Battle 4 Atlantis Preview: Charlotte Comment Count

Ace

THE ESSENTIALS

WHAT Michigan (2-2) vs

Charlotte (1-3)
WHERE Imperial Arena,

Paradise Island, Bahamas
WHEN 9:30 pm ET, Thursday
LINE Michigan -14 (KenPom)
TV AXS TV

PBP: Kenny Rice

Analyst: Seth Davis

Right: Was not aware ecstacy was so popular among gold prospectors.

HOW TO WATCH

The broadcasts of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament are split between ESPN and AXS TV, and while you're surely familar with the former you probably need some help finding the latter. For those in the area, here's a handy guide for A2/Detroit/GR provided by U-M Media Relations:

  • AT&T U-verse Ch. 1106
  • Charter Ch. 820 (also Ch. 770 in Detroit)
  • Comcast Ch. 382
  • DirecTV Ch. 340
  • DISH Ch. 167
  • Wyandotte Cable TV Ch. 179

For the rest of you, AXS TV has a channel finder on their site.

THE STAKES

The winner of this game will take on the winner of Texas/Washington (7 pm, AXS) in the 5th/6th-place game on Friday at 7 pm on AXS TV. The loser faces off against the loser of UT/UW on Friday at 9:30 pm on AXS TV. You can see the full tournament bracket here.

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

Pos. # Name Yr. Ht./Wt. %Min %Poss SIBMIHHAT
G 1 Braxton Ogbueze R-Jr. 6'1, 181 78 19 No
Mostly Just A Shooter™ but can dish out the occasional assist.
G 3 Jon Davis Fr. 6'2, 193 66 14 Kinda
Freshman got start against Cuse, posted 9-6-4. Still finding his shot.
G 2 Andrien White Fr. 6'3, 184 73 22 No
High-volume shooter hitting 43% of twos and 41% of threes.
F 22 Bernard Sullivan R-Sr. 6'8, 225 68 23 Very
Decent def. rebounder, blocks the occasional shot, sub-par scorer w/ limited range.
C 31 Benas Griciunas R-So. 7'0. 233 25 28 Very
Auburn transfer starts but plays limited minutes. Stuggling except as offensive rebounder.
G 0 Ridell Camidge So. 6'3, 188 49 17 Yes
Minutes have waned with each game because he can't find shot: 4/15 3P this year.
F 15 Anthony Vanhook Jr. 6'4, 216 47 19 Yes
JuCo All-American is rebounding and passing very well so far this year.
C 50 Joseph Uchebo Sr. 6'10, 261 46 22 Very
Pitt transfer. Good rebounder, shot-blocker, and finisher. Gets plurality of mins at C.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the preview.]

THE RESUME

Charlotte took a beating at the hands of #36 Syracuse in their B4A quarterfinal. The 49ers' only win came at home over #213 Furman. They lost by 14 at #207 East Carolina and fell at home by 11 against Elon, a team Michigan beat by 20 last week. If Michigan can't rebound against this squad, they've got significant issues.

THE THEM

Charlotte no longer has any of the players who made a contribution to their upset of Michigan two years ago; this year they've cobbled together a roster of freshmen and transfers.

They don't really have a true point guard, or at least one hasn't emerged so far this season. The only regular with an assist rate above 14.2% is backup forward Anthony Vanhook, who dished out eight of his 11 assists in the loss to Elon. Starting guards Andrien White and Braxton Ogbueze knock down threes at a ~40% clip but neither are particularly well-rounded; White takes a high volume of shots but isn't efficient inside the arc.

While freshman Jon Davis had a 9-6-4 line against Syracuse, he's really struggled with his shot; add in a higher-than-average turnover rate and he's barely cracking 90 in ORating. Ridell Camidge, the fourth guard, opened the season in the starting lineup but has seen his minutes dwindle because he can't hit a shot right now—he's 4/15 from three on the season. 

Bernard Sullivan can play either the four or the five, giving Charlotte the flexibility to play four guards or go with a more traditional two-big lineup. Sullivan is a decent defensive rebounder who doesn't add much else; this season he's right in line with his career 44% two-point shooting and he's not a three-point threat or much of an offensive rebounder. Two big bodies, Joseph Uchebo and Benas Griciunas, split time at the five when Charlotte wants a true center.

THE TEMPO-FREE

Tiny sample size caveats apply.



Four Factors explanation

Charlotte is good at generating turnovers; they're bad at pretty much everything else.

THE KEYS

Don't turn it over. About the only way Charlotte should reasonably be able to hang with Michigan is if they get a lot of points off turnovers. Even while the offense is finding its footing, M has been good at taking care of the ball; this shouldn't be a huge issue.

Hit shots. Please and thank you.

Win The Game. The last thing anyone needs is a 9:30 pm game on AXS for the right to not go winless in a meaningless tournament on the night before The Game.

THE SECTION WHERE I PREDICT THE SAME THING KENPOM DOES

Michigan by 14.

If we're going by the transitive opponent property, this line is quite low.

ELSEWHERE

UMHoops preview.

Comments

MotownGoBlue

November 26th, 2015 at 5:50 PM ^

We can beat Charlotte, right? If so, it's onto the winner of Washington vs Texas (both are beatable).

The Cuse just knocked off UConn 79-76. The Cuse will be ranked soon.

Michigan Fan L…

November 26th, 2015 at 7:50 PM ^

Last night I heard one of the announcers say that we should be healthy by January and then we can make a nice run.  Excuse me?  If we play like this througout December we're gonna dig too deep of a hole to climb out of.

Oh my God.  Before the season began I had modest expectations for this team because I didn't know what to expect.  Aubrey Dawkins was my up-and-comer, but it turns out all he can give me is one or two highlights per game.  Duncan Robinson has been up and down but at least he's giving us some effort.  He's at least tryin', for cryin' out loud. 

We have 6'7", 6'8", 6'9", and 6'10" guys running around out there who can't grab a freakin' rebound.  Zack Novack and Stu Douglass were 6'4".  Our current big men make those 2 guys look like Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley.  Sheesh.

I know I can depend on Spike when he gets into playing shape.  And I hope I can depend on Zak Irvin when he's back to normal, but I don't know.  Right now the only person I trust is Caris Levert.  Folks, we are officially a one-man team. 

I no longer trust Derrick Walton.  And Ricky Doyle?  I trust him even less.  I would like to see more playing time for Moritz Wagner and DJ Wilson. They might look awkward at times but at least they are getting after it, showing signs of life.

After last season's results I expected the team to come back this season fired up, but all I've seen this season is what looks like 5 players at a time going through the motions.  Can somebody besides Caris Levert drive the freakin' ball to the basket?  Please, I'm begging you.  And grab a freakin' rebound, fergodsakes.  Please.

Go Blue!!!!