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Preview: Detroit Comment Count

Tim

The Essentialsdetroit.png

WHAT Michigan v. Detroit
WHERE Ann Arbor, MI
WHEN 12:00PM EST
December 13th, 2009
THE LINE Michigan -13.5*
TELEVISION Big Ten Network

*Line provided by online sports betting site Sportsbetting.com.

Michigan

We're all-too-familiar with the Wolverines' deficiencies by now: They can't shoot and can't rebound. That has led to a lot of trouble, mostly against teams with very athletic guards (Marquette) or good size inside (Boston College, Utah).

Can the team finally snap out of the shooting slump at home against Detroit? They'd better hope so, because the problems have to be worked out in a hurry for the team to even have a chance to keep it respectable against the Jayhawks of Kansas next weekend.

Tempo-Free Breakdown

If you need an explanation of the stats, check out Ken Pomeroy.

Michigan v. Detroit: National Ranks
Category Michigan Rank Detroit Rank Advantage
Mich eFG% v. Detroit Def eFG% 269 128 DD
Mich Def eFG% v. Detroit eFG% 241 146 D
Mich TO% v. Detroit Def TO%
 2 62 M
Mich Def TO% v. Detroit TO% 12 248 MMM
Mich OReb% v. Detroit DReb%
 259 152 DD
Mich DReb% v. Detroit OReb% 324 135 DDD
Mich FTR v. Detroit Opp FTR
 292 214 DD
Mich Opp FTR v. Detroit FTR
 3 14 M
Mich AdjO v. Detroit AdjD 207 167 D
Mich AdjD v. Detroit AdjO 116 188 M

Difference of more than 10 places in the national rankings get a 1-letter advantage, more than 100 gets a 2-letter advantage, more than 200 gets a 3-letter advantage, etc.

This is what it has come to? Michigan appears to be at a definite statistical disadvantage to... University of Detroit? The only areas in which Michigan appears to be better are holding onto the ball and getting opponents to give it away. HOWEVA, there's something to be said for strength of schedule (Detroit's has been crap so far, outside of a game at Cal). Michigan hasn't put away any teams that are remotely as talented, or those that have looked nearly as good statistically, but Detroit's rankings are something of a scam so far.

The Titans are far better at rebounding, which is something Michigan fans have gotten used to and have no reason to believe will change ever this year. They also draw a good number of fouls, which is a product of playing teams that have no chance of stacking up in the paint. Michigan should be (a little) more able to do that without fouling.

It's hard to tell exactly how good the Titans are, due to their schedule, but it skews toward quite bad, with a loss to Kenpom's #280 team, Tennessee State. Michigan hasn't convinced anyone that they're actually good this year, but being not bad should be enough to put away Detroit i the second half.

Comments

M.I.Sicks

December 13th, 2009 at 9:40 AM ^

Manny fresh and the funky bunch better get their thumbs out of their asses in this one. I've caught a couple Titans games against Cal and Cleveland St. on tv this season. If Michigan has another slow start Detroit can beat them.

Joined: 03/06/2009

MGoPoints: 350

jamiemac

December 13th, 2009 at 12:09 PM ^

Two guys to look out for for UD.....Xavier Keeling and Eli Holman.....not the first time they played Michigan as they were two key contributers on the bench on Kelvin Sampson's last team in Bloomington. People were excited about Holman. Like if he lost weight and worked on conditioning he could be a force by his third year was the CW. Well, its technically his third year. Anyway, I'm keeping an eye on those two

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 8446

wiscwood

December 13th, 2009 at 3:09 PM ^

The Fab 5's Jimmy King made an interesting analysis today during U of D game. Michigan is not "squaring up" to shoot. It throws ones shot off. There is a rhythm to shooting. You can see it when players shoot. King is right! Once confidence returns Michigan should shoot better. Hopefully they shoot the lights out. They have too many guys that can shot for this to last. I hope they come out of their funk against Kansas. That would be great.

Joined: 07/24/2009

MGoPoints: 31

Brick

December 14th, 2009 at 3:03 AM ^

I noticed Stu having that problem with his misses at Utah. He wasn't getting his feet set and was kind of drifting while he was shooting, even on the open ones. He mentioned in his post game interview that he was rushing things and he's trying to slow down a bit. It was funny, in the shootaround it looks like everyone is feeling it and when the game starts, they all rush a little and start missing everything. I think Vogrich may have the nicest stroke, he'll be a player in a few years.

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 995

BleedingBlue

December 13th, 2009 at 5:11 PM ^

The 2nd half defensive intensity was refreshing today. Sounds like Beilein had them do some serious sprinting and conditioning work as punishment after the Utah debacle. If that is a solid foundation and we can crank up the defensive intensity a little more from there, we have a chance to beat anyone. So...assuming a loss on Saturday, there's a chance this team could be 12-5 heading to Wisconsin. I doubt it will happen, but that would be nice.

Joined: 07/25/2008

MGoPoints: 2165