Michigan Game Recap (2/10/09)
Posted by kj on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
The Spartans battle past the Wolverines 54-42 in a 55-possession game. StatSheet box score.
This is not the bar graph we were expecting:
They turned the ball over more than we did. And we barely outrebounded them.
In the end, it came down to creating scoring opportunities. We converted 2 more field goals and 9 more free throws against their zone defenses than they did against our man-to-man defense.
Travis Walton defended Manny Harris as well as any human alive possibly could have. He stuck to him like glue when Harris tried to run off screens in the first half. Eventually Harris resorted to trying to take Walton one on one. But, outside of one pull-up 3-pointer, he was unsuccessful. Without any consistent Wolverine shooting threats, the MSU defenders were free to sag off their men and cut Harris off from getting into the lane. Harris finished 2-10 from the field, with 4 turnovers.
DeShawn Sims was the only Wolverine to score in double digits, posting 18 points on 9-14 shooting. Some of those scores came off excellent post moves. Some of them were a function of the MSU defense being focused on staying extended out on the 4 perimeter players Michigan had on the floor at any given time.
Subtract the contributions of the two UM big men (Sims and Zach Gibson) and the Wolverines shot just 5-28 from the field. 21 of those shots came from 3-point range. The MSU defense gave the Michigan guards no breathing room whatsoever to operate in.
On the other end of the court, Delvon Roe finally put together the kind of game we’ve been hoping for against a smaller lineup: 14 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes. He took advantage of the mismatch against Zach Novak and the other guards that were matched up with him inside–and made 4 of 6 free throws to boot.
Other thoughts:
- How about the Kalin Lucas 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to 7? Remarkable confidence shooting the ball off the screen, given that Lucas was 0-2 and the team was 2-13 on 3-pointers up to that point.
- I love Austin Thornton as much as anyone, but I don’t think inserting him into the game against the 1-3-1 with 28 minutes already gone by in the game was a great move. The offense had a couple rough possessions with Thornton in the game, when the opportunity was there to extend the lead back to double digits.
- Marquise Gray may be out of a job. He played just 2 minutes, getting yanked after a defensive lapse that allowed DeShawn Sims to dunk the ball. Meanwhile, Draymond Green got 17 minutes down the stretch and scored what was perhaps the back-breaking basket off a set play against the 1-3-1 with two and a half minutes left. Green had 3 assists, too, helping to attack the interior of the UM defense.
This was a much uglier win that we might have hoped for, but it’s a win nonetheless. I’m disappointed we didn’t have a more efficient way to attack the 1-3-1. At least we’re done playing teams that employ it (until the conference tournament, at least).
At 10-2, we can sit back, watch our competitors play a couple games, get healthy, and prepare for the game in West Lafayette next Tuesday (7:00, ESPN).
Filed in game recap19 responses so far
19 Responses to “Michigan Game Recap (2/10/09)”
wife of a spartanon 11 Feb 2009 at 6:55 am 1I was really wrong about our 5th year senior bigs making the difference,
Roe and Green had huge games, didn’t see many defensive lapse by
either of them other than the one Green play where Izzo was shown on TV yelling at him on the sideline. Walton and Suton
of course were essential to the game.
KJ, being at the game, did it seem like Suton did a lot more as a senior
than showed up in his stat sheet? He seemed really flat-footed against
Sims who is an excellent leaper. Several of the replays, Suton was in position with both hands straight up and Sims just went over him. Things
like communicating on defense don’t show up on a stat sheet. The announcers made the point that Suton and Roe are starting to click together.
Excellent defense not only by Walton but the entire team “six eyes on the best player”. Really, really encouraging to be winning by defense and Summers seems to be more consistent on defense too.
Even Luscious played some high quality minutes. We will still need
Gray and Ibok for defense (and fouls to give) on some of the teams we will encounter but the 3 freshmen and 3 sophmores all have had key moments in B10 play. Allen does look tentative but has made some shots the last 3 games. He really needs his confidence back on both ends of the floor. The team as a whole really seems to be meshing as we round into the end of conference play.
Hopefully, Raymar can ease back in and like Mateen’s injury early the championship year, everyone else will be better for having had to do without him. He probably would have ended up on Sims though that
would have left Suton on a guard so maybe not.
At the game, did it seem like some of U of M’s rebounding was because of long misses?
Mark in DCon 11 Feb 2009 at 8:30 am 2I wonder how much of our shooting woes were due to fatigue? Izzo mentioned several times coming into the game that we’d played a lot of games in a relatively short period of time, and he was looking forward to getting guys some rest. We had several open looks from 3 point range that didn’t fall – a few of those go in and attacking that zone gets a lot easier. We seemed able to go inside on it fairly effectively in the first half but got away from that in the second.
Suton looked a little out of sorts in this one. He seemed to be second guessing himself on offense and spent a lot of time out on the perimeter on O instead of down inside. That may be one reason the rebounding was as close as it was. There were a lot of longer rebounds in this one so that could be a factor as well.
Roe had a great game – he played adequate perimeter D and showed some assertiveness on offense, which has been rare this year. I hope this trend continues for the rest of the season because if we have two legit post scoring options we can muddle through when one or the other is in foul trouble.
Green has looked good the past couple of games and is providing a spark off the bench. Allen seemed to lose all confidence after that first airball three. He needs to learn not to let one bad shot get into his head.
Walton was awsome on defense – when he went out with 3 fouls they all of a sudden started scoring. That was the starkest evidence yet of what he brings and why he gets so much playing time.
kjon 11 Feb 2009 at 8:37 am 3wifeofaspartan,
1. The area where Suton contributed that doesn’t show up on the box score is ball-handling. Several times he flashed to the ball when the MSU players were looking a little frazzled against the zone and slowed things down.
2. Sims was really the difference on the boards for Michigan–3 tough offensive rebounds (out of 7 total).
witless chumon 11 Feb 2009 at 9:03 am 4This seemed like a very old school, grind it out Izzo team win. I was pretty on edge watching the game, but the team really seemed to do just what needed to be done to win. (I had to work late, so I watched on DVR with the sound low, so as not to disturb my wife who’d already watched the game. She should really play poker more, because I had no idea if we won or lost. Anyway the sound was low, so whenever the heat kicked on I couldn’t really hear Musberger. Did I hallucinate a long discussion of Groucho Marx?)
That ref (I’m calling him that from now on, because I’m convinced he gets jazzed whenever someone says his name. I bet he’s got a whole desktop full of Google alerts set) remains to be not good. I liked when he ran in from way outside and overruled the ref on the baseline, who’d made the correct call on a ball out of bounds under the basket. It’s also a useful thing to know that you can slap a shooter in the head.
Roe’s good night from the line was wonderful to see. If he starts contributing more, teams need to be deterred from playing hack a Roe.
I’d guess Thorton was in there late for fresh legs on defense, so we’d have someone with a spring in his step to chase those interchangeable non-Harrises.
Good sideline reporting on C.J. Lee’s vomit from Erin Andrews.
Great to beat our friends from Ann Arbor and great for it mean something. Greater to still be in the driver’s seat for the Big 10 title.
Chrison 11 Feb 2009 at 9:32 am 5Izzo executed his game plan perfectly. We missed some shots but his plays after time outs were run flawless. The defense was superb. Very few open looks for UM. The zone continues to frustrate our offense. The problem is you need Walton on the floor for defense, but teams can leave him wide open outside 15 feet. Dribble penetration from Lucas doesn’t work because they know he won’t kick it out to Walton. Allen obviously is not the answer. I’m not really sure we have an answer for the zone this year. Maybe more pick and pop for Suton? Does anyone know of any good teams we might face in the tourney that play the 1-3-1 zone?
kjon 11 Feb 2009 at 9:37 am 6Those are good points, Chris. We did end up scoring almost a point per possession (with the late free throws helping) despite not shooting the 3 well. And we didn’t turn it over an excessive amount. So you do have to give Izzo credit for a good game plan.
The only strategy I’ve heard against the 1-3-1 is to throw long, diagonal passes over it and knock down 3-pointers.
Also, Morgan would have been huge in this game. No way Michigan could have guarded him.
Sparty Basketballon 11 Feb 2009 at 9:38 am 7Finally, someone agrees with me regarding Thornton. Why was he in there? The only possible explanation is that Izzo wanted to put some height on the perimeter for defensive purposes as he gave Summers a breather on the sidelines. But, I personally would have still went with Allen as he is at least an average defender, is 6′3″, and can give you a lot more on the offensive end. Allen only played 9 minutes.
Why is Thornton Coach Izzo’s Tim Bograkos Jr? Maybe he will be a key player in the future, but he shouldn’t be playing in the second half of a rivalry game when we have more experienced players available.
TMadison25on 11 Feb 2009 at 10:08 am 8A week’s worth a rest, while Purdue has a road and home game before we visit. Not sure if Hummel shows and how effective he will be.
MSU’s 12th in Adj.OffEff. and 20th Adj. DefEff. Luke Winn loves that sort of balance.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....winn/01/07
/midseason/index.html
Is the Big Ten playing some cruel joke on their fans by allowing “that ref” to officiate big games? How many times has both fanbases been frustrated by him after a game? Simply absurd.
schilla1on 11 Feb 2009 at 10:19 am 9I don’t mean to over simplify things, but I feel the reason MSU is performing to such a high level this year are 2 old Izzo staples; defense and rebounding.
We did not dominate Michigan on the glass like I expected. But the key factor had to be Walton, and frankly everyone else, just suffocating them on defense. Outside of Sims, no UM player contributed anything meaningful offensively. There were just flat shut down on their home court.
Wife of a Spartan- I too fell victim to the Gray riddle. A blown defensive play and a turn over later, I am lowering my Gray flag. He has tremendous athletic ability, but heck, so did Brett Pettway. If he can’t be fundamentally sound at this point in his career, I don’t know if it is coming.
That small disappointment aside, I think this is shaping up to be perhaps the best MSU athletics season I can remember. Football and basketball combined wins over Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota; all against 0 losses. I deal with alumni from those schools frequently, and I have a quiet smile on my face during those discussions. These are great days, and the best is yet to come.
Mark in Chicagoon 11 Feb 2009 at 12:08 pm 10Thornton is allegedly a very good shooter, so maybe Izzo had him in there to try and hit a few 3’s, since Allen wasn’t giving him much. That’s the only reason I can think of.
DP99on 11 Feb 2009 at 12:28 pm 11It seemed to me like a very ragged game and difficult to evaluate because both team haven’t been very consistent (Michigan being krrrr-zy inconsistent). I don’t know how to evaluate MSU offense against Michigan defense, since the overall stats for Michigan defense aren’t good, but they’ve now made all of Duke, UCLA, UConn, and MSU look some level of discombobulated with the 1-3-1. I don’t know how to evaluate MSU defense since Michigan offense can miss a cascade of 3 attempts all on it’s own. So there you go. I have no idea. Looked like a pretty tough crowd at Crisler, so in general I’m glad MSU was still able to manage that.
schilla1 – not to be picky, but ok, this is coming out well so far for football and basketball, but one of the best years ever for MSU athletics? Ten years ago football was 10-2 with a Citrus Bowl win, men’s basketball was in the championship runs, the hockey team was in the frozen four, wrestling was still decent, and women’s volleyball was in their final four. Football is making a comeback, basketball maintained it’s level, and the other things are about falling apart.
kjon 11 Feb 2009 at 12:49 pm 12Regarding the crowd:
On the one hand, there weren’t nearly as many MSU fans as in past years–maybe half the number. Michigan fans are clearly more engaged in terms of buying tickets and filling the seats.
On the other hand, the crowd didn’t impress me in terms of picking the team up. They reacted to a couple Michigan mini-runs, but never initiated the kind of spontaneous support the Breslin crowd gives MSU at key moments. And their student section still isn’t big enough to be a factor on its own.
That’s the way it looked from the top row in the arena, at least.
DP99on 11 Feb 2009 at 2:23 pm 13Ok. It’s funny, on TV some arenas can appear louder on TV than they are in person, others just the opposite. I always felt Breslin didn’t sound as loud on TV than what I’d experience in person. I could hear some “go green, go white” chants, so maybe that’s a bit on an indictment.
schilla1on 11 Feb 2009 at 2:37 pm 14DP99- I have to admit I only follow football, basketball, and to a lesser extent, women’s basketball. I am not a hockey or baseball guy.
Narrowing the scope a little bit, name me the last year MSU won in Ann Arbor in football and basketball? I know Jim Miller was the starting QB the last time they won in AA period, ignoring basketball, meaning it’s been at least 10 years on that side.
The Capital One Bowl shouldn’t be confused with the Rose Bowl either, but it still carries some prestige. Perhaps I’m still giddy about being able to hand it to UM in the 2 major sports, but I still maintain the success to date is worthy of some historical perspective.
// Upon further consideration, technically the most recent football win in AA was 2008, not 09, but hopefully you get my point.
spartanloafon 11 Feb 2009 at 5:52 pm 15Regarding Thornton, my memory is that he came in after Walton’s 3rd foul in the middle of the 2nd half. From my perspective, it was worth a try. By that time in the game, it was already clear that Allen was not a positive so Thornton was a reasonable option. Earlier in the season, I thought Thornton was a contributor but it is probably unrealistic to think he will be real productive when he hasn’t had significant minutes in months.
Dylan @ UMHoopson 11 Feb 2009 at 6:05 pm 16KJ: You just about have it. The student section does their best but the rest of the crowd sits on their hands. I was still disappointed with the number of MSU fans in the stands but Michigan basketball fans have never really given me reason to expect anything else.
I’ve been to one MSU game at the Breslin, the U-M game two years ago. It was pretty much a blizzard and an crappy game but it was shocking that your non-student fans actually stood up and cheered etc.
Dylan @ UMHoopson 11 Feb 2009 at 6:06 pm 17One other thing RE: Allen. He really struggled, he always seemed like a pretty damn talented player during his recruitment and I haven’t watched MSU that much this year but has he been that bad all the time?
kjon 11 Feb 2009 at 6:10 pm 18Allen just hasn’t been able to find his 3-point stroke for more than a couple games in a row. Like most shooters, if he’s not making jumpshots he starts making bad decisions elsewhere on the court.
If he can ever put it all together, though, he will be a force to be reckoned with. He’s got a lot more athleticism than a typical 3-point specialist.
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