Michigan has beaten many-a-team this season where the result was never particularly close. In Iowa City, though, against the Hawkeyes, it was their turn to be beaten down for nearly a full forty minutes. At Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Michigan's offense did not show up to play against the worst defense in the Big Ten and the defense was not good enough to halt many of the Hawkeyes' big runs, leading to the first real thumping of the season for Michigan.
Game Story:
It may not have seemed it straight away, but the key moment of the game happened just about ninety seconds into the game. Two moments, actually. Jon Teske and Jordan Poole each committed a foul. Neither man would see the floor again for about seven minutes. Over that span Michigan fans saw Isaiah Livers pick up two fouls on Tyler Cook as well, meaning Brandon Johns would see extended minutes throughout the half, as would Austin Davis. Things remained relatively close, though, even in this stretch. Ignas Brazdeikis had the first nine points for the Wolverines. Things were level at eleven when Teske and Poole both returned, then Teske picked up a foul and would sit for the rest of the half. Michigan would even get a 17-12 lead thanks to Poole hitting three free throws and Brazdeikis hitting another three. This is when the wheels fell off. An 11-0 run by the Hawkeyes forced a Michigan timeout. The run would continue after the timeout into a 10-2 run into another Michigan timeout, meaning Michigan was down 33-19 after a Nicholas Baer three to force the John Beilein timeout. Michigan would finally start hitting shots, aided greatly by two threes from Poole, but Iowa matched buckets with them and Michigan entered the half down 42-29.
The second half was a bit more of the same. Michigan cut it to ten, but a Luka Garza post move and Jordan Bohannon three after David DeJulius missed a switch pushed it back to fifteen at 50-35. Michigan continued to fight back however, and mounted a 14-4 run with big threes from Livers and Charles Matthews and a Teske two to make it a five-point lead at 54-49 with just under ten minutes to play. Iowa responded immediately after with another bucket from Garza inside, then a three from him, then a Joe Wieskamp and-one to make it 62-51 after just two minutes from Michigan having Iowa within striking distance. Michigan would never get it back into single digits. Poole and Matthews hit late threes (coming after the under-four media timeout) but it was all too little, too late, even with the press employed by Michigan forced a handful of Iowa turnovers. There was nothing to be capitalized upon as shots were missed, Michigan committed their own share of turnovers, and eventually, Beilein pulled his starters with about 90 seconds to play. Iowa saw out a 74-59 victory and their home fans stormed the court in response to their statement-victory that could certainly go a long way in seeing them into the NCAA Tournament.
What Happened:
Michigan has seen this happen before to them. This seemed to be almost an exact mirror of the game at Nebraska last season. The Wolverines fell behind and simply could not make shots when needed to mount a comeback in a hostile environment. Shots were very short when missed by the Wolverines, and the emotional nature of the Ohio State game seemed to take its toll in the follow-up in Iowa. Credit must go to Iowa, of course, as the changing of defenses kept Michigan off-balance, and they went six-for-fourteen from three as a team -- nothing unbelievable but a sign of solid shot selection. That said, the early fouls as a result of referees calling the game tight hurt Michigan more than they did Iowa. Luka Garza saw early foul trouble, but Iowa's ability to bring impact forwards off the bench that are Big Ten-tested like Ryan Kreiner and Nicholas Baer proved far more helpful for them.
Michigan's offense has been lacking in luster for a little while, now. In the stretch from the Villanova game to the South Carolina game, that is eight games including two conference bouts and a date with North Carolina, Michigan's adjusted offensive rating did not drop below 110. In the last five games, Michigan has topped that once in their visit to Indiana with a rating of 114. Michigan's rating of 87 was second lowest on the season (Holy Cross still remains the worst at 79.3), and even Michigan's 114 does not even crack the top ten in offensive performances on the season. The Wolverines went 8-for-33 from three against Iowa and shot just 32.3% overall. They got three points from their bench and zero from players not named Jordan Poole, Ignas Brazdeikis, or Zavier Simpson in the first half. Jon Teske played thirteen minutes and it has been made incredibly clear that his defensive presence makes him one of Michigan's most important players. He finished with eight points and eight rebounds despite playing just 32.5% of the actual game. The influence of players like Simpson is always there, he went for ten points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, albeit with three turnovers, in his triple-double follow-up, but they need the more scoring-inclined around them to keep stepping up.
There were, and still persist, a few player-based worries for Michigan. Charles Matthews went two-for-twelve from the field, both from three. He also had a hand in allowing Joe Wieskamp to go six-for-ten for sixteen points. Over the last five games he has averaged going 2.6-for-8.6 from the field while shooting just above 30% while averaging 7.4 points per game. His two threes looked picture-perfect against Iowa, but he needs to continue finding that rhythm as such an important senior leader for Michigan. Jordan Poole this calendar year is shooting just 27.5% from three. His is Michigan's best option against a zone defense, and he proved that by drilling two threes over the top of Iowa's. Great shooters and scorers go through slumps. Michigan needs Matthews and Poole to get back to finding their touch from either man's respective preferred areas of the court: Matthews from the mid-range and Poole from long-range. Finally, we have Eli Brooks, who still seems apprehensive to pull the trigger from the field. Over the last nine he is averaging just under a point per game on 22.2% shooting, with only eighteen shots. After ten threes in the first ten games, he has not hit one in the next nine. He is more than capable as a shooter and a player, he needs to not be afraid of pulling the trigger and taking some shots from long range. Especially as David DeJulius begins to come into his own as a ball-handler (but still remains an unfinished product on defense) Brooks needs to let the game come to him by looking for shots of his own.
Iowa on the road has never been friendly to Michigan. This time though, as opposed to a closer game like has been seen in prior years, it was a true shellacking. Iowa knew just how to play Michigan and Michigan could not get their shots that were open to drop. The Hawkeyes were led by Luka Garza who went eight-for-twelve with nineteen points, along with Wieskamp's sixteen, and Ryan Kreiner's fifteen points on six-for-nine shooting and ten rebounds. Iowa does, however, still have to be concerned that despite their tough match-ups, their two starting guards, Isaiah Moss and Jordan Bohannon, went a combined two-for-thirteen for eight points, all points and makes coming from Bohannon. There are still the positives from Michigan as well. Brazdeikis scoring sixteen continues to highlight his ability to take over a game. Simpson continues to be Michigan's show-runner. No regular rotational player looks 'lost' in any sense on the offensive end. They each just have various things to improve upon. The important thing is to not allow one big loss to be the be-all, end-all of a season. They have bounced back before after losses like this to Nebraska and Northwestern last season, and Michigan State and Ohio State two seasons ago. A short memory and laser focus is sometimes all it takes to "get right."
What's Next:
Michigan visits a streaking Rutgers on Tuesday evening. Rutgers were on a three-game winning streak, but lost by fourteen on the road to Ohio State. Regardless of the result, though, the Scarlet Knights look better than they ever have before and the RAC is becoming a place where visiting teams fear. Michigan needs to not overlook this game for their opportunity at revenge against Wisconsin next Saturday.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for plenty more Michigan basketball coverage, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Liverpool FC coverage as well!
Game Story:
It may not have seemed it straight away, but the key moment of the game happened just about ninety seconds into the game. Two moments, actually. Jon Teske and Jordan Poole each committed a foul. Neither man would see the floor again for about seven minutes. Over that span Michigan fans saw Isaiah Livers pick up two fouls on Tyler Cook as well, meaning Brandon Johns would see extended minutes throughout the half, as would Austin Davis. Things remained relatively close, though, even in this stretch. Ignas Brazdeikis had the first nine points for the Wolverines. Things were level at eleven when Teske and Poole both returned, then Teske picked up a foul and would sit for the rest of the half. Michigan would even get a 17-12 lead thanks to Poole hitting three free throws and Brazdeikis hitting another three. This is when the wheels fell off. An 11-0 run by the Hawkeyes forced a Michigan timeout. The run would continue after the timeout into a 10-2 run into another Michigan timeout, meaning Michigan was down 33-19 after a Nicholas Baer three to force the John Beilein timeout. Michigan would finally start hitting shots, aided greatly by two threes from Poole, but Iowa matched buckets with them and Michigan entered the half down 42-29.
The second half was a bit more of the same. Michigan cut it to ten, but a Luka Garza post move and Jordan Bohannon three after David DeJulius missed a switch pushed it back to fifteen at 50-35. Michigan continued to fight back however, and mounted a 14-4 run with big threes from Livers and Charles Matthews and a Teske two to make it a five-point lead at 54-49 with just under ten minutes to play. Iowa responded immediately after with another bucket from Garza inside, then a three from him, then a Joe Wieskamp and-one to make it 62-51 after just two minutes from Michigan having Iowa within striking distance. Michigan would never get it back into single digits. Poole and Matthews hit late threes (coming after the under-four media timeout) but it was all too little, too late, even with the press employed by Michigan forced a handful of Iowa turnovers. There was nothing to be capitalized upon as shots were missed, Michigan committed their own share of turnovers, and eventually, Beilein pulled his starters with about 90 seconds to play. Iowa saw out a 74-59 victory and their home fans stormed the court in response to their statement-victory that could certainly go a long way in seeing them into the NCAA Tournament.
What Happened:
Michigan has seen this happen before to them. This seemed to be almost an exact mirror of the game at Nebraska last season. The Wolverines fell behind and simply could not make shots when needed to mount a comeback in a hostile environment. Shots were very short when missed by the Wolverines, and the emotional nature of the Ohio State game seemed to take its toll in the follow-up in Iowa. Credit must go to Iowa, of course, as the changing of defenses kept Michigan off-balance, and they went six-for-fourteen from three as a team -- nothing unbelievable but a sign of solid shot selection. That said, the early fouls as a result of referees calling the game tight hurt Michigan more than they did Iowa. Luka Garza saw early foul trouble, but Iowa's ability to bring impact forwards off the bench that are Big Ten-tested like Ryan Kreiner and Nicholas Baer proved far more helpful for them.
Michigan's offense has been lacking in luster for a little while, now. In the stretch from the Villanova game to the South Carolina game, that is eight games including two conference bouts and a date with North Carolina, Michigan's adjusted offensive rating did not drop below 110. In the last five games, Michigan has topped that once in their visit to Indiana with a rating of 114. Michigan's rating of 87 was second lowest on the season (Holy Cross still remains the worst at 79.3), and even Michigan's 114 does not even crack the top ten in offensive performances on the season. The Wolverines went 8-for-33 from three against Iowa and shot just 32.3% overall. They got three points from their bench and zero from players not named Jordan Poole, Ignas Brazdeikis, or Zavier Simpson in the first half. Jon Teske played thirteen minutes and it has been made incredibly clear that his defensive presence makes him one of Michigan's most important players. He finished with eight points and eight rebounds despite playing just 32.5% of the actual game. The influence of players like Simpson is always there, he went for ten points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, albeit with three turnovers, in his triple-double follow-up, but they need the more scoring-inclined around them to keep stepping up.
There were, and still persist, a few player-based worries for Michigan. Charles Matthews went two-for-twelve from the field, both from three. He also had a hand in allowing Joe Wieskamp to go six-for-ten for sixteen points. Over the last five games he has averaged going 2.6-for-8.6 from the field while shooting just above 30% while averaging 7.4 points per game. His two threes looked picture-perfect against Iowa, but he needs to continue finding that rhythm as such an important senior leader for Michigan. Jordan Poole this calendar year is shooting just 27.5% from three. His is Michigan's best option against a zone defense, and he proved that by drilling two threes over the top of Iowa's. Great shooters and scorers go through slumps. Michigan needs Matthews and Poole to get back to finding their touch from either man's respective preferred areas of the court: Matthews from the mid-range and Poole from long-range. Finally, we have Eli Brooks, who still seems apprehensive to pull the trigger from the field. Over the last nine he is averaging just under a point per game on 22.2% shooting, with only eighteen shots. After ten threes in the first ten games, he has not hit one in the next nine. He is more than capable as a shooter and a player, he needs to not be afraid of pulling the trigger and taking some shots from long range. Especially as David DeJulius begins to come into his own as a ball-handler (but still remains an unfinished product on defense) Brooks needs to let the game come to him by looking for shots of his own.
Iowa on the road has never been friendly to Michigan. This time though, as opposed to a closer game like has been seen in prior years, it was a true shellacking. Iowa knew just how to play Michigan and Michigan could not get their shots that were open to drop. The Hawkeyes were led by Luka Garza who went eight-for-twelve with nineteen points, along with Wieskamp's sixteen, and Ryan Kreiner's fifteen points on six-for-nine shooting and ten rebounds. Iowa does, however, still have to be concerned that despite their tough match-ups, their two starting guards, Isaiah Moss and Jordan Bohannon, went a combined two-for-thirteen for eight points, all points and makes coming from Bohannon. There are still the positives from Michigan as well. Brazdeikis scoring sixteen continues to highlight his ability to take over a game. Simpson continues to be Michigan's show-runner. No regular rotational player looks 'lost' in any sense on the offensive end. They each just have various things to improve upon. The important thing is to not allow one big loss to be the be-all, end-all of a season. They have bounced back before after losses like this to Nebraska and Northwestern last season, and Michigan State and Ohio State two seasons ago. A short memory and laser focus is sometimes all it takes to "get right."
What's Next:
Michigan visits a streaking Rutgers on Tuesday evening. Rutgers were on a three-game winning streak, but lost by fourteen on the road to Ohio State. Regardless of the result, though, the Scarlet Knights look better than they ever have before and the RAC is becoming a place where visiting teams fear. Michigan needs to not overlook this game for their opportunity at revenge against Wisconsin next Saturday.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for plenty more Michigan basketball coverage, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Liverpool FC coverage as well!
Comments
Post a Comment