Notre Dame 70, Michigan 63 Comment Count

Ace



[Joseph Dressler/MGoBlog]

A five-minute scoring drought. A struggling star player. Iffy post play and equally iffy substitution patterns.

Michigan charged out to an early lead against Notre Dame and controlled much of the game. In the end, however, a familiar set of problems cost the Wolverines the game and capped the season in unfortunately fitting fashion.

Zak Irvin couldn't recreate his recent late-game magic, missing the potential game-tying three-pointer from the top of the key after a discombobulated final possession. Irvin finished the game 4/16 from the field and 1/9 from long range. Derrick Walton temporarily broke out of his shooting slump with a 4/7 first half and looked on his way to a great all-around game; he crashed to a halt in the second, going 0/6 from the field over the final 20 minutes.



The short version, via FiveThirtyEight.

For Notre Dame, forwards Zach Auguste and Bonzie Colson each went 4/5 from the field. Michigan's best counter to them in the post, Moe Wagner, hit all three of his shots but played only eight minutes; a questionable charge call for his fourth foul swung the momentum and quite possibly the game in favor of the Irish. The foul negated a Wagner layup that would've given Michigan a two-point lead with 5:39 to play; when Wagner finally reentered with 1:01 on the clock, Notre Dame had a three-point lead and the ball. In the interim, Mark Donnal blew a critical layup.

Clutch late shots by VJ Beachem (game-high 18 points, 7/7 FG) on the perimeter and Colson in the paint gave the Irish the margin they needed to advance. Michigan will be left to wonder: What if John Beilein gave Wagner a longer leash or at least played him ahead of Ricky Doyle? What if Irvin and Walton could play well in the same game? What if MAAR shifted to the point instead of sticking at the two while the team went two scoreless minutes with Andrew Dakich running the offense? What if that official called a block? We now have a long offseason to ponder the answers.

On the plus side, Michigan didn't lose to a 15-seed today.

Comments

victors2000

March 19th, 2016 at 2:26 PM ^

Everybody brings up Caris and Spike out for the year but the Beilfeldt (sp.) transfer hurt, he would of seen good minutes for us this year. I also wonder what kind of player Hatch would have been had it not been for the airplane crash, the later one which occurred in High School. As a sophomore he was averaging around 23 points a game; it's possible he would have been in the rotation at Michigan had he not been hurt. Coach Beilein was really snake bit the past couple years.

Maizen

March 19th, 2016 at 7:47 PM ^

Disagree. IU lost James Blackmon and they just beat UK. Making the tournament should be the absolute bare minimum. Until Beilein recruits a big man worth a damn this program isn't going anywhere. Donnal missing 4-5 layups and playing zero defense last night kiled this team. Michigan can't continually play 4 on 5 and expect to win basketball games.

If this were the football team people would be bitching.

AZBlue

March 19th, 2016 at 3:02 AM ^

My 2 cents on Irvin et. al.

I think Irvin is fine as a 2nd option but he was trying to do more than his capabilities at the worst times this season. He was a good fit as a some-time driver and spot up shooter.

This team really missed Spike's on court leadership/steadying presence and Caris' ability to create and draw the defense (though I think he too would be best as a second option if we had a true.). When you combine what those two bring to the floor with the corresponding reduction in minutes down the lineup I think this was a borderline sweet 16 team. No more - No Less

Walton seems broken to me. I don't know if it is physical or mental but something was off in the last month or so. Even early in the year he seemed a bit less than his Freshman version.

The bigs are what they are. Doyle's regression this year capped the ceiling on this team. I think Donnal shows flashes but is ideally a backup/matchup player. Maybe in a backup role he gets less beaten up and could show the 3-point skills we heard about when he came in. Next year (a non sleep-deprived) Doyle or Wagner need to step up into the #1 role if the team has any hope of significant improvement. From the little bit of recruiting stuff I read, I don't think Teske will be able to step into a major role as a Frosh, and the MI kid (Davis?) is getting rave reviews but the level of competition makes it hard to project his impact.

I do have high hopes for Xavier Simpson next year -- at minimum to eliminate any non garbage-time minutes by Dakich (seems like a great kid but not a B1G level player).

Alumnus93

March 19th, 2016 at 10:05 AM ^

Walton isn't broken. the dude is a PTPer but needs to be a big game and he flashes. remember as frosh he went into EL and killed them?
I think the offense holds him back for whatever reason.
Doyle lifting weights has ruined him. he is way too big and obviously can't carry that weight. drop 25lbs and he will improve.
Donnal is a guy I don't want on the court. looks so mentally soft. Wagner is far better than most here realize. a year from now and he'll be our best player by a wide margin. see how many blocks he had in limited time? he has that German work ethic on D and is only a fresan playing the US game for first time. JBs biggest gaffe is not playing him more over BOTH donnal and Doyle.
Irvin is fine but trying to do it all.
Robinson is a liability if he isn't getting clean looks.

L'Carpetron Do…

March 19th, 2016 at 5:15 PM ^

Yeah man I'm not a big Donnal fan.  He made a few decent plays but wehenevr he was in I was like "Beilien get him out. " 

I agree I think ,mentally ,he is soft.  The crowd was starting to dig Wagner and everytime he checked in he got cheers.  He had 4 fouls, 3 of which were total bullshit.  That benefitted ND and was the difference in the game.

Wagner>Donnal>Doyle.

I was bummed Walton couldnt continue his scoring in the 2nd half.  I was psyched he had it going in the 1st but I think he was a little hesitant in the 2nd half and thought he pssed up a few.

This was the best the team played all year though.  Good to see that but pissed they blew it.  I hate to think that they could've been playing this well all year.  

rc90

March 19th, 2016 at 1:03 AM ^

It sure looked like they would've lost to a 14th seed on Sunday if they won tonight.

I got a dumb question, but do college coaches work on jump shot form? Maybe it's too fundamental or maybe it's just something you don't mess with. But Irvin has such a weird ball path towards his release that it just looks like something that needs fixing. I think his timing gets screwed up, so his lower body is frequently not squared as a consequence. Just seems like something a shooting guru like Beilein would try to improve.

Maizen

March 19th, 2016 at 1:06 AM ^

What a great effort from our boys wasted by shitty officiating and a horrendous second half coaching job by Beilein.

How in the flying fuck can you not be giving more minutes to Wagner at this point in the year. Watching him sit on the bench to start the 2nd hald while ND cut Michigan's lead in half was absolutely maddening. I hate to bag on one guy too much but Mark Donnal is one of the most passive and softest players I have ever seen suit up at Michigan. It's on both ends of the court and it KILLED Michigan tonight.

I really hope we can put to bed the notion that Beilein's sytem doesn't need a big man, because it absolutely does. Post defense was non existent when anyone other than Wagner was in there and the offense did not flow freely on the other end because our guards don't trust any of our centers (besides Wagner) to consistently finish.

What a wasted opportunity especially with SF Austin waiting in the next round. Three years of not making the NCAA's, and 4 losing in the first or second round in the 9 years JB has been here. Recruiting HAS to get better down low. I'm praying Davis and Teske are the answer because after a fucking decade of incompetence in the paint (minus Mitch) I hope Beilein understands how crucial that spot is on the court finally.

Gulogulo37

March 19th, 2016 at 1:19 AM ^

I didn't even read your whole post because I don't read your TLDR rants anymore, but people are getting way too obsessed with Wagner's playing time the last couple games. The dude played 8 minutes and had 4 fouls. He only came out for 2 minutes of game time. Yeah, it would have been great to have him in there, but faulting Beilein for not keeping a fouling machine in the game is ridiculous. Same with Walton against Tulsa. I know he usually doesn't foul, but he had 3 fouls and only went out for a couple minutes early in the 2nd half and then promptly got a 4th foul soon after coming back in the game, and people got pissed off about benching him. Beilein's auto-bench policy has sometimes been horrendous, but now people are angry almost literally every time he benches a guy.

BigBlue02

March 19th, 2016 at 7:14 PM ^

Did you even look at his numbers? He played 8 minutes and almost fouled out. That is impressively bad. And you fault Beilein for keeping him on the bench? Wow. Do you watch basketball often?

Maizen

March 19th, 2016 at 7:49 PM ^

I fault him for keeping him on the bench to start the second half when he had one foul and we had ou 12 point lead evaporate in a matter of minutes. There was zero reason to start Donnal. Next time read my ost carefully before you decide to pop off.

BigBlue02

March 19th, 2016 at 9:04 PM ^

I read your post and it is still just as stupid. He picked up a foul every 2 minutes he played. You have no way of telling if his fouls would offset his actual play. He plays at the start of the half and he would have 3 fouls by the 16 minute mark. Then you have to sit him for 10 minutes. Great fucking plan guy who doesn't coach basketball. It's as if you think because he went 3 of 3 from the field that somehow means his fouls didn't cost the team just as much or more. As I said, I have no idea how you complain about a coach that benches a freshman for fouling 4 times in 8 minutes. I mean, I have an idea, and it's because you don't know much about basketball

Maizen

March 20th, 2016 at 12:14 PM ^

And you have no way of fucking knowing how many fouls he would or wouldn't have if he started the second half. What I do know is he was the best big man on the floor and Beilein didn't play him to start the 2nd hald and by the time he did put him in the game the lead was gone. I mean, I have an idea, and it's because you don't know much about basketball. So just shut up already.

trueblueintexas

March 19th, 2016 at 1:50 AM ^

Although not NBA caliber, the last two years of Jordan Morgan were pretty dang good when it came to defense and rebounding. He also threw down his 4-5 dunks a game to get 8-10 points. I never worried about post defense or rebounding when he was in the game so Michigan has had more than just Mitch in the past decade.

1VaBlue1

March 19th, 2016 at 8:48 AM ^

So Donnal and Doyle will be upper classmen next year - does that make them instantly better? They don't have - IMO - B1G talent to compete in anything other than specific situations.  I don't see that changing...

Maizen

March 19th, 2016 at 2:52 AM ^

Morgan was bad his junior year, and it's a big reason he got benched for Mitch and hardly played in the NCAA tournament. He was by far at his best his last year, but he still only averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds. Not a threat to block shots at all.

Bottom line Beilein's big men recruiting has been a disaster outside of Mitch. He's been here a decade. When is enough enough. The play of Donnal today was the last straw. Just unfathomably passive, soft, weak, whatever you want to call it.

rlcBlue

March 20th, 2016 at 12:07 AM ^

In 2013 Michigan was 18-1 and about to assume the #1 spot in the AP poll when Morgan, who had started every game of the season to that point, got injured at Illinois. McGary was so good replacing him that the team promptly lost 3 of its next 5 games. Morgan kept trying to come back too soon, and probably never healed completely until the offseason.  

At the end of the season Morgan was chosen to the All B1G defensive team. Yeah, he was bad, alright.

mgoblue98

March 19th, 2016 at 2:06 AM ^

officiating didn't really have much to do with it.  Michigan did, and so did Notre Dame. 

I agree with you that Donnal is terrible.  I have said it many times.  He is 6'-9" and 240 pounds, but he plays like he is 4'-9" and 75 pounds.  He is unfortunately the best option at this time.  Wagner is a foul machine and Doyle is even worse than Donnal.  That being said, he didn't kill Michigan.  Zak Irvin shot 4-16 and 1-9 from 3 point range. Most of his shots were of the terrible variety.  Early in the second half, Irvin and MAAR (and I think Walton) wrecklessly drove the lane into two defenders only to have their shots heavily contested or blocked.  They didn't go strong either, they faded away so they weren't going to get a foul call.  The other players stood flat footed, so there was no chance of a dump off.  They rarely set off the ball or on the ball screens for Robinson in the second half, which is somewhat of a mystery to me.  They played terrible defense.  It's hard to win games when you give up 58% shooting and 53% from three.  Most of the looks were uncontested.  That's been the story against every team with a pulse.  In other words, there is plenty of blame to go around.

I haven't seen anyone saying that you don't need a big man in Beilein's system, but I will take your word for it.  I agree with you, you absolutely do.  You have to have a very good post player if you want to run a four out motion offense and a read and react offense.  You have to have good post play for every offense.

cp4three2

March 19th, 2016 at 1:10 AM ^

Playing it safe and favoring upperclassmen, OK but not great recruiting, wilting against good teams because of strategy, I love the man for bringing us back, and he deserves to stay as long as he wants, but it's a little depressing to see that we're going to miss on some good successors because of timing. 

BursleyBaitsBus

March 19th, 2016 at 1:22 AM ^

I don't really know how many coaches Michigan is really missing out on tbh.

Gregg Marshall would be the only other coach in the country I would swap Beilein for atm that is realistic. 

And I guess maybe Tony Bennett if he learns to coach some offense. Maybe Archie Miller? Idk, Dayton was kinda eh in their game against Syracuse who Beilein does well against already due to their 2-3 zone so welp. 

cp4three2

March 19th, 2016 at 1:29 AM ^

after losing Pitino to them. Archie will be somewhere soon. So will Jacobson. Underwood will be somewhere soon too. We're the type of program that can afford to hire a big name, but, like football, timing matters. They aren't always there. I wish Michigan atheletic supporters backed basketball the way they did football and would be willing to do whatever it took to get Stevens like they did with Harbaugh, but that's a pipe dream.