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Michigan 68, Rutgers 57 Comment Count

Ace

You need to know four things about this game:

1. Michigan couldn't hit a shot. They dug an early hole after starting 0/5 from the field and finished the first half 6/18 from three. The outside shots started falling in the second half, but the Wolverines still finished only 20/49 from the field—not for lack of open looks, but much like the Minnesota game, they missed a lot of shots they'd normally make.

2. Mark Donnal sparked the run Michigan needed. With Michigan losing by three with 5:30 left in the first half, Donnal stuffed a shot by Jonathan Laurent, assisted Aubrey Dawkins for a three on the other end, took a charge, drew a foul and hit both free throws, then took another charge. After that sequence, Zak Irvin hit a three, and Michigan suddenly had an eight-point lead. Rutgers couldn't pull closer than five points for the duration.

3. With 1:30 left in a ten-point game, Rutgers committed a shot-clock violation. That is not ideal.

4. On the next Michigan possession, Irvin missed the front end of a one-and-one, Rutgers center Greg Lewis rebounded the miss... and passed the ball to the official standing out of bounds. It took a while, but we hit peak Rutgers.

Duncan Robinson (18 points, 4/9 3P) and Aubrey Dawkins (11 points, 3/4 3P, one spectacular missed dunk) were the two players who found any consistency with their shot. Zak Irvin went 2/8 from the field but hauled in 12 boards and dished out eight assists.

This was Minnesota 2.0: Michigan proved fortunate to play a bad team when they had an off night. Because that team was Rutgers, they won by double-digits anyway.

Comments

AZBlue

January 27th, 2016 at 9:12 PM ^

I hope Brian was doing baby stuff or sleeping off a long, happy day rather than watching that. Sorry you had to Ace, but at least you got to see the wiener-dog races!

Joined: 09/14/2008

MGoPoints: 16788

MarkleyNJ

January 27th, 2016 at 9:33 PM ^

Frustrating offense sets with the ball being stuck in Duncan Robinson's hands at the end of the shot clock.  He threw away a couple of passes when he was forced into this position.

Glad to see that Donnal and Dawkins were able to spark a run.  Oh well... 6-2 in the Big10.

Joined: 01/23/2015

MGoPoints: 39

blue90

January 27th, 2016 at 9:43 PM ^

He is actually one of the only players I think Beilein has failed at fixing.  He is definitley in the wrong system but when has that stopped Beilein?   At this point he can't really jump ahead of anyone.  Dawkins and RAHK are the only ones and he is far from catching them.  Will he transfer?  Who knows, maybe.  I think he is a quality player, maybe he just lost it at the college level?  I'm pretty sure he was a four star and recruited heavily by Arizona.  Poor dude, seems like a nice kid.  He should have red-shirted this year.

Joined: 12/24/2015

MGoPoints: -18

Bertello NC

January 27th, 2016 at 10:01 PM ^

Just watching Kam when he's on the floor it just looks like 1. He's lost 2. He doesn't posses the athletic ability to play and play well at this level. 3. His shot is broke.
Beilein is one of the best in the biz at making kids better but the kid has to have some ability somewhere in there and I just don't see it in Kam. He doesn't even run fluidly. Too timid. I don't know I mean I hate to throw in the towel with him because Beileins developmental ability but he's really going to have to pull a rabbit out of his hat with this one.



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Joined: 09/13/2011

MGoPoints: 958

TrueBlue2003

January 27th, 2016 at 11:40 PM ^

Donnal had all kinds of practice hype and was playing well enough there to be starting which was all the more frustrating that he wasn't playing well.  So for him it was clearly just a matter of translating that to game action.  And he's been great lately.

It seems like Kam is a long way from any of that. Hope he can put it together. 

Joined: 01/05/2010

MGoPoints: 38075

blue90

January 27th, 2016 at 9:39 PM ^

Is this a Beilein problem or a players problem?   Obviously this is going to be an overreaction but what the hell.  I'm sick of saying well at least we played like crap against a team who couldn't take advantage of it.  We should have won by 30, Rutgers is one of the worst basketball teams in the country.  Was our defense even good? I was too busy being mad from our offensive possesions to pay any attention to our defensive ones.

Walton still can't drive to the hoop, why does he have a problem with this, even against crappy teams?  He is such an odd player, barely had 14 points (2 of them came from fouls at the end) and barely had 4 assists (I don't count assists when he turns around and gives the ball to Duncan because I would get 2 assists a game doing that). Irvin played great except for scoring. His game has rounded out nicely, except for...scoring.  8 points.  Yes but he had 8 assists and 12 rebounds, yippee, I could care less.  That doesn't make it okay that he only scored 8 points. There is no reason he cannot dish out the ball, in addition to scoring.  Against a good team I would say he played well if he had that stat line, but against a team like Rutgers, 8 points man!

Donnal, Duncan, and Dawkins were there usual selfs, they all played well.  I blame this on Beilein, he should run sprints tomorrow.  Can't wait for quality opponents at home like IU and MSU.  

 

Joined: 12/24/2015

MGoPoints: -18

SagNasty

January 27th, 2016 at 10:01 PM ^

This is not the nba. These kids are not going to score 20 a night. The big ten season is a grind and not every game is going to be pretty. They won. They are 6-2 without their best player. Sit back and enjoy the season or find something else to occupy your time. Your overreactions after every game are tiresome.

Joined: 06/22/2011

MGoPoints: 933

champswest

January 27th, 2016 at 11:15 PM ^

place in the Big Ten and have equaled last year's win total already with 10 more regular season games to go plus the Big Ten tournament and the big dance. We have played all month without our best player and our back up point guard and went 5-2. This is next year's team, a year early.

Joined: 10/04/2009

MGoPoints: 25916

blue90

January 27th, 2016 at 10:29 PM ^

against Rutgers or a 5 point win against Minnesota with this team then bummer.  I have higher expectations, sorry.  The way teams get better is by looking at weaknesses after they win. When a team wins by 30 the coach first complements his team and tells them what they did well and then asks why is wasn't 40.  I can expect 12+ from Irvin every single night, if you can't then you have low expectations.  My point isn't that his shot wasn't falling (if you say this then you're going to be saying it consistently because he has off nights all the time, look at his numbers).  My point is that he can't really create his own shot and has difficulty driving.  He is bad at driving and consistently scoring.  You can't just say meh, he had an off night, give him a break.  If Beilein did that our players would suck.  Beilein says, damn nice 12 boards, damn even nicer 8 assists, now why did you not score any points?  Lets work on your driving and scoring ability because everything else is working, which is exactly what I'm saying.  Zak has the potential to be an all-big ten player but he doesn't if he doesn't get his scoring up.  He has consistent drouts where he disappears.  I'm not saying he does a poor job at filling in elsewhere if he can't shoot.  He does that great.  I'm saying, more often then should be happening, he can't shoot.    

Joined: 12/24/2015

MGoPoints: -18

Go Blue in MN

January 27th, 2016 at 10:11 PM ^

So when a guy is not scoring, he should just pout and let the rest of his game fall apart?  I must be an idiot.  I thought when your shot wasn't falling, you were supposed to hit the glass and pass to open teammates.  That's what Irvin did.

Joined: 09/28/2013

MGoPoints: 7470

bronxblue

January 27th, 2016 at 10:34 PM ^

This is one of the more nonsensical responses I've seen to a win. You don't count assists because they are too easy, even though the turn around and hand the ball off is an actual play and uses Walton as a de facto screen. Then you get mad at Irvin for almost getting a triple double because he didn't score enough. By all means, keep beating that horse, but you sure do come across as one of those fans who only cared about basketball circa 2012.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171436

jmblue

January 28th, 2016 at 9:21 AM ^

His game has rounded out nicely, except for...scoring. 8 points. Yes but he had 8 assists and 12 rebounds, yippee, I could care less. That doesn't make it okay that he only scored 8 points.

You've got to be messing with us.

 

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102750

Rick Grimes

January 28th, 2016 at 2:14 AM ^

Defensively Michigan played better than they did against Minnesota. The game was frustrating though and hard to enjoy because Michigan let Rutgers hang around basically all game when it should have been over by halftime. As others have said though, a win is a win. 6-2 in the BIG look good right now. This team has a lot of potential when Levert returns.

Joined: 03/29/2014

MGoPoints: 1066

Alumnus93

January 27th, 2016 at 10:20 PM ^

--Donnal gonna be a good player the next two years if his confidence continues to trend upward. --Doyle is a liability. Last year he wasn't. hes seemed to overgrow into a lanky lumbering player, the kind you never want on your team when picking teams. man what a letdown for I thought he'd be the Morgan role. I want Wagner to get all his minutes, until he drops 30lbs. --Chatman seems mentally miles away and a good year from contributing. reminds me of Darius his first few games. i wonder if he doesn't transfer by then. this offense isn't working for his game. --Walton has become our second best player on team, and this year so far has been the most valuable with LaVert out. It should be Irvin or even Dawkins, both of whom arent playing to their potential, especially Dawkins. --Robinson I the weight program has really improved. Comparisons to Nik weren't wishful thinking He belongs.

Joined: 09/10/2009

MGoPoints: 9684

BlueBadger

January 27th, 2016 at 11:22 PM ^

Win. I don't care what it look likes. The college game is high variance, just win. This isn't the 2012/2013 team, but it's a lot better than any team from 1999-2008.

Joined: 07/06/2011

MGoPoints: 1088