DeShawn Sims Destroys Wisconsin, Unfortunately Nobody Else Deigns to Chip In
by SCM on Jan 20, 2010 9:55 PM CST
in Michigan Basketball
6 comments
A DeShawn Sims performance that ended prematurely with 23 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 1 assist combined with a tremendous early defensive effort to put Michigan well in front of Wisconsin early. Unfortunately his was the only consistent performance by an individual wearing a Maize jersey all night. Despite this fact, Michigan was in the lead throughout the entire game until the final three minutes.
Sure, many will say that there's no shame in losing to a top 20 team that's nearly unbeatable on their home floor, but to say that simply indicates that you didn't watch this basketball game. Multiple double digit leads blown at a place where you simply cannot afford to do that... aggravating doesn't begin to cover it.
Michigan's basketball team found itself on the wrong end of a 24-9 run at the end of the game at the Kohl Center and, quite frankly, gagged away a game they had no business losing. Where do we begin? Michigan, who had done a fantastic job on the boards in the first half, suddenly started giving up second and third chances in the second half. The final stats will show that Michigan out-rebounded Wisconsin to the tally of 32-30... however, 7 of Wisconsin's 9 offensive rebounds came in the second half, leading to Wisconsin having an 11-2 advantage in second chance points. Meanwhile the referees made sure that Wisconsin never faded too far from the lead (14 of their 17 free-throws came in the second half), we all know to expect home-cooking in the conference, but this game was beyond the pale. Then to top it all off, in crunch time, the Wolverines crumbled like a house of cards.
What a hugely frustrating loss.... Other items of note?
- Wisconsin's bench outscored Michigan's 19-1.
- Michigan had 7 second half turnovers to Wisconsin's 1.
- Wisconsin tallied 11 second chance points to Michigan's 2.
All of this despite Michigan holding Wisconsin scoreless for nearly the first 8 minutes of the game and all of 18 points for the entire first half. Michigan had ample opportunities to run away and hide in this contest and was unable to capitalize on any of them.
Other quick thoughts, list style:
- Zack Novak cannot buy a bucket, he continues to make plays by hustling out there but just absolutely no offense to speak of.
- Manny Harris has to quit sleepwalking for 25+ mintues a game. If he's even somewhat involved in the early going this is a different basketball game entirely. He was rushing out there and making poor decisions with the basketball, this team simply cannot afford a performance of this kind from him.
- As great as the performance from Sims was, it'd be really nice to see him get just a tad more aggressive out there... sure I'm nitpicking, but that's what we do.
- I give Wisconsin and Bo Ryan credit for never panicking in the ballgame, they pretty much stuck to what they always do and hung in their system despite an atrocious shooting performance early on.
- Is it possible to travel while still dribbling the basketball? According to this crew: yes.
- No, seriously, the officiating was THAT bad.
- Any remaining tiny ridiculous glimmer of hope for a bid went away with Michigan's lead in the waning minutes... arg. The road fails to get any easier as Purdue appears next on the slate with State on the horizon.
Not a whole lot else to add at this point, I'll leave the more in-depth analysis to the experts.
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refs made sure Badgers never faded
I enjoyed your take on the game but I could not let this go without comment.
“Meanwhile the referees made sure that Wisconsin never faded too far from the lead (14 of their 17 free-throws came in the second half)”
12 of those free throws came in the final 4:31, and 8 of them after the Badgers were leading with less than 46 seconds left. They had to foul to stop the clock at that point.
So don’t blame the Refs.
by BadgerB on Jan 20, 2010 10:41 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Sadly, it doesn't quite work that way...
While the number of free-throws was telling, and yes, some late fouling played a role in their second half numbers, the refs most assuredly played a role in this outcome. The non-calls and calls that Wisconsin got that didn’t send them to the line (the Manny charge, the “blocking” on LLP, the numerous “travels”) all played a vital role in keeping Wisconsin in the game. Michigan collapsed, but the only reason Wisconsin was there to take advantage of it was because of how the game was called.
GO BLUE! http://www.maizenbrew.com/
by SCM on Jan 20, 2010 10:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Allow me to flush this out some more...
The mentioning of the free-throws in the story was not meant to be the single and sole reason of how the refs kept Wisky in the game, rather just an interesting statistic as an aside to my point. I realize that the late fouling throws that stat off, but the number of free throws doesn’t remotely paint a picture of how this game was called. To say, well they had to foul late —> don’t blame the refs, is a ridiculous leap. Particularly after I’ve spent the majority of the piece talking about how Michigan dropped the game of their own accord.
GO BLUE! http://www.maizenbrew.com/
by SCM on Jan 20, 2010 11:00 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Ugh...
The last 8 minutes of that game were a joke offensively for Michigan. Harris and Sims were both out of control. The lack of leadership on this team continues to astound me.
Maize n Brew
Because Football is Better with Beer
by Maize n Brew Dave on Jan 21, 2010 9:07 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Michigan just isn't very good
Wisconsin was horrendous last night. But Michigan was worse. The only thing Michigan does well is shoot low-percentage jump-shots in its half-court set. No dribble penetration. No offensive rebounds for easy put backs. No transition buckets. And no free-throw scoring because Beilien refuses to let his guards get into the lane.
So my point is, until Michigan learns to score in the Big 4 ways, they won’t be good. It’s really that simple. Good basketball teams (and by good, I mean consistently good) can score points in the following ways: FTs, Transition, Half-court, and O-glass. Think about the last five national champions: UNC, Kansas, Florida, Florida, UNC. Those teams could score in a variety of ways. Granted they had great players, but so could Michigan, if Beilein would just recruit them. At Michigan you should be able to recruit size, athleticism, shooters, and quickness. If you want to run a bullshit Princeton-modified offense, fine, but tweak your model a little. See Georgetown. (Though, I’d argue that Georgetown will never win a national championship).
Here’s the lineup I’d like to see: Darius Morris at the 1, LLP or Stu at the 2, Manny at the 3, DeShawn at the 4, and Gibson at the 5. Let Darius push the basketball and penetrate. Let LLP or Stu be our shooters. Let Manny be a slashing 3. Let DeShawn play his natural position. And let Gibson bang.
Michigan plays a brand of basketball that is, frankly, hard to watch. Imagine this team next year without Manny and DeShawn?
by k-raw on Jan 21, 2010 5:06 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
It does really bug me...
That we NEVER see Gibson and Sims on the floor at the same time. Gibby seems to have much more instinct than Sims on the defensive end, and having two big men in there certainly wouldn’t hurt us too much on the offensive end. It’s not like we have 4 killer scorers who need to be on the floor at all times.
GO BLUE! http://www.maizenbrew.com/
by SCM on Jan 22, 2010 8:59 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
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