Maryland 77, Michigan 70
Maryland outmuscled Michigan in the first half. [Marc-Gregor Campredon]
Michigan struggled to get started against a good defensive team. On the other end of the floor, they made a mediocre offense look excellent.
Sound familiar?
Unlike Wednesday night's game against Penn State, Michigan didn't have it in them to finish off a comeback effort against Maryland. The Wolverines fell behind by as many as 11 in a first half marked by pathetic post defense and wayward outside shooting. Maryland center Damonte Dodd, filling in for injured starter Michal Cekovsky, scored 11 of his career-high 15 points in the opening half. Michigan's post players didn't fare much better on the perimeter—and, in this case, didn't get much help, either:
Melo is a great player, but this is the epitome of terrible defense. pic.twitter.com/aOwvLnKkcu
— Big Ten Geeks (@bigtengeeks) January 7, 2017
Michigan connected on just 3-of-11 three-pointers, meanwhile. A nine-point halftime deficit would've been larger if not for a strong closing effort by Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, who scored three buckets—all in the paint—over the final five minutes and change. He'd finish with 12 points and four steal in the best game he's had in a while.
After being limited by foul trouble in the first half, Moe Wagner had a stellar offensive showing, pouring in 15 of his 17 poitns in the second stanza; he took Maryland defenders off the dribble by alternating his spin and behind-the-back moves, hit pick-and-pop threes, and worked through contact. While Wagner had gained Michigan an edge in the paint, however, they lost it on the other end with shoddy perimeter defense; the Terps went 6-for-9 from beyond the arc—several of them open looks off of dribble penetration.
The Wolverines were able to get within two points on three different occasions only for Maryland to respond. On Wednesday, Michigan won a game they should've lost. Today, they lost a game they should've lost. There are signs of promise—today, from Wagner, MAAR, and Xavier Simpson—but this team so rarely puts it all together that it's becoming harder and harder to hold out hope for a strong run through Big Ten play.
January 7th, 2017 at 5:42 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 8:16 PM ^
Is this a program that just wants to consistently be like, B-, B grade, i.e., decent? If so Coach B is our guy. Me personally, I thought we were supposed to be the leaders and best.
January 8th, 2017 at 5:53 AM ^
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January 8th, 2017 at 9:39 AM ^
I wonder how far the program has to sink before Brian writes about it?
JB is headed down a road where he's going to leave the program in the same shape or worse than when he took it over... That's insane.
If we are being honest, Amaker's final year's team more than likely beats JB's last 3 teams.
JB earned the right to walk away. I pray he realizes he's entering Bobby Bowden territory.
January 8th, 2017 at 2:09 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 5:44 PM ^
After the TV timeout at 6:02, Maryland averaged 3 points per minute. 3 points. Per minute.
January 7th, 2017 at 5:45 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 5:47 PM ^
Got taken wire to wire by a mediocre team at home. NBD. I'm sure this team will enjoy the NIT.
January 7th, 2017 at 5:49 PM ^
Until they move on from John B., this is the norm.
January 7th, 2017 at 5:52 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 5:56 PM ^
We're saying that every year now. You can say that Walton, Irvin, and Donnal will be addition by subtraction but those guys are getting all these minutes for a reason, other players aren't beating them out. Not sure why we should expect it to get better next year.
January 7th, 2017 at 6:01 PM ^
three certainly won't be tough losses, and they leave low bars for replacements to improve upon, but you're right. We haven't recruited anyone to replace them so unless we recruit a couple star guards, it's gonna be bubble again, at best.
January 7th, 2017 at 6:06 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 6:16 PM ^
X has been a disappointment thus far (compounded by the fact that Winston has been a pretty good player for State), MAAR has really struggled this year, and I'm not sure how much to expect from the incoming freshman class. I mean, we all expected a lot more out of this year's freshmen. At this point the problems go deeper than certain individual players. While Walton, Irvin, and Donnal aren't great by any means, there's nothing to suggest that their replacements will be any better.
January 7th, 2017 at 11:17 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 10:55 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 5:53 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 6:17 PM ^
and Michigan made the initial "leap" when they were brought in, so maybe the assistants not only weren't the problem, maybe they were the reason for 5-6 years of success.
Crazy because all evidence the first couple weeks pointed to a much improved defense. M was up to 35th in kenpom defensive efficiency - which is higher than any Beilien team has ever finished. They've been downright awfule since then, down all the way to 108th (!!!) That's very difficult to do considering the good start. Means they've basically been about 150-200th since then.
The embedded video says it all. Atrocious defense. They're like matadors with their feet in cement out there.
January 7th, 2017 at 5:59 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 6:07 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 6:14 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 6:20 PM ^
are downright terrible. Not sure what else there is to figure out if you've failed to figure out how to play defense or not to turn it over five times in a game or to make some baskets in four years.
January 7th, 2017 at 7:23 PM ^
I don't think they're terrible, they are just average players. Walton can't really shoot anymore but is a decent rebounder, and Irvin has his moments but is bad on defense and seems unable to consistently hit the outside shot. They are #3/4 players on a good team, but as we've seen when you put them in a top dog role, they struggle.
January 7th, 2017 at 10:52 PM ^
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January 8th, 2017 at 2:08 PM ^
This year might not be great, but they have two young bigs and I think Simpson will get better with more time and physical maturity.
January 7th, 2017 at 11:20 PM ^
January 8th, 2017 at 2:12 PM ^
Wagner is a sophomore, Wilson is a RS So, Simpson is starting to see more time. I mean, I get that people around here just like to dwell on the current product and fire the head coach; I'm used to that. But if you removed Irvin and Walton from this team, it would be a squad that I think people would have more optimism about. And both Livers and Poole look like solid recruits. Again, I guess I don't expect as much out of Michigan basketball as some.
January 8th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
You write great stuff about football bb, but to say you just don't expect any more of Mighigan hoops than what we're getting is very disappointing.
You've built yourself a bit of a bully pulpit on this blog, I expect more out of YOU than that!
January 8th, 2017 at 8:18 PM ^
Haha, you give me too much credit.
I honestly just lived through so much crap after the Fisher fiasco that this feels fine. I'd love to see them compete for conference titles and go deep in the tourney, but it doesn't happen every year and I still, at my core, believe Beilein is a solid coach who can make the odd Sweet 16/Elite 8 run with the right team. But he's not going to recruit the way you need to compete consistently, and this just feels like a missed cycle. Other teams, they can flip the roster quickly and try again, but that's not how Beilein works or how he recruits. So when you hit, you get the Burke-Stauskas years. When you miss, you get this run...which isn't terrible, just underwhelming.
Of course, if they go under .500 in this conference, I'll absolutely bitch about it.
January 9th, 2017 at 3:35 AM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 2:57 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 6:15 PM ^
If the D is supposed to hedge those ball screens, Mo didn't. It was terribly soft hedge, giving Melo plenty of room to split. Second, DJ was first help defender and didn't stop drive, he just flailed at the ball. The two corner defenders (Walton & Irvin) had no shot. Normally, Irvin is the bad help defender/off ball defender, as he gets beat quite often on hard cuts while being late with help on ball side. This wasn't one of those times.
This team if filled with guys who would be or are good complimentary players. None of these guys should be the guy to lean on in crunch time. That's the main issue with the recruiting and of this team.
No dudes. Can't really fault Irvin and Walton for thinking they're the alpha's because they've probably been told this a few times this year.
Mo and DJ are the only enjoyable dudes to watch play.
January 7th, 2017 at 6:15 PM ^
It's been discussed that the Harbaugh offense is effective, in part, because teams can't prepare for it because they don't see it or have the personnel to replicate it in practice.
I'm beginning to think the reverse is true for Michigan basketball. The team doesn't have a real center on the roster, and hasn't since Morgan. Each year we get to watch average opponent centers have big games against Michigan. Is it because Michigan doesn't have a single player on the team that knows how to play with their back to basket?
I know Ace would shit on this idea if he read the comment because of efficiency numbers, but Ace isn't some sort of infallible expert. I'm sure there are some basketball coaches amongst the readers, and I'm curious as to what they think.
January 7th, 2017 at 6:24 PM ^
On most ball reversals, if DJ or Mo is the game, (mainly Mo), they are either in the short corner or close to the block with their back to the basket in a iso type set.
Not always, but they've gone to some more post up stuff with those two. Mo and DJ work all over the court but there is more of it this year.
January 7th, 2017 at 8:20 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 9:47 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 6:18 PM ^
It seems difficult for this team to play hard for 40 minutes. Two games in a row we sleepwalked in the first half and dug a hole for ourselves before giving a better effort in the second. A team with three upperclass starters shouldn't be doing this.
January 7th, 2017 at 6:22 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 6:23 PM ^
Is in denial.
January 9th, 2017 at 10:13 AM ^
don't know who you replace him with. I have come nearly 100% the other way after supporting Beilein this off-season. I thought they would be better. The are decisively not, and their defense, which was a nice surprise early the season has regressed and appears to be even worse than last year. I just don't know who you hire if you get rid of him.
January 7th, 2017 at 6:40 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 6:46 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 6:50 PM ^
as long as Beilien is there. This is his ceiling. The thought that he would bring superior coaching with access to better recruits was a good one. But it hasn't worked, obviously. He did accidentally recruit several pros at the same time. That was fun. Hands up for anyone who thinks he'll do that again. Didn't think so.
He runs a clean program and reliably produces bubble-ish teams that are a threat to win a game in the tournament. At some point the administration has to decide if this is all they want. If so, fine. But hopefully they realize that most Michigan fans will not care about a mediocre team. For example, look at this blog. There is ten times more interest in football recruiting than an actual game that was played just a little while ago. Sad.
January 7th, 2017 at 8:10 PM ^
There is no way than to describe the 2013 starting lineup other than "accidental." It's one thing to not recreate that type of talent, he hasn't even TRIED. Pathetic.
January 7th, 2017 at 6:54 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 7:00 PM ^
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January 7th, 2017 at 8:06 PM ^
January 7th, 2017 at 8:10 PM ^
because we'll care even less by then. We won't be writing anything unless things bet better.
There are around 200 responses to the latest Aubrey Solomon rumor and only 40-ish comments- so far- for an actual conference game that ended several hours ago. Few care now and that number will continue to dwindle.
January 7th, 2017 at 10:47 PM ^
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