Michigan

Takeaways from Michigan’s loss to Memphis in opening round of Battle 4 Atlantis

Published

9 months ago

November 22, 2023

Takeaways from Michigan’s loss to Memphis in opening round of Battle 4 Atlantis

The Michigan Wolverines won the Battle 4 Atlantis the last time they participated in 2019, but four years later, they’ve already been knocked out in the opening round, falling to Memphis, 71-67.

Michigan turned the ball over way too much in this one. They did come back from a 16-point deficit in the second half to make it a one-possession game, with a Dug McDaniel jumper at the 6-minute mark making it 58-57. Michigan didn’t make another field goal until there was 37 seconds left, and the comeback attempt at the end was too little, too late.

Memphis is probably the best team the Wolverines have played so far; they were picked to finish second in the AAC in the preseason coaches poll, and with 159 votes, they got more votes than any unranked team in college basketball in the last AP Poll.

Penny Hardaway’s squad is right on the edge of being ranked themselves and was very beatable in this one, but Michigan couldn’t make shots when it mattered most.

Here are some takeaways from the loss.

More late-game struggles

Not making shots late in game’s was Michigan’s Achilles’ heel last season, and it’s still an issue this season.

Michigan played some good basketball in the second half of this one, outscoring Memphis from 16:33 to 7:33 by 13 (21-8) and utilizing a ²⁄₃ zone to claw back into this one. They dug themselves out of the hole they put themselves in, but all that doesn’t really matter after they went without a made field goal for almost five and a half game minutes (6:00 to 0:37).

It didn’t help that the Wolverines shot 64.7 percent from the free throw line, including three misses in a row from Dug McDaniel late in this one. Nkamhoua led the team in points (18), but him fouling out with just under three minutes to play certainly didn’t help the late game struggles.

McDaniel struggled on both ends

After getting off to a hot start offensively, McDaniel had his worst game of the season.

He shot 5/15 from the field and had a season-low 13 points. While he did grab seven boards and had a good assist-to-turnover ratio (3 to 1), Memphis attacked him on drives and he struggled until the Wolverines went into a zone.

After that great start, McDaniel was due for a bad shooting night. Aside from that burst from Burnett in the first half (13 points, 16 in the game), no one really stepped up in the point guard’s place offensively.

WAY too many turnovers

Not being able to take care of the ball was the downfall for the Wolverines in this one.

They got off to a very sloppy start, turning the ball over 13 times in the first half and 18 times in the game as a whole, a new season-high. In that first half alone, they turned the ball over the same amount of times as they did in the win over St. John’s and just three less times than they did in the loss to Long Beach State.

After getting off the hot start offensively to start this season, the offense looked as clunky as it did all last season. It didn’t help that McDaniel picked up his second foul with 3:55 left in that first half either; Memphis went on a 10-4 run after that, and outscored Michigan 17-6 over the last 8:55 of the half.

This offense badly needs another point guard; we’re not sure when Jaelin Llewellyn is going to come back, but we also can’t count on him to be a complete solution to these turnover problems. If the Wolverines want to keep playing at a quick pace, they have to take care of the ball better.

This team still needs to improve defensively, but the ²⁄₃ zone was a huge help

There’s so much wrong with this Michigan defense: they don’t communicate well, they don’t rotate well, and they have way too many flat-footed close-outs.

The Wolverines haven’t played very good on-ball defense all season long, with Olivier Nkamhoua hitting the deck on this slick move from Caleb Mills in that first half.

The Wolverines utilized a ²⁄₃ zone for a good portion of that second half, turning the Tigers into a jump shooting team. Michigan forced some tough shots that Memphis didn’t make, and a 6-0 3-minute run around the 13-minute mark of the second half helped the Wolverines claw back into this one.

The zone working as well as it did was a pleasant surprise, but Michigan has to get better playing man-to-man.

Juwan on the bench

The program tweeted out minute’s before tonight’s game that Juwan Howard chose to watch the game from the team’s bench, with Phil Martelli still serving as the team’s interim coach.

“It was exciting to be out there with our young men and staff,” Howard said via a team spokesperson after the game. “They have been so supportive and caring. I truly feel blessed. Today was just another step forward. I am looking forward to making a full return.”

The fact that Howard made the trip with the team is encouraging for his health, being that he’s been recovering from heart surgery since mid-September. It’s unclear at this time when exactly he will return as Head Coach, but we will be sure to keep you updated.

Up next

Michigan will face the loser of Stanford-Arkansas in the consolation side of the bracket tomorrow. That game is set to tip-off around 7:30 p.m. EST, following the semi-final game that Memphis plays in.

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Change in Michigan football ticket resale rules cost buyer $2.5M, lawsuit alleges

Published

2 hours ago

August 12, 2024

Press Room

Change in Michigan football ticket resale rules cost buyer .5M, lawsuit alleges

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A timeline of Michigan men’s basketball’s 2024 offseason

Published

9 hours ago

August 12, 2024

Press Room

A timeline of Michigan men’s basketball’s 2024 offseason

It’s been a busy offseason for the Michigan men’s basketball team, including a coaching change, a whole new coaching staff and 10 new players from the transfer portal and the freshman class.

Let’s recap this offseason so far, with a timeline of one of the busiest offseasons for the program in recent memory. This will focus on additions to the roster and won’t touch on departing players.

March 15: Warde Manuel fires Juwan Howard

In a press release that dropped a few days after Michigan was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament, Manuel announced after a “comprehensive review of the program,” Juwan Howard would not return.

Howard posted an 82-67 record through five seasons as head coach. While he led the Wolverines to an Elite Eight in 2021 and a Sweet Sixteen in 2022, Michigan finished 8-24 overall and 3-18 in the Big Ten last season, the fewest conference wins since the Wolverines went 2-12 in 1966-67. Combine that with numerous issues off the court and Manuel felt the program needed a fresh start.

March 24: Michigan announces hiring of Dusty May

After being without a head coach for a little more than a week, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that May was being hired at Michigan after six seasons as Florida Atlantic’s head coach. That successful FAU tenure included a Final Four run in 2022 and an NCAA Tournament bid the following season.

March 26: May introduced as Michigan’s head coach at press conference

Both May and Manuel spoke at this press conference, with May expressing excitement to get back to the Midwest and Manuel shedding light on what was a relatively quick hiring process.

March 29: 2024 guard Durral Brooks re-affirms commitment to Michigan basketball

While he initially committed to Michigan under Howard, Brooks was technically the first player May landed, re-affirming his commitment a few days after the introductory presser. Brooks played high school ball at Grand Rapids Catholic Central and is rated 202nd in his class on 247Sports composite.

April 4: Will Tschetter announces return

A little more than a week after the introductory presser, Tschetter announced he would be returning to the program.

Tschetter has been at Michigan for three years now, and despite the team’s struggles, he had a pretty solid individual season as Michigan’s sixth man in 2023-24. He averaged 6.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game while shooting 51.9 percent (28-for-54) from beyond the arc and 58.2 percent from the field.

April 18: Dusty May announces coaching staff

Before Michigan officially brought in any new players, May filled out the rest of his coaching staff. That coaching staff includes:

• Mike Boynton Jr., assistant coach, former Oklahoma State head coach

• Justin Joyner, assistant coach, former associate head coach at St. Mary’s

• Akeem Miskdeen, assistant coach, former assistant at Georgia

• Kyle Church, assistant coach/general manager, formerly at FAU

• Drew Williamson, assistant coach/director of player development, formerly at FAU

• Brandon Gilbert, special assistant to the head coach, formerly at FAU

April 19: 2024 guard Justin Pippen, North Texas guard Rubin Jones commit to Michigan

Pippen was the first new player May landed. Pippen, the son of NBA Hall-of-Famer Scottie Pippen, played high school ball at Sierra Canyon in California and is rated 106th overall on the 247Sports composite.

The Pippen commitment kicked off a busy weekend for the Wolverines, which continued with Jones committing to Michigan out of the portal later that day. Jones is North Texas’ all-time leading scorer, and averaged 12.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 39.6 percent from the field, 41.6 percent from three and 77.3 percent from the free throw line last season.

April 20: Yale center Danny Wolf commits to Michigan

May landed another commitment later that weekend in the 7-footer. Last season, Wolf averaged 14.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field, 34.5 percent from three and 71.7 percent from the free throw line at Yale.

April 21: Auburn guard Tre Donaldson commits to Michigan

The busy recruiting weekend for the program continued, with Donaldson also committing to May’s program. He started in 10 of Auburn’s 35 games this past season, averaging 6.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 19.3 minutes per game.

April 22: Ohio State guard Roddy Gayle Jr., Alabama forward Sam Walters also commit

Michigan picked up its first transfer from the Big Ten, with Gayle coming over from Columbus. Gayle started in 35 of Ohio State’s 36 games last season and averaged 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the field, 28.4 percent from three and 83.2 percent from the free throw line.

Gayle wasn’t the only one to commit on the 22nd, as Michigan also landed Walters, who played 12 minutes per game as a freshman with the Crimson Tide. He averaged 5.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He also shot 42.7 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from three-point range.

April 23: 2024 commit L.J. Cason commits to Michigan

Cason was the third player in the true freshman class to join Michigan. A combo guard from Lakeland, Florida, Cason was previously committed to FAU.

April 29: FAU center Vlad Goldin commits to Michigan

Michigan landed one of the key pieces to FAU’s 2022 Final Four run in Vlad Goldin. This past season was his best, as he started all 34 games and put up career-highs in minutes (25.0), points (15.7), rebounds (6.9) and blocks (1.6). He shot 67.3 percent from the field and 66.3 percent from the free throw line. May utilized Goldin in the pick-and-roll a lot at FAU, and could do the same thing at Michigan.

April 30: Nimari Burnett announces return

Burnett joined Tschetter as a player from Michigan’s 2023-24 roster to return to the Wolverines. He started all 32 games last season and averaged 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and shot 39.9 percent from the floor in 31.3 minutes per game.

June 10: Summer workouts commence

The Wolverines have been practicing for a good portion of this summer, working to mesh with all the new faces on this roster. We haven’t gotten much new info since workouts started, aside from the solid podcast interviews Brian Boesch has conducted with players , assistant coaches and Dusty May on Defend The Block.

August 5: Roster released

The Michigan Wolverines released their roster for the 2024-25 season last week. There is technically still one scholarship spot remaining; if May and his staff don’t want to add another player, they could either give that scholarship to a walk-on or utilize it to pursue another transfer or a 2025 recruit next season.

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Jessica Fields, sister of Steelers’ Justin Fields, commits to Michigan women’s basketball

Published

16 hours ago

August 12, 2024

Press Room

Jessica Fields, sister of Steelers’ Justin Fields, commits to Michigan women’s basketball

The Michigan women’s basketball program added a significant addition to its 2025 recruiting class. And she has a last name that is familiar to Wolverines fans.

Power forward Jessica Fields committed to coach Kim Barnes Arico and Michigan on Sunday. She is the younger sister of former Ohio State football and current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields. Fields’ sister, Jaiden Fields, played softball at Georgia. Fields does not yet have a ranking on 247Sports composite rankings, but picked the Wolverines over offers from Northwestern and Georgetown.

REQUIRED READING: Michigan women, Kim Barnes Arico living up to lesson from UConn coaching legend

Fields committed to Michigan after visiting each of the three finalists. She announced her commitment on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday afternoon.

“I was ready to wrap up my recruitment process,” Fields said to On3 Sports. “I started very early in eighth grade, so it’s been a very long process. I got to see both of my siblings go through it, so I always looked forward to when coaches would finally focus on me in visits instead of being the little sibling running around.”

Fields is entering her senior season at Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw, Georgia. Fields joins 4-star guard McKenzie Mathurin in the 2025 recruiting class for the Wolverines. Mathurin is the No. 7 overall player and the No. 2 shooting guard in the recruiting class. She committed to U-M on Aug. 7.

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