Michigan 71, Detroit 62 Comment Count

Ace



Derrick Walton led M's late charge with great transition play. [Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog]

They should've known.

Detroit hung with Michigan for most of a rather ugly game, thanks to the hot hand of Juwan Howard Jr. (24 points) and the cold first-half shooting of Michigan. With just 5:38 to play, the upset watch remained in effect with the game tied at 52.

Then Detroit slapped the floor.

Michigan put the game away with an 11-0 run.

If you're confused about the correlation, ask a State fan.

The Wolverines couldn't buy a bucket in the first half, going 10/29 from the field, including an uncharacteristic 3/12 mark from beyond the arc. Neither team looked very good, nor did the officials, who couldn't decide whether to call the game tight or let everything go. The Titans scored on the half's final possession to take a 28-27 lead into the locker room.

The second half didn't begin so well, either, as Detroit extended their lead to four points during a rough stretch for Michigan freshman Kameron Chatman. John Beilein wasted little time going to what would be his best lineup of the night, lifting Chatman for Spike Albrecht and inserting Max Bielfeldt at center. Both provided the support Michigan's three backcourt stars needed; Albrecht dished out four assists, knocked down two threes, and added a steal, while Bielfeldt hauled in five boards and even dished out a couple assists himself.

That allowed the big three to flourish. After a rough first half, Caris LeVert went on a tear in the second stanza, scoring 17 of his team-high 21 points in the final 20 minutes; he also pulled down nine rebounds to nearly tally a double-double. Zak Irvin became the main beneficiary of Walton's fast break exploits, knocking down a couple second-half transition threes on his way to 18 points. Walton finished with 16 points of his own, grabbed three rebounds, and handed out three assists.

Outside of Howard, who needed 24 shot equivalents to score his 24 points, and an usually efficient Brandon Kearney (14 points on 5/6 FG), nobody on Detroit could get much going offensively; Michigan kept the Titans almost entirely off the offensive glass and forced most of their shots to originate from the perimeter, and eventually the Titans flat-lined, going through long stretches of the second half without being able to score.

Michigan managed to weather a bad shooting night to eventually come away with the win, but concerns are mounting as the three stars have been forced to bear what could be an impossible load to carry long-term. The Irvin/LeVert/Walton troika scored over 77% of the team's points tonight, and the freshmen expected to fill major roles either looked lost on the court (Chatman, DJ Wilson) or were disturbingly absent from the rotation as the game wore on (Mark Donnal, Ricky Doyle).

That's to be expected, in part, on such a young team with such obvious go-to players, but when the competition steps up significantly on Monday—when Michigan faces an Oregon team in Brooklyn that beat these same Titans by 18 earlier this week—the lack of secondary options is going to become a serious problem.

For now, Michigan's survived unscathed, and there are encouraging signs—one of those, somewhat surprisingly, on defense, where they've owned the boards. Sometime soon, though, this team is going to need one or two of their freshmen to grow up in a hurry.

Comments

Nitro

November 21st, 2014 at 9:01 AM ^

Last year this blog got all jumpy and started pressing the panic button early in the season too, talking about how we weren't gonna make the tournament after the loss at Duke.

Having options you can go to on the bench for a spark is not a problem. The freshman are doing fine. The offense is taking some time to sync up, just like it did with last year's loaded team. This is basketball, team's struggle at times throughout a season. We've got some tough games coming up. We'll probably lose a couple. Let's not overdramatize it.

mgobaran

November 21st, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^

I am with you. No reason to panic over a slow start for the freshman. Remember when Walton couldn't close games at the free throw line at the beginning of last season? That is the same dude who pretty much sealed a victory at the Breslin with a nasty and-1. It will come.

LET'S G(r)O(w) BLUE!!

Michigan4Life

November 21st, 2014 at 11:40 AM ^

Michigan lost to Charlotte and struggled big time against Duke last season.  They finally rounded up to form by the end of the season.  It's the early season that Michigan offense struggled to find their ways, yet Michigan offense is still darn good according to KenPom (#5 in offensive efficiency).  This shows how much we are spoiled with the greatness of Michigan offense from the past few years.  I expected them to make a ton of 3s with accuracy and I ended up being surprised that they missed it. 

It will take time, but the good news is Michigan has their top 3 options which is a known quantity as opposed to last year where we never settled on the top two options until after Duke game where Nik took over while LeVert became the #2 option.

The freshmen are struggling, it's obvious to me. I have all the confidence in the world in the coaching staff that they can coach them up and have them ready by March. It's not how you start, it's how you finish as last year team can attest to it. 

It's amazing on 2012-2013 Michigan team has started out so well at 16-0 and finished with a flourish with a NC appearance. This was a special group of young kids who had NBA future with the starting 5 plus LeVert who hasn't grown into a bonafide NBA prospect yet.

Moonlight Graham

November 20th, 2014 at 8:52 PM ^

I like the idea of the true freshmen coming in to provide energy from the bench but Spike, Caris, Zak, Walton and Max provide the stable core group. Having said that, Donnal and Kam need to step it up in a hurry.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

ijohnb

November 21st, 2014 at 7:03 AM ^

Are "stable" but they have a pretty low ceiling. I really think that JB needs to ease back a little in terms of impressing scheme to the exclusion of all else. He needs to let the kids just play a little or they will lose interest. For future classes as well, Michigan needs to be a "fun" place to play, just a little, or recruiting will suffer. Yes, they need to "buy in" and do what is asked, but he needs to let them just play some hoops a little too.

In reply to by ijohnb

umfanchris

November 21st, 2014 at 8:29 AM ^

Teams typically have fun when they are winning.They aren't going to win by "Just letting them play". This isn't high school basketball. If you aren't running your set system in college ball then you will lose! If they lose they won't have fun.

ijohnb

November 21st, 2014 at 9:38 AM ^

clarify.  Beilein is a good evaluator of talent, but he has also been very lucky in how unrealstically perfect that his recruits have fit his system and have learned his system so quickly.  That is not always going to be the case.  Over a third of the roster right now are true freshman.  These freshman are going to need to make some mistakes in order to correct them and right now I don't really feel like they are being given a chance to.  I feel like JB's expectations need to be tweeked a little bit and understand that some of these guys are going to have to learn on the job.  I feel like Dawkins and Rawk should be getting some run.  These guys may have huge upsides once they are in competitive game action.  I think he has too short of a leash on Wilson, I feel like Chatman is afraid to make mistakes.  Beilein has forgot ten times the amount of basketball that I have ever known, but this team is going to need to platoon a little bit to contend.  I don't think he should be afraid of "failure" with these guys as much as he is right now.

Blue In NC

November 21st, 2014 at 11:16 AM ^

Well that's your opinion but I totally disagree.  Wilson hasn't shown any reason for PT but Beilein is still giving him a bit.  Wilson made a couple of immediate terrible plays and didn't immediately get yanked.  Chatman I think is still being encouraged to shoot by JB and that's a good thing - we are going to need him.  If he gets his shot going and plays better fundamental D, he can be a good player for this team.  In the meantime, you need to win games.  JB got Caris going in this one.  Irvin has had a great start and Walton is playing well.  Once those guys are going strong, looks and PT will follow for the other guys.

AnthonyThomas

November 21st, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^

This is all baseless conjecture and really can't be backed up by any of the coaching habits Beilein has shown over 30+ years. The guy has coached at every level of college basketball. He knows what he has and how to develop players the right way. 

jrobs7777

November 20th, 2014 at 9:50 PM ^

Hahahahaha.  C'mon man.  Its early season basketball.  You know that Bucknell team UM ran out of the gym earlier in the week?  They are giving Villanova a heck of a game tonight.  It is silly to draw too much from the ebbs and flows of early season games.

Ali G Bomaye

November 21st, 2014 at 11:32 AM ^

There are four nonconference games we could lose without it being considered a major upset - Oregon, VCU/Villanova, Syracuse, and Arizona.  Let's say we lose all four of them.  Then we go into the B1G schedule at 9-4.  We also had four losses going into the B1G schedule last year, and I remember that working out okay.

carlos spicywiener

November 20th, 2014 at 9:00 PM ^

This is where McGary would've stepped up unfortunately. Horford also could've carried some scoring load.

I don't expect the freshmen to do much until the big 10 slate. Chatman, in particular, is having a slow start to his college career. They need to keep giving him minutes though, eventually he'll start doing something with them.

Mr. Yost

November 21st, 2014 at 9:27 AM ^

McGary and Horford transform this team from a 7-seed to a 2-seed just off the fact that it pushes everyone "down" into a more natural position.

Not to mention, they'd be 2 of the best 5 players on the team.

joeismyname

November 20th, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^

I actually like Doyle's play off the bench more than any freshmen right now. Very disappointed with donnal so far, and do not see the upside I do with Doyle, but what do I know. Chatman looks like someone who clearly has the tools, but he needs to keep shooting and shooting and shooting in practice. DJ Wilson is the player I'm worried about right now, he looks extremely athletic and seems to have huge upside like chatman, but he looks more lost than the other freshmen.

I still look back and remember this team lost to Charlotte in a similar kind of game last year. The defense and our toughness look better now than at this time last year though. I love our big 3 right now and think they can really carry this team early as the young guys continue to develop each game....I think they are a very gritty group.

True Blue Grit

November 21st, 2014 at 11:34 AM ^

So far, he hasn't shown much after all the hype of his practices in the last year.  One play in particular last night showed a lack of aggressiveness - the missed layup under the basket.   For crying out loud, dunk the damned ball!!!  He's got the legs as we've seen from the videos.  Hopefully, he'll come around soon. 

Unsalted

November 20th, 2014 at 9:03 PM ^

Ace, I think you make an excellent point that Spike and Max allow the Troika flourish. I don't think the freshman have to do too much, but they need to fit in and find their roles, so Caris/Zak/Derrick can do their thing throughout the entire game.

OccaM

November 20th, 2014 at 9:33 PM ^

Right he's the equivalent of a sophmore without the playing time.... 

I'll clarify. I thought he would have more of an impact starting the season given his experience within the system already. Relax buddy. 

Then again practice vs game time scenarios can be very different so maybe by the time B10 season rolls around the younger kids will be a lot better. 

 

UMgradMSUdad

November 20th, 2014 at 9:11 PM ^

Unfortunately, the new bigs don't really even have anybody on the team to practice against that will test them in the same way they'll be tested once the Big 10 season starts. 

umchicago

November 20th, 2014 at 9:12 PM ^

Based on what I've seen the past couple games, chatman and wilson are bordreline useless on both ends.  I would love to redshirt one of those guys.

That said, Beilein is a master of improving players.  So he likely needs to guess who will imoprove the most.  I would hate to lose a redshirt over 3-5 min per game.

Also, it's possible dawkins may be a better player at this point.  I would love to see more minutes out of him.