Michigan Wolverines Basketball: Blue Day Gets Better

Posted at 12:00pm — 12/31/2014

Michigan Wolverines Basketball: Blue Day Gets Better

Michigan and Illinois Game Wrap-up

Football was the center of the Michigan universe Monday and Tuesday. The basketball game, a conference opener against Illinois, served as the vehicle to introduce Coach Jim Harbaugh to the willing faithful. It was khaki day in Crisler Arena.

Michigan has had some rest, well needed rest, as Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton Jr. are clearly banged up. Walton’s injury is clearly limiting his mobility, jumping, and shooting. The toe injury has hindered lift making it difficult to finish at the rim and get the ball inside on dribble penetration. Irvin has simply remained ice cold, a condition that does not help a young team built around only three returning supporting players.

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Michigan started off as usual, going up and down, before a severe gaff play at the end of the half placed the Wolverines five points in arrears as Illinois simply lobbed the ball from half court to the post for a bucket and one three point play. Michigan had fouls to give and all that had to happen was to front the center. But the occasional use of the 2-3 and 1-3-1 zones produced good results and helped slow down the Illini offense.

The same old mistakes and weaknesses showed up, the ones that can probably be substituted each game down the road. Dan Dakich is supreme at breaking down not only what happened, but also what should have happened. He pointed out how Ricky Doyle missed many opportunities for three-point plays by missing dunks when getting fouled. He then missed important foul shots, although to his credit, Doyle made the one Michigan had to make to have a chance. His free throw form is not that bad, maybe more up and down motion with soft release might help, or maybe just confidence.

Doyle still plays flat-footed on inside defense, but at least he is much better than Mark Donnal at holding a spot. All three inside players for Michigan still are flatfooted when opponents are getting position inside and allow easy offensive rebounds. Doyle is further along than Jordan Morgan was at this stage of his career. Like Morgan, he will have limitations. And like Morgan, Doyle will get better.

With Walton Jr. hurt, Spike Albrecht has seen some tough times, trying perhaps to do more than his ability allows. Against Illinois, Spike played under much better control and did not push his limitations. By good fortune or positioning, Spike collected some important rebounds.

Caris LeVert played very much under control and through his all around game contributions, Michigan hung around in the first half. Instead of just doing his offensive thing, Caris is playing total team ball that shows a great knowledge of what is supposed to happen on the court.

Zak Irvin remained cold until hitting a couple of important shots in the second half. He hung tough and got up and down the floor with some urgency. His shot selection can be better, but Zak is the type of shooter that should not be encouraged to pack it in and wait until the drought is over.

Michigan Wolverines /

Michigan Wolverines

In the second half, Illinois had a chance to put Michigan away, and almost, almost did. But Michigan benefited from the hot hand of freshman Aubrey Dawkins. Dawkins stepped up and hammered six of seven three pointers and scored a total of 20 points. The double-digit lead evaporated and Michigan caught Illinois at the end of the game. Dawkins played like a guy tired or sitting the bench and appeared to send a message.

Illinois committed 12 turnovers to Michigan’s five. Doyle hung around the hoop and LeVert and others found him often enough to get 13 points out of the freshman.

Illinois would probably argue that they lost the game more than Michigan won. That conclusion may be correct. But the young guys finally put the energy to good use with a convincing overtime for the win. As Dakich pointed out, with the bad losses Michigan has collected, the Wolverines simply must win these close Big Ten games against similar competition. One game at a time is the only recourse.

A few days of preparation and Michigan next goes to Purdue. Mackey is a tough place and Purdue will play with intensity. The key for Michigan may be to run an intelligent offense and show poise. Being active and keeping Purdue off of the offensive boards is a good idea as well.

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Written by GBMWolverine Writer — Doc4Blu

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