1/3/2006 – Week #09 – End Of Non-Conference, Start Of Big Ten

The Week In Review

Happy New Year!

Or, not so happy, if you're a Michigan football fan.  I'm still nursing an Alamo Bowl hangover, and wondering how Michigan managed to lose to Nebraska.  I stayed after the Coppin State basketball game, and watched the football game on the videoscreens with a couple hundred other UM fans, and I still don't quite understand how Michigan lost.  If you look back at my columns for the last few years, you'll see that I seldom complain much about the spotty officiating in the Michigan basketball games, but sometimes a particularly bad call can change the outcome of a close game.  It's a lot worse in basketball than in football, but I can never remember a more poorly officiated football game than the Alamo Bowl.  I found it very interesting when the ESPN announcers called the officials "incompetent".

Enough said about football.  That season is over, and the real meat of the basketball season is just beginning.  This past week, the University of Michigan men's basketball team played their final two non-conference games of the year, and they won both of them handily.  On Wednesday (12/28/2005) evening, they beat Coppin State 81-53, then on Saturday (12/31/2005), they beat Chicago State 86-69.  Both games were against teams that they should have beaten easily, and they did.  They were good practice games, before the brutal Big Ten season starts.  In both games, Michigan did a good job holding their double-digit leads once they got them.  These 2 wins raise UM's season record to a very respectable 10-1.

Game Statistics

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

Everything you need to know about the game is right here:  UM made 31 baskets, Coppin State made 20.  Michigan shot well, Coppin State didn't.  End of story.

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

The non-shooting stats aren't as important as the shooting stats in this game, but the Assists total for Michigan is impressive.  The plus-8 rebounding edge is nice.  The rest of the stats are a wash.

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

These stats make the game look closer than it was, mostly because of Chicago State's great 3-point shooting.  Fortunately, Michigan made 10 more baskets overall, which won the game.

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

The non-shooting stats are as important as the shooting stats in this game, especially the Rebounds and Blocks.  Michigan ruled underneath, as they should have, with their height advantage.  Those 16 extra rebounds and 11 blocked shots made a huge difference in the game.

Individual Statistics

Coach Amaker went back to his regular starting lineup for both games this week: Lester Abram, Graham Brown, Dion Harris, Daniel Horton, and Courtney Sims.  Here's how they did:

As a group, the starters did a great job this week.  They shot well in just about every category, except for 3-point shooting against Chicago State.

Individually, 4 of the 5 starters hit double figures in both games, which is awesome.  This kind of scoring balance is very important.  The only starter who didn't hit double figures was Brown.  He came close in the Coppin State game with 8 points, but he was held scoreless against Chicago State.  He didn't play at all in the 2^nd half of the Chicago State game, but I don't know why.  I hope he wasn't injured.

There were a couple of significant achievements this week:  Horton had double-doubles in both games, and both times he did it with 10 assists, which tied his career high.  Also, Sims hit a new career high in blocked shots, when he had 8 against Chicago State.

Here's how the bench players did this week:

The bench contributed quite nicely in both games, which is a good sign.  Coleman had a couple of nice games, but it was either feast or famine for Hunter and Shepherd.  Grooms chipped in a couple of points, but the rest of the bench players didn't do much.  Besides his nice scoring, Coleman also hit a new career high, with 8 rebounds against Chicago State.

It should be noted that Jerret Smith didn't play in either game, due to an ankle injury.  There are a couple of other minor injuries to report: Chris Hunter was sick for a few days, but he still played a little against Chicago State.  Lester Abram has a cut on his hand, and it's heavily bandaged, but he can still play.  Finally, Dion Harris hurt his hamstring in the 2^nd half of the Chicago State game, but he should be able to continue playing.

Early Midterm Grades

This year, Michigan plays 27 regular season games, 11 non-conference and 16 Big Ten games.  At this point, they've played 11 games, so they're more than a third of the way through the season.  Even though it would seem that the logical time to give midterm grades would be after game #14 (Illinois, on 01/14/2006), I'm going to do it now, while we have a break in the schedule.