UConn 74, Michigan 60
Shot of LeVert's shoe #adidas pic.twitter.com/ynFCOyT2Pp
— Ben Fidelman (@bfidelman) November 26, 2015
Derrick Walton knocked down a three-pointer to cut the UConn lead to 14. For a moment, it looked like Michigan could perhaps claw their way back into a game in which they'd been dominated throughout.
But Caris LeVert's left shoe ripped open like a Ziploc, and his mark, Sam Cassell Jr., left him to contemplate the fickle nature of breathable fabrics while Cassell made an uncontested layup seven seconds later. It was that kind of night.
Michigan's zone defense briefly kept them close early while both teams tried to get their bearings. The Huskies settled in. The Wolverines never did. Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton combined to shoot 5/7 from beyond the arc; the rest of the team went 3/22.
The loss sends Michigan to the loser's side of the Battle 4 Atlantis bracket; they'll play Charlotte, defeated today by Syracuse, tomorrow night at 9:30 on AXS TV.
It's late Thanksgiving Eve during the week of The Game. I can't end a post on that note.
Much better. Happy Thanksgiving. There will be more, if probably brief, coverage of the Charlotte game tomorrow.
November 25th, 2015 at 11:41 PM ^
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November 26th, 2015 at 12:21 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 12:21 AM ^
It's the same as always for Michigan. When the threes go in, everything works and they're a great team. When the threes don't go in, they suck. As long as they can get 7 or 8 wins in non-conference play, they will be fine going into the Big Ten season.
I am looking for this team to be much better in the second half of the season than the first, as is usually the case under Beilein. It's just a matter of getting to the second half without leaving themselves in too big a hole.
This team will be fine.
November 26th, 2015 at 12:44 AM ^
It's beyond that. This team has no interior presence, especially defensively. That's where they miss a Jordan Morgan, at least he put up some resistance against players driving to the rim.
November 26th, 2015 at 6:31 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
my friend's sister makes $71 hourly on the computer . She has been laid off for 10 months but last month her pay was $20059 just working on the computer for a few hours. check out the post right here... www.cashnewbie.com
November 25th, 2015 at 11:47 PM ^
Is it fair to say that Coach Beilein is the genius who doesn't have the common sense to come in out of the rain? What I mean by that is that things that seem blindingly obvious don't seem to factor into his decision making. This is demonstrated through two things that he has done for as long as we've known him, at the very least.
1. Dude seems to hate centers that are good at the part of being a center that doesn't involve bombing threes or being hyper-active puppies. I'm sure Doyle, Donnal, and Wagner are nice guys. None of them would be starting for any contender for the B1G title. (No, I'm not counting Wilson. I don't think Beilein brought him in to be a center, but a true stretch 4. Sadly, he's our second best center.)
2. The auto-bench is probably the bigger concern. We can argue til the cows come home that it lost Michigan a national championship. What we probably can't argue is that it makes no statistical sense to bench your best player with 12 minutes left in the half, and then leave him there as the opponent rolls out to what becomes an insurmountable lead. Caris sat down with 2 fouls, and then ended the game with 2 fouls.
November 26th, 2015 at 12:26 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 6:45 AM ^
I'll say it point blank, JB killed Michigan with his stupid 2 foul BS. Michigan was +3 for the game when Levert was on the court. Why would you disqualify your best player for over 8 minutes when you dont have to? Levert ended up with 2 fouls for the game. Coaching scared and the team plays scared. Coincidence?
November 26th, 2015 at 6:46 AM ^
November 25th, 2015 at 11:48 PM ^
November 25th, 2015 at 11:52 PM ^
But I had some good inside information that warned me about how mediocre our team is. Because of this, before the season I said we were an NIT team/ncaa bubble team. This is the team we have.
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November 25th, 2015 at 11:57 PM ^
That is only about 2 wins better than last year. Which means your inside source believes that getting fullish seasons from Walton and Levert barely makes up for the loss of Beilfeldt. Either that, or there are some serious chemistry issues. Care to elaborate?
November 26th, 2015 at 7:50 AM ^
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November 26th, 2015 at 12:25 AM ^
Sure you do. I think that most fans knew that Michigan is lacking at the 5 position and that they would tend to struggle defensively.
November 26th, 2015 at 6:42 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 7:34 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
...to play like this?! Despite having one of the easier non-conf schedules, I wasn't expecting us to win every game. But considering our lofty (right or wrong) expectations this year (i.e. top 1-2 in the conference, top 25 ranking, sweet sixteen appearance), I hope that we can at least look competent in our loses. Well, we don't look competent - these loses were not of the hard fought variety a la Villanova last year. And a good shooting night is not necessarily going to turn this team around.
As mentioned, I have a friend who is close to the bball program and has been for probably over a decade. I don't get anything too juicy from him, just his perspectives on how the team looks. And he rarely calls out specific players or talks about JB. So when I talked to my contact a couple months ago, here are some examples of his reply:
"Outside Caris, the team is of middling big ten talent"
"Not really a cohevise team yet, which could change, but I'm surprised since they usually are much farther along than this"
"There doesn't seem to be a leader on the floor, someone who can take over when needed"
"Team has no identity yet, they need to find that soon"
"This is a bubble team probably, maybe NIT for this team."
Have a great Thanksgiving
November 26th, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^
The football team could really use Fitz Toussaint, let alone Denard.
November 26th, 2015 at 12:11 AM ^
I'm trying to be optimistic, but that game sucked. I'm going to chalk it off to cold shooting, but come on, if Robinson is not hitting shots, then just pull him and put in someone who can dribble drive or move the ball around like Dawkins, MAAR or Spike (if he's not hurt).
Zak looked hurt and not 100% so he should sit out against good teams. Let him come in and warm up against lesser opponents. Doyle was ok, but rough hands. Donnal was benched the entire game, which makes it crazy to have not kept Bielfeldt around another year... I don't get that at all.
November 26th, 2015 at 12:14 AM ^
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November 26th, 2015 at 12:30 AM ^
Fitz would probably be an excellent Harbaugh RB.
November 26th, 2015 at 7:38 AM ^
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November 26th, 2015 at 12:33 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 1:02 AM ^
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November 26th, 2015 at 2:29 AM ^
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November 26th, 2015 at 3:12 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 4:18 AM ^
We have the best coach in fb, and a LEGIT shot a natl champ nxt year with Okorn, essentially the same D, and......probably Rashan Gary.
Gary.....added to our dline with Mone coming back?!? Those are the types of things I think of when I watch Mich bb
November 26th, 2015 at 7:42 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 8:11 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 10:35 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 7:39 AM ^
but watching that video with Beckman's voiceover illustrates how woefully miscast Brandstatter is at doing play-by-play. To put it in coaching terms, Brandy isn't being put in a position to win. Michigan should say thanks very much to Dierdorf for his two seasons in the booth, move Brandstatter back to color, and get a real play-by-play guy to call the action.
November 26th, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^
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November 26th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 7:40 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 7:54 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 8:11 AM ^
Le sigh
November 26th, 2015 at 8:12 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 8:12 AM ^
I had a bigger issue with the offense. i knew the D wasnt all that great but what exactly is our offensive identity? What I saw last night was a disjointed O setting weak, half-hearted screens while mostly relying on 1 guy to break down the defense 1v1 until a late pass out to guy who was covered for an awkward 3 that had little chance of finding the bottom. The offense was atrocious last night.
November 26th, 2015 at 8:41 AM ^
and I can say this...this is a BAD looking team..no offense no defense turnovers missed free throws no passion no enthusiasm and no leadership..This looked liked it would be a good year for Michigan but not anymore. They will have ZERO quality non conference wins and Its looking like this team will be nowhere near a tourney team...I know Irvin is recovering but really? he has NO BUSINESS on the court he looks AWFUL...Doyle looks slow and out of shape...This is not looking good at all
November 26th, 2015 at 9:05 AM ^
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November 26th, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^
8 man rotation: Walton/LeVert/Dawkins/Irvin/Doyle/Spike/MAAR/DJ
November 26th, 2015 at 10:42 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
November 26th, 2015 at 10:44 AM ^
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