Hoops Preview: Purdue, Big Ten Championship Game
THE ESSENTIALS
WHAT |
#9 Michigan (27-7, 13-5) at #5 Purdue (28-5, 15-3) |
---|---|
WHERE |
Madison Square Garden New Yooooooooork, NY |
WHEN | 4:30 pm ET |
LINE |
Purdue -3 (KenPom) Purdue -3.4 (Torvik) Purdue -3.5 (Vegas) |
TV | CBS |
ayyyyyyyy got me a slice why you lookin over heah
THE US
Michigan is all the way up to #9(!) on KenPom with the #6(!!!) defense in the country, which is three spots ahead of the Michigan State defense(!!!!!) they so delightfully dispatched yesterday. If you'd like to enjoy some of the GIFs a bit early, I've been uploading them to the gfycat page.
Most brackets are lagging behind the action a bit because it's a week early for breathlessly frequent updates; while the Bracket Matrix has Michigan as a five-seed, that's including several brackets that have them as a seven-, eight-, or even a nine-seed in one case. That's not happening no matter how much the committee hates this year's Big Ten. Yesterday's win probably locked up a four-seed; Torvik's forecast has Michigan as the third three-seed (one spot in front of MSU) and they don't drop off the three-line if you project a loss to Purdue. A projected win gets them to a two-seed(!!!!!!!!!!) in Torvik's forecast, though I'm guessing the committee's (justified) skepticism of the B1G this year would prevent that. Either way, Michigan may very well be playing for a spot in Detroit the first weekend of the tournament.
Oh, and a banner. They're playing for another banner. Banners are good. I like banners. You like banners. Let's get a banner.
THE LINEUP CARD
Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.
Pos. | # | Name | Yr. | Ht./Wt. | %Min | %Poss | ORtg | SIBMIHHAT | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | 11 | PJ Thompson | Sr. | 5'10, 185 | 69 | 12 | 127 | Not At All | |||||||||||
Very efficient, low-usage PG. Hitting 44% of threes. Strong defender. | |||||||||||||||||||
G | 3 | Carsen Edwards | So. | 6'0, 190 | 73 | 29 | 119 | Not At All | |||||||||||
Best guard in the B1G this year. Efficient volume scorer/shot creator. | |||||||||||||||||||
G | 31 | Dakota Mathias | Sr. | 6'4, 200 | 78 | 18 | 129 | Not At All | |||||||||||
Three-point sniper, good passer, and excellent defender. | |||||||||||||||||||
F | 12 | Vincent Edwards | Sr. | 6'8, 225 | 74 | 24 | 119 | Not At All | |||||||||||
Does a bit of everything on offense, good defender. | |||||||||||||||||||
C | 44 | Isaac Haas | Sr. | 7'2, 290 | 59 | 27 | 121 | Very | |||||||||||
Behemoth. Strong post scorer, rebounder, shot-blocker. | |||||||||||||||||||
C | 32 | Matt Haarms | Fr. | 7'3, 250 | 41 | 16 | 110 | Very | |||||||||||
Low-usage Haas, basically. Huge block rate but sometimes gambles too much. | |||||||||||||||||||
G | 14 | Ryan Cline | Jr. | 6'5, 190 | 43 | 13 | 117 | Not At All | |||||||||||
Just A Shooter™, makes 40% of his threes. | |||||||||||||||||||
G | 20 | Nojel Eastern | Fr. | 6'6, 220 | 31 | 19 | 92 | Yes | |||||||||||
Big combo guard at best around hoop. Hits the glass. Turnover-prone. |
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the preview.]
THE THEM
Stop the giant without helping off shooters. [Marc-Gregor Campredon]
You know this Purdue team quite well by now; they're already been the subject of two previews here. Michigan lost to them twice this season by a combined total of five points, and their win at Crisler came with the help of an extremely dubious replay decision in the game's waning moments.
John Beilein and Matt Painter have been engaged in a masterful game of basketball chess the last two seasons as Beilein counters Purdue's size with five-out offense and Painter devises ways to slow that down. The focus has mostly been on the matchup between Moe Wagner and Isaac Haas; Wagner will drag Haas out of his comfort zone on defense, while Haas will do the same on the other end with physical, effective post-ups.
The Boilermakers surround Haas with snipers. In order of three-point lethality: Dakota Mathias, PJ Thompson, Carsen Edwards, Ryan Cline, and Vincent Edwards all hit 40% or better from beyond the arc. Mathis is especially deadly because of his ability to fire in an instant after cutting off the ball. Carsen Edwards is arguably the best guard in the conference this year as a sophomore; he's the guy most likely to drill a killer shot off the bounce, and he can also attack the basket. Vince Edwards does everything well, though he's been a little slowed lately by an ankle injury that caused him to miss three games heading into the BTT. Thompson and Cline are mostly just shooters.
THE TEMPO-FREE
Purdue now boasts the #1 three-point shooting squad in the country. Combine that with the effective post offense of Haas and Haarms, excellent free-throw shooting, and an aversion to turnovers, and you get the #2-ranked offense. The Boilermakers won't attack the offensive glass like Michigan State—they've joined Michigan in the ranks of those who prioritize transition defense—but it's otherwise very hard to find a weak point.
The defense is a little more malleable, and as we've covered extensively over the last couple seasons, Michigan presents problems for Purdue significantly unlike most other teams. The Wolverines will go five-out in the hopes that neutralizes their impressive shot-blocking.
THE KEYS
More of that, Z. In addition to his starring role in yesterday's semifinal, Zavier Simpson had two of his best games all year against Purdue—his ability to get by Thompson and make plays in the lane nearly allowed M to pull off two upsets. Meanwhile, he'll defend Carsen Edwards, who's on an absolute tear, scoring 20+ in six of his last eight games, including 27 in yesterday's win over PSU. If Simpson can keep Edwards out of the paint and force tough looks from the outside, M has a great shot.
More of that, Duncan. While Livers is still technically the starter, Robinson is playing starter-level minutes and he's clearly earned them. He gets a matchup with Vince Edwards that would've been terrifying a few months ago. Now it feels like this could be the key to the game. When Edwards plays well, Purdue is incredibly tough to slow down, but Robinson could make life hard on him in the post. Add in some three-pointers and baby, we've got a stew goin'.
Do more, say more, Wagner. Michigan's main advantage over Purdue has been Wagner's ability to draw their big men out to the perimeter, hit open threes off the high screen, and open up the paint for the guards/wings. If he can tread water as an interior defender, he just needs to be his normal self on offense to put Haas in a bind—the way Michigan loses without a tough fight is if they need to start helping in the paint and get rained on from the outside. Threes are worth more than twos. Let's make them and then talk a hilarious amount of trash, please.
Win the game. Obligatory.
THE SECTION WHERE I PREDICT THE SAME THING KENPOM DOES
Purdue by 3.
YEEESSSSSS!!!!!! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Moar Banners!!!
Go BLUE!!!!!
Purdue by 3 seems about perfect. This team is tough and Painter has truly done a good job gameplanning on us. Of course it helps they shot lights out against us (as we were doing the same and SEEMED we should've had a lead on them). A banner would be great, a 3 seed would be amazing, but I've a feeling we're running into a team of destiny, even though they've been faltering a bit lately.
of destiny. Let's check with Izzo and see what he thinks.
because Xavier, Cincinatti, Purdue, MSU, and others would probably suck up the Nashville, Pittsburgh and Detroit spots such that we'll be looking at Boise or Dallas or San Diego.
Win today and Detroit is likely because we'd probably move ahead of a few of those teams (including probably MSU and maybe Purdue).
nearby Auburn Hills? That turned out well.
I was there when we destroyed VCU and silenced the national press. That was amazing.
Detroit today. Let's get "home" court advantage!
Palm still has us as a five updated this morning, so I think Ace is maybe overly optimistic to say yesterdy locked up a four seed. No dout we are one of the sixteen best teams in the country, but the committee never fails to fail.
Jerry Palm's Bracket Matrix score is consistently average or below average and of people who have submitted brackets for the past five years, he ranks 82nd out of 113. I wouldn't take what he's saying as any kind of sure indication. Plus, he has one of the worst haircuts I've ever seen.
I died at the haircut comment. Good stuff.
Ya -- he's nothing special, I just noticed him as one who has updated today. My point isn't that they are a five seed with a loss today, just that I think its a possibility.
As a sidenote, you'd think after guys with wordpress sites beat Palm and Lunardi consistently for a decade, they'd take their jobs.
about WVU, Clemson and Arizona being ahead of us right now.
No one really knows, but if you start comparing resumes, us at a 5 is laughable. So whatever Palm is sipping on must be rat shit water.
Just try making a case for zona over us.
As a positive, he also pciked South Dakota St. to be the first-round opponent. The last time Michigan played the Jackrabbits in the tourney, Michigan fell one bad block call and a room full of hookers and blow from an NCAA title.
No. Pizza Rat is an American icon. Pizza Rat is us--we are all Pizza Rat.
Looking forward to a late Sunday posbang, and some Muppets. Don't let me down, boys! All the way home!
Michigan did a great job yesterday of fronting JJJ and denying him passes deep into the post.
When that didn't work, it was almost always all over . . . he posted up like the beast he is and scored.
We need to do the same with Haas. When he gets the ball deep in the post, it's almost always all over. All you get for your troubles on D are an easy 2 pointer and a ticky tack belly bump foul.
The best way to defend Haas deep in the post is to not let him have the ball in there in the first place. Plus it helps save those inevitable huh?? fouls always called on Wagner in the first three minutes of the game.
Beilein is a coaching master. Imagine the feeling - back to back B1G championships! Let's win it again!
Go Blue. Shoot the lights outs M.
With respect to Purdue I agree. If we ever play a team with an old fashioned PF and true C, I would like to see Teske + Wagner, but otherwise, Wagner checking a 4 is going to be a problem, which is also why I'm still skeptical of his NBA potential.
has broken ranks with KenPom?
Has it ever happened?
for the win.
go blue
Let's be on our best -- rested & ready.
Go Blue!!!
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