2018-19 illinois

1 hour and 20 minutes

This show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan nobody would get our jokes. Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad,Human Element, and Lantana Hummus

--------------------------------------------

1. The X and Sleep Show

starts at 1:00

Nobody had ever given X the full Tum Tum before. He of course took it as a personal affront. Teske has a TO rate that's so low it's changing Brian's mind about 10-foot jumps. Matthews has not been hitting it, but in this game he make a concerted effort to get it to the rim instead of going for the fadeaway.

2. Illinois

starts at 22:57

Still pretty good. Michigan's balance shows in its consistency. Valuable Livers. Illinois makes you turn the ball over, Michigan played their game and got choppy in the first half, but got it together in the 2nd half. Simpson weirdly reminded Brian of Darius Morris. Matthews 0/5 from mid-range. M goes 18/22 from the line! It's impossible to fully appreciate Charles Matthews's shutdown defense. Brian already regrets his preseason 2019-20 take. David's sad fouls hour. Murderotter.

3. Coaching Changes

starts at 48:38

They got themselves a spread guy who hashtags spread terms to go with their hashtag spread players. BC guy is a good recruiter with mad Rutger brother. Probably can't get Jerry Montgomery back on DL. OSU defections.

4. Gymnastics

starts at 1:06:30

She was hirable and defendable, except the way Michigan did it. Time to discuss Warde.

MUSIC

• "Opposite Day"--Andrew Bird
• "Best of Things"--Xhibit
• "Sleeping Lessons"--The Shins
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link (right-click/save-as)
• What's with the theme music?

The closest Michigan will ever get to the Craig Ross ideal is this team

1/10/2019 – Michigan 79, Illinois 69 – 16-0, 5-0 Big Ten

Rotate. Michigan won this game on the strength of Jon Teske and Zavier Simpson, if you had to pick two people. Against Indiana it was Poole and Matthews. Penn State: Simpson and Matthews.  Northwestern: Brazdeikis and Poole. Purdue: Brazdeikis and Poole.

The Wolverines continued their undefeated campaign with a road win over a feisty but mediocre Illinois squad. Despite a halftime lead, it was an uneasy first half: the Wolverines were bothered at times by the Illini’s pressure defense and had 11 turnovers, and Illinois’s speedy freshman guard Ayo Dosunmu poured in 19 points. While the Wolverines weren’t ever able to pull away from the Illini, they stopped turning it over, shut down Dosunmu, and wound up winning.

Michigan dominated to start the game. The Wolverines scored on three straight possessions to open an 8-0 lead and played excellent defense, but Illinois ran a set for an alley-oop layup to Dosunmu to get on the board. Michigan maintained a ten-point lead when Illinois went on a run midway through the half. That run featured Illinois—who forces the 13th most turnovers of any team in college basketball—turning up the pressure on the perimeter and forcing Michigan into mistakes.

As they settled in, Illinois was able to dictate the pace and style of play — there were 75 possessions, the most of any Michigan game this season. Dosunmu pushed the pace well in the latter parts of the first half, turning missed shots or steals into transition opportunities where he could get all the way to the rim. Illinois was only able to cut the deficit to three for one possession before Zavier Simpson found Jon Teske from a double for an elbow jumper. There was a sequence of ugly basketball before Charles Matthews scored again on an offensive rebound, then Simpson found Tekse from another double for a dunk.

Despite succumbing to Illinois’s frenetic, sloppy aesthetic, the Wolverines managed to hold onto a decent lead for most of the half. Jordan Poole scored seven points within a minute — making two free throws after getting fouled in the post, hitting an open wing three after a near turnover by Simpson, and then two more free throws after a Brad Underwood technical. Illinois came back again because of Dosunmu — he knocked down an open corner three and banked in another three over Teske on a switch for the last two Illini possessions of the half. Michigan still led, 39-34.

The tenor of the game didn’t change after halftime. Dosunmu hoisted a terrible three, then chased down Simpson for his second emphatic transition block on Michigan’s point guard. Simpson, who had 8 assists to just 2 turnovers, took over from there: he worked the pick-and-pop for a Jon Teske three, beat the Illini down the floor for a layup, forced an offensive foul from Trent Frazier, and ran a pick-and-roll to get Teske an easy and-one. Michigan’s tight, six-man rotation each had bright spots (and each scored at least nine points), but Simpson and Teske—who had 4 blocks and affected several more shots—were particularly outstanding.

With under 14 minutes left in the game, a key sequence briefly got Illinois back into the game: a long outlet pass from Teske wound up in a failed Poole-to-Iggy alley-oop, and Da’Monte Williams quickly hit a three to trim the deficit to five. Iggy responded with a tough bucket on Kipper Nichols; Simpson picked Trent Frazier’s pocket for an easy two; Simpson found Teske on the short roll, who found Matthews cutting for a dunk. Michigan’s lead was back to 11, and while Illinois never let the Wolverines pull away, they weren’t able to threaten Michigan from there.

There were some highlights down the stretch — Teske flattened Simpson’s defender on a screen and Simpson dribbled into a three; Isaiah Livers blocked a three, got a long outlet from Teske, and threw down a dunk. There was a lot of intentional fouling, as Illinois extended the game and inflated the score. There was a double technical after Iggy and Dosunmu got into it after a whistle late. Illinois made it sporadically uncomfortable and Michigan wasn’t able to turn it into a rout, but it was a game that went as expected (Kenpom projected a 10-point win) and the Wolverines are 16-0.

[Box score after the JUMP]