1/30/2006 – Week #13– A Great Week For Michigan Basketball

The Week In Review

This past week was a great week for the University of Michigan men's basketball team.  They played two games, and they won them both.  Both games were at home, against Top-25 teams, and both games were sold out and rocking.  On Wednesday (01/25/2006), they beat (#12) Michigan State in Crisler Arena 72-67, then on Saturday (01/28/2006), they beat (#21) Wisconsin 85-76, also in Crisler Arena.  These were both huge wins for Michigan, especially since UM had lost all 3 of their previous games to Top-25 teams this season.  These were the games that Michigan has lost in the last few seasons, so it was very encouraging to see them win them for a change.  Besides the significance of the wins, it was also impressive how well the team played in both games.  Once again, they played with poise and focus.  As I described in my special mid-week column after the MSU game, against MSU, they trailed for most of the 1^st half, but they got the lead with about 11 minutes left, and kept it for the rest of the game.  Against Wisconsin, they did even better: they never trailed, and they managed to keep the lead around 9 or 11 points for most of the 2^nd half.

The two wins raise UM's season record to 15-3, 5-2 in the Big Ten.  Even more importantly, since Indiana lost at Iowa earlier in the week, and Michigan beat Wisconsin, all the league leaders now have 2 losses, and Michigan is tied for 1^st place in the Big Ten, along with Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa.  As an extra bonus, when the polls come out today, it is expected that Michigan will be in the Top 25 again for the first time since 1998.

Game Statistics

Let's look at the shooting statistics from the Michigan State game:

There's your whole game story right there: Michigan got 21 more points at the free-throw line than State did.  Sure, Izzo complained about the unfair officiating, but when you play streetball, you're going to get called for some fouls.  Those 21 points were more than enough to make up for the extra 6 field goals State got, 4 of which were 3-pointers.

Now, let's look at the non-shooting statistics from the Michigan State game:

Other than Rebounds, these stats are very close, which isn't too surprising since the game was close.  However, those 5 extra possessions for Michigan made all the difference.

Moving on to the Wisconsin game, let's look at the shooting statistics:

Once again, it was free throws that won the game for Michigan.  For the 2^nd game in a row, Michigan made more free throws than the other team attempted.  Those 9 extra points were the exact margin of victory in the game.

Finally, let's look at the non-shooting statistics from the Wisconsin game:

Once again, Michigan won the rebounding battle, which resulted in 9 extra possessions.  Of course, they did have 8 more turnovers, so they kind of balance out.  The key stat was Free Throws.

Individual Statistics

Lester Abram injured his ankle in the Minnesota game last Saturday (01/21/2006), so Coach Amaker couldn't use his regular starting lineup in either game.  Instead, he started Ron Coleman in place of Abram.  The rest of the regular starting lineup (Graham Brown, Dion Harris, Daniel Horton, and Courtney Sims) was intact.  Here's how they did:

As a group, the starters did a great job in both games.  They shot very well across the board, except for their overall shooting against MSU, which was just OK.

Individually, all of the starters played well in both games, even though Horton was the only starter to hit double figures in both games.  Harris and Brown both got close to hitting double figures in both games, and Coleman and Sims both did well in one game, and OK in the other.

Horton carried the team on his back in the MSU game, and Harris led the way in the Wisconsin game, but they each contributed in both games.  Harris had a miserable time shooting in the MSU game, but he hit some key free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.  Horton had an “off” game against Wisconsin from the field, but he hit 10 key free throws to help win that game.  As long as at least one of the two DHs is scoring, Michigan stands a good chance of winning.

By the way, with his 8-for-8 and 10-for-10 free-throw shooting this past week, Horton is now a perfect 38-for-38 in Big Ten play.  That is truly amazing.

Even though he didn’t hit double figures in either game, Coleman did a good job filling in for Abram.  He isn’t as quick or as agile as Abram, and he can’t put up quite the numbers that Lester can, but he did a good job of playing the game to the best of his abilities, especially against MSU.  He shot 4-for-5, which is very efficient, and hit a big 3-pointer.

Sims wasn’t much of a factor in the MSU game, but he came up big against Wisconsin.  He was a step quicker, and a lot more agile than the plodding big men that Wisconsin put on him, and he took full advantage of it.  His 8-for-10 shooting against Wisconsin was one of the big reasons UM won the game

Then there’s Graham Brown: he was awesome this week.  Besides scoring 10 points against MSU, he also had 7 rebounds, 4 of them offensive.  While he only scored 7 points against Wisconsin, he had 12 rebounds, 6 of them offensive.  He was everywhere out there, hustling for loose balls, and setting picks that knocked out two of the Badgers.  He was a real warrior out there, and the team and the crowd recognized it and applauded it.

Here's how the bench players did this week:

The bench contributed nicely in both games this week.  Once again, it was mostly Hunter, although Petway chipped in some points.  As usual, all of Petway's shots were highlight-film alley-oop dunks.  He is just so much fun to watch.  Once again, he picked the whole team up when he came in.

The Big Picture

Michigan won two big games that they had to win, in order to stay in the Big Ten race.  As a result, they’re now tied for 1^st place in the Big Ten.  They’re playing some of the best basketball they’ve played in a while, and they’re starting to believe that they can beat anybody, if they stay focused and give it their best effort.

Here's Michigan's schedule and results: