Video & Analysis: Frank Kaminsky vs. Michigan Comment Count

Ace

Happy Fun Times Day at MGoBlog continues unabated. Before you get mad at me for putting this video together, please keep in mind that I've already punished myself by... putting this video together. Here are Frank Kaminsky's significant touches against Michigan, sorted by primary defender. It's just as brutal as you'd expect.

Kaminsky scored 25 points on 10/14 2-pt and 1/2 3-pt shooting with four offensive rebounds. He dominated regardless of the defender. That doesn't mean the defender didn't matter, however, at least when it came to forcing more difficult shots. While this video mostly speaks for itself, a little analysis of Michigan's post defenders in this game is warranted.

Jordan Morgan

Morgan started out well, forcing Kaminsky to pass out the post on his first touch despite having pretty solid position. It went downhill in a hurry. Kaminsky's quickness proved especially troublesome for Morgan; three times Kaminsky blew right past him after getting the ball on the perimeter and he committed a foul to prevent a fourth. The threat of Kaminsky's three-point shot exacerbated this issue, as his most successful drives came when Morgan overplayed the outside shot* or got caught flat-footed.

While Morgan forced tough shots on post touches, his size disadvantage and lack of explosive athleticism allowed Kaminsky to get clean looks at the hoop anyway. Morgan's strength is an asset in the post—Kaminsky had a tough time backing him down—but Kaminsky overcame it with his length, mobility, and skill.

The uncalled push-off on the final three-pointer is noted; it's also canceled out by the inexplicable brick when Morgan couldn't fight through traffic and gave up a wide open three-point look.

*[Often because he was late getting out to contest a potential three.]

Glenn Robinson III

This matchup choice confounded me, as John Beilein chose to put Robinson on Kaminsky when Nigel Hayes also took the floor for Wisconsin. My best justification for this is Beilein wanting to ensure Robinson, a better rebounder and defender at this stage than Zak Irvin, didn't get into foul trouble defending Hayes, who draws an astronomical 7.7 fouls per 40 minutes. I still don't get it, though, since Michigan wasn't doubling in the post and Kaminsky overpowered Robinson with ease.

Wisconsin immediately went after the mismatch in the post when Robinson manned up Kaminsky. Both post-ups resulted in baskets on great looks. On the boards, Kaminsky outreached Robinson for the ball when GRIII even bothered to box him out; twice GRIII didn't even manage to do that.

Jon Horford

I thought Horford acquitted himself well defensively, making Kaminsky work for good shots when he wasn't the victim of poor defense by his teammates. Or the officials. The first foul call (above), well...

Brian: I noticed that Horford got called for the wisconsin chest bump live

That's a tough call considering (1) Wisconsin does this all the time and (2) the officials let a lot of touchy fouls go in this game.

Horford then got victimized for a basket in which Kaminsky got a half-step advantage on him, then exploited that half-step with an uncalled off-arm hook that kept Horford from recovering. Horford, naturally, got called for a foul.

Conclusions?

I'm not sure what to take from this other than knowing Michigan's interior defense isn't very good, especially against big men who can also stretch the floor. With Adreian Payne rounding his way into form, that doesn't bode well for Sunday. Will we see the Wolverines double down in the post more? Quite possibly, as John Beilein said this during his weekly radio show:

That isn't a failsafe solution, of course. Doubling in the post puts more pressure on Michigan's perimeter defenders, and they've been prone to blowing switches and assignments as-is. Wisconsin having Ben Brust and Josh Gasser on the floor—not to mention Sam Dekker on a hot shooting day—made it tough for U-M to commit any more defenders to Kaminsky. With MSU giving plenty of minutes to a lineup featuring Gary Harris, Kenny Kaminski, and Travis Trice—all 40% or better 3-point shooters—surrounding Payne, they face similar issues this weekend even if Keith Appling sits out.

Comments

True Blue Grit

February 18th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^

Morgan or Horford is what really made me mad.  He just stood there and let Kaminsky get relatively easy baskets.  I'd much rather he help out and risk a pass from Kaminsky than let him get an almost certain layup.  With our lack of size and shot blockers in the paint, it's essential we show more teamwork than that.  

UMfan21

February 18th, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^

This is what made me frustrated as well.  Ok, Morgan will get beat off the dribble a lot.  I can accept that.  But someone needed to rotate over and draw a charge or force Kaminsky to pass.  No one rotated.  I find it mind boggling that a 7 footer can beat one man and drive uncontested to the rim over and over.

bklein09

February 18th, 2014 at 2:35 PM ^

Msu has had trouble with their 3 point shot the past few weeks. I say we double Payne early and then adjust if they are making us pay from the outside. Harris in particular has had a rough month shooting the basketball. But I'm sure he'll shoot 80% from deep now that I said that.

Jonesy

February 19th, 2014 at 8:14 PM ^

Those two foul calls on Horford were ridiculous, especially on the obvious offensive foul hook.  Why do refs never call that?  And how in hell is that a defensive foul?  It's like the ref saw the hook and called a foul and then forgot which team to give it to and defaulted to defensive.

CincyBlue

February 18th, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^

Beilein on defending bigs: "If we played (Frank Kaminski) again, (doubling him) would be under consideration. How about considering that at halftime on Sunday? 

 

Naked Bootlegger

February 18th, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^

I was frustrated by Frank's ability to blow by our guys away from the rim.   But what made me even more upset was that 'OMG there's a 7 footer dribbling toward the hoops from 19 feet out' happened more than once, but yet very little off-the-ball help materialized.   He's a 7 footer....DRIBBLING!   Even some semblance of defensive help could have pestered him enough to cause a turnover, dump-off, or made Frank feel slightly uncomfortable handing the ball in traffic.

I must admit that I've been very impressed by Kaminsky's development this year.   He's a legit B1G player, and I never dreamed he would amount to anything other than a decent bench role player.   Player development, man. 

Not Just A Shooter

February 18th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^

That was a horrible offensive foul with 3:48 left. If it's called, that's a 3 point swing and Michigan with the ball down only 5.

If he can stay out of foul trouble, I think Horford will be able to handle Payne. We will see.

AriGold

February 18th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^

set a few off the ball screens and mix up the offense...this is getting to the level of Borges predictability: set on the ball screens and hope someone is open to shoot the 3

rlcBlue

February 18th, 2014 at 5:34 PM ^

"This matchup choice confounded me, as John Beilein chose to put Robinson on Kaminsky when Nigel Hayes also took the floor for Wisconsin."

 

Three pointers. Kaminsky is now 25-61 from three, Hayes is holding steady at 0-0. If there's one thing your video makes clear, it's that defending the three point line is not Jordan Morgan's strength. In fact, he's a great matchup for Hayes, a shorter, weaker, less experienced post player. Unfortunately, GRIII can't stop Kaminsky in the post and there was no confusion in Wisconsin's hive mind about where the mismatch was.

Franz Schubert

February 18th, 2014 at 6:10 PM ^

"With MSU giving plenty of minutes to a lineup featuring Gary Harris, Kenny Kaminski, and Travis Trice—all 40% or better 3-point shooters—surrounding Payne, they face similar issues this weekend even if Keith Appling sits out."
Harris has been awful shooting the 3 of late, in fact he is shooting only 32%.

Stephen Hawking

February 18th, 2014 at 11:59 PM ^

Michigan has good games and bad games. This one was a bad one. Why harp on it? The team that turns the ball over less and shoots better wins the vast majority of the time. All this post does is remind us of this fact. I'm getting tired of the faux-analytical nature of this blog. Basketball is a sport full of unpredictability. Shoehorning statistical analysis into it is a fool's errand. Kaminsky had a great game, Stauskus had a bad one, and that's basically it.



Don't get me wrong, I appreciate some of the meta analyitics like Kenpom. However, this game isn't explained by them as effectively.

Wolfman

February 19th, 2014 at 5:58 AM ^

shit happens in college athletics, no matter what the sport. Without that realization, there are only a few things you can take from a game. Victory is easy:u r among the party, however, it appears due to the "shit happening" thing you prefer to be the next tear off on the Charmin roll. U got to learn to deal with it or you will contine w/unintended trips to the restroom or you can get a grip and realize the result of the cycle, no matter the sport, no matter the decade tends to run in our favor. If u can't accept that, then, of course, you deserve that unpleasant odor.  Grow the phuck up.