Michigan vs. Villanova preview from VUHoops.com

Submitted by username on November 13th, 2018 at 12:24 PM

I'm an alum of both Villanova and Michigan and follow both teams closely.  The link below is to a decent preview of the game from the closest thing Nova has to Mgoblog (though it's not close).  This game will be a match up of Nova's offense that many scoring options vs. Michigan's stout defense.

https://www.vuhoops.com/2018/11/13/18087766/villanova-basketball-vs-michigan-preview

From what I've seen of Villanova so far, Eric Paschall and Phil Booth have both improved over last year and are embracing being the upperclassmen on the team.  And among the new faces on the court, Saddiq Bey (#15, 6-8 freshman) has been really impressive.

This will be a great measuring stick for both teams.

samdrussBLUE

November 13th, 2018 at 12:32 PM ^

I have no connection to Nova, and am rooting 100% for Michigan. That said, if we keep this a single digit game I will be impressed and pleasantly surprised. I am not expecting a win in this game. I just want to see some, a glimmer, of offensive improvement over last week.

ijohnb

November 13th, 2018 at 12:41 PM ^

I like Michigan here.  People are discussing this game like Michigan is just an "early test" for Villanova.  F all that.  Villanova is an "early test" for Michigan and I think we are going to get some revenge. 

We have not shot the ball well but we are not going to be nearly as bad of a shooting team as people think, IMO.  I see Poole getting it going in this one and pouring in 20. 

See you at the Poole Party, Nova.  Go Blue.

L'Carpetron Do…

November 13th, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^

I'm not so sure about this:

 

Let’s start with the good. As we know, John Beilein prides himself on his team’s ability to play tough defense. A calling card of Michigan in the past has been their ability to chase shooters off the three point line, keep them off balance, and make them uncomfortable.

 

The D is great now but that's a recent development, not exactly a Beilein calling card.

ijohnb

November 13th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^

This is weird, but it is not the first time I have seen or heard this from commentators/bloggers, etc.  By the end of last year I was hearing about Michigan and their "trademark" ball hawking style as though we had been playing lockdown D for years.  It was a particularly strange and quick development because the same people had been talking about Beilein's signature 1-3-1 up until last year despite it having been like 10 years since he had played that.  Reggie Miller actually noted Michigan playing man to man as "odd" in our loss to Oregon in 2017 tournament because we were a "traditional zone team."  Really man??

Bambi

November 13th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^

I would be very surprised if we win this game. I'm expecting a game like the title game last year where we play close for a bit but eventually trail for the most of the game by double digits and lose by 10-15.

Our offense has been abysmal to start the year, we have the two worst offensive performances by a B1G team so far this year according to UMHoops' Dylan Burkhardt in his podcast yesterday. He also shared the incredible stat that we haven't had a made bucket by a ball handler in a pick and roll situation yet this year. That's insane.

I've always been on the camp UMHoops side vs camp MGoBlog when it came to our team this season. MGoBlog's staff has been saying they don't expect early season lulls and that Poole will breakout into a Stauskas type sophomore year. UMHoops has been saying the opposite, that we'll struggle early as always and Poole's best case is more Caris (RIP) than Stauskas. We're replacing 3 starters, our best 3 shooters for a coach known for shooting, have 5 freshman that we may rely on, and have 5 other guys (Poole, Brooks, Livers, Davis, Teske) we're expecting to go from bench/role players to major contributors. I don't see how people expected this team not to struggle and take time to jell.

Poole has looked good as a distributor and defensively so far, but has 1 made bucket and 5 points through 2 games. That's obviously not close to good enough. I'm not worried long term and I'm sure he'll find his rhythm, but he played 29% of available minutes as a freshman and now he's supposed to be our #1. Asking him to be sophomore Stauskas when Stauskas played 76% of minutes his freshman year was always a huge ask.

Our defense has been as advertised. Our offense will get better as the year goes on and we'll eventually settle into being an average type offensive team once this team has time to play together and figure things out. But the only way we win tomorrow, IMO, is if Iggy plays like 2nd half Holy Cross Iggy, Matthews shoots like he did against Holy Cross while being a better shot creator for himself/teammates, and Poole 180s and becomes Stauskas level Poole. And I really don't see all 3 of those things happening at the same time, let alone @ Nova in their first big home game in the new Pavillion. 

TrueBlue2003

November 14th, 2018 at 1:13 AM ^

I read that as complete sarcasm and it also made me smile.  I honestly still do not know if that was a joke.  I figured, ha, yeah they remember him from his WVU days in the Big East when he had awful defenses.  He made a funny.

It was either a joke or this guy literally started following or knowing anything about college basketball just last year.

ak47

November 13th, 2018 at 12:58 PM ^

This is more likely to look like the UNC game from last year than a win for Michigan. The offense just isn't where it needs to be yet to compete with elite teams. I trust Beilein will be able to get them where they need to be but they aren't there right now

ijohnb

November 13th, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^

I don't see this looking anything like the UNC game last year.  I have not seen many games ever that looked a lot like the UNC game last year.  If you are saying that we will keep it close for a while and then Nova will open it up toward the end, I can see that, but neither team played any defense in our game v. Carolina last year.   I don't think this game will look much like that.

TrueBlue2003

November 14th, 2018 at 1:32 AM ^

"I have not seen many games ever that looked a lot like the UNC game last year."

Did you watch the UCLA game the year before?  It was almost identical to the UNC game last year.

I do agree that stylistically, I can't see this becoming a shootout.

steve sharik

November 13th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^

I respectfully disagree about this being a measuring stick for both teams.  With the exception of the 2014 team, every Beilein team has been so much better at the end of the season than the beginning it's like they're two completely different teams.  Given that today's Michigan team won't be March's Michigan team, this cannot be a measuring stick for Villanova.  I'm not familiar enough with Villanova to know how much of a measuring stick it would be for Michigan.  Now, if Michigan were playing Duke (give them the trophy now), that would be a measuring stick.

Ibow

November 13th, 2018 at 10:27 PM ^

It’s so hard for me as a hardcore M football fan but in recent years I’ve been following M basketball even more. It would be unrealistic to hope for another year like last but... it’s a clean slate. Go Blue.

And I’m also anxious to hear Izzo say once again, “This may be my best team ever,” and then watch them not even make the Sweet Sixteen. 

MichiganStan

November 14th, 2018 at 1:22 AM ^

I think this is going to get ugly. 20-30 point loss

Novas offense is on fire and our offense is currently a dumpster fire. Our defense can only hold Nova back so much. 

If we were to win we would need Poole to actually show out like we all expected him to this year which he hasn't yet

Ibow

November 14th, 2018 at 6:31 AM ^

Just read through the rest of the comments. What occurs to me most is one loss in football is absolutely devastating for your season. One loss in a basketball season and you still get the opportunity to move on and come out on top. 

Go Blue!