Michigan basketball struggles to rebound and with fouls
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Rebounding margin is an almost useless statistic. But sometimes, the differential — or complete lack of rebounds — is so glaring it clearly made a difference.
For almost 10 minutes Saturday night, Michigan had no rebounds. Zero. The Wolverines couldn’t stop Indiana on offense and, on the Hoosiers' rare misses, couldn’t box out.
When Michigan missed shots, Indiana limited the Wolverines to one possession. In a game of ugly defensive numbers for Michigan, this was the most glaring.
On the court, though, it didn’t feel like it.
“Not necessarily,” Michigan forward Jordan Morgan said. “We knew that they were attacking the glass but at the same time it had a lot to do with our shot selection, too, and the fact that they weren’t missing shots.
“You can’t rebound if they are making all their shots.”
Indiana shot 67.4 percent in its 80-61 win, its best shooting night since it made 70.2 percent against Wisconsin on Feb. 24, 2001.
In all, Indiana missed just 14 shots. Michigan missed 35.
“There are not a whole lot of rebounds on 14 shots,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “And when you have that, you are never into your transition.”
Michigan, though, couldn’t get much of anything going at all and was outrebounded 37-18.
Fouling issues All season long, Beilein has harped on staying out of foul trouble. The ability to do so has been a benchmark of his better teams.
On Saturday, almost half of his rotation ended up in first half foul trouble. Freshman forwards Tim Hardaway Jr. and Evan Smotrycz sat the bench for the majority of the first half with two and three fouls.
Sophomore guard Matt Vogrich, a key reserve especially when Hardaway Jr. is in foul trouble, also had three fouls.
“Some of our guys have to learn the hard way right now,” Beilein said. “It disrupts us and it has been a consistent problem. We are trying to find ways to remedy it. Whether we bench them, whether we run them, whether we just continue to teach them.
“They are young and they are forced to find out the hard way.”
Michigan acknowledged the foul trouble flustered its already shaky flow.
“Early fouls that we picked up threw us out of a little rhythm,” sophomore guard Darius Morris said. “But that’s something we’re going to learn from.”
This and that Michigan brough walk-on Darrick Ervin II on the road instead of Jordan Dumars, who has been struggling with a knee injury. … Indiana won its 100th game against Michigan. … Michigan’s 36.4 percent shooting was the lowest a Big Ten team has shot against Indiana in Hoosiers’ coach Tom Crean’s three years in Bloomington.
Michael Rothstein covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.
Comments
wait_a_bit
Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 4:35 p.m.
How does Smotrycz, Hardaway, Horford and Morgan all freshmen equal no talent? You have one of the best point guards in the country in Darius Morris, a soph. Matt Vogrich can really contribute when he's on, a soph. And Novak and Douglas will be back again as seniors with all that leadership. Man, don't give up on these guys!
michboy40
Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 2:42 p.m.
Our team has a lot of grit, heart, and determination...just no talent. Reminds me of the Amaker years.
wait_a_bit
Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 12:50 p.m.
Well let's hope Director Brandon doesn't do an evaluation after the next two games because that's when the Wolves will be 11-9 overall and 1-6 in the Big Ten. The next win available may just be MSU. Personally, I think there is a lot of talent on this team as I've stated before, but they do need time to develop. The pre-season schedule didn't do them any favors; just a false sense of security. Does Michigan really want to go through another episode like the one recently completed with football? Give Beilein a little more time before the flesh-eaters assemble for the kill.
RWBill
Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 11:39 a.m.
The 26 month countdown for John Beilein begins. I thought he was a good hire, still could turn out that way. A coaching change can be a devastating set back, but when you watch Michigan BB you have to be concerned. The similarities with Rich Rod are eery. Both arrive with the promise of potent, glitzy offenses. The philosophy is based on perimeter, edge play. They can't compete in the physical Big Ten. Three years in to their deal and their roster is still filled and dependent on freshmen. They lack fundamentals. ============= Zero rebounds in the first 10 minutes, 4 in the first half... 4 rebounds. The leading scorer in the first half had 4 points. Did I mention this was against the winless, bottom team in the league? The offense consists of setting screens, passing, and shooting 25 feet from the basket with no one inside to rebound. They rank 9th in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage. Maybe that time frame should be 14 months, not 26. How will Dave evaluate this program "at the end of the season"?