Michigan 92, Hillsdale 68
Dustin Johnston/UMHoops
They stuck to the script.
Michigan raises banners on opening day now. They did so again today, hoisting the 2014 Big Ten title banner to the rafters and handing out rings in a pregame ceremony. Continuing tradition, the biggest names from that championship squad weren't able to attend due to professional obligations; Glenn Robinson III was absent, and the parents of Mitch McGary, Nik Stauskas, and Jordan Morgan stood in for their sons who've taken the next step.
After all the hubbub before tipoff, a familiar scene for the returners but not for the squad's six freshmen, the Wolverines came out flat, allowing Hillsdale to ride hot outside shooting to a 15-6 lead. Then Michigan roared back by doing what they do best: shooting the rock. Three consecutive triples tied the score before M took the lead for good with a Kameron Chatman basket with 8:59 to go in the half.
Michigan leaned heavily on their veterans for production, and they came through in a big way. Caris LeVert flirted with a triple-double, posting a 20-8-9 line while hitting 4/6 three-point attempts. Derrick Walton may have been even better, leading the team with 22 points (5/8 FG, 9/10 FT), dishing out four assists, and masterfully running the Michigan fast break. Zak Irvin diversified his shooting a bit, adding several midrange buckets and even a few strong drives to the hoop on his way to 21 points on 8/12 field goals. The three stars lived up to the billing.
The rest, as expected, is a work-in-progress. Hillsdale knocked down 10/23 three-pointers in large part because the new faces in the lineup struggled on defense, especially working through the myriad off-ball screens set by the Chargers.
The freshmen showed their talent and their youth. Mark Donnal earned the start at center, had a couple nifty layups, worked hard on the offensive glass, hit a nice-looking mid-range jumper in the second half, and defended quite well for the most part, but also allowed a couple of easy buckets. Kam Chatman went 1/7 for 4 points in 30 minutes and allowed too many open shots; he also passed the ball well and had a stellar crossover in transition that led to an and-one opportunity.
Aubrey Dawkins sunk a three and seemingly reached into the upper bowl to rip down an offensive board in his limited time on the court. Ricky Doyle scored seven points in eight minutes but didn't look as quick to rotate on defense as Donnal. DJ Wilson played the entirety of his nine minutes at the five and pulled down four boards but didn't make a major impact otherwise. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman missed his pair of shots in four minutes of play, though he did display the ability to blow by defenders.
While the victory was hardly in doubt for most of the game, Michigan wasn't able to truly put it away until around nine minutes remained, and the Wolverines extended a 12-point lead all the way out to 30 over the course of the next several minutes.
In the end, it felt like an early-season cupcake game should for such a young team. The team won comfortably while getting enough of a test to have several areas of improvement to emphasize before Monday night's game against Bucknell, this squad's first against D-I competition. In the meantime, Michigan fans can rest comfortably knowing that this team can still shoot (11/19 from three) and the stars look ready to shine.
November 15th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
all looked real good. Irvin makes shooting look really easy and LeVert's passing was awesome. This is going to be yet another fun season for M basketball.
November 15th, 2014 at 5:08 PM ^
Levert is gonna be a force this year especially if his passing is like what we saw today. I think Irvin will surprise people. Walton making leaps like expected... Man I'm excited for this season!
November 15th, 2014 at 5:42 PM ^
November 15th, 2014 at 6:23 PM ^
DJ actually saw about a minute at the 4 in the second half. Which is nice because I really am hoping Beilein doesn't give up on getting him minutes there this year.
November 15th, 2014 at 9:37 PM ^
i can see him get significant minutes at the 4 against bigger teams when spelling chatman.
November 15th, 2014 at 10:33 PM ^
November 15th, 2014 at 11:49 PM ^
I think they have to. Donnal and Doyle will be a solid tandem at the 5, and we don't have a great back up for Chatman at the 4, depending on how Bielfeldt looks. But I agree - when Wilson is in alongside Doyle or Donnal, all your board are belong to us.
November 16th, 2014 at 9:54 AM ^
People always seems to wants Beilein to go with conventional personnel but playing smallball is a big reason why he has been successful. He flirted with going conventional when his big men were Morgan, Horford, McGary but even then didn't fully embrace it. What makes anyone think he will when his bigs are all freshman?
No, no, he needs to (and will) MINIMIZE the minutes that our inexperienced bigs play.
5 is our weakest position and DJ should really focus on one position his freshman year. The 4 is a very different role. We need DJ to focus on being a good 5 because his shot-blocking presence and versatility could be really beneficial beside Donnal/Doyle, who will both struggle with fouls.
Furthermore, our best lineup will have Spike out there beside the Big 3. That means Irvin is going to play some significant minutes at the 4.
IF Wilson plays the 4 it will be because Chatman fails. We don't want that. Chatman did not cover himself in glory yesterday but he's got good size (for a Beilein 4) and good athleticism. Once he finds his way, he should be fine.
Dawkins, while very skinny, is the guy I see as the best "other" option at the 4 (besides Irvin and Chatman). His athleticism will be a huge advantage if he can hold up on the defensive end (i.e., box out).
November 16th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
Disagree. What makes me think that Beilein will consider it is that playing DJ at the 4 is very different than playing Mitch or worse, JMo, there. DJ is much more skilled, better shooting range, and has flashed the ability to break people down off the dribble. Mitch is MUCH more of a banger than DJ was on that end.
Sticking him at the 5 robs him of a lot of chances to show his strenghts (shooting, taking people off the bounce as he did very impressively vs Wanye) and forces him to spend most of his time using the weakest parts of his game (screening and some back to basket stuff).
Furthermore, I don't think we've seen anything from Chatman to suggest that DJ shouldn't get a fair shot at winning the starting job at his natural spot.
November 16th, 2014 at 11:37 AM ^
I'm not saying Wilson can never play the 4, though I have my doubts, I'm saying he shouldn't right now. In 2 or 3 years, perhaps.
I love Wilson's potential, but to say he is more skilled than McGary, right now, is preposterous. If that was true, he'd be your starting 5 and it wouldn't even be close. Yeah, McGary is stronger physically - he is also quicker, a better passer, and at least as good of a mid-range shooter.
Anyway, the offensive issues are secondary. With our big 3 and Albrecht, offense is just about setting screens (which take knowledge more than anything else) and spacing the floor (which is why I think Dawkins is a strong candidate to get mintues at the 4).
We don't want Wilson breaking people of the dribble. We want Caris, Derrik and Zak doing that. In fact, we might not Wilson dribbling at all, much as we didn't want GR3 or Morgan to dribble last year.
Anyway putting Wilson at the 5 HELPS him get opportunities to shoot and dribble, because his mismatches are going to be enhanced, and the team benefits from drawing bigs out of position. You saw this with Novak. When he was guarded by his athletic peers on the wing he struggled to get open on offense. But once he was guarded by bigs he got a lot more open looks and was a threat off the dribble.
Beilein does these things for a reason. He creates offensive mismatches that offset the defensive limitations. He needs his 4s to box out and work hard, not look like Dale Davis, Zack Randolph or Greg Monroe. If other teams want to attack the undersized 4s with a low-efficiency low-post game - let them have at it. It worked for Blake Griffin, to some extent it worked for Julius Randle, but most of the time it plays to our advantage to have other teams trying hook shots on the low block as we rain 3s on the other end.
Put another way - Beilein played Smotrycz at the 5 more than he played McGary at the 4, even though McGary is an NBA 4 and Smotrycz is an NBA 3.
If you don't have faith in what Beilein is doing by now...
November 16th, 2014 at 1:59 PM ^
What in the world makes you believe I don't have faith in Beilien?
And I think you misunderstand how I used "skilled". Strength and quickness have nothing to do with it. Ability to shoot, use the bounce, classic basketball skills. He has Mitch in all these catagories except passing.
And yes we do want him to dribble, Beiein looks to have the ability to break people down at as many positions as possible. It's all about versitility. That is why he played Novak at the 4, to have another kid who can shoot and use the bounce, if only a little in Novak's case.
The fact that you seem to be comparing DJ Wilson to Dale Davis confuses me...
And no, playing the 5 won't help him attack. In Beilein's sets there are not situations where the 5 runs a ball screen, is set up to attack a close out, etc. He screens, rolls, steps out to reverse the ball then screens again. Not a ton of chances to show a ton of skill other than on mid-range jumpers and the occasional face-up move.
November 16th, 2014 at 2:46 PM ^
1. Suggesting our 4 should be breaking people down off the dribble.
2. Suggesting Chatman isn't better than Wilson
Beilein has shown us he thinks Chatman is a lot better than Wilson (at this stage anyway) and Beilein has repeatedly indicated he wants athleticism at the 4 more than he wants size.
Regarding 1 - sure, Beilein would love to have an all around threat at the 4. You hand him two Kevin Garnetts he'd be very happy, but his track record is with a guard-oriented offense and his 4 man will almost certainly continue to be a complementary player. The closest he's come to playing an offensive initator at the 4 is DeShawn Sims, but that was with walk-ons at PG. Unlikely to happen again.
I don't know where you're getting this idea that Wilson is this good yet. Wilson's handle isn't NEARLY as good as your making it out to be and his 3 point shooting proficiency is TBD. This is just pure conjecture and hope. Wilson has the potential to be as good as you say, but he isn't there yet. Beilein said as much. Let's see him lead a fast break, like McGary did, before we crown him an off the dribble savant. That he should be the ball-handler on PNR and driving by his man is preposterous. We have 3 guys who are probably going to the NBA very soon -- they are the ones who should have the ball, not a 3 star freshman who we hope can develop into a special player one day.3-point shooting is the lone area where he MIGHT be better than McGary. That doesn't make him a better 4.
My point about Dale Davis was that Beilein doesn't WANT a 'natural' 4 playing the 4 spot. That's why he barely recruited Jaylen Johnson. Wilson is a 5 and will probably stay a 5 unless Donnal and Doyle both emerge as deserving to get playing time over the guards Beilein has brought in. In other words - it's highly unlikely. It's far more likely that either Doyle, Donnal, or Wilson ends up in limited bench role once things shake out. That's how it is when you have 3 guys for one position.
I'd be less surprised if Robinson or Dawkins starts at the 4 next year than Wilson, but that's neither here nor there. Beilein has been very complementary of Chatman and he's the only freshman who earned a rotation spot almost immediately.
November 16th, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^
At 2:40 here with the rip through to pro hop and finish. Out of the corner that you live in as a 4 in Beilein's offense.
All I'm saying is a. that is not a move that anyone Beilein has ever play at the 5 can pull except Smotz and playing him there didn't go over so well. That includes Mitch who, while being an amazing player, has never pro-hopped past a help defender. And b. that is something I want to see more of. Both because I, like you, want to see if it's for real, and becasue I kinda already believe it is for real based on his HS film.
That's the kind of thing you'll never get at the 5. Catching the ball in the corner, attacking a close out. Later in the game he grabs an assists off a PnR with Doyle and knocks down a 3. All great things for a JB 4 to do. I swear I'm not conjuring this excitement out of nowhere.
Go blue!
November 16th, 2014 at 5:25 PM ^
I'm with you. There was a moment where Michigan was in on a higher ranked wing (I think he ended up at Pitt or Vanderbilt or USC or something like that) but I was saying I strongly perferred "settling" for Wilson. He's got the sleeper profile similar to Levert, with legitimate circumstantial evidence that his rankings were understated. His skillset is diverse and his ceiling is very high.
However, again, I think Wilson is both not ready yet (to be a 4 in this system) and needed (to be a 5 on this team.) I was really hoping he could red-shirt actually because he's a high-ceiling guy with a limited role on this team. But, our need at 5 is severe and his shot-blocking (and shooting) can be helpful right away. If Horford was back, I could see Wilson working as a 4.
Even if none of our 5s are very good players yet, at least they can offer some different looks. Each of them will have bad days, and hopefully another one can pick the team up when that happens.
November 16th, 2014 at 11:40 AM ^
Now this is a different conversation. If you think Wilson makes a better wing player than Chatman I might buy your argument. But clearly, Beilein does not and I bet he knows what he is doing.
Beilein doesn't play people at their 'natural' NBA positions at the 3 and 4 spot. He probably never will unless he gets a couple of NBA bigs at the same time. That's what he had in Horford and McGary and, again, even then he barely wanted to try it.
November 15th, 2014 at 6:25 PM ^
This time has serious depth and potential. I would like to see more Wilson in place of Chatman.
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November 15th, 2014 at 6:26 PM ^
I thought it was a typical performance from this team early in a season - it was slow and a bit plodding, but man can this team shoot. I suspect they'll tighten up the defense, but this team should improve as the season progresses and make a decent run into the tourney. It does look like the age issues, especially at center, will keep it a step behind the top teams in the conference, but all they need are a couple good shooting performances to beat anyone.
November 16th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^
We will be able to beat almost anyone. But as a 3-reliant team (even more than in years past) we'll lose some games we shouldn't. The nice thing is that one guy can have an offnight and there's enough firepower to go with other options.
November 15th, 2014 at 11:52 PM ^
Teams gonna be solid, we will get great production from Walton. Levert, Irving and Spike, but we gotta have Chattman contribute more on the defesnive end as well as our other bigs. Which they will under Coach B its just a matter of time
November 16th, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
November 17th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^
Dustin Johnson is the PHOTOGRAPHER. The subject of the picture (with shorts pulled up) is Zak Irvin.
November 16th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
November 16th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
November 16th, 2014 at 9:21 PM ^
1. Who were the women in the front row behind the maize bench that everyone hugged?
2. That Dawkins jump though, wtf... i have seen a lot of ups in my day but dudes got UPSSSSSSS. Can I get a GIF please?
3. Box out ya bigs.
4. my entire row won a free one-hour massage so yeah, I'm happy.
Go blue!
November 17th, 2014 at 5:49 PM ^
The woman behind the bench is Dottie Day who has missed only a handful of games (home AND away) in 40 years.
As for #4, go for the one with the happy ending! :)
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