2013-14 Season

Form Tracker: March 19th, 2014

Michigan 64, Illinois 63-25

Our weekly feature tracking the performance of Michigan players performance over two game segments of the season. Form Tracker is now interactive. Readers can vote on each player’s rating by hitting ‘Too low,’ ‘Too high’ or ‘Agree.’ (Photo: Dustin Johnston)

Nik Stauskas: 8 (Last week: 9.5)

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In terms of raw scoring numbers, Nik Stauskas had a pretty solid Big Ten Tournament. The sophomore averaged 18 points in Michigan’s three games against Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan State, but he wasn’t terribly efficient from the field. Stauskas was very good against the Buckeyes, hitting 50 percent of his shot attempts, but only hit 4-of-12 and 4-of-15 against Illinois and Michigan State, respectively. His 9-for-10 night from the charity stripe against the Illini made up for his poor shooting somewhat. On the whole, Stauskas was what Michigan needs him to be: a volume scorer. But in the second half against the Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament championship game, Stauskas went 1-for-8 from the field and, unbelievably, didn’t attempt a single 3-pointer. This was a strange development considering he went 3-for-5 from deep in the first half.

Caris LeVert: 7 (Last week: 7.5)

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The Pickerington, OH native had his best game of the Big Ten Tournament against Ohio State, he was solid against Illinois and he struggled against Michigan State. Perhaps it was going against his hometown school that inspired Caris LeVert to score 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and grab eight rebounds — including the great offensive board that sealed the game for Michigan. Against Michigan State, however, the sophomore struggled. He only scored seven points on 2-for-10 shooting and grabbed only one rebound. The most alarming part of LeVert’s stat sheet from the past two games was his turnover issues — he racked up four against the Buckeyes and three against the Spartans. Many of those giveaways were a result of inbound plays, suggesting that it may be time to think of another player in that role.

Glenn Robinson III: 7 (Last week: 8)

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Glenn Robinson III continued his confident offensive play into Michigan’s game versus Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, scoring 15 points and pulling down seven rebounds (two offensive) against the Illini. Since that game, however, the sophomore hasn’t rebounded the ball well, pulling down only five combined rebounds since. Robinson was active against Ohio State in other ways — he had two blocks, three steals and an assist against the Buckeyes to go along with an efficient 11 points — but he struggled mightily matched up with Branden Dawson, his old AAU teammate, against Michigan State. Robinson was denied a couple times at the rim and scored only six points, missing all three of his 3-point attempts.

Jordan Morgan: 7 (Last week: 8)

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It was clearer than ever against Michigan State: with Jordan Morgan on the bench, Michigan’s defense struggles. Offensively, Morgan was steady throughout the Big Ten Tournament — the redshirt senior averaged 6.7 points and 5.7 rebounds over the course of Michigan’s three games. He also came up big in other areas, recording a block and a steal in the matchup with the Illini and racking up three assists against the Buckeyes. Against the Spartans, Morgan struggled to finish at times but ended up with eight points and six rebounds. His 20 minutes of tick would almost certainly have been more had it not been for foul trouble early.

Derrick Walton: 6 (Last week: 6.5)

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After seeing his minutes fall since Michigan went on the road to play Purdue, Derrick Walton saw an uptick in his playing time over the course of Michigan’s Big Ten Tournament games — the freshman recorded 27, 29 and 30 minutes, respectively, against Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan State. The 30 minutes he played against the Spartans were the most he’s played since Michigan lost to Wisconsin at home. It was also his most productive game of the tournament — Walton scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds. While he only recorded one assist, he didn’t turn the ball over against notorious pickpocket Keith Appling.

Zak Irvin: 4 (Last week: 6)

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Michigan’s sharpshooting freshman hasn’t been playing a whole lot with Glenn Robinson III upping his production, but Zak Irvin usually makes his minutes count. He only played eight minutes against Illinois, but he scored six points apiece against Ohio State and Michigan State, hitting a couple of threes in each contest. Irvin enters the game firing and continues to be an asset for Michigan because other teams absolutely have to account for him when he’s in the game. He also has been seeing action as the point man in the 1-3-1 zone, though he lack the quickness the makes Caris LeVert so effective there.

Spike Albrecht: 4 (Last week: 6)

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As Derrick Walton’s minutes go up, Spike Albrecht’s go down. The sophomore point guard played only 11 minutes in each of Michigan’s final two games of the Big Ten Tournament. He scored nine points combined in Michigan’s three games and was held scoreless against Michigan State. He also dished out two assists to three turnovers for the tournament, a vexing stat for the usually sure-handed guard.

Jon Horford: 3 (Last week: 6.5)

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It was a tough tournament for Jon Horford. Michigan’s rotations really suffered with him in the lineup against Michigan State and he didn’t do anything offensively. That being said, his sample size was very small — he only played five minutes due to foul trouble. Horford went scoreless in three games and grabbed only five rebounds for the whole tournament.
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