Basketbullets: Literally A Figurative Brawl
2/4/2020 – Michigan 58, Ohio State 61 – 13-9, 4-7 Big Ten
It's an odd experience to be watching a game where the color commentator is spending most of his words hammering the refereeing. I'm used to company men on BTN offering the occasional "I don't know about that one" on particularly egregious calls. Stephen Bardo could see a dude's head get lopped off by an axe and say "I'm not sure that guy's alive, but it has to be indisputable."
Jay Bilas don't care, though. Jay Bilas thought he was seeing a travesty more or less immediately, and spent two hours pounding that point. He moaned "come on" at various points; "that's a foul!" at others. There were snorts of despair. He had a brief rant about how the guys in charge of officiating have "FAILED" this season.
I was willing to cut the officials a bit more slack because I've seen a lot of Michigan games in which nothing gets called because nothing should get called (a Beilein trademark). That only went so far: by the second half anyone attempting to cut was getting bumped and officials literally two feet away from Zavier Simpson and Austin Davis getting shoved out of bounds by Kaleb Wesson swallowed their whistles.
The resulting basketball game was an ugly affair of missed shots and guys sprawling to the ground. In the cold light of day the next morning I went searching to see if anyone had summed up Bilas's bile from last night and clicked on an article headlined "Jay Bilas rips officials following last night's brawl" in the full expectation it was about Michigan-Ohio State. It was about the literal Kansas-Kansas State brawl.
So of course when Zavier Simpson tries to break his fall by pulling Kyle Young's jersey both announcers start talking about a flagrant and it's a flagrant. Does that call get made if Young's jersey doesn't rip? No. Did Kyle Young get dragged to the ground, as the officials told the announce crew? No. Is a guy with infinite basketball experience equally baffled this morning?
“Now, former basketball player myself, I’m looking and going, well if he’s going up, … and I asked him. I said, ‘If he’s going up, and he’s falling, is he grabbing him to brace his fall?’ ” Howard continued. “And he said ‘Yes.’ And I said ‘Well I guess that means that he needed some help to not want to absorb the contact and momentum of hitting the floor.’ That was it." …
“I’ll go back and watch the film tonight, I’m sure I’m going to replay it over and over,” Howard said of the play. “It’s a tough one to swallow, I swear. … This one hurts a lot.”
Later on in the press conference, Howard was asked how he would coach a player to not grab a jersey when fouled to the ground as Simpson was.
Hinting his displeasure, Howard once again asserted that there wasn’t much Simpson could do.
“If you have the answer, please, share it with me,” Howard said with a chuckle. “That’s a good question."
Yes. Man took his clothes off.
The best thing we can say at this point is that this team has clear limitations badly exacerbated by the absence of Isaiah Livers and it's not like Michigan is missing on a potentially historic season because Terry Wymer would rather be officiating WWE.
[After THE JUMP: cursed season, sim to end]
Simpson's about to get body checked out of bounds [Campredon]
Wesson should have fouled out in about 18 minutes. This is not a close thing at all. He drew an absurd charge call when he slid under DDJ on what should have been an and-one, and shoved Michigan players out of bounds twice for turnovers that Bilas was apoplectic about. Hard to imagine there's any other arena in the league where that game would have happened.
Cursed season, sim to end. We're well into I'm Not Mad, I'm Impressed territory. (I am also mad, but mmmm coping mechanisms.) So far this year:
- Jordan Poole and Ignas Brazdeikis leave early, the latter with zero prospects of going in the first round. Poole's eventual first round selection was quite an upset according to analysts.
- John Beilein is so furious about this he takes a job with the frickin' Cavs.
- Franz Wagner breaks his wrist, goes from 38% three point shooter who is 90% at the line to a 29% shooter.
- Michigan wins their tournament!
- Michigan loses by a point in OT against Oregon after a first half in which they took far better shots and watched Oregon can 10 points worth of garbage.
- Isaiah Livers hurts his groin in a meaningless game against Presbyterian.
- Michigan spends the month of January with a bigger three point % gap than anyone except Incarnate Word.
- They eat a 57-11 free throw gap in games at Minnesota and Iowa.
- Livers comes back against Illinois and immediately gets hurt again.
- Michigan collapses down the stretch against Illinois by going 0/5 at the free throw line, with Wagner missing two to cap it.
- Michigan loses to Ohio State because Zavier Simpson gets a flagrant foul that's never been called in any basketball game I've ever seen with 30 seconds left.
athletic department employee: oh hey u guys are back early
— Bryan Mac (@Bry_Mac) February 1, 2020
Juwan: trident’s haunted
athletic department employee: what?
Juwan: *loading a pistol and getting back in the submarine* trident’s haunted https://t.co/n02XQL4MUZ
This year is cosmic payback for Michigan's run to the title game two years ago when Jordan Poole hit an improbable buzzer beater, their entire half of the bracket self-immolated, and they got Loyola-Chicago in the Final Four. The dark ritual that made all that happen required a sacrifice, and it's this season.
Yeesh. Feels like you could have one of these after every game this year:
From a macro view, it is promising that Michigan generated open layups and catch & shoot threes through a variety of actions against Ohio State. Kind of staggering how many of those good looks were missed: pic.twitter.com/NWVi0BMyRT
— Eric Shapiro (@eric_shap) February 5, 2020
Many of those are Franz. Getting him bigger and getting his shooting right are priorities.
oof [Campredon]
A cripplingly bad performance from Teske. I'm not sure Teske had a ton to do with Kaleb Wesson's performance on offense. Michigan started out in drop coverage, which seemed unwise. I wonder if that was an artifact of the defense drawn up or Teske just playing it poorly. I can't imagine the plan was to have Teske offer no contest at all as Wesson started 3/4 from three. Wesson's success inside the line was built mostly on tough fadeaway jumpers and putbacks and wasn't really Teske doing anything wrong.
On offense: Teske scores 3 points on 8 shot equivalents and has two turnovers against one assist. That is against an Ohio State defense that was switching a ton of screens. We all found out what happens to an offense when a defense is allowed to switch all screens without getting punished at the rim last year. It is bad. Simpson gets his driving game shut off and it's game over.
Between that and his defense going off a cliff I wonder if there's something going on we don't know about. It's really rare for guys to implode like he has.
[Campredon]
Big Country. Austin Davis, on the other hand, had the best game of his career. 11 points without missing a shot, plus 3/3 from the foul line. Michigan played him with Teske for portions of the game, first because Johns was in foul trouble and then because it was working against OSU's two-big lineup. Michigan stuck Davis on Wesson, which allowed Teske to sit in the paint and dissuade drivers since Young is not a shooter.
It felt like it worked pretty well but came out badly statistically because when Davis was on the floor OSU hit 50% of their threes and they hit 25% of their other attempts.
Nobody can challenge at the rim. Raise your hand if you're sick of guys attacking closeouts so they can take baseline floaters. That's everyone. Michigan has some decent pieces but there are exactly zero guys who are both efficient on the outside and capable of taking the ball to the rim. So you've got Brooks and DeJulius putting the ball on the floor and everyone inside the arc backing off and letting them take difficult runners from well below the rim.
DDJ and Brooks are taking 16 and 17% of their shots at the rim, respectively. That's almost D'mitrik Trice territory. Brooks has 8 unassisted buckets at the rim this year.
This is a large part of Michigan's season long free throw disparity. Michigan has no one who's going to try to get to the rim much except Simpson. Even Teske's taking just 38% of his shots at the rim. Michigan desperately needs an infusion of size and athleticism in the backcourt.
The last play was pretty good. Bilas complained about how much time it took but Michigan's down 3 with 18 seconds left when they inbound the ball. OSU is playing no threes. Michigan's chance to win drops to approximately zero if they miss and OSU makes one foul shot, so extending the game is useless. It's all or nothing on that possession and Michigan got a wide open corner three—again, against no-threes D—from their best available shooter.
That is so far above the median expectation for the shot on that possession that all other factors are moot. And, as always:
Working assumption. When the announcer says you don’t need a three here, you need a three.
— John Gasaway (@JohnGasaway) January 16, 2020
Howard continues getting his guys open looks. Macro encouraging; micro I want to walk into the sea.
February 5th, 2020 at 2:11 PM ^
It’s a long, cold, dark winter.
February 5th, 2020 at 6:23 PM ^
Yeah, that was one of the fugliest escapades in my twenty-plus years watching Michigan basketball. I HATED that game.
February 5th, 2020 at 2:19 PM ^
Maize section of the stripe out looked terrible per usual.
Teske doesn't seem physically limited. Something is going on mentally.
February 5th, 2020 at 2:23 PM ^
That "highlight" reel -- oof. That's a whole lotta highly makeable shots missed.
February 5th, 2020 at 2:27 PM ^
While I'm disappointed in the way the season has gone thus far - as well as with the way it appears it's going to end - I'm not that upset about it.
Anyone who was being objective going in to the season knew the combination of circumstances was going to make this season a challenge. Unexpected departures. Loss of the best defensive player. Transition costs of losing a long-time coach and then bringing in a coach with different philosophies and approaches to the game. Losing our top recruit. Etc.
When you look at the roster, it's almost bereft of NBA-level talent. You need at least two or three NBA-caliber players to make some noise at the college level. The players who might be NBA material are either too injured (Livers) or too young (Wagner, Johns?) to be able to make an impact.
I, too, am encouraged by the number of open looks we are getting on offense. I like what I'm seeing from Coach Howard in terms of his demeanor, dedication and ability to relate to the players.
Put some more talent out there, and I think we'll have something about which we'll be able to get excited!
February 5th, 2020 at 2:56 PM ^
I'm replying to myself to say holy shit I just watched those highlights of the missed open looks. Brooks, Wagner and Teske could've easily had another 20 points between the three of them!
February 5th, 2020 at 3:27 PM ^
It's easy to lose sight of how flippant basketball is, especially in the short term. I always appreciate posts like this that capture that perspective well.
February 5th, 2020 at 9:40 PM ^
This is the kind of comment we want to see more often.
Well put.
I would add two facts:
1) The B1G is an extremely difficult league this year.
2) We don't get destroyed by the other teams as it was not lop sided (Outside of the Louisville game and the MSU game ... I mean nothing to be ashamed off.
February 5th, 2020 at 2:34 PM ^
Tin foil hat time: somewhere between a subconscious agreement between the 3 officials and a shady mandate from the league to the officials, it was clear that they were trying to keep Wesson in the game. Even in the first half it was obvious, any time a foul was called and he was in the area and made contact, they would try to assign it to a different nearby osu player. Then in the 2nd half the above mentioned uncalled (and wrongly called offensive foul) blocks, made the directive less overt.
February 5th, 2020 at 3:36 PM ^
I think Holtman pulled the refs aside before the game and talked to them about letting stuff go.
February 5th, 2020 at 6:21 PM ^
Can we dispense with the conspiracies and just focus on how incompetent some of the B10 refs are? Unless hiring incompetent refs IS the conspiracy.
February 6th, 2020 at 12:14 PM ^
The Ohio Referee Hall of Fame is apparently in on it, too.
Because these refs are good enough in their other games to get inducted into a Hall of Fame, then only become incompetent two or three times a year, coincidentally during Michigan's games.
*disbelief intensifies*
February 5th, 2020 at 2:46 PM ^
That's a Flagrant 1 on the ski-jumper
For breaking the post!
February 5th, 2020 at 2:58 PM ^
I think opposing bigs are getting away with murder in the paint on him, like he is getting mugged. He has backed off because he seems to be targeted by the league officials for some reason with very quick whistles, like they are afraid of his physicality. So it was very disheartening watching Wesson get away with murder and Teske / Johns get whistled for barely touching guys ... there was no home cooking in this game.
February 5th, 2020 at 8:33 PM ^
Johns yes, but Teske only had 1 foul and he still played passively.
February 5th, 2020 at 3:12 PM ^
Hey, man, these kinds of losses and seasons build character!
February 5th, 2020 at 3:20 PM ^
Puts hair on the chest!
February 5th, 2020 at 3:20 PM ^
Macro encouraging and micro discouraging is ok with me. First season with Howard and a depleted roster. Roster talent should go up significantly next season. If this is the floor, it's not a bad floor
February 5th, 2020 at 3:21 PM ^
Bright spot? Pitching playing time to recruits?
February 5th, 2020 at 3:46 PM ^
I remember a game less than a month ago when we scored 103 points against Iowa. Man, good times!
February 5th, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
The crazy thing is is that the defense seems to have gotten better since then and they're still pissing games away. I mean most of that is from clang-tastic shooting performances from Rutgers and Ohio State but they've given up 72, 64, 68, 63 and 61 in their last 5 games. So they've shown they can make improvements but still it's like they're determined to score one point fewer than they're opponent every game - every HOME game. There is not a more frustrating team in the country.
February 5th, 2020 at 3:47 PM ^
"It's not like Michigan is missing on a potentially historic season because Terry Wymer would rather be officiating WWE." This is where I'm at. Whatever, don't even bother with the NIT. Just get the new guys on campus and "next!"
February 5th, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
The NCAA tournament is very realistic. I still think there is a lot of value in making it, even if there is no chance of winning.
February 5th, 2020 at 4:50 PM ^
It seems like finishing 18-13 would get them in, no? Winning at Northwestern and beating Indiana, Wisconsin, and Nebraska at home gets them to 17 wins. Then they just have to find a way to beat MSU on Saturday or win one of the Rutgers, Purdue, OSU, and Maryland road games.
17-14 or less and they’re probably looking at a scenario where they need multiple wins in the Big Ten Tournament to get in.
February 5th, 2020 at 4:04 PM ^
Hey Brian, when you do walk into the sea, please take the Trident with you and return it from whence it came.
February 5th, 2020 at 4:13 PM ^
This is the most vexing and bewildering team in the world. They're actively playing themselves out of the tournament and I don't think any team in the country is as frustrating to watch as Michigan.
This is cliche but its true: you have to make your own luck. I wouldn't say they've been playing well exactly and I have yet to see them play with any focus or enthusiasm in 2020 (I only saw a bit of the Rutgers game at MSG, the only one in which they seemed somewhat into it at all). So, they repeatedly find themselves in close games that can be decided by opponent luck, officiating incompetence or their own mistakes.
They can't shoot but are excellent at shooting themselves in the goddamn foot.
February 5th, 2020 at 5:03 PM ^
There is playing bad and there is not trying.
Teske started off doing the former and now appears to be doing the latter.
February 5th, 2020 at 6:24 PM ^
I consider this season to be like one of those football years where a team goes 6-1 or 1-6 in one-score games. It's ugly and tiring, but it's the current reality and expecting it to change is foolish. Maybe they sneak into the tourney, maybe they don't. I think Howard is doing a good job coaching and one of the seniors (Teske) looked to rely on has taken a step back at a key spot. If they get Livers back this maybe becomes a hot-closing team you don't want to see on your bracket, but that's about it
February 5th, 2020 at 7:14 PM ^
Teske is shooting 0.601 on his two point attempts and 0.259 on his threes. Expected points is 1.2 versus 0.77. Move the big fella inside. Give him the red light from 3. The problem is they're still running all these sets where Teske sets up outside the line. That's supposed to open up the inside for guys to drive, but those guys (Mathews and Iggy) have left the building. The offense is broken.
February 5th, 2020 at 10:25 PM ^
give him green light on threes, shooting .259%? was that a typo?
February 5th, 2020 at 11:47 PM ^
Especially when some of those 3s barely graze iron. I do think ya gotta let him shoot some. But there are times he gets it at the top of the key and he just fires it...like dude, pass it up for a possible better cut/option. That shot will be there the next go-round so let's look for a highet percentage shot.
February 6th, 2020 at 12:58 AM ^
Read it again. I’d give him the red light from beyond the arc. Heck, I don’t want him shooting anything outside 15 feet. The problem is his low post game needs work. He can’t go to his left on the low block, making him rely too much on his hook shot, but his form is bad on those. He short-arms his hook shot. When it goes in it rattles around instead of going down cleanly. There was a real nice feed from Z at the basket and he tried laying it in off the backboard (and missed.) Dunk that ball big fella.
February 6th, 2020 at 2:35 AM ^
I just now got to see the Simpson tear and I'm glad I didn't see that live. What horseshit. The OSU player barely even stumbled. He grabbed his jersey for a split second. Can't believe they probably lost the game on that.
February 6th, 2020 at 7:34 PM ^
Game was lost on not scoring more points. Everyone wants to bitch and blame it on the refs. Every fan base. Just stop!
February 6th, 2020 at 7:19 AM ^
Teske just doesn't seem to have the mentality or want, to be a main piece on a team. He seems to be more comfortable in a complementary role. He didn't get the name Big Sleep for nothing.
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