Michigan 100, Slippery Rock 62
Tony Ding/AP
A smile crept across John Beilein's face as he pantomimed Trey Burke turning and flipping the ball underhand with "just the right spin" to Tim Hardaway Jr., who buried one of his five three-pointers (that part, unfortunately, not pantomimed by Beilein).
Michigan hit the century mark for the first time since 2007 in a 100-62 beatdown of Slippery Rock in the season opener, and it was Beilein's stars who led the way. Hardaway played one of his most complete games as a Wolverine, scoring 25 points on 8-10 shooting (5-5 from three) and adding ten rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Burke overcame a shaky first half to pour in 21 points of his own (9-17 FGs) and dish out eight assists; after turning the ball over four times in the first half, he had just one in the second stanza and finished on a 6-7 shooting tear.
Burke wasn't the only Wolverine to struggle out of the gate, as Michigan trailed 15-14 just over six minutes into the game before back-to-back threes by Burke and Hardaway—naturally—began to break the game open. They wouldn't completely pull away until a 10-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half, which featured eight points from Hardaway, including an emphatic one-handed dunk off a feed from Glenn Robinson III and back-to-back threes sandwiched around a missed free throw.
While the freshmen weren't filling the tin like they did in exhibition play—combining for 28 points, 11 of those coming in the game's final four minutes—they found ways to contribute. Robinson scored ten points on 5-7 shooting and picked up his rebounding efforts, pulling in eight total (six defensive) in 32 minutes. Mitch McGary pulled down nine rebounds—five offensive, though three came on one possession when he couldn't lay the ball in—in just 12 minutes while chipping in nine points; he also had three fouls, the big reason why he didn't play more. Nik Stauskas only attempted two field goals, hitting one, but got to the line to shoot a pair twice with some aggressive drives to the basket. Spike Albrecht was just 1-5 from the field, but he handed out two assists and didn't turn the ball over.
After missing the exhibition season with a knee injury, Jon Horford played better than the stats would indicate in eight key minutes after McGary and Jordan Morgan both found themselves in early foul trouble. On his first possession of the game, he rebounded a Morgan miss, hit the putback, and drew a foul, then drew a charge on the very next play. Later in the first half, he deftly slipped a pass to a cutting Robinson for an easy layup. While Horford was still limited—not by injury, but by his gas tank after missing the last two weeks—he appeared to have all of his pre-injury athleticism.
The depth is there for this team in a way that it hasn't been under John Beilein. Last year, there was no Horford to step in for Morgan, and certainly no McGary to add a second big man to the lineup. When Burke was off, like he was in the first half, there wasn't an Albrecht there to give him a chance to sit down and regroup, like he did nine minutes into tonight's game. And to have Robinson as a third scoring option, well, let's just call that an upgrade, and that's no slight to Zack Novak or Stu Douglass.
But tonight, the story was Hardaway and Burke. The two had a synergy tonight, Burke knowing just where to give it to Hardaway, Hardaway knowing just where and when to attack, that could take this team from good to great. And yes, at least tonight, there was even just the right spin on the ball.
November 10th, 2012 at 12:46 AM ^
Early morning post the morning before a noon football game? Ace is working hard this week.
November 10th, 2012 at 12:47 AM ^
Apologies for not knowing how to post photos here, but THJ approves of his own nastiness:
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/554221_10102071721330663_321…
November 10th, 2012 at 1:18 AM ^
When making a post, click the last button that appears on the right in the bar above the text entry box. Looks like a tiny landscape painting. In the dialogue box that comes up, paste the address of the image into the bar, and select ok.
Profit!
November 10th, 2012 at 1:24 AM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 1:12 AM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 2:11 AM ^
the fuck does pantomimed mean?
November 10th, 2012 at 2:24 AM ^
is your friend.
November 10th, 2012 at 2:20 AM ^
See the rest of my photos from the game at UMHoops: http://www.umhoops.com/2012/11/10/photo-gallery-michigan-100-slippery-r…
November 10th, 2012 at 4:20 AM ^
should have included the guy above him too
November 10th, 2012 at 2:35 AM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 9:28 AM ^
For that to happen, the guy needs a name. OMG guy?
November 10th, 2012 at 8:31 AM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 8:56 AM ^
It is amazing how experienced this team seems but how young they really are. Only Vogrich and McLimans are Seniors.
Very talented team Coach B has put together. After watching the first 3 games, I believe they would be a top 20 team this season even if Burke hadn't returned. With Burke they are as likely as anyone to make a run to the Final Four.
Name | Pos | Year |
Glenn Robinson III | Forward | FR |
Spike Albrecht | Guard | FR |
Mitch McGary | Forward | FR |
Nik Stauskas | Guard | FR |
Caris LeVert | Guard | FR |
Max Bielfeldt | Forward | RS FR |
Trey Burke | Guard | SO |
Jon Horford | Forward | RS SO |
Tim Hardaway Jr. | Guard | JR |
Jordan Morgan | Forward | RS JR |
Matt Vogrich | Guard | SR |
Blake McLimans | Forward | SR |
November 10th, 2012 at 10:07 AM ^
Mixed emotions on the Hardaway and Burke show. We all pretty much "know" that they are gone after this season anyway, but it would be nice to think there was a chance of either or both coming back. If they keep playing well, though, they will both be high to middle first round picks, and it would be stupid for them not to go.
I hope they both have seasons to remember; a Final Four would be nice.
November 10th, 2012 at 3:41 PM ^
I think Hardaway comes back.
November 10th, 2012 at 12:00 PM ^
This team is really fun to watch. Not sure how it came across on TV, but McGary looked big (in a good way, and a little bit in ummmm not a good way :) ) and active and very raw out there. The ball bounced off his head a couple of times, he ripped a guard clean on the perimeter and started a nice fast break, had some silly fouls, had a nice drop step, completely blew his defensive assignment a couple of times, and was very aggressive going after boards. I think a college strength & conditioning program will do him wonders. I'm really excited about his potential.
I was very pleased to see Hardaway's concerted effort on the boards as well. And GRIII's latent athleticism and all around game. I am trying hard not to bathe in the Kool Aid this early on, but a few more showings like this and that will be increasingly difficult. I mean Slippery Rock and all... but hey let a fan be fan! :D
Go Blue!
November 11th, 2012 at 1:22 PM ^
We're gonna be so good.
...so, so good.
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