GBMWolverine: Michigan Basketball — Thoughts from the Oakland Game
Posted at 6:00am — 12/12/2011
GBMWolverine: Michigan Basketball — Thoughts from the Oakland Game
Like most universities around the nation the beginning of December involved the all-important ritual of undergoing final exams. Many schools only practice during this time and a coach never knows how a team will respond after the lay-off.
This game was a somewhat emotionally tough game for several reasons.
First, Michigan always will get a tough game from Oakland. The nearby university is well coached, plays hard, and possesses a good talent level. Oakland always wants to prove something against the bigger in-state programs like Michigan.
Second, LLP, who once played at Michigan, now plays at Oakland and for those who watched it was obvious he very much wanted success in this game. Clearly, LLP still feels slighted by Coach Beilein, This emotion was evident on the shot where he hit a three pointer and basically stared down Coach Beilein. Oakland is a dangerous team when hitting the threes and should do quite well this season. Reggie Hamilton is quite a player and without him Oakland would find winning games difficult this season.
Michigan could have easily played flat against a smaller school as has been typical against some smaller schools this season and in the past. Michigan seemed to always come up with an answer yesterday when challenged and achieved enough separation to remain in control. Michigan showed poise and seemed to really take over in the second half.
For the most part Michigan seems to be playing better basketball in the second half, compared to the first half (exception Virginia). There are several potential reasons for this observation. First, Michigan’s better athletes have frequently worn down the small school opposition. Second, good adjustments by Coach Beilein have been made, allowing for some victories against better opposition. Third, the offense has played better in the second half regarding game control and has benefited from opportunities presented as the game develops. By and large the experience is starting to show and players are executing what Coach Beilein has directed.
For the most part Michigan could not put this game in the likely win column until less than eight minutes remained. Oakland was playing the starters for most of the game and Michigan can credit its bench for helping win the game. Oakland played the big guys roughly the entire game (somewhere around 37 minutes out of the forty minutes).
The Michigan bench did not score a significant number of points and struggled some, but the subs played well enough to enable the coaching staff to rest the starters and set up the end game.
The team shot 53.6% (15-28) from three point range and 57.4% (31-54) overall from the floor. It was very nice to see the team shooting well away from Crisler Arena, even though the game was played on a neutral court. The Wolverines again struggled with free throws though (60%) and this is something that has to be driving Coach Beilein a little crazy.
Michigan benefited from many open shots, perhaps as a result of Oakland trying to shut down Michigan’s inside game and force the Wolverines to beat them from three point range, and today Michigan shot well. Getting the ball into the paint consistently enabled the outside game to come alive and created movement with the ball around the arc.
Defensively Michigan can get lazy and still needs to get better after scoring. It may seem strange, but Oakland really pushed the ball after Michigan scored and made hay on the transition game. But again give Oakland credit for some good guard play, especially Reggie Hamilton.
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Written by GBMWolverine Staff
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