Thursday, March 12, 2009

Michigan 73, Iowa 45

Now THAT was fun to watch. Michigan jumps out to a quick 10 point lead early in the first half and never looks back to beat a resurgent Iowa squad by 28 points. The hero of the day: DeShawn Sims. Peedi was absolutely fantastic today. His stat line: 27 pts on 12-16 shooting, 3 stls, 2 rebs, and 1 ast in 30 minutes. Sims took over the game from the tip, scoring the Wolverines' first 14 pts without a single miss. At the half, he trailed the ENTIRE Iowa basketball team by 1. You can't say enough about the way Sims has been playing basketball as of late. He has been on fire. I'm hoping that hard foul early in the second half didn't hurt him enough to affect his stroke. It didn't look like it judging by the way he finished the game, but blood was drawn, and it looked like he was shaking his wrist for a few minutes as if in pain.

DeShawn's big game overshadowed a great game by Manny today as well. Manny's final stat line: 18 pts on 7-11 shooting, 8 asts (only 4 turnovers), 7 rebs, 1 stl, and 1 blk in 34 minutes. His shot was falling from any and everywhere. Iowa was never able to frustrate him defensively and he made them pay for it. I especially liked the emphatic drive and dunk toward the end of the first half.

This was a complete game for the Wolverines today. The entire team played well. Overall, they shot 29-49 (59.2%), including 10-22 (45.5%) from behind the arc, dished out 22 assists to 11 turnovers, had 9 steals, and blocked 3 shots. The only negative I can find from the box score is the 26-23 rebounding margin that Iowa held, though much of that can be credited to Michigan's solid day from the field not allowing many offensive rebounding opportunities. Here's to hoping this game can be carried over onto tomorrow's.

Next up: Illinois

In the regular season, Michigan split with the Fighting Illini, winning the home matchup and losing in Champaign. At Crisler, Manny and the boys prevailed 74-64 and in Champaign, Frazier and co. won a 66-51 contest. The key difference between the two games: Mike Tisdale. Nearly non-existent during the first game, Tisdale lit up the Wolverines for 24 points on 10-12 shooting in the second meeting. Obviously, he is the worst matchup for Michigan right now. He has size, length, and a decent midrange jumpshot. The key here is for DeShawn to take it right toward him, as Tisdale's defense is suspect.

In the last meeting, Michigan as a team shot 32.2% from the field. Though much of that can be credited to a decent Illinois defense, the Wolverines have been shooting much better lately and should improve upon that number for sure. Also, Michigan employs a different lineup now than they did back in mid-January. The starters in the last contest: Sims, Novak, Harris, LLP, and Grady. The starters today: Sims, Novak, Harris, Douglass, Lee. If anything, Lee's defense should continue to help on the perimeter, where Illinois has the capability to hurt the Wolverines with Demetri McCamey, who shot 3-6 from behind the arc last time and scored 17 points total.

A victory tomorrow and this could get really interesting for Michigan. They would then play the winner of the Purdue & PSU/Indiana game. Again, like last time, we'll cross that bridge when and if we get there. So until tomorrow, go blue from AZ!

1 comment:

Teezie said...

My gosh! Man was it ever great to see the domination our boys put forth today. I hope the fire they have lit under their hind-end stays burning strong, not only as the competition in this tourney gets harder, but more importantly headed into our first dance since Titanic was in the movie theater! This team is begining to overcome the stigma that has followed our beloved Wolverines since the Fab Five left their mark. Granted, since Michigan Basketball doesn't get in the spotlight too often, some analysts are bringing that up, but getting back into the dance is our step towards leaving all that crap behind us. I proud of the Big Ten in general this year, 8 possible spots in the field of 65, thats great!On a personal note: your posts are keeping me more interested in college basketball than I normally am, I can't wait to see what you've got in store for FOOTBALL SEASON!!!