Xavier 86, Michigan 70
Michigan's defense provided little resistance. [Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog]
Michigan has a long way to go.
The good news is the season is far from over. In fact, Michigan probably hasn't yet played a game with what will become their standard starting lineup. But there's no glossing over the holes Xavier exposed in Michigan's defense tonight.
None is bigger than the hole in the middle. Mark Donnal gave up a bucket and a foul to Xavier's Jalen Reynolds on the game's opening possession and his night didn't improve from there; despite starting the game, he finished with four fouls, one rebound, and a turnover in six minutes. Ricky Doyle at least provided a little resistance in the post, but his poor hands cost M on both ends of the court, and time and again he found himself too far from the hoop on pick-and-rolls that resulted in open looks. Mo Wagner and DJ Wilson flashes some promise, especially the former, but they're both still getting used to the position; neither was ready for extended time against Reynolds.
Add in Michigan's porous perimeter defense and Xavier simply overwhelmed the Wolverines. Reynolds finished with 15 after getting to the line at will in the first half. The Musketeers hit nine of their 21 three-point attempts, usually wide open looks off the high screen. They missed 39 shots and rebounded 18 of them. Michigan's desperate late attempts to run a 1-3-1 zone only hurt in that regard.
It not for Caris LeVert posting 29 points on 21 shot equivalents, this would've been even worse; LeVert was the only Wolverine who could consistently produce his own shot, and while he sometimes forced it a little too much, someone had to carry the load.
For a brief period in the second half, Michigan looked like it would mount a comeback, getting as close as two points down on two separate occasions after triples by Duncan Robinson and LeVert. Each time, though, Xavier immediately responded with a three of their own and a dunk on the following possession, which aptly sums up the defensive effort from the Wolverines.
While the offense went in fits in spurts, it was at least decently effective, and Michigan easily could've surpassed the 1.05 PPP they posted if a couple open three-point looks didn't rim out. Their effort for most of the game, especially midway through the second half, was good enough to win a lot of games, but not this one given what was happening on the other end. Rough shooting nights from Derrick Walton (1/5 FG) and Aubrey Dawkins (1/6) didn't help matters. Robinson (nine points) and Zak Irvin (seven) were the top scorers behind LeVert, and that simply wasn't enough.
Michigan will have to learn from this game in a hurry. They head to the Bahamas for the Battle of Atlantis next week and will face UConn—featuring seven-footer Amida Brimah and plenty of size across the board—in the opener on Wednesday.
Tonight will hopefully prove to be one of the team's worst performances of this very young season. There are plenty of reasons to expect it to be so; this was a bad matchup given M's still-developing centers—who will have to grow up in a hurry—and uncertain rotation. If the effort on defense doesn't improve by next week, though, this team will take some serious lumps even before conference play begins.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:20 AM ^
Lot of ball to be played before then. We got 3 games next week and I hope we make a decent showing. Time to wake up.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:06 AM ^
All American reynolds was held to 0 pts and 2 rbs by bball powerhouse Missouri by the way.
Most of that game was playing by 6'6 Bluitt, a 6'10 center who ave 8 last year, and 3 guards by Xavier.
So I dont get the "bigger" complaint but certainly the more athletic is troubling. But when the true bigger teams in B10 play show up its going to be a shitstorm.
Anyhow before the game in the preview I wrote:
Ace: ...Reynolds is an excellent rebounder on both ends, a strong rim protector, and an efficient finisher at the basket...
Me: Hmmm, exactly the type of 5 we've been complaining has been missing from the team for the bulk of Beilein years. Granted he was way out in Detroit so whodda thunk to look there (Bacari). ;)
It's the SOS really. We are not getting a top line center here because no one wants to be a 5th wheel in this offense so you need to recruit an athlete who is a project offensively. I dont care if his range is 5 feet - if he has strong hands, can rebound in traffic, and jump out of the gym go get that defensive specialist. Just rebounding our bricks gets a 6'10 guy who can jump out of the gym 5-6 pts a nite while he blocks shots and grabs 10 rbs. Then you need a guy at the 4 who is 6'8ish who can actually be an inside out player. That was supposed to be Chatman. Who looks to be angling to bust. Another "pretty boy high IQ" guy without grit. We need a Troy Williams type out of Indiana at that position.
But neither of the above is an option in the Beilein system.
It is what it is, we are a pretty boy jump team who allows dribble drive because of lack of athletes inside and rim protectors, will get outrebounded all year, and will rely on outshooting teams all year because we will get few second chance points while giving up tons of them. We have no alternative inside offense at all - its dribble drive by guards or settle for 3 all day. We'll be better as the offense gets better but it doesnt remove the same issues we have if we dont have a NBA 6'10 center apparently and NBA players at the 1, 2, and 4 concurrently with said 6'10 center.
Beilein said we needed to get more athletic after that loss to UK as UK played "above the rim" in his words. But recruiting misses or mistargets just get us the same kind of players again and again.
tl;dr Zach Novak at 6'5 would be our best big man right now.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:06 AM ^
Yep, I'm tired of the Beilein philosophy. Complete aversion to defense, rebounding, or shooting anything inside the 3 point line. It worked like a charm for a couple of years, but otherwise the results have been meh.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:11 AM ^
I was always skeptical of his philosophy, but once we started winning between 2012-2014 it seemed like a nice jumping point to get the athletes and shooters we needed for the system to just keep on going...
Guess not.
Izzo's in game coaching may be underwhelming but his teams will always play gritty. Michigan is more on the finesse side, which is fine if you're rolling... hideous when you're not.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:15 AM ^
Izzo's actually adjusted his style quite a bit. His teams are shooting more 3's than they ever have, but they still have the physicality and athleticism to play tough defense and rebound well. A big reason why they went to the Final Four last year and look like another Final Four caliber team this year.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:16 AM ^
Well, a shooting team requires guys to shoot well... Today was a terrible shooting day. When guys like Irvin and Dawkins are missing open 3's, it doesn't bode well.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:31 AM ^
He had upperclassmen Horford Morgan plus a NBA 6'10 center in McGary those years.
Paired with a POY candidate at PG. You cant build a system that only has high level success with a POY candidate plus 3 other NBA players with 2 upperclassmen centers. You are not going to get that lucky and have all that at the same time often if ever again. We need systems that work in other years in the defensive and rebounding realms.
We have no alternative offense anymore. There is NO ONE to feed inside - NO ONE. If it is not going to be a 5, get a 4 with an inside outside game. And make your 5 a board crasher quick twitch athlete who gets 5-6 orb a game.
Get a damn Udoh type in the system. 2 of them. Udoh was ranked 229 out of HS. Find similar athletes - even MAC teams have guys like that. I am not talking finished product who goes to NBA Udoh.... but quick twitch guy who actually altered shots as a Fr/SO and blocked shots and got rebounds and had no offense. No offensive center is coming to UM because he is the 5th wheel. So get those athletes whose offense sucks in HS but wows you with their athleticism.
I think what galls as Michiganders in MI is we love our pro sports team as long as they at least show grit - even if the talent is not there. Our fav players are the grit guys - Ben Wallace, Spielman (at Lions), Lidstrom was the best red wing but who did we love? The Grind Line guys. Nick B said it in tweet tonight "UM played with its suits and ties on". I dont mind losing - just getting outworked, hustled, and out athleted bugs me. And its not a "tonight" thing - good offense has been hiding these deficiencies constantly.
November 21st, 2015 at 8:17 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 12:46 AM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 1:13 AM ^
You're using 2 seasons to justify your point? What about the other 6, do those not count? People deify him over the NCG and E8 run and ignore that his tenure here has been nothing more than slightly above average. It's year 9, an elite coach would have this program running at a consistently elite level by now.
November 21st, 2015 at 1:24 AM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 1:42 AM ^
He's won 63% of his games in his career, 61.5% at Michigan, with 1 final four to his name. Guys like Izzo, K, Calipari, Williams, Pitino, Boeheim, Donovan (aka college basketball's elite) all win at least 70% of their games. Beilein is an above average coach, nothing more. He may be an offensive genius but he's clueless about defense and rebounding, things that are also important to winning games.
November 21st, 2015 at 1:53 AM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 2:04 AM ^
I don't expect Duke or Kentucky. But I don't see why we can't be Michigan State (not exactly a powerhouse pre-Izzo) or Florida (also not a powerhouse pre-Donovan). Shit, I'd settle for a program that just makes a postseason tournament every year, and a NCAA tournament 90% of the time.
I wouldn't care that we lost if we actually played well tonight. But we didn't. We got abused physically. This is honestly nothing new in the Beilein era, just that recently he's had NBA level talent to make up for it. He didn't have it last year, and he doesn't have it this year, and the results are gonna be nowhere near what a lot of people thought before the season started.
November 21st, 2015 at 2:13 AM ^
Florida missed the NCAA tournament a couple times the last few years as well (including last year, without any injuries to blame). After his first 3 years, while he was building the program from a 12 win team, Beilein's only missed the NCAA tournament once: last year, with a rotation consisting of underclassmen and walk-ons. So, obviously, you're not happy being Florida.
I don't see how you can determine that the season is doomed before we even see what the team looks like with a healthy Irvin and Spike, but I guess that's your prerogative.
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November 21st, 2015 at 2:19 AM ^
Minor detail you're forgetting about Florida is the whole back to back championship thing, the 4 straight elite 8's, etc. So comparing us to Florida is asinine.
IMO a healthy Irvin and Spike won't help this team with defense and rebounding much. An undersized Xavier team abused us down low, wait and see what Purdue does with their two 7 footers and Caleb Swanigan, or Maryland with Diamond Stone, or MSU with Deyonta Davis. It won't be pretty.
November 21st, 2015 at 2:30 AM ^
The Maryland team you're referencing just squeaked by Rider at home. The season just started, we have no idea how it's going to go yet. Odds are, given Beilein's track record, we'll be playing well by the time it matters.
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November 21st, 2015 at 5:34 AM ^
When Beilejn took over, Michigan was a dump; the fact that he rebuilt the program, even with a few years of growing pains, speaks volumes. And to do so without resorting to sketchy recruiting tactics, it'd have taken any other top coach just as long.
Instead of saying "omg Beilein's only won 61.5% of his games at UM he's not that good," it'd be much more indicative of JB's coaching acumen to look mainly at his previous 4-5 seasons.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:01 PM ^
What defines a great coach then? Championships? Beilein has 0. Final fours? Beilein has 1, in like 20 years of coaching D1 college basketball. So by what measure is Beilein a great coach, besides the level of your Michigan fandom?
November 21st, 2015 at 4:00 PM ^
The fact that Jerry Kill won B1G COTY last season and Niumatalolo at Navy may very well be this year's national COTY reflect this. Also, Brad Stevens is a pretty good example of a great college coach.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:55 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^
Maybe we should start recruiting big men who can actually jump?
November 21st, 2015 at 12:04 AM ^
If this is the kick in the ballz that we need to get in tourney shape by March, then I'm fine with this. I just hope we learn the lessons we have to and play a lot cleaner going forward. Way too many fouls and giving up free throws and easy looks.
If we clean it up, we can be dangerous, but we need more from Dawkins, Walton and ANY OF THE 5'S.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:10 AM ^
Everytime Jordan Morgan blew a layup. Now I'd be out of my seat cheering if any of our big men actually made one.
November 21st, 2015 at 12:15 AM ^
I miss Jordan Morgan. Heck, I would even take Deshawn Sims at this point.
November 21st, 2015 at 8:38 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 12:12 AM ^
I thought they were turds for celebrating in November but they deserved it.
Now about the inability to recruit serviceable bigs...
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November 21st, 2015 at 12:12 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 12:14 AM ^
5 is the hardest position to develop because it takes a few years to bulk them up. Honestly, I think we should have kept Max... we could have used him, just like we could have used Horford last year (even though he left on his own).
We have a very good recruiting class coming in next year, but again, I don't know if any of the 5's in that class will be able to contribute until they're like sophomores or juniors.
I think we had a couple misses that hurt us, but I can't blame Beilein for playing a clean recruiting game.
This team has a lot of potential, but fans want results now...
November 21st, 2015 at 12:43 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 12:53 AM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 6:16 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 12:44 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 12:56 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 9:08 AM ^
I agree. Wagner has that fire in his belly like McGary had. Before McGary's tournament run, I thought our big men's role was to stand at the elbow, catch a pass, throw a pass. McGary proved that Beilein has a plan for the big men. All they have to do is execute. At least pretend like you're interested in doing something other than being a passing conduit.
Wnen McGary was destroying people off the dribble and throwing no-look passes, I can guarantee you Morgan and Horford were thinking the same thing I was thinking, "wait, it's O.K. for us big men to be aggressive on offense?"
Go Blue!!!!
November 21st, 2015 at 12:58 AM ^
Here is my take. I thought we were awful at locating shooters and closing out with high hands. Xavier clearly wanted to attack Donnell and the other bigs. The very first play of the game, the big was cleared out and he drove to his strong hand. That is a little scouting detail that was missed by either the coaching staff or Donnell.
Robinson can flat shoot the ball. I like him ahead of Irvin right now...maybe because Irvin is hurt, but he is just more of a threat. Levert was very good, but he can't win games by himself. Dawkins has to be a second slasher and he just wasn't very good today. Walton didn't shoot it very well or have his best game. Spike looks a bit slow still and hopefully he gets up to full speed before too long.
I would rotate the Bigs at the 5. It seems like Donnell could do a bit of stretching the defense, but Beilein hasn't run the type of plays he ran for Max to set up a 3. I would like to see that. I would give Wagner minutes every game and hope he can become something the others can't. Doyle, Donnell and DJ are not great at all. I hope we can get enough to keep us competitive.
I would certainly start Walton and play him a bunch of minutes. Spike may not be fully healthy yet. He needs limited minutes until he is full go. I would then play Dawkins, Levert, Robinson and probably Doyle to start.
Off the bench I would give Irvin, Chatman, and Spike minutes. I would limit MAAR just due to keeping a good rotation, but allowing guys to get into a flow. It just seemed like guys were in and out way to fast to get rolling tonight.
Finally, this team needs to rebound the ball much, much better than they did. It was brutal. Xavier absolutely beat them up on the boards. The one play that stands out to me is Irvin getting outhustled to a defensive rebound. No excuse for it from an upperclassmen.
O well...beat Penn State and Go Blue!!!
November 21st, 2015 at 2:05 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^
Unfortunately, I remember that play where Irvin was 6 inches from the ball and didn't grab it. Not a good sign. I don't know how much more recovery he needs, but I was quite surprised to see him in the starting lineup.
And don't get me started about the decision to start (or even play) Mark Donnal.
Go Blue!!!!
November 21st, 2015 at 9:32 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 1:18 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 9:15 AM ^
Doyle must be in Beilein's doghouse for something. I'm not familiar with other Big Ten team rosters, but I don't think Donnal would be a starter for any of the other 13 teams.
Go Blue!!!!
November 21st, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 1:49 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 3:20 AM ^
I expected more effot and urgency.
If you aren't provding that, you sure as hell can't continuely miss wide open shots.
So many mistakes, it became unbearable to watch.
We should be further along folks.
November 21st, 2015 at 3:28 AM ^
Donnal is a total loss. An absolute joke that he is on scholarship at a school like Michigan.
November 21st, 2015 at 3:42 AM ^
It take too much to get him going, and in a span of a few minutes, he will revert back to being passive. When he had moments last year, that is exactly what happened. Or he will do something positive, then pick up a lazy foul or two and be back to the bench.
If you have to constantly be told to play hard and play with some damn intensity and emotion, you don't belong.
I know you technically can't cut people, but you can be told that's its probably in your best interest to move on.
We have did it in 2012 when we had 3 guys transfer at the end of the year.
November 21st, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^
November 21st, 2015 at 12:05 PM ^
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November 21st, 2015 at 5:54 AM ^
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