GBMWolverine: Michigan Basketball -- Michigan vs. Purdue -- Big Ten Battle Starts For Michigan

Posted at 12:00pm — 12/28/2010

GBMWolverine: Michigan Basketball — Michigan vs. Purdue — Big Ten Battle Starts For Michigan

Purdue plays tough defense, very tough defense. But so far, so has Michigan this young basketball season. These teams, statistically, lead the Big Ten in field goal defense. Matt Painter’s team hurt Michigan last year with suffocating defense and tough inside play.

Purdue has lost Robbie Hummel for the season and John Hart for a few weeks. But Purdue is deep enough to adjust with the play of others on the roster. Still, Purdue has been a big two this season, actually one of the very best duos in the nation. JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore are averaging near 20 points per game. Last season both were deadly against Michigan. Michigan had no answer for Johnson’s dominating play.

Purdue has played a schedule even with or slightly tougher than Purdue. But unlike Michigan, the one-loss Boilermakers are ranked. The loss came against Richmond, a good team.

Last year’s game against Purdue on the road saw Michigan dominated by Purdue’s defense. Michigan’s only answer on offense last year was to take bad threes and the entire game Purdue had an in-your-face defense that led to a big Purdue win. The Gene Keady toughness on defense and on the boards tactic is still part of Purdue basketball DNA as sub-planted by Coach Painter.

Michigan can win this game, but it will take a different strategy than taking bad look threes as last year. Purdue has held opponents under 30% on threes, and at times Michigan goes cold from past the line. Look for Michigan to run when possible to minimize Purdue’s defensive skill.

A bigger problem for Michigan may be containing both Johnson and Moore, especially the inside play of Johnson. There is no way to shut him down, but UM may get a little lucky, spread some fouls out among the big guys and stay in the game.

Michigan’s best chance of winning is to match Purdue’s defensive intensity. Even though the Blue still gives up easy points, the season has shown improved defensive and rebounding statistics, due probably to the use of the man-to-man defense. This begs the question; will Coach Beilein pull out the 1-3-1 for the Big Ten opener? We will see, but probably only if Michigan falls into deep foul trouble, especially regarding the inside crew.

Last year Purdue made some marvelous two-pass sequences that took apart the Michigan zone. This year Purdue will plan to stop Morris down the middle and make him dish the ball more than he has against the early competition. The outside shooters need to be ready and knock down the opportunities.

Purdue is a balanced team excepting the big two of Johnson and Moore. The Boilers have seniors, juniors, sophomores, and a freshman or two that play plenty of minutes. Purdue is a team that seeks out weaknesses and exploits the related opportunities.

Today’s chances for Michigan will probably depend on whether or not Michigan can succeed with Morris attacking the rim and the outside guys having a good day. History indicates Michigan may need another option, good inside play, to keep in the game. And historically Michigan has not achieved this need.

Hopefully the guys run well, hang in the game, and pull one out. This is a very young team, one with decent toughness but fragile enough to deflate if the Big Ten season starts out rough. The Wolverines need a few wins in the first five games to convince themselves that playing in the Big Ten this year is a can do mission.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff

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