2020-21 wisconsin #1

1 hour and 16 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. They're also behind our Ann Arbor Institutions t-shirt program. They have awesome custom tees and hoodies and low, affordable prices. They also have tons of great Michigan apparel that you can wear proudly to support the maize and blue! Check out UGP’s holiday gift guide at ugp.io/holidaygiftguide and use the promo code NEWYEAR for 25% off your next purchase!

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1. Hoops vs Minnesota (the bad one)

starts at 1:00

Michigan gets the Barn. I guess Eli Brooks really does matter to this team. Twenty turnovers. We keep saying these two things, basically.

The rest of the writeup and the player after The Jump]

Michigan stuffed Wisconsin's 11th-ranked KenPom offense into a trash can on Tuesday. The Badgers shot 11-for-37 on two-pointers, got to the line only six times, and recorded eight assists against ten turnovers. Of their 12 offensive rebounds, five were the knocked-out-of-bounds team rebound variety, which doesn't pose any putback danger. They went stretches of 6:37 and 7:26 without scoring—that's getting blanked out for 35% of the game.

The Wolverines laughed at the idea of potential mismatches. A big guard against M's small backcourt? Brad Davison posted up Mike Smith on UW's second possession, hurled up a brick, and proceeded to go 1-for-8 for two points, his lowest scoring output in almost a year and the third-worst game of his four-year career by O-Rating. D'Mitrik Trice scored five points in the first three minutes, then two more for the rest of the half, and the Badgers were down 33 points by the time he got on the board in the second.

The primary worry heading into the game was that Hunter Dickinson would have trouble with a pair of legit stretch fives. Wisconsin's center duo of Micah Potter and Nate Reuvers combined for 16 points on 7/20 shooting with zero trips to the line, zero assists, and five turnovers. So much for that.

Michigan boasts the nation's #1 two-point defense and are tenth in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency. Using the Wisconsin game as a lens, let's look at how Juwan Howard has created this monster.

You Can't Run

Scoring on the fast break is obviously easier than scoring in halfcourt. A team can get a lot of their defensive work done early by getting back. This has to be demoralizing:

Michigan gets back. Wisconsin scored two fast break points on Tuesday even though they recorded four steals. I need a college stats site to start tracking chasedown blocks:

The plays that don't show up in the highlight reel are even more important than the Tayshaun-on-Reggie moments. Despite often holding massive leads, they've had very few lapses. Only 3.3% of initial opponent field goal attempts against Michigan occur in the first ten seconds of the shot clock following a made Wolverines basket, the fifth-best mark among high-major teams, per hoop-math. They communicate, find their matchups, and don't lollygag.

The team's size and versatility helps too; if, for example, Dickinson is caught upcourt after a tough finish, Wagner can be there to pick up the opposing center for a few seconds while the team settles back into their matchups. When teams attack cross-matches early in the shot clock, they find it tough to score. Here's Chaundee Brown forcing Nate Reuvers into a tough fadeaway:

It would've been better for Wisconsin if Reuvers had given that up instead of forcing the action. That often happens against Michigan. According to Synergy, M faces transition possessions only 12.6% of the time, the fourth-lowest rate in the Big Ten, a conference not exactly known for permitting easy fast break buckets.

[Hit THE JUMP before someone blocks it.]

Wisconsin game discussed:

• The officiating was so good Greg Gard complained his team didn’t get called for enough fouls.
• Wisconsin couldn’t drive with Trice. Thought they could post up Livers with Reuvers and Smith with Davison
• Mike Smith has become a lip-curled defensive Michigan point guard in record time. Could he return?
• Too good to be true? Sam: defense is consistent. Seth: it might be because they have so long between games.
• Who’s the most indispensable player on this team?
• Minnesota preview? Both Gach is not going to beat you. Who do you like in a second matchup: Juwan or Pitino?

Mike Hart/Mike McDaniels/2021 quarterback:

• Have Hart do all the pressers. IU fans despondent.
• Sam: helps recruiting.
• Craig: helps the feels.
• Seth: helps behind the scenes with program guys, HS coaches who’ve been down on the program.
• At least we can take solace in the fact that if Najee Harris was going to bring joy to Michigan fans…
• Possible that Milton transfers but Michigan won’t get a transfer unless they find a guy who can start immediately.

Hockey things discussed:

• Worst 11-3 weekend ever.

[Hit the JUMP for the player, and video and stuff]