Friday, March 22, 2013

Michigan Friday: The Perfect Bad Medicine

I wish the game last night happened about a month ago.   If it did, Michigan would at least have a share of the Big Ten Championship.  Michigan won a game without Trey Burke being the National Player of the Year.   Trey played good defense and distributed the ball but he struggled from the field all night.   The likes of Hardaway (21 pts), GRIII (21 pts)  and McGary (13 pts.) played very well and lifted the Wolverines against a "gritty" South Dakota State team.   

McGary got the start and scored Michigan's first 5 points, Jordan Morgan the regular starter played a total of 1 minute in the entire game.  This is what I have been looking for from Michigan.  

The road doesn't get any easier as Michigan now has VCU at 12:15 on Saturday.  VCU almost beat an Akron team (that didn't have a few players due to the Flu and injury) by 50.   Everyone says that the key to beat VCU is not turning the ball over.   VCU is a high tempo team that likes to press and Michigan will have be careful with the ball.  Their "ranked" losses include:  Duke, Wichita State and Missouri.   They have a good win against Memphis.

Expect Michigan to play small and have the likes of both Trey and Spike on the floor together.   I think they should have done that more last night.  Trey was working hard on defense and it was affecting his offense.

I expect Burke to be back to himself on Saturday and if Hardaway, GRIII and McGary continue to score, Michigan can have a long run in this tournament.   (we also need to play some defense!) 

  • Derrick Walton Jr. and Zak Irvin  were named Gatorade state players of the year for Michigan and Indiana.   If you don't know, both players will be joining the Wolverines next year. 

  • This quote is either good or bad:  Gardner also has immersed himself in non-Michigan film. Coordinator Al Borges has provided cut-ups of former NFL quarterback Jason Campbell when he played at Auburn under Borges, in an offense that will resemble Michigan's next season.  I really like Devin is watching film of other QB's but I'm wondering if tape of Jason Campbell from 10 years ago is really that smart.   I would prefer he watch RG3 or Andrew Luck, etc.  This is what worries me about Big All.  That he is installing an offense from 10 years ago and possibility not learning and watching the latest offensive trends.  Which might explain some of the recent play calling.   There is a reason why he is not at Auburn anymore, right?

Walk on News from Mgoblog: 

Out:

WR Steve Wilson and Devon Micou, tight ends Nate Allspach and Chris Eddins, safeties Charlie Zeller and Andrew Offerdahl, and cornerback Chris Maye. Walk-ons who didn't return for a 5th year are onetime rotation Seth Broekhuizen, injured Nate Brink, and long snapper Curt Graman

In:

 No.Pos.Ht.Wt.Elig.Hometown (High School)
Brad Anlauf49WR6'4187RSFR  Hinsdale, Ill. (Hinsdale Central)
Shaun Austin15QB6'1204RSFR  Plymouth, MI (Plymouth)
Clark Grace46TE6'3228RSFR  Tecumseh, Ontario (L'essor)
Bobby Henderson51RB5'11226RSFR  Hopewell Junction, NY (John Jay)
Michael Jocz95TE6'4213RSFR  Novi, Mich. (Novi)
Dan Liesman66LB6'2220RSFR  Lansing, MI (Lansing Catholic)
AJ Pearson36DB6'0199RSFR  Johns Creek, Ga. (Northview

1 comment:

Voice of Reason said...

Do you know if the basketball team is staying on campus or in a hotel around the arena? In any case, they are doing well if they're off campus even in a home state.

I would hope that the reason why Big Al is having Devon watch those cut ups from years gone by is that he is trying to have him see and learn the nuances and specific traits from other QBs that have run the same type of offense. Albeit it wouldn't hurt for him to learn a thing or two from Luck and RG3 either.