Seton Hall 67, Michigan 65
Last season's Michigan Basketball team was a dream from a fan perspective. They started the campaign 11-0 and didn't lose until the season was nearly two months old. They didn't lose again until they were 17-1 and the season was well over three months in. College basketball isn't normally like that. Most teams encounter adversity, hit bumps in the road, and don't cakewalk over everyone for several months until a key piece gets injured. Michigan fans were reminded of that fact tonight. Seton Hall's 67-65 upset victory over the Wolverines at Crisler Center was a good snap back to reality for the Michigan fanbase about what college hoops normally looks like, and the transition costs associated with losing four of your six playable pieces from the prior year.
The easiest way to distill this game is a presentation of two true statements: Seton Hall is an excellent rim-protecting team with length on the interior. Michigan shot 3/15 from beyond the arc on mostly open looks. That's all you need to know.
Of course, much more went on than just that. In fact, for most of the contest, it looked like Michigan was still going to pull out a win despite an offensive performance that played right to Seton Hall's strengths. After taking a lead with 3:34 remaining in the first half, they held it for nearly 20 minutes before the Pirates took command again. Michigan led 31-28 at the break despite going 0/7 on threes in the first half and shooting 39% from the field in total. They played great team defense in the first half, forcing Seton Hall into some tough makes, while Michigan's offense was carried by Eli Brooks and Hunter Dickinson, who accounted for nearly two-thirds of Michigan's points in the half.
Dickinson helped Michigan in the first half [Campredon]
The Wolverines came roaring out of halftime on an 8-1 run, fueled by lock-down defense from Brooks and DeVante' Jones. Dickinson flashed his growing game in the second half with two face-up jumpers from the mid-range and then finally Eli Brooks ended Michigan's three point drought at 0/11. But every time that Michigan would begin to pull away, Seton Hall would come roaring right back. The Wolverines led 39-29, 45-34, 52-44, and 57-49 at different junctures throughout the first 13 minutes of the second half, but the wily Pirates had their answer ready at each turn.
Jared Rhoden, Bryce Aiken, and Tray Jackson all made key buckets for Seton Hall to pull them back into the game, and though Michigan got good defense from its big men and guards, the wing spot— and Caleb Houstan in particular— was a major defensive liability throughout. So long as Michigan kept doing enough despite the perimeter shooting woes, they held a small-size lead. It's when the offense stalled out that things went south.
After Eli Brooks nailed a jumper with just over seven minutes remaining, the Maize & Blue scored 8 total points in the final 7:09 of the contest. That's just not going to be good enough to get it done most nights against a decent-to-good team like Seton Hall. Michigan struggled to get the ball to Dickinson in the post with regularity, which, when combined with a lack of shooting or on-ball creation from their wing position, left the Wolverines in trouble. Too often they counted on the big man and Brooks to make things happen. For awhile, those two did. Ultimately, it wasn't enough. Rhoden and Aiken both shoveled in threes over the next three minutes and the game was finally tied at 57 with 4:30 to go.
Eli Brooks was Michigan's floor general tonight [Campredon]
Michigan took the lead back on a DeVante' Jones three and then again on an Eli Brooks underhanded scoop bucket, the latter making it 62-60 with 2:09 to go. But again Seton Hall came back, riding Aiken this time, who nailed a step-back shot over the arms of Brandon Johns Jr. to tie it at 62. The next two possessions were pivotal and controversial. On one end, Michigan saw Houstan get a decent look but miss, and then under the basket Dickinson appeared to be tackled by Pirates big man Ike Obiagu, but no whistle came. Just seconds later, Jones tried to draw a charge that was called a blocking foul by the referees. Upon replay, it appeared to be a marginal call. Seton Hall was in the bonus and Aiken faced a one-and-one, making the first but missing the second.
Seton Hall led 63-62 at this point and at the other end Johns missed a shot but Dickinson snagged the rebound and drew a foul. The center stepped to the line and calmly hit them both, to put Michigan back up 64-63 with 52 seconds remaining. Michigan then played stellar defense for the first 20 seconds of Seton Hall's subsequent possession, but a terrible decision by Jones to go for a steal cost him with a blocking foul. Seton Hall was now in the double bonus and Aiken didn't miss this time, nailing them both and the visitors jumped ahead 65-64 with 32 seconds left.
Michigan got Eli Brooks a decent look for a floater, which bounced out, but the Wolverines did well to foul a weak free throw shooter in Myles Cale, who only made one of two. Disappointingly, it was Jones who did the intentional foul, his third in just over a minute, and his fifth for the game- disqualifying him for the remainder. Michigan subbed in Kobe Bufkin for their last chance, an odd possession that ended in Terrance Williams II attempting a desperation heave and drawing a foul. The whistle was great for Michigan. Realizing who the free throw shooter was going to the line, needing to make both with just 0.8 seconds left, was not. Nearly every Michigan hoops fan had a flash back to last season's Penn State game, when Williams melted down at the stripe late. That proved prescient, as the sophomore left the first free throw short, and then to make matters worse, made the second, which he was intentionally trying to miss. Game over.
Tough night at the office
In totality, Michigan shot 42% from the floor, but just 20% from three. The six shot gap in threes made between Seton Hall and Michigan was more than enough to decide the game. The Wolverines were 10/12 from the stripe, but one of the two they missed was the most important.
A few conclusions from the game are apparent at this time. Michigan's returning starters who played major roles on last year's squad are exactly what we expected. Dickinson's 18 points and Brooks' 17 points carried the team, and both provided effective defense. It's the new pieces, the players being elevated to higher roles or new to Michigan, who are scuffling. DeVante Jones' defense has looked fine but is still adjusting to a higher level of competition and made several poor decisions down the stretch.
Brandon Johns Jr. appears to have sunken back to the mental state that has plagued his career, going 3/9 from the floor in this one and 0/1 from distance. Caleb Houstan was a ghastly 1/9 from the floor and 0/4 from three, while being totally overwhelmed and lost defensively. Juwan Howard's decision to ride him for 39 minutes (!) is perplexing, for if he does not turn on his three at some point soon, it's not clear what he gives this team. Between Johns and Houstan, Michigan needs more out of its wings right now.
It also needs more out of the bench, who combined for just 31 minutes and 9 points in this one. Kobe Bufkin showed flashes but played just 4 minutes. Terrance Williams II showed his hustle but went 1/5 from the field and missed the crucial free throw. The rotation is far from settled and the pieces have not yet gelled. And the three point shooting, which your author highlighted repeatedly in his season preview, could be an issue.
College basketball is a long season and most all teams, excepting last year's Michigan team, encounter bumps along the way. This is the first of certainly several that the Wolverines will see this year. It's a frustrating night, but the 2017-18 Michigan Wolverines were not defined by their ugly losses in Maui, but by their run to the Final Four in March. This Michigan team, too, will be judged on what happens in the winter and spring, not what happened tonight.
Michigan now heads to Las Vegas, NV, to play a late night game against UNLV that takes place either Friday night or Saturday morning, depending on what time zone you live in. It is scheduled to tip-off at 12:30 am EST, or 9:30 pm PST, and will be televised on ESPN2.
November 17th, 2021 at 12:32 AM ^
Michigan leading by double digits until refs take over. Whatever. It will help us to focus on needed improvements.
November 17th, 2021 at 7:23 AM ^
I was at the game, and while the refs made some really iffy calls, it’s not why Michigan lost. They lost because they did not get the ball to Hunter when it mattered down the stretch - especially when it was evident that the There’s was not going to fall. I don’t know if he even shot the ball more than once in the last 5 minutes of the game, and he was the only guy who could attack the rim while equalizing SH’s shot blockers defending the rim.
Michigan lost because they did not get the ball to their top player when it counted the most.
November 17th, 2021 at 7:33 AM ^
You're right. Dickinson only had one shot in the final 13 minutes of the game, and that was after his offensive rebound following Johns's miss with a minute to go.
November 17th, 2021 at 8:48 AM ^
I just checked ESPN‘s game tracker to confirm and it was even worse than that. Hunter had 16 points after making a basket at the 15:03 mark in the second half. He did not shoot the ball again until there were 53 seconds left in the game. He was in the game for the last 8:30. That is inexcusable.
Watching the game, it was very obvious that Hunter and Eli have really chemistry - when Eli was running the point, they worked very well together. And this is to be expected since they played together all last season. Everyone else was really disjointed in offense. Seton Hall destroyed almost everyone trying to slash to the basket with their center blocking and altering shots. And this led to most of the new guys just sort of standing around, poor ball movement, and bad shot selection. Combine that with abysmal 3 point shooting and the offense looked clunky and bad whenever Eli and Hunter weren’t leading the way. I chalk this up to growing pains and I’m confident this team will look very different, come February and March. The team needs to learn to play together and that will take time.
November 17th, 2021 at 8:07 AM ^
Also lots of problems with communication and switching on D. Way too many wide open looks for SH. Lock down D one possession, followed by losing track the next.
November 17th, 2021 at 2:21 PM ^
Well, two things can be true. It was very difficult to get the ball to Dickinson b/c SH had clearly seen that they knew they could get away with blatant grabs, holds, hacks, and over the backs on our center with no consequence of a foul.
November 17th, 2021 at 8:20 AM ^
I thought the game was over all well officiated. It was just those two calls back to back and when they occured. Two bad calls in a game is nothing. Make one more three. Stay in front of one more shooter. One more play anywhere in this game that they didn't make matters just as much as those two calls. They are a drop in the bucket on a night when Michigan missed a lot of buckets.
November 17th, 2021 at 10:07 AM ^
I more have an issue with the consistency of how the game was officiated. The last 15 minutes were officiated completely different than the first 25
November 17th, 2021 at 11:06 AM ^
This was a Big East officiating crew composed of officials who regularly appear in top league and NCAA tournament games. In fact, they have previously officiated Michigan in prior years during tournament appearances.
They called a lot of rebounding fouls in the second half where advantage/disadvantage is hard to detect during play until you see play stopped and reviewed. SH's center drew at least three second half fouls without getting called for anything himself.
I have no clue how the underneath official missed the bear hug on Dickinson which he exacerbated by locking his arm around his defender taking him to the court, which, upon review, was let go as a pure hook-and-hold call. The block call on Jones was awful. It was made from behind the play with no decent angle. Hence, when reviewed by the announcers, they both acknowledged by silence, the call was blown.
On Saturday night in DC, Jones play would have been the purest charge taken that night compared to the make-believe charges that were called on Michigan to offset its superiority in that game. This call coming as it did in the final minute helped enable the scenario leading to the Pirates win.
By the way, Bill Raftery used to coach in New Jersey at Farleigh Dickinson-Madison and Seton Hall in South Orange. I am old enough to say that I saw him coach Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden during my youth.
For the life of me, I could understand why Houstan and Johns were allowed so many minutes. I can only imagine that Juwan felt he had no better bench option to replace either. Johns was a liability on offense turning down outside shots. Not asserting yourself in a game like that is a worse crime than failing when called upon. Williams is unafraid to produce when it counts and needs to either start ahead of one of these guys or get more time. He was the only guy willing to take the last shot for Michigan when the ball came to him.
November 17th, 2021 at 11:59 AM ^
Houstan, we have a problem!
November 17th, 2021 at 12:35 AM ^
If a defender is waving at offensive player, the offensive player should be able to wave back. The poor officiating in this regard was the difference in the game. To Jones' credit, he didn't let the poor officiating affect his game. He's solid.
November 17th, 2021 at 12:43 AM ^
He's a solid defender but he reaches in too much and draws cheap fouls, which isnt surprising given his prior steal rate. Against higher level competition that's not going to work as well as at Coastal and while the last foul was unavoidable and the offensive foul in the backcourt was dubious, he's fouled out 2 of 3 games. It's early, but he needs to be a little more careful and stay on the court.
November 17th, 2021 at 12:45 AM ^
Well said!
In Jones' defense, the officiating was wildly inconsistent.
November 17th, 2021 at 12:58 AM ^
I though Jones was his own worst enemy in this game. He did some good things but his errors also cost us the game. There were a couple bad fouls on him that were called correctly.
He also didn't show the patience necessary to set up the half-court game when we were trying to close the game out. He kept dribbling straight into the paint allowing defenders to clog everything up rather than playing as a point guard setting up the offense.
My other major observation from the game is that the freshmen looked like freshmen. Houstan and Diabate are great talents but mental mistakes prevented them from really contributing. Dickinson, on the other hand, looked fantastic. Unfortunately, in the second half Seton Hall realized the threats (Dickinson, Brooks) and forced everyone else to try and beat them. Everyone else could not.
This was a great game for the young guys to learn from. It's too bad we weren't able to squeeze out the win. While I am often critical of NCAA refs, I thought they did a fairly good job tonight and I don't think we should be blaming them when we should have comfortably won this game.
Positive note: on the offensive side, I thought Bufkin looks really promising.
November 17th, 2021 at 1:32 AM ^
I kept thinking "Why is Houstan still in there?" The possible replacements were not likely to be good but they probably would have been more useful than Houstan. I'm sure his shooting will improve but when he is cold he is a major handicap on the offense and defense.
November 17th, 2021 at 6:59 AM ^
Agree on Jones. Those two fouls (just before his 5th) were not "marginal" in the least. They were bad fouls in a critical time in the game when we couldn't afford to send them to the line. He needs to show much better jdgement going forward.
November 17th, 2021 at 12:54 AM ^
Houstan will learn a lot from these early games. At this point he doesn't look like a 1 and done.
Officiating is hard and Dickinson is a large human but when he's allowed to be pushed from behind and tackled with no call. Wtf
November 17th, 2021 at 12:58 AM ^
T Will and Johns' minutes should be flipped. Yes Williams missed the FT. But he gave us a chance on a bad possession. There's no way in hell Johns even creates that look, he probably throws up an air ball.
I've been a Johns apologist for a long time but it's over. So many get drive and kicks end in Johns pump faking then holding the ball. T Will isn't perfect but he knows how to put pressure on a defense. Unless he was horrible on the glass or something (which on a first viewing didn't seem to be the case) He should be getting 20-25 minutes at the 4 and Johns should be down to like 10-15. They desperately need perimeter shooting and Johns just isn't willing or confident in his ability to shoot. We thought he was DJ Wilson, but maybe he's just Jon Horford. T Will is the truth though.
I also think Houstan's defensive struggles have been overblown and the simple fact is he can shoot, drive and pass and Michigan has a dearth of players who can do that right now.
November 17th, 2021 at 1:05 AM ^
I didn't think either Williams or Johns looked impressive in this game.
I agree that Houstan appears to be better on defense than he's given credit for, but he turned in a real offensive stinker tonight. He wasn't great at driving and passing. If just a couple of those threes had gone down it would have completely changed the game, though, and he's demonstrated that he can do that.
November 17th, 2021 at 1:09 AM ^
Williams had 33% of Michigan's made threes tonight. He also gave the team a chance to tie at the FT line when the rest of the possession was a complete failure. He's willing to shoot threes and has presence of mind when he attacks off the dribble. He forced the defense to defend. None of that is remotely true of Brandon Johns.
Houstan's passing is legit, yes. 3 assists to 1 turnover. Even great shooters go through slumps. He'll be fine.
Would love to see him get more minutes at the 4 too. That should open up minutes for Kobe at the 3. The way Johns played tonight, we can afford to give some of those minutes away
November 17th, 2021 at 8:38 AM ^
While I agree with you on trading Johns' and Williams minutes for the reasons noted, I did see Williams get blown by for easy buckets a few times last night. Offensively though, Johns is an unfortunate mess.
November 17th, 2021 at 9:20 AM ^
He's good when the play is obvious and forceful -- a drive for a dunk or lay-up, or a follow-up tip-in. But when that gets shut down he gets paralyzed with indecision. Nothing is fluid, there's no second option. He doesn't seem prepared to make a quick pass, or drop it off, or even make a spin into a fall-away (which I don't think he has in his arsenal, really, but still).
His athleticism and desire are obvious. I feel bad for him -- you know he desperately wants to be useful. And too bad, too, as his skill set would be really useful, if the other parts worked a bit better.
November 17th, 2021 at 10:08 AM ^
I also think Houstan's defensive struggles have been overblown
How so? Almost every open 3 Seton Hall got was because of Houstan messing up a defensive rotation
November 17th, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
They’ve got 9-30 from 3. He made some mistakes but Had plenty of good minutes. He also showed good activity in the passing lanes and I liked his length on traps.
He’s a far cry from the guy he’s replacing (who’s an elite defender at the NBA level) but he’s better than like freshman year stauskas on D.
November 17th, 2021 at 1:00 AM ^
Bufkin is an interesting piece, would like to see a little bit more of him to see if he can get into the paint some and breakdown defenses to open up the spacing. Plus he has more size and looks like more springiness than the other guards to finish at the rim.
Johns just back into his tentative mindset again.
Houstan has a way to go, respectfully, he does not look in the least like a one and done even to a league that drafts solely on potential. Maybe the shot just wasn't falling, it happens, but he is getting worked on D and he's not ready to be a playmaker yet. Which is all fine for a guy who has played 3 games, but it doesn't have the look of a 2022 first rounder to me. Hope he proves me wrong.
November 17th, 2021 at 3:31 AM ^
I thought I read here yesterday scoring at the rim > outside shooting.
Not winning jack shit without shooting.
The guy saying this notoriously hated Beilein and bashed him endlessly, but loves recruiting now.
November 17th, 2021 at 6:27 AM ^
this could have been avoided if you'd simply stayed in school another year....
November 17th, 2021 at 11:33 PM ^
True. I'm selfish.
November 17th, 2021 at 5:26 AM ^
Growing pains of a very talented but very raw team.
Eli Brooks really needs to stay healthy this season.
Brandon Johns needs to start heating up like he did the end of last season.
November 17th, 2021 at 5:32 AM ^
I thought coming into the year this team would struggle with all these guys in new roles, especially since you basically only had Brooks and Dickinson returning with any major minutes. Seton Hall is a solid team and UM played poorly enough offensively to let them hang around.
I think UM's ceiling is high but I also expect they'll have games like this. Hopefully it'll come together in the end. Credit to Hall for winning, and people blaming the refs aren't being honest. You can't shoot 3/15 (and 0/8 in the first half) from outside and expect to win.
November 17th, 2021 at 8:29 AM ^
When you have this many new guys, it's not easy for a coach to find an optimal rotation. And it's further complicated by the fact that a lot of them haven't played college ball (and some not at this level) before. Practice doesn't always predict game performance. As they get games under their belts, Howard will sort this out.
As time goes on, this team should be very good. It will take some patience... which nobody likes to exercise when it comes to teams expected to be very good.
November 17th, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^
Yeah I really don't get why some people in the snowflakes threads were freaking out about this. It's a team with lots of new and/or young players getting a lot more minutes and it's not like Seton Hall is Southeast Oklahoma Tech or something - they're a solid Big East team. We will be fine
November 17th, 2021 at 6:27 AM ^
A lead despite being 0-11 on 3-point shots is surprising. Losing the lead, regardless of those two refs' calls, is not.
Despite the results of one game, the bigger news requires congratulations to Howard—and to UM—on his contract extension.
November 17th, 2021 at 7:03 AM ^
Yikes! This team is one Dickinson injury or foul trouble away from scoring in the 40s for games. With him out, there was nearly zero generation of open shots.
I know the offense should improve as the year goes on, but this game was pretty consistent with what we have seen this year with slightly worse 3pt shooting and just way lesser FT attempts than usual.
Brooks can handle some of the creating, but Jones right now seems entirely dependent on Dickinson's "gravity" to create any separation from his defender. Houston was cold tonight and, as others have said, was a turnstile on D.
Kobe seems to be showing flashes of aggression off the dribble which this team sorely needs right now.
A lot of new pieces to this team. I'm disappointed at how disjointed they have looked to start the year, but I think that's just unfair expectations by me. Improvement is inevitable. They'll come around. Let's go blue!
November 17th, 2021 at 7:19 AM ^
The refs were terrible but holly crap that game was rife with mistake after mistake. Some of this (well...a lot even) was expected with all these young guys but what is going on with Johns? He wasn't just missing shots...he looked confused, lost, and out of place. He looked so confused you almost had to wonder if something was wrong.
I have high hopes for this team and last night didn't do much to deter that and this game may be exactly what they needed...although I was hoping for an ugly win and not an "L".
November 17th, 2021 at 7:51 AM ^
Tip your cap to Seton Hall.
November 17th, 2021 at 7:59 AM ^
It looked to me that Michigan was outmuscled in this game. Kinda like public school kids vs private. No disrespect to the private school kids on the blog.
November 17th, 2021 at 8:31 AM ^
The road team was in the double bonus. The home team didn't even get to the bonus even with players being tackled. That sort of officiating changes the way players play. Not only did it decide the outcome, it makes the game unwatchable.
November 17th, 2021 at 9:17 AM ^
Well, I'm late weighing in - -
The Refs jobbed Michigan last night - - and while not an excuse, it's unforgivable.
Warde must sue the NCAA and the Big Ten for bias & consequential lost revenue due to referee bias.
Use statistics AND critical plays. Burke's block was clean.
We're working on almost 20 years of the Big Ten and NCAA "pointing and laughing" at Michigan's expense and I'm sick of it. We have video replay and still get screwed.
When Izzo beats us twice this year due to refs, I hope the board doesn't melt down and call for Juwan's head.
Go Blue.
November 17th, 2021 at 9:35 AM ^
Nah. I know it seems that way -- but that's only because we're biased, so that every close call that goes our way we see as absolutely justified, and every close call that goes against us we believe is completely unfair -- and then immediately forget about. I guarantee you if we had won Seton Hall would be pointing at extremely close calls that went against them.
No fan's teams, in history, believe that the refs treat them fairly (I guarantee you that Duke fans believe that the refs try hard to keep other teams in the game by calling fouls against them), and only very rarely do fans feel they won because of a particular bad call in their favor. (Michigan in the National Championship game in 1989, ironically, is one such example).
In fact, there are lots of calls that go our way, in both basketball and football -- we just don't recognize them as such, or we immediately forget about them. Complaints on this blog about the officiating in every close game we lose, in every sport, are inevitable -- and boring.
Even in the MSU football game, I'm more frustrated with the failure to call PI on Michigan's 4th and 3 at the end than with the strip sack -- if we had scored a TD there, MSU would have had time to drive down and score themselves. As a result we got a field goal with no time left. It's not ideal, obviously, and I certainly would have rather had the TD, but I don't simply assume we'd have shut them down. In the grand scheme of things I can accept taking three points without them having a chance to respond.
I would have loved to have some of those late calls in last night's game go our way. But, on the other hand, I was really relieved when Williams got the foul call on the jumper at the very end. Either way, that's basketball -- the action is so fast, and there's so much contact, that complaining about a few isolated calls here or there is silly.
November 17th, 2021 at 9:23 AM ^
I’m not sure it’s easy to replace what Livers brought to team. Smith and Brown too for that matter.
November 17th, 2021 at 9:53 AM ^
File these under "Teeba's Snowflakes."
I was really hoping Johns would seize the opportunity. So far he hasn't. I'm getting "playoff Ben Simmons" vibes from him. Step up, big fella.
The #4 team playing at home should not be on the wrong end of an 18-12 foul disparity against a physical team, where the #4 team had the lead for most of the game. That would never happen to a Duke or UNC. We lost because we had a horrible shooting night and the team forgot to feed the big fella. But sometimes you need to get some cheap points at the FT line. What was disheartening for me to see was Seton Hall bailed out twice late by marginal calls. I would characterize the two late fouls on Jones as being James Harden specials, wherein the offensive player creates the contact and gets rewarded for it. Driving into the defender is not a basketball move that one makes if the intention is to get open for a shot. It is a move one makes if the intention is to get fouled and get free throw attempts. The NBA has gotten rid of that. Apparently, the NCAA is keeping it. I will still watch Michigan basketball over anything except Michigan football, but if I have a choice between a cleaned up NBA and James Harden bullshit at the college level, the choice is easy.
Diabate is not 6' 11". Look at him standing next to Johns or Houstan. He's at most 6' 10" and more likely 6' 9". That's fine, but for some reason everyone wants him to be a 6' 11" post player. When I watched him play high school ball, his team had a big post player and Diabate roamed outside. If Houstan is not shooting well, he becomes a liability. Give his minutes to Diabate. If Johns continues to play passively, give his minutes to TWill.
I saw Bufkin make one really, really nice drive to the hoop and thought, "Jordan Poole?" It looks like the Nunez experiment is over, most likely because Bufkin is ready.
November 17th, 2021 at 10:03 AM ^
This should've been a somewhat comfortable win, but just wasn't:
- Brandon Johns is liability offensively and is like playing a man down unless he's underneath the basket
- Devante Jones is still learning what he can and can't do in the B1G and is struggling to initiate the offense at some points
- Caleb Houstan is almost unplayable defensively resulting in wide open shooters way too often
- This team's lack of shooting is going to be a real problem. 2 made 3s in today's game of basketball is just not going to cut it and I'm not sure this is a super fixable issue. It's a personnel issue and based on the players he's been bringing in, it doesn't seem like something Juwan really cares about fixing
- The ref show down the stretch certainly didn't help either
November 17th, 2021 at 10:30 AM ^
Agree with a lot of these points. Johns has had more layups blocked in the first three games then any other player I can remember. Most of these blocked shots are likely 50/50 foul calls but he doesn’t get the benefit of the whistle because his body language and hesitation to go strong play to the defensive players favor. Jones has fouled out of 2 of the first 3 games. Houstan needs to practice switching on the defensive end. He gave up 7 points because he was either late or just didn’t switch at all. I expect improvement from Jones and Houstan but feel Johns is what he is. More time for TWill, Diabate and Bufkin needed. Their upside far outweighs the alternative.
November 17th, 2021 at 10:12 AM ^
One game does not a season make. Michigan will be better at the end of the year than they are now, but I am a bit worried about outside shooting. Houstan looked a little rushed on his looks, and I was hoping he'd just be able to shoot over the top, but he's having a little trouble adjusting.
Jones struggled with TO's, but I know Mike Smith did as well at the start of last year. He will adjust to the game, but I'd also like to see Collins at least getting a shot for a short run.
The main issue was Houstan, who was the cause of some individual break downs and a lot of missed switches that led to open threes. He will get better, but he seems to lack quickness, and I'd play a bit smaller at times and let Bufkin get some run at the 3. Baylor was just fine last year with three guards.
And I don't know what to say about the 4 spot. Those three players all have limitations, and it's tough to know what to do. Johns is the best combination of inside/outside on potential, but we've been saying that for years, so it seems like a pipe dream. Williams is shooting it better but lacks athleticism at the rim, which makes it tough. And Diabate looks great in terms of movement, but he's also figuring out what he can get, and it's tough to have PG who isn't shooting threes playing alongside a 4 and 5 who don't shoot threes either. Juwan has some problems to solve this year. Maybe Houstan at the 4 a bit more? IDK.
November 17th, 2021 at 10:51 AM ^
I'm not totally overheated at this loss, although when Michigan squanders opportunities to win, it tends to burn me. And that was certainly the case here (M let Buffalo back in the game too, so I hope this doesn't become a trend). But Seton Hall is tough and they could be really good this year. A loss like this is probably good for this Michigan team because, going forward, every opponent will be coming for them.
The lack of contributions from Johns, Houstan and Williams was really noticeable. I was surprised that Houstan got so much run when he really wasn't doing anything. And I knew it was going to be a bad night for Johns when early in the first half he pumped faked his way out of a wide open three only to then airball a long two.
That soft reach-in call on Jones was unnecessary but I was surprised it got whistled so late in the game in the double bonus. A lot of refs would've let that go. The more frustrating foul was when he crashed the boards a little too recklessly and fouled Obiagu, giving him two shots. Dickinson was there and while he may not have gotten the rebound, he was in good position to defend a putback attempt by Obiagu. It was a rough last few minutes (and a rough whistle) for Jones but I like what he brings to the program and I think he'll learn from this.
They were obviously not that sharp or efficient down the stretch but I like the way the team plays. They might be a collection of hot-shot recruits but they play hard and show a lot of hustle - I think that's a reflection of their head coach.
November 17th, 2021 at 10:58 AM ^
The write-up pretty much said it all. Houstan is supposed to be a knock down shooter--if he can't make shots, and is a turnstile on D, why play him, much less for 39 minutes? Johns is a mess.
Unless things change quickly, more of those minutes have to go to Diabate. Or TWill. Or even Barnes or Tschetter. Why not give them a try? Their defense could not be any worse, and they are supposed to be good shooters.
Right now our only dependable players are Eli and Hunter. And Hunter goes 8 or 11 from the field, in a game in which one more hoop would have made the difference, and doesn't touch the ball for most of the 2H? Juwaan???
November 17th, 2021 at 11:04 AM ^
Oh - another thing - I didn't see it mentioned (unless I missed it) but...did Eli have a clean layup that he passed up on the last possession? I haven't seen any replays of it but at the time it sure seemed to me like he had a clean look for a layup or even one of his patent-pending scoop shots (turning into something similar to the X Simpson hook shot). It looked like he came off the pick and had a step or two on his defender but didn't put it up. He even could have gone under for a reverse layup if he kept going but he kicked it back out.
Did anyone else notice that ? Or am I not remembering it correctly?
November 17th, 2021 at 12:29 PM ^
Not unexpected but still surprised at this outcome. Probably best this loss came now, will learn from this experience!
November 17th, 2021 at 1:28 PM ^
Good write up and many good points made. Thought HD and Eli played well. Agree HD needed to see ball more. Thought Bufkin was impressive in his few minutes, especially in first half. Hope he earns more minutes as he looks like a solid contributor.
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