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Michigan 68, Furman 62 Comment Count

Ace

Derrick Walton's game-sealing three came after Michigan had missed their previous 12 attempts from beyond the arc. Michigan's narrow win over Furman was a 60-possession slog that was hard to watch outside of the two highlights above.

Moe Wagner (18 points on 16 FGA, five offensive boards) and Zak Irvin (16 points on 14 FGA, seven assists) were just effective enough on offense for this game to remain tight throughout even though the Wolverines couldn't buy a long-range jumper. It'd be easy to pin a game this ugly on the dead winter-break atmosphere and players looking ahead to the holidays; this was more Michigan missing a bunch of open looks in a painfully slow-paced game.

The Wolverines now get a significant break before their Big Ten season tips off at Iowa on January 1st. After tonight's game, we could all use some time off from basketball.

Comments

Z_Wolverista

December 22nd, 2016 at 9:25 PM ^

Walton!!

Yes, the clips made the game seem super exciting. 

They'll make for great season highlights at the post-season celebration.

And also -- damn! he got all handsome, suddenly... when did that happen?!

Joined: 01/19/2014

MGoPoints: 2673

Wolfman

December 22nd, 2016 at 9:35 PM ^

but squeezing by Furman doesn't seem like that should be happening. While growing up, I knew who Cazzie Russell was before I knew one player from UM fb and I remember seeming to lose to UCLA every year. Then, of course, during the 70s we had some good runs under Orr, including reaching the finals to lose to IN. Frieder took the talent level up quite a few notches and Frieder was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and also grabbed some of the best players to every play in Crisler. Just seems odd now, with two solid runs under his belt, that we should be playing at this level. 

What I'm asking of you consistent fans, I guess, is why do fb and bb no longer coexist happily in AA. J.B. seems like a solid coach. Does he simply have a problem as to recruiting  consistently? I do know enough about him that his style of offense probably does not appeal to the nations elite. 

Joined: 07/23/2008

MGoPoints: 8259

Wolfman

December 22nd, 2016 at 10:10 PM ^

I meant, of course, Fisher seemed to be in the right place to continue bringing in the talent. Inadvertently typed Frieder twice. I think you make a solid point though and that could mean good things for our bb program. BB games have always been one of the "go to events" when hosting fb recruits during the cold months. So I think they are could be symbiotic in that sense. 

Joined: 07/23/2008

MGoPoints: 8259

alum96

December 22nd, 2016 at 10:38 PM ^

Wolfman, respectfully, I've found the best coaches often had the best players.  Does anyone think Calipari is a better in game coach or developer of talent than Beilein?

Outside of 1 class in his tenure UM simply has not had elite talent consistently  And based on how the recruiting continues to go that is going to continue.

How would UM look today if Beilein had landed TJ Leaf and James Blackmon Jr?  Would Beilein be a "better" coach with them?  No - he'd be the same coach.  But he'd look a lot smarter and we'd look a lot better and we'd be lauding him today rather than waiting for a guy from Germany to develop. 

Beilein is a good coach who is an average recruiter IMO.  He struck gold with one class.  Outside of that he has taken in a lot of "decent" players.  If he had Frieder's talent he'd be winning NCs IMO - Gary Grant, Tarpley, Glen Rice...heck I don't see a lot of Loy Vaught type talent out there on these rosters.  Who wows you on this roster.  Are there 2-3 of them who wow you like UK, Kansas, etc.

Forget Fab 5 - I'd like to see even Terry Mills, Robert Traylor, Jamal Crawford type talent out there.  We have a lot more Sean Higgins, Deshawn Sims, Louis Bullock type guys.  Nice players - will get you a nice 9-7 year on the Big 10.  Not the types that take you to promised land.  Who on this team is going to be a starter in the NBA?  Who is going to have an impact as a 6th man ala Crawford or Mills.  I don't see it.

Talent matters in the end.

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82457

Stringer Bell

December 23rd, 2016 at 12:46 AM ^

I'm not one to defend Beilein's recruiting, but he should have some talent to work with.  This team is a combination of recruiting misses and lack of player development.  Zak Irvin was a 5 star top 25 recruit, he should be All Big Ten and maybe All American by his senior year, and I don't think he's that.  Ditto Derrick Walton, who was a 4 star top 40 recruit, he should be All Big Ten and I don't think he is.  Donnal was a 4 star top 100 recruit who has turned out to be nothing more than a backup big man.  Kam Chatman was a 5 star who turned out to be a complete whiff.  DJ Wilson was a 4 star who's only now starting to make some contributions in his junior year.  MAAR has been a nice find but it seems that he has plateaued.  The only player who is seemingly developing into what we expect is Mo Wagner.  

 

The struggles the past couple of years are due to a combination of things, not just recruiting misses.

Joined: 11/06/2014

MGoPoints: 52907

N. Campus Tech

December 23rd, 2016 at 10:35 AM ^

The players that JB recruits have good grades, come from stable families, don't get into trouble with the law. They study, go to class and get good grades. Nice guys. All of them. Some times you need to add a Rasheed Wallace or two on your roster.

A one-and-done, ain't here to play school Carmelo Anthony would be great. Do you think JB would have recruited Carmelo? I don't either. Why? Carmelo didn't go to SU to go to class and get an education. JB doesn't want those types of players.

Joined: 09/10/2015

MGoPoints: 6192

AC1997

December 22nd, 2016 at 9:48 PM ^

I had three observations from the game:

  1. The 3 pointers seemed random.  Michigan was getting good looks and they just weren't falling.  I actually liked seeing Michigan run offense the entire game to compensate.
  2. The game felt "fluky" to me.  Michigan would play good defense, get a deflection with active hands, and it would go right to Furman for a layup.  Or Michigan would box out and a long three would result in a long rebound for a second chance.  There were breakdowns on D a few times and it wasn't flawless, but i thought Furman got more lucky bounces.
  3. God is there nothing worse in sports than the basketball ref that ASSUMES there was a foul.  You know him - he's the guy with the worst angle of a play where a guy goes to the rim and he blows a whistle assuming there was a foul.  There were at least 3 times that Michigan got called for a phantom foul in this game.  Meanwhile, Walton has some magical power that prevents him from getting a call when he gets in the paint and draws contact.  

 

Joined: 09/19/2008

MGoPoints: 13809

Jonesy

December 23rd, 2016 at 2:58 PM ^

I noticed your #2 as well, furman had 7 or so offensive rebounds where they clang a 3 that bounces back nearly to the 3 point line right into the hands of one of their players.  Every time we had a defender make a nice play to tap a pass away and almost steal a ball Furman would end up chasing it down and getting a layup.  It was pretty damn annoying that Michigan would box out and play good defense and random acts of chance would reward Furman.

Joined: 03/14/2012

MGoPoints: 10550

JBE

December 22nd, 2016 at 9:51 PM ^

I'm not sure why they can't coexist. One problem has been RR and Hoke's inability to bring the FB program up to the level of MBB. Edit: In reply to Wolfman.

Joined: 08/18/2008

MGoPoints: 19316