Sorry that this post is late and a bit shorter than usual.
The result might not look terrible on paper, but it was a painful performance from Michigan. Michigan looked sloppy from the get-go against a subpar (to say the least) Houston Baptist team. They seemed rushed on offense and settled for mediocre shots time and again.
The most painful part of the game was that Michigan played little to no transition defense. Houston Baptist’s guards would consistently push the ball the length of the court and get to the lane. Nobody made an effort to stop the ball, and often times men were left completely unmarked.
John Beilein was clearly peeved by the product on the floor. He appeared to keep his cool through most of the first half but after some lackluster defense to start the second he called a timeout and, with his face beet red, simply ripped into the team. A little later he took a timeout and devoted some quality instruction time to Stu Douglass. Beilein tends to be extremely composed on the sideline but the move was definitely deserved.
Michigan won this game because they won the turnover battle. They didn’t turn the ball over (an impressive 9.2% turnover rate) and Houston Baptist turned it over constantly (31.6% of possessions). Houston Baptist was terrible on offense, shooting a 36% eFG% and scoring only .72 points per possession.
Hopefully this game is a wakeup call for this team. Creighton is going to be ready to play on Thursday and if Michigan doesn’t come out with a level of effort and mental intensity we haven’t seen thus far, they will be in trouble.
Player Bullets
- Stu Douglass: Stu still has to work on being more assertive on the court but he gave Michigan some very solid minutes despite shooting the ball poorly (3pts, 1-5 3pt). Stu posted 7 assists to only 1 turnover in 20 minutes. The 58% assist rate that he posted means that he assisted 58% of Michigan’s baskets while he was on the floor. Not bad.
- Manny Harris: An extremely inefficient 25 points on 21 shots. Manny shot it poorly from long range (1-5) and had trouble finishing inside. He scored the ball but he didn’t put together the same kind of complete game that he did versus Northern Michigan. He needs to be more patient
- DeShawn Sims: Another inefficient game, but his four made threes in a row at the end of the second half were huge toward getting this game rolling in the right direction. Peedi was only 2 of 10 from inside the arc so it’s safe to say he had trouble finishing.
- Zack Novak: Another Novak-esque stat-line: 8 points (3-6 shooting),7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block. He shot 50% from behind the line and provided all of the hustle plays. He was also battling against a guy much bigger than him for much of the night.
- Zack Gibson: 8 points on 7 shots and an impressive 6 rebounds in 14 minutes. There are times when Gibson appears to be allergic to rebounding but 6 in only 14 minutes is impressive. He didn’t shoot it all that well but it wasn’t a terrible performance.
- Laval Lucas-Perry: Probably the best option to defend faster and smaller point guards but he only posted one assist in 24 minutes.
- Darius Morris: He has the tools but he is going to have games like this one. His stats aren’t terrible, 25 minute, 5 points, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, but he definitely struggled a bit from a missed layup to some defensive lapses.
- Anthony Wright: It seems like he is one of the two options to backup Manny Harris but he really doesn’t bring all that much to the table when his shot isn’t falling. 14 minutes, 4 rebounds, and one missed shot.
- Matt Vogrich: Almost invisible. Missed a very deep three and botched a tough finish on a surprising drive late in the game.
