021 at 4:44 PM ^
So glad to have a two week hiatus from all basketball activities right before the most pivotal portion of the season.
January 25th, 2021 at 4:46 PM ^
The last time I can remember a game this bad was when Garza kept getting call after call after call against us and I think that one was at home.
January 25th, 2021 at 4:47 PM ^
Edey's oafy violence on Eli was absurd. They reffed the guy like "you don't have any body control so we'll just assume your intent was fine."
I'm already mad about the next time that happens at Mackey because it certainly will.
January 25th, 2021 at 5:01 PM ^
That was a horrible, horrible non-call. Just because Brooks is so much shorter that they probably didn't see contact above the shoulders (usually over the back is reaching your arms over a guy's shoulders) but he literally just jumped on Brooks who was entitled to his position. Terrible.
January 25th, 2021 at 5:24 PM ^
If Edey gets reffed like that enough he's inevitably going to injure people.
I don't hold it against the kid - first game seeing him but he just seems to lack the body control needed to play at this level. Refs turning fouls off for him is dangerous.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:20 PM ^
If he plays like this, he will likely get himself injured as well.
January 25th, 2021 at 5:29 PM ^
Making it worse is that later in the game Brooks had one of his nice takes to the hoop (which needed a shout-out in this recap) and after the play he got literally stepped on by Edey under the hoop on the ground....no call.
Yet a minute earlier Ivey attacked the hoop and fell down on his own but an and-1 was called against Brooks.
First time I raged at the refs all year. But....I will disagree with Brian a bit. B10 refs have been better....overall officiating hasn't. I think we are spoiled by the B10 signing exclusive contracts with several refs that cover most of the games.
January 25th, 2021 at 7:29 PM ^
Szelc is the worst B1G official, has been for years. He of the "Run Coach B at Halftime" fame. Just turrible.
January 26th, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
I saw Purdue fans on social media claiming it was fine because Edey didn't jump lol
January 25th, 2021 at 7:36 PM ^
We were really lucky that apparently Edey lacks enough stamina to play for prolonged stretches. With his size and they way the refs were calling things, I was sure we were going to lose for a while but then Painter pulled him out. I’m pretty sure it had to be a stamina issue or else Painter would have kept him in for more extended periods.
When he first trotted out I had to do a double-take because he made Dickerson look small. When he’s an upperclassman he’s going to wreck havoc on the B1G. That’s a scary player, especially on Painter’s roster.
January 26th, 2021 at 8:29 AM ^
Who is this"Dickerson"? Is he related to "Ruddock"?
Pretty dim for someone named Phaedrus.
January 26th, 2021 at 11:10 AM ^
There are people on this blog who could not care less about what a player's name is or how it's spelled as long as they understand who they're talking about
January 25th, 2021 at 4:48 PM ^
Said this in another thread: it wasn’t just the foul calls that were terrible. The travel calls were completely arbitrary as well. Two guys make the exact same move and its called a travel on one but not the other.
January 25th, 2021 at 4:49 PM ^
Its hard to notice refs in a 17 point blowout, but even without no crowd to egg on the homerism, this was one of the worst one-sided ref display I have ever seen in this conference long-known for the home whistle. TV Ted eat your heart out. There are new sherriffs in town.
January 25th, 2021 at 5:00 PM ^
Agreed and glad that others noticed it. This game reminded me of the old days when you had to SIGNIFICANTLY outplay the home team to get a road victory because 80% of the marginal calls were going the home team's way, particularly for IU, MSU, PU, MN, WI and Iowa.
January 25th, 2021 at 4:56 PM ^
Are those Stefanovic splits including or not including the Michigan game? They're pretty remarkable for a 15% usage guy but if they include Michigan, the "off" possessions are fairly weighted towards ones against the third best team in the country. Even without those, it'd be a pretty big gap so really interesting to put his importance in that context.
January 25th, 2021 at 6:04 PM ^
Those are from before the Michigan game, I saw them from someone on Twitter before the game (might have been Dylan?), surprised that the difference was that gigantic on defense.
January 25th, 2021 at 4:58 PM ^
I thought Hunters Euro step was pretty good and an egregious call against a big man.
January 25th, 2021 at 5:26 PM ^
Here's a pretty good video on Twitter of Juwan being pissed at that call.
January 26th, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
From what I saw on Twitter, that play is legal in FIBA and the NBA, but not in college. If Dickinson had first planted with his other foot then it would've been legal in college. Definitely stupid how traveling differs from level to level of basketball
January 25th, 2021 at 5:29 PM ^
The same ref crew did the Maryland-Minnesota game the following day... and were just as poor. The fans from both teams were rather irate in the online commentary.
One would think that the league would address such as problem when it becomes repetitive.
January 25th, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
This comment has resulted in a fine from the Big Ten head offices.
January 25th, 2021 at 6:33 PM ^
On a positive B1G reffing note, Brad Davison was called for an offensive foul while HE was shooting a three pointer. The shot went in, but was nullified by his leg kick that contacted his defender after releasing the shot.
The zebras are on to your antics, Brad. Tread carefully over the next two# years.
#C'mon. We all know he'll be back next year.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:47 PM ^
It's been weird watching this team play and knowing in the first couple of minutes that they're going to get up by double digits and then slowly squeeze the life out of their opponents on both ends of the court. It's really just a masterful job by the players and coaches.
January 25th, 2021 at 9:51 PM ^
While it does seem like various governmental entities failed, there is also serious failure by the athletic department and the coach of this player. However, the #1 failure is the player him/herself.
People blithely traveling to hot spots and then wandering to the grocery store and the mall afterward is the problem. In addition, the coach should have been very clear with the athlete before and after travel, not rely on the government. Surely the coach knows when a player is leaving the country, right?
January 25th, 2021 at 11:41 PM ^
Yeah I know there is a lot of shit going down but Michigan actually taking over first place in the Big Ten and then having to shut down it the most Michigan thing ever. The athletic department is cursed.
January 26th, 2021 at 6:49 AM ^
Brooks > Stef. Stef being available wouldnt have mattered
January 26th, 2021 at 11:03 AM ^
Yep, this was definitely the first game this year where I had huge issues with the refs. It really felt like the refs were doing all they could to get our bigs in foul trouble then also just numerous wtf calls that favored Purdue
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