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Postgame Thoughts: Michigan at Purdue

  • Whew. That one was a little closer than Michigan fans would have liked. Despite coming out early and getting up by double digits, the Wolverines went down by double digits to Purdue before launching a furious comeback on the back of Trey Burke to win the game. Granted, the Boilermakers are not the best team in the country, but Burke and Michigan's performances were impressive tonight. They were able to fight back on the road and get a key victory to keep the Wolverines in Big Ten title contention.

    Let's start with the obvious, Trey Burke. If there's any doubt about him being the leader in the Player of the Year race, it should immediately be erased. When Michigan was down by 12 points, he single-handedly got the team back on track. Add on his 26 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals and he had a pretty good night to say the least. He led the team, made major contributions, and came through when it counted most. This was the second game in a row that ended on a Trey Burke steal and that alone sends a very strong message. He will get a very big opportunity on Sunday against Indiana and if he can continue what he's been doing in recent games, he will win Player of the Year in the Big Ten.

    Outside of Burke, several players stepped up as well. Tim Hardaway had a pretty good night. He had some nice steals, drove pretty well at times, and was the person to get Michigan out of their 3 point slump. However, his biggest contribution of the night was probably guarding D.J. Byrd. Byrd is one of Purdue's primary weapons and Hardaway kept him in check all night. He has really been stepping up his defensive game and this is the second game in a row that he pretty much took one of the opponent's best players out of the game. He did fail to finish at the basket a couple times and had a few questionable shot attempts, but still a good night. Also, he did a good job avoiding his 5th foul late in the game, which allowed him to stay on the floor.

    Stauskas had a nice return. He put up 17 points and showed why he is still in the starting lineup by driving the basket, hitting some big shots, and hitting some clutch free throws. He made some big defensive mistakes, especially early in the game when he was missing assignments, but he did do some good things for Michigan by the end of the night. He still struggles on defending the dribble and defensive switches. LeVert showed a lot of energy in transition and defending outside. He was able to slow down a lot of ball movement through his defensive presence. He didn't do much on the offensive end, but he still added something off the bench.

    Michigan's frontcourt struggled tonight. They missed easy attempts, missed rebounds, and got beat numerous times on the defensive end. Morgan did alright, but he got caught outside on several hedges, gave Hammons a bunch of space to work with on several possessions, and only got 2 points. McGary made some big defensive mistakes including a player where he watched an overmatched GR3 try to defend Hammons inside. He did make a few nice baskets to get his 6 points on the night. Horford and Bielfeldt both struggled to finish at the basket as well.

    GR3 wasn't terrible by any means, but he had a few plays that were very frustrating. He would go up for a great alley-oop and be unable to finish or have a great look and come away with nothing. Players are going to miss shots, but it was very frustrating to see from such an efficient player like GR3. He went 2/7 for the night. Spike had a few risky passes and had some really dumb fouls including one where he was fighting for a rebound. Why he was fighting for a rebound isn't clear, but it happened. Finally, Vogrich had a big 3 point shot, which was nice to see. He made some mistakes, but with his minutes and this being his last road game of his career, it's hard to criticize.

    Overall this was an ugly win for many reasons. The team took questionable shots and failed to finish at the basket. And at the other end, they overpursed and left things open on the other side. This is often caused by players getting beat on the outside and failing to move over to help. The big men then move over to prevent an easy lay-up, which leaves the backside open. If Michigan can reduce this from happening, their defense should improve.

    The good thing is that Michigan still won the game and doesn't have to go on the road again until next season. They have one regular season game remaining against Indiana on Saturday. If Michigan wins, they get a share of the Big Ten title and if they don't, Indiana wins it outright. This game will also be senior night for the Wolverines. There are no significant senior contributors on the roster at this point, but this is an important group of seniors that laid the groundwork for this and future teams and contributes a lot in terms of leadership. It will be a big game for Michigan.

    Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tbeindit

    Thomas Beindit

  • Man that game was way to close for comfort. Trey was simply sensational. As far as I am concerned the last 2 games have put Trey out in front for the player of the year by a pretty fair margin.

    Oh and thank god we don't have to play on the road anymore this year!

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    WillyWolverine ●

  • Stauskas sure answered the bell last night; maybe he's starting another upward trajectory....would be perfect timing.

    Steve Lorenz ●

  • Thomas Beindit said...

    Whew. That one was a little closer than Michigan fans would have liked. Despite coming out early and getting up by double digits, the Wolverines went down by double digits to Purdue before launching a furious comeback on the back of Trey Burke to win the game. Granted, the Boilermakers are not the best team in the country, but Burke and Michigan's performances were impressive tonight. They were able to fight back on the road and get a key victory to keep the Wolverines in Big Ten title contention.

    Let's start with the obvious, Trey Burke. If there's any doubt about him being the leader in the Player of the Year race, it should immediately be erased. When Michigan was down by 12 points, he single-handedly got the team back on track. Add on his 26 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals and he had a pretty good night to say the least. He led the team, made major contributions, and came through when it counted most. This was the second game in a row that ended on a Trey Burke steal and that alone sends a very strong message. He will get a very big opportunity on Sunday against Indiana and if he can continue what he's been doing in recent games, he will win Player of the Year in the Big Ten.

    Outside of Burke, several players stepped up as well. Tim Hardaway had a pretty good night. He had some nice steals, drove pretty well at times, and was the person to get Michigan out of their 3 point slump. However, his biggest contribution of the night was probably guarding D.J. Byrd. Byrd is one of Purdue's primary weapons and Hardaway kept him in check all night. He has really been stepping up his defensive game and this is the second game in a row that he pretty much took one of the opponent's best players out of the game. He did fail to finish at the basket a couple times and had a few questionable shot attempts, but still a good night. Also, he did a good job avoiding his 5th foul late in the game, which allowed him to stay on the floor.

    Stauskas had a nice return. He put up 17 points and showed why he is still in the starting lineup by driving the basket, hitting some big shots, and hitting some clutch free throws. He made some big defensive mistakes, especially early in the game when he was missing assignments, but he did do some good things for Michigan by the end of the night. He still struggles on defending the dribble and defensive switches. LeVert showed a lot of energy in transition and defending outside. He was able to slow down a lot of ball movement through his defensive presence. He didn't do much on the offensive end, but he still added something off the bench.

    Michigan's frontcourt struggled tonight. They missed easy attempts, missed rebounds, and got beat numerous times on the defensive end. Morgan did alright, but he got caught outside on several hedges, gave Hammons a bunch of space to work with on several possessions, and only got 2 points. McGary made some big defensive mistakes including a player where he watched an overmatched GR3 try to defend Hammons inside. He did make a few nice baskets to get his 6 points on the night. Horford and Bielfeldt both struggled to finish at the basket as well.

    GR3 wasn't terrible by any means, but he had a few plays that were very frustrating. He would go up for a great alley-oop and be unable to finish or have a great look and come away with nothing. Players are going to miss shots, but it was very frustrating to see from such an efficient player like GR3. He went 2/7 for the night. Spike had a few risky passes and had some really dumb fouls including one where he was fighting for a rebound. Why he was fighting for a rebound isn't clear, but it happened. Finally, Vogrich had a big 3 point shot, which was nice to see. He made some mistakes, but with his minutes and this being his last road game of his career, it's hard to criticize.

    Overall this was an ugly win for many reasons. The team took questionable shots and failed to finish at the basket. And at the other end, they overpursed and left things open on the other side. This is often caused by players getting beat on the outside and failing to move over to help. The big men then move over to prevent an easy lay-up, which leaves the backside open. If Michigan can reduce this from happening, their defense should improve.

    The good thing is that Michigan still won the game and doesn't have to go on the road again until next season. They have one regular season game remaining against Indiana on Saturday. If Michigan wins, they get a share of the Big Ten title and if they don't, Indiana wins it outright. This game will also be senior night for the Wolverines. There are no significant senior contributors on the roster at this point, but this is an important group of seniors that laid the groundwork for this and future teams and contributes a lot in terms of leadership. It will be a big game for Michigan.

    Unless I missed something during the first half, Hardaway was somewhat of a liability on defense when Purdue was erasing the 12 point deficit. He looked completely lost covering the three point shooter in the first half (I was unable to watch the 2nd half so he may have stepped up then). He left his man open. I believe it was one of the Johnsons that hit like 3 consecutive 3s and Hardaway was supposed to be out there. I could be wrong.

    GRIII's missed alley-oops and dunks weren't necessarily his fault or the passer's fault(I know you didn't say they were just giving my two cents). I think one of those he got fouled and the refs made a no call and the other one was questionable too, but was more of a defenders presence on it.

    Either way, a win is a win regardless of how good it looked and how much we should have just hammered Purdue. On to IU and hopefully a share of that B1G Title with them!!goblue\

    BTW, I like the post game pieces and having someone covering the basketball team like this is awesome! Keep it up, Thomas!

    This post was edited by UMichYank11 on 3/7/2013 at 8:24 AM

    UMichYank11

  • UMichYank11 said...

    Unless I missed something during the first half, Hardaway was somewhat of a liability on defense when Purdue was erasing the 12 point deficit. He looked completely lost covering the three point shooter in the first half (I was unable to watch the 2nd half so he may have stepped up then). He left his man open. I believe it was one of the Johnsons that hit like 3 consecutive 3s and Hardaway was supposed to be out there. I could be wrong.

    GRIII's missed alley-oops and dunks weren't necessarily his fault or the passer's fault(I know you didn't say they were just giving my two cents). I think one of those he got fouled and the refs made a no call and the other one was questionable too, but was more of a defenders presence on it.

    Either way, a win is a win regardless of how good it looked and how much we should have just hammered Purdue. On to IU and hopefully a share of that B1G Title with them!!goblue\

    BTW, I like the post game pieces and having someone covering the basketball team like this is awesome! Keep it up, Thomas!

    Hmm. I don't recall the specific plays in relation to Hardaway so I'm not sure, but of the plays I saw, he was playing pretty solid defense. I remember noting a couple contested 3 point shots as well. I will try to check out those plays and see if I can spot anything when I get the chance. Either way, I just thought it was big that he held D.J. Byrd to just 3 points last night on 1-7 shooting. I mean, he averages almost 10 points a game and scored 22 against Wisconsin, a team that normally prides itself on defense.

    I agree with the GR3 comments as well. Sometimes these plays happen, but it's definitely frustrating to see so many players failing to convert when they're so close to scoring. Overall, he's gotten much better at these type of plays so there isn't a lot of room to complain, which is good. Also, thanks for the comments! Always appreciate good ones! Haha

    Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tbeindit

    Thomas Beindit

  • Told you not to fret guys....that we'd pull it out. I'm not worried about this team....I see us winning by 1 or 2 on sunday and getting a #1 seed in the Tourney after we finish second to IU in the Big 10 tourney.

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    "Those Who Stay...Will be Champions"

    Moon

  • Thomas Beindit said...

    Hmm. I don't recall the specific plays in relation to Hardaway so I'm not sure, but of the plays I saw, he was playing pretty solid defense. I remember noting a couple contested 3 point shots as well. I will try to check out those plays and see if I can spot anything when I get the chance. Either way, I just thought it was big that he held D.J. Byrd to just 3 points last night on 1-7 shooting. I mean, he averages almost 10 points a game and scored 22 against Wisconsin, a team that normally prides itself on defense.

    I agree with the GR3 comments as well. Sometimes these plays happen, but it's definitely frustrating to see so many players failing to convert when they're so close to scoring. Overall, he's gotten much better at these type of plays so there isn't a lot of room to complain, which is good. Also, thanks for the comments! Always appreciate good ones! Haha

    Hardaway's bad defensive plays may have been isolated to that stretch where Purdue came back in the first half and Byrd was out with 2 fouls. Either way, you are correct in Hardaway holding Byrd to 3 points. And the frustrations with the missed layups from the whole team was extreme!banghead

    UMichYank11

  • UMichYank11 said...

    Hardaway's bad defensive plays may have been isolated to that stretch where Purdue came back in the first half and Byrd was out with 2 fouls. Either way, you are correct in Hardaway holding Byrd to 3 points. And the frustrations with the missed layups from the whole team was extreme!banghead

    I thought Stauskas was on Byrd most of the night.

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    WillyWolverine ●

  • UMichYank11 said...

    Unless I missed something during the first half, Hardaway was somewhat of a liability on defense when Purdue was erasing the 12 point deficit. He looked completely lost covering the three point shooter in the first half (I was unable to watch the 2nd half so he may have stepped up then). He left his man open. I believe it was one of the Johnsons that hit like 3 consecutive 3s and Hardaway was supposed to be out there. I could be wrong.

    GRIII's missed alley-oops and dunks weren't necessarily his fault or the passer's fault(I know you didn't say they were just giving my two cents). I think one of those he got fouled and the refs made a no call and the other one was questionable too, but was more of a defenders presence on it.

    Either way, a win is a win regardless of how good it looked and how much we should have just hammered Purdue. On to IU and hopefully a share of that B1G Title with them!!goblue\

    BTW, I like the post game pieces and having someone covering the basketball team like this is awesome! Keep it up, Thomas!

    I agree. Much thanks to Thomas, Mark and Steve for all the basketball coverage. I'm loving it.

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    WillyWolverine ●

  • WillyWolverine said...

    I thought Stauskas was on Byrd most of the night.

    Of course defenders switch off numerous times throughout the night, but Hardaway was on Byrd for most of the night as far as I remember.

    Also, thanks for the positive comments!

    Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tbeindit

    Thomas Beindit

  • Steve Lorenz said...

    Stauskas sure answered the bell last night; maybe he's starting another upward trajectory....would be perfect timing.

    I think the key with Stauskas is he's now a known commodity and he (and the team) need to work harder to get him open shots. As he matures, he is learning to use his 3 point shooting rep to his advantage by putting the ball on the floor and driving to the basket when defenders fly out to challenge him beyond the arc. But if we want him to continue to be productive from outside, we are going to have to help him with screens and by developing a legitimate inside post game. Right now, defenders rarely leave him to help out when the ball goes into the post. Next year, if McGary/Morgan/Horford can become consistent post scoring threats, defenders will have to begin to help out more and when they do we can kick the ball back out to Stauskas for open 3's.

    MrWoodson ●

  • MrWoodson said...

    I think the key with Stauskas is he's now a known commodity and he (and the team) need to work harder to get him open shots. As he matures, he is learning to use his 3 point shooting rep to his advantage by putting the ball on the floor and driving to the basket when defenders fly out to challenge him beyond the arc. But if we want him to continue to be productive from outside, we are going to have to help him with screens and by developing a legitimate inside post game. Right now, defenders rarely leave him to help out when the ball goes into the post. Next year, if McGary/Morgan/Horford can become consistent post scoring threats, defenders will have to begin to help out more and when they do we can kick the ball back out to Stauskas for open 3's.

    Fully agree. No one could have expected Stauskas to keep up with the pace set from the beginning of the season, especially after teams started keying in on his shooting.

    AmaizeNblue

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