Michigan 51, North Carolina 72
No, we cannot have two nice things. As Michigan football [takes a deep savory breath] prepares for the Big Ten championship coming off their [more savoring] win over Ohio State, their basketball counterparts took another long step back from their preseason expectations. One can only hope this performance in Chapel Hill was rock bottom.
There’s some reason to suspect it will be, since star center Hunter Dickinson barely played, and half of the minutes he was on the court were with four fouls. The big man got his second whistle before the 11th minute, and two quick ones in one trip in the first minutes of the 2nd half. Dickinson wasn’t very effective when he was out there either, with three turnovers and just two points next to his name when he sat for his fourth whistle.
[The rest of the recap and a box score after THE JUMP]
Continuing a disturbing theme from their last outing, Michigan had five turnovers before the first media timeout, two of those on balls mishandled by Hunter Dickinson before they even got into their sets, and the fifth a moving screen that knocked him out of the first half. UNC’s strategy of icing ball screens frustrated the Wolverines, who remained tentative to get into their sets the rest of the night.
One sign that things might get better was the continued emergence of freshman Moussa Diabate, who got the start over Brandon Johns and earned his keep, scoring 11 of Michigan’s first 21 points before the Under 6 timeout, including a three-pointer. Fellow five-star Caleb Houstan had 9 of the rest by that point. Dickinson’s late first points off a backdown hook and some floaters from Brooks were the rest of Michigan’s scoring in the first half, which ended with Caleb Love’s second long three and Devante’ Jones’s fourth missed layup for a UNC lead of 29-27.
A couple of back to back risers by Diabate gave Michigan its last lead. [Campredon]
UNC finally broke out of their shooting woes, going 5/8 from three in the second half while Michigan’s struggles only deepened. Diabate’s foul shots tied it out of the break, but a brutal stretch of Tar Heel glass work put the game permanently out of reach, as UNC put a prayer of a floater and a deep three in off the backboard, and sandwiched them with a pair of offensive rebounds that resulted and-one opportunities. The first of those effectively knocked Dickinson out of the game. The second put UNC up 46-35. Eli Brooks, whose floaters, timely trips to the basket, and hustling captures of loose Tar Heel possessions were keeping Michigan in contact until that point, looked absolutely gassed.
After Brandon Johns passed up his fifth straight open three-point attempt, UNC left him entirely alone. He still had to think about it, buried the triple, then left the Big Bearded Brady Manek alone at the top of the circle so the Tar Heels could take three points right back. Diabate got no more good looks and no more points as the lack of any shooting outside or Dickinson gravity inside allowed UNC defenders to focus on the French rookie.
Defense without Dickinson or Eli on the court got a little disorganized. [Campredon]
Transfer point guard Devante’ Jones continued to struggle, extending his scoreless streak to 65 minutes before getting a layup to fall. His second score made it 68-45 on a steal from a lazy UNC inbounds pass with under 3 minutes left. His three turnovers—the last a needless offensive foul after UNC pushed their lead to double digits—were a lot more noticeable than his three assists.
Freshman Frankie Collins played 13 minutes in Jones’s stead, but if he’s the spark for this team that looks at least a few months if not years down the road. Houstan too cooled way down from his start, and continued a trend of defensive breakdowns and ill-advised trips to the rim that have taken the shine off the five-star freshman’s debut thus far. Kobe Bufkin seemed to have fallen out of the rotation, getting on the court only after the match was settled. Terrance Williams too was a relative no-show, though it’s hard to ask the energy guy to bring much when he was barely inserted until UNC was running away.
Ominously, ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg, who can’t possibly have watched that much Michigan basketball this year, pointed at Michigan’s lack of shooters for their inability to find space for Dickinson or Diabate inside at halftime. Every Michigan fan who’s watched the first six games of this season could do little more than nod.
It’s tough to imagine Michigan’s basketball season getting off to a worse start, or a worse prognosis for a young season that began with so much promise. It’s way too early to give up on the talented freshmen, all of whom have their best basketball ahead of them, but it’s now past time to find a group of five who fit together. Michigan drops to 4-3, and will undoubtedly fall out of the rankings before Kenpom #44 San Diego State comes to visit this Saturday. Suddenly, Michigan fans are more confident in a football win that day.
Now back to the UFR, which I should have tomorrow, either before or after a special edition of Opponent Watch. Football everybody!
December 1st, 2021 at 11:55 PM ^
FWIW, with a win on Saturday we can claim we are the reigning B1G champs in both in Football and Basketball!
December 1st, 2021 at 11:55 PM ^
No flow on offense and quite honestly not much effort on defense. Every game I've watched they've looked tired and out of sorts.
Extremely disappointing.
December 1st, 2021 at 11:58 PM ^
I guess Michigan basketball had to die to let Michigan football live again.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:01 AM ^
What is up is down and what is down is up….
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:01 AM ^
I know +/- isn’t always the tell tale sign but an even 0 for Frankie Collins and -25 for Jones? How more obvious does it have to be for Juwan?
December 2nd, 2021 at 2:05 AM ^
Frankie Collins came into the game with a 42% TO rate. 42%!!!! Yes, Jones is struggling, but this is a very small sample from which to conclude that Frankie is the answer. I think he's going to be good, but it's a choice between a guy struggling to transition to P5 ball and a true freshman (PG is a tough position for a true frosh).
December 2nd, 2021 at 4:57 AM ^
I get this...100% it's time to give Collins a lot more run. He will get better with more minutes. It may take a lot more minutes, but I don't see Jones making much of a positive impact at any point this year either way. Yes, pg is a toug position, but there are plenty of freshmen starting point guards who are solid.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:26 PM ^
Collins will get better in practice. You've seen Jones play for a total of like 200 minutes this season. To give you a perspective of how little that is, Juwan sees him play that much in two days. The coaches know what they're doing. Trust the process.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:01 AM ^
Devonte Jones = 30 minutes. +/ - = -35
Piling on at this point but the coaching staff has forgotten more hoops than I, but to keep rolling him out there...yikes.
Credit to them for starting Diabate over Johns, now do the same at the PG position.
And fix the D, it’s terrible. What exactly are the man principles?
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:17 AM ^
It was -25 which isn't horrible when you lose by 21 and you played the majority of the game. He wasn't good but he wasn't nearly as bad as...
...Terrance Williams being -17 in 11 minutes. His 11 minutes accounted for nearly the full margin. In one quarter of the game! Nearly all of the losing margin!
And the eye test confirms that he was awful. I thought after the Buffalo game that he might be the answer as a wing defender but he is probably not and I was very wrong. He's abysmal on offense and his help defense is very bad. He was in the wrong spots and missed lots of rotations in just 11 minutes. Frankly, this team doesn't look very well coached right now, because it's a common theme amongst the vets like Dickinson, Johns and Williams. Not in the right spots. You're right the D is horrible (aside from Diabate and Brooks).
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:02 AM ^
Also, I had the weird feeling on offense that we were playing with four and they had five - such was the discombobulation…
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:03 AM ^
Oof… we stink
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:04 AM ^
That was the worst damn display of dodgeball I've seen in 40 years
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:07 AM ^
At least Juwan started Moussa. Now bench Jones, stop playing Johns entirely, start playing the freshmen...all of them, plus Zeb.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:57 AM ^
Where is he? What’s his situation?
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:20 AM ^
Good question and where was Bufkin? I assumed he was hurt or ill but when he came in for the mop up time, I was like wtf? We had Collins and Jones out there together at one point and didn't play Bufkin? I hope that was a one game "punishment" for something because that guys development is the best hope for turning this around.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:09 AM ^
I know its only one problem but its a big one. I don't think we appreciated the shooting that Mike Smith, Isaiah Livers, and Chaundee Brown brought to the team last season. Caleb Houstan and Eli Brooks are the only legit shooters on this team and Caleb has gotten off to a pretty rough start. Only having 2 solid shooters in the rotation is a serious problem and unfortunately I don't see how it gets solved before the season ends. Somebody is going to have to come out of nowhere and start canning threes on a consistent basis. Maybe more than one somebody for this team to make the tournament.
Hunter has to come out to the three point line to receive a pass nowadays.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:35 AM ^
Twilliams give him those open shots that Johns passes up. When he starts to thats when you will see the turnaround. Stop PLAYING JOHNS!
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:12 AM ^
This team simply lacks an offense and defense. This will be the most underperforming year in Michigan basketball since the early 2000’s unless we make some majors changes quick. It is frustrating to watch.
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:06 PM ^
I dunno about early 2000's, this seems very similar to 2014-2015 (the year we lost to NJIT). Expectations weren't quite as high before that season (ranked 24th) but coming off a F4 and then an E8, some solid freshman coming in and promising sophomores in Walton and Irvin, most expected a trip to the tourney. Almost immediately you could see the holes in roster construction and the underclassmen overwhelmed.
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:06 PM ^
I dunno about early 2000's, this seems very similar to 2014-2015 (the year we lost to NJIT). Expectations weren't quite as high before that season (ranked 24th) but coming off a F4 and then an E8, some solid freshman coming in and promising sophomores in Walton and Irvin, most expected a trip to the tourney. Almost immediately you could see the holes in roster construction and the underclassmen overwhelmed.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:16 AM ^
The two biggest issues are:
1. No one but Brooks can shoot at all from outside.
2. We are super careless with the ball.
Both can be practiced and improved but make for nearly unwatchable games right now.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:16 AM ^
At least they had a 100% free throw percentage???
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:33 AM ^
If it was a 2 or 3 point game that would've come in handy.
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:07 PM ^
According to the UNC postgame radio show, it was also the fewest number of FTs UNC has shot in a game since they've been keeping track.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:29 AM ^
Crazy to think, according to draft analysts, we have 10% of the first round of the NBA draft in our starting line up. Potential or not yikes. Lose by 20 to AZ and UNC then lose 60% of your line up with 8 years of eligibility left. Bpone took a hard right at Crisler Arena.
Now im kind of being tongue in cheek here. Coach Howard is fantastic and he will right the ship. Im afraid if we lose this entire starting line up at years end Brooks Jones Hunter Diabate and Huston that is going to be a tough rebuild.
I dont know what this team couldve done to beat AZ or UNC. I still think 3 point shooting is what is needed and we arent going to get that from the majority of our players.
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:25 AM ^
Who besides Diabate?
Any team that drafts Dickinson even in the second round will have made a huge mistake. Is it just me or has he gained too much weight? His defense has taken a massive dive and he's a liability on that side of the floor.
Houstan has to have played himself out of any first round consideration that team has made a huge mistake as well. He can't guard at the college level either.
December 2nd, 2021 at 8:53 AM ^
None of these guys are playing in the NBA anytime soon.
They have no identity, no alpha, no offensive flow, defensive breakdowns, and the kiss of death poor point guard play.
Its a total cluster fuck.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:32 AM ^
Jones: -25 in 30 minutes of playing time. Hmmm...that's not good.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:41 AM ^
Kill Jones and Johns minutes
Give Twill Caleb and Moussa all the minutes
Give Brooks the point with Frankie off the bench. Start Bufkin and maybe Zeb can play? How did Zeb look? I guess Jones can play back up two.
Twill needs to go full Chaundee mode. Its our only hope.
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:22 AM ^
Problem with T Will is he also has Johns-itis in terms of passing up open 3’s for pump fakes that go nowhere, and he is worse on the glass.
At this point Johns and Jones are who they are though. I was really hoping Johns would have a DJ Wilson like come to Jesus breakout year but it doesn’t look to be in the cards. Ultimately he’s not the shooter DJ was, not as explosive off the dribble, and while he’s flashed some decent post moves, it’s not enough, especially on a team that lacks spacing.
There will be rough moments but if it’s this ugly playing your experienced guys you have to get Kobe, Frankie, and Zeb some minutes. At least there is some hope that tough minutes can polish them down the road.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:39 AM ^
Back from the game. That was a brutal display. I will hold most of my thoughts for now - don’t want to overreact. I know guys are trying but a few guys are really dragging this team down and I don’t have any idea what they are trying to run on offense. Most of Hunter’s touches were at the top of the key. Ugh
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:42 AM ^
Sharik mentioned this in our text thread:
Michigan basketball went from #2 to unranked.
Michigan football went from unranked to #2.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:47 AM ^
Is Michigan sports some sort of role playing game where you have an allotment of points to give to the teams and we cranked the slider up full blast on football? After the the National Championship game Juwan and Harbaugh will quickly slide it back for Bball. You guys dont understand the sacrifice coach howard is making right now. Seth say it is so?
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:56 AM ^
Hahaha...
I might have give that exact explanation on Friday night to a friend who could not understand I had hope for football after coming back from Vegas and witnessing the Tarleton game.
December 2nd, 2021 at 12:58 AM ^
We’re a football school now.
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:09 AM ^
It’s worth repeating: Jones was a -25 in this game. He’s not getting better. Freshmen will. Play the kids.
December 2nd, 2021 at 5:01 AM ^
Ugliball. Time for the competitors to step up.
December 2nd, 2021 at 5:28 AM ^
Booooooooooooo This team is AWFUL Embarassing and such a letdown and disappointment WTH happeneded to Dickinson? he looks like he doesnt want to be there..Jones...YIKES..please stop playing him Johns misses so many bunnies and open looks.. Just sickening to watch this team perform so poorly.. My question ius What the Hell are they doinbg in practice??? because it sure aint IMPROVE..
December 2nd, 2021 at 5:58 AM ^
Another year of bad shooting. Please practice shooting a lot more.
December 2nd, 2021 at 6:49 AM ^
Had high hopes for Jones at point guard but I think the writing is on the wall. Juwan is doing his best to have confidence in the kid hoping he breaks out of it and finds his footing but he looks scared, tentative, and out of his league. Point guard is everything in college basketball along with three point shooting and M is bad at both.
December 2nd, 2021 at 7:03 AM ^
I’m starting to miss Zack Novak, Stu Douglass and Matt Vogrich.
December 2nd, 2021 at 7:06 AM ^
Boy I miss Mikey Smith … the offense looks so out of whack with Jones running it. He makes average defenses look to be elite and swarming. What I don’t get most of all is the pre-season hype about his defense - which is completely missing. He is continuously out of position, doesn’t get through picks (or switch correctly when he should) and can’t stay in front of other guards … it’s the complete opposite of what we’ve been told. I don’t get it …
To me - doesn’t seem like something he’s going to work his way through. I hope he is able to though or will be a really long season.
December 2nd, 2021 at 7:14 AM ^
What's amazing to me is the preseason hype that was coming from basically everyone. What did they all see, and what did they think we would be doing on the court? The expectations may have gotten to this teams head, they were praised and treated like defacto National Champs before the season.
Our All American center might be the 4th best center in the conference (generous rank right now) Houstan is somehow having a horrendous adjustment period coming from a HS team that does nothing but play against college talent. Brooks is a role player, Jones looks like he saw a ghost, John's is unplayable. Diabate looks like a raw poor man's Kevin Garnett though so that's nice.
Anyways, it's starting to get concerning now that all of Beileins players are gone with the exception of Brooks. We traded high IQ fundamental basketball players for raw athletes with no cohesiveness together.
December 2nd, 2021 at 8:29 AM ^
Quiz: How many Beilein players were in the rotation last year?
Quick partial answer: Dickinson, Brown, Smith, and Wagner are not Beilein players.
December 2nd, 2021 at 2:30 PM ^
I'm concerned too. Really hope Juwans success hasn't been a beilein wile e coyote thing.
December 2nd, 2021 at 7:39 AM ^
This team is going to be hard-pressed to make the NIT.
December 2nd, 2021 at 8:20 AM ^
I don’t think this is rock bottom. That will likely be sometime in early February when we are under .500 in the conference and in real danger of missing the tourney.
The real question will be whether the team can grow enough and rise above their current limitations to make a late season push like JB’s teams often did.
December 2nd, 2021 at 8:25 AM ^
I didn't see the game last night, but was taken aback from the last few vs AZ and Tarleton, when I noticed how much we are missing Franz defense and him holding everyone else accountable to it, and Mike Smith... The player who is struggling because Smith gone is Dickinson.
Jones isn't gonna cut it... we need zeb to start as a link to the past team. He looked good in spots last year Juwan hit lightning twice last year with transfers and was expecting it again and wasaybe better off with keeping Smith and rolling with Zeb.
December 2nd, 2021 at 8:38 AM ^
Jones really should play off-guard the rest of the season, let Eli/Frankie and even Zeb be primary ball handlers, initiate the offense. Jones turns his back to the basket on even the slightest ball pressure, which is a sign he's not ready for the PG role. Jones also needs to lose the one-handed and soft/slow passes. You could see others on the team (Moussa esp) making solid two-hand chest passes, probably a focus by coaching staff to reduce turnovers.
Spacing on offense is bad by design. The 3 wings are spaced too far apart, they're cutting to the ball (bringing additional ball pressure), and on-call defenders are jumping in front of the dribblers to deny the path and pass. Jones especially is just stuck putting his head down in those situations.
Defense did play better. I think improving the spacing on the perimeter (4 out please) and getting the ball to other PG's than Jones will really help. Then finally force feed Hunter and shooters be ready to shoot or swing the ball quickly.
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