Maryland 77, Michigan 70
Maryland outmuscled Michigan in the first half. [Marc-Gregor Campredon]
Michigan struggled to get started against a good defensive team. On the other end of the floor, they made a mediocre offense look excellent.
Sound familiar?
Unlike Wednesday night's game against Penn State, Michigan didn't have it in them to finish off a comeback effort against Maryland. The Wolverines fell behind by as many as 11 in a first half marked by pathetic post defense and wayward outside shooting. Maryland center Damonte Dodd, filling in for injured starter Michal Cekovsky, scored 11 of his career-high 15 points in the opening half. Michigan's post players didn't fare much better on the perimeter—and, in this case, didn't get much help, either:
Melo is a great player, but this is the epitome of terrible defense. pic.twitter.com/aOwvLnKkcu
— Big Ten Geeks (@bigtengeeks) January 7, 2017
Michigan connected on just 3-of-11 three-pointers, meanwhile. A nine-point halftime deficit would've been larger if not for a strong closing effort by Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, who scored three buckets—all in the paint—over the final five minutes and change. He'd finish with 12 points and four steal in the best game he's had in a while.
After being limited by foul trouble in the first half, Moe Wagner had a stellar offensive showing, pouring in 15 of his 17 poitns in the second stanza; he took Maryland defenders off the dribble by alternating his spin and behind-the-back moves, hit pick-and-pop threes, and worked through contact. While Wagner had gained Michigan an edge in the paint, however, they lost it on the other end with shoddy perimeter defense; the Terps went 6-for-9 from beyond the arc—several of them open looks off of dribble penetration.
The Wolverines were able to get within two points on three different occasions only for Maryland to respond. On Wednesday, Michigan won a game they should've lost. Today, they lost a game they should've lost. There are signs of promise—today, from Wagner, MAAR, and Xavier Simpson—but this team so rarely puts it all together that it's becoming harder and harder to hold out hope for a strong run through Big Ten play.
January 7th, 2017 at 7:05 PM ^
It's just like Brady Hoke, fundamental problems that can easily be solved by coaching are NEVER solved or even improved upon.
Already very frustrated and my patience is nearly gone. Only a miracle season results in John Beilein returning.
January 7th, 2017 at 8:11 PM ^
"It's just like Brady Hoke..."
God, I can't stand Michigan fans like this. Constant football references, no matter how random and out of place, in basketball discussion. Drooling, single-minded morons.
January 7th, 2017 at 8:33 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 7:13 PM ^
Well I'll tell you what boys. The Michigan brand would become a ton more popular if the basketball team got a top notch coach in there. You guys have such a huge fan base and it would definitely help in other sports. Who doesn't want to watch a good bball and football program. I say bring in Crean. Spend the money and win. Football recruits and players want fun games to watch in the winter time too.
January 7th, 2017 at 7:31 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 7:14 PM ^
I'm not just trying to be a nontroll when I say that was basically a max performance by this Maryland team that sees itself as tourney material but was clearly behind schedule. They had more rest this week than Michigan and a truly gross loss in their previous game for Turge to coach off of. This Maryland team does have a lot of talent on the roster and Michigan came close in the face Maryland's best effort this season. (Illinois game just doesn't count for much this year.)
Dodd was due to demonstrate more than he has.This was his second game back from injury and he is headed into the stretch run of his career. He has been a very long-term project who came to basketball late in life but is definitely a big guy. I'm quite sure Turge rode him all week about playing aggressively today.
January 7th, 2017 at 7:34 PM ^
It wasn't a great performance by any means, but Maryland also shot 67% for 3-point range. That's far outside the norm for them, and I didn't think the perimeter defense was that bad. Obviously the have issues inside and those need to be addressed, but Maryland has way more talent than they've shown thus far, and Michigan got their best game thus far. Obviously Michigan has to play better defense and at some point they need to figure out a semblance a functional drive-and-dish offense that actually punishes teams on the drive. But I've come to expect this place to just be defeatist following this team, as if replacing John Beilein with a better coach is some simple feat that Michigan has consistently done for decades.
January 7th, 2017 at 8:09 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 9:00 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 10:29 PM ^
Hard to swallow the the memories from their freshman year - a Stauskas and Caris led team goes to elite 8 with solid contributions from freshman Walton and Irvin. It looks so promising for the future. Then Walton and Irvin never develop into more than those role players, Caris gets injured for 2 season, and we can't land a single recruit of any significance. And here we are today.
January 8th, 2017 at 2:30 PM ^
I never thought of Irvin or Walton as better-than-average players; they have underperformed a bit, but everyone read way too much into that 8-game stretch during Irvin's second year when he played reasonably well. Beyond that, they've played as solid starters/rotation players on a good team, not alpha dog's on a good team. It's not their fault; they are just good players asked to do too much offensively.
I don't think recruiting has been all that bad save for last year's weird confluence of events. I'm honestly not sure what Beilein can do in those situations, save take your lumps and try to not let it happen again. His 2013 class was solid on paper (3 4* plus guys in Irvin, Walton, and Donnal), and 2014 felt snake-bitten with Chatman bombing out and everything with Hatch. 2015 brought in Wagner and I think he was a steal, and 2016 is a bunch of young bigs and Simpson despite all the craziness, so we're still waiting.
Simpson has improved in my eyes; he's much better than he was to start the year, and while he's not going to be a star he's a better offensive player than Walton and could be a pesky defender. I think Wagner and Wilson have shown solid growth as big men; they still struggle defensively and you can only hope that improves a bit. Getting some more athleticism on the perimeter would help immensely on that front, since at times it feels like guys are getting to the second level with only minimal resistance.
It's also a team that lacks much outside shooting, which is crazy for a Beilein team. It's not submarining them, but on a lot of possessions it feels like it's Robinson and (maybe) Walton and that's about it for shooters, and Walton being the primary ballhander neutralizes him a bit. I'm not expecting miracles this year, but hopefully next season guys like Wagner and Wilson can expand on that part of their game and maybe Livers or Poole can come in with it.
Again, I'm not looking to make excuses; this team squandered whatever recruiting "juice" they got from the two long tourney runs. But at the same time, point to me a time in recent Michigan history where they were able to sustain success without it bombing out in their faces. It doesn't really exist. Michigan will probably be a low-seed tourney team this year, and maybe next year they'll increment up a bit. But yeah, unless they get a bunch of superstars they won't be competing for a title any time soon, and in a couple of years I assume Beilein will retire or be fired. But I blindly believe that the guy who won games everywhere he coached and led this team to multiple long tourney runs can still succeed at UM, but it might take some growing pains to get there again.
January 8th, 2017 at 12:24 AM ^
too. But I have to admonish myself for it - I knew this was likely to happen when we got hit by the recruiting tsunami. While it's never been top shelf, it was a bit more misfortunate than usual this past year. That said, this season isn't what should be used as a litmus test; Beilein's history has been one that relies on finding diamonds in the rough and maybe landing a big name or two every now and then. Like Irvin's shooting form, this approach is going to produce inconsistent results. The question to ask is if we want what we know we'll get today: average with occasional flashes, or if we want to gamble to get better. We know it could be worse, that's for certain.
January 7th, 2017 at 9:47 PM ^
I think the 67% would mean more to me if it didn't seem like every team has all of their shots land against us. When it happens that often it looks like we go from bad luck to something wrong with our D
January 7th, 2017 at 7:38 PM ^
hard to watch..cazt finish games..Irvin and Moar are a disaster..Defense is miserable..Its time to move on from JB
January 7th, 2017 at 7:41 PM ^
I thought this team would be a bit better than this but I guess not. It is nice to see DJ and Mo being as consistent as they are. Good dudes, good players, they're the future of this team which I never thought I'd say.
On the negative end, how is Walton such trash. Can't drive, can't assist, can't score, I would partly feel better if Xavier played more just so he can get a better feel for the game and learn to play at the college level. Walton peaked and is now heading downward fast. Irvin looked fine, he is more consistent than he used to be and passes well and isn't getting completely taken out of games anymore. One more question, why is our defense so so bad? Improvements need to be made quickly, whether that is Beilein gone or not gone, I don't care but someone needs to do something. John is a great guy and did great for a while but could be a better winner, maybe he peaked too. Maybe it's time.
January 7th, 2017 at 7:45 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 7:46 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 9:16 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 8:11 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 9:21 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 9:00 PM ^
Early on in his tenure they hung with much better teams because of the system. Then, they got talent nearly on the same level as the quality opponents and did quite well (It was a clean block!). Now, the talent is inferior to most of the quality opposition and the system has been figured out.
There's no magic left.
January 8th, 2017 at 12:10 AM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 9:18 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 9:20 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 9:44 PM ^
January 8th, 2017 at 1:47 PM ^
Really?? Maryland has very good players, were highly focused on winning, and had a week off. Vegas and KenPom mislead you here.
January 7th, 2017 at 9:24 PM ^
Can Zak Novak return and teach Donnal how to get a rebound. Donnal makes my stomach churn on his rebounding effort. The first few Beilein teams at UM with players like Cj Lee, David Merritt, Stu Douglas, Zak Novak, etc... did not have talent, but those guys left it all on the court and for that reason alone I enjoyed watching them compete.
This group shows no heart, passion, and frankly sometimes it looks like they would rather be at the library or doing something else. Outside of his first year here, this is by far the worst team to watch during the Beilein era and I am not sure I can take it anymore.
January 7th, 2017 at 9:25 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 9:26 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 11:10 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 11:51 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 11:51 PM ^
January 8th, 2017 at 7:39 AM ^
To be stuck with JB until 2020...Ugh.
January 8th, 2017 at 9:04 AM ^
A coach can't recruit when his future is uncertain. Hence the need for the extension. Unfortunately, Beilein can't recruit anymore anyway
January 8th, 2017 at 7:52 AM ^
January 8th, 2017 at 9:55 AM ^
January 8th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
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January 8th, 2017 at 8:36 PM ^
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