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thewolverines24
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Amid a tailspin stretch featuring five losses in six games, Michigan heads to one of its Big Ten houses of horrors, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, this weekend to try to figure things out on the road (Sunday, 4:30 p.m.).
KEYS
Transition defense: The good news is that Michigan has already faced several aggressive transition offenses this year and won?t necessarily be caught off guard against the uptempo Hawkeyes. The bad news is that Michigan?s defense hasn?t exactly excelled at defending in transition. 20 transition points is the magic number, if Michigan holds Iowa under that mark, it should have a chance to win this game.
Interior scoring: Iowa?s been abused defensively inside the arc and Michigan needs to take advantage with its interior scoring. Olivier Nkamhoua has great matchups in this game and even though he?s been up and down a bit, it feels like a chance for him to have a productive offensive night. The Tschetter/Nkamhoua lineup also feels a bit more viable in this one than the Nkamhoua/Reed lineup.
Dug McDaniel: Dug McDaniel has shown what he?s capable of in his best games, but Michigan has also proven that it can?t win with an average or below average game from their floor general. Iowa will throw a lot of bodies at McDaniel, change defenses, and try to make him uncomfortable. Michigan needs the version of McDaniel that can find spots to score, run the team and get U-M into good shots against Iowa?s mix-and-match defenses. If not, it will have a hard time keeping pace.
Tarris Reed: I can't believe I am about to advocate for Cheddar starting over him, but here we are. Reed has been awful in every aspect of the game. He can't do simple things like control a pass off the PnR on offense, he is a blackhole when he posts up (even when he's been double and triple teamed), and it looks like he put in zero time working on FTs this offseason. His promising defensive potential has taken a nosedive with him taking on a larger, starting role. He's going for non-sensical blocks and giving up very easy putbacks because of that. He has a lot of tools, but he looks like he's a Teske-length development project at this point. Cheddar will give up athleticism at the 5, but he at least forces the defense to guard him from 3 and that can open up driving lanes for the other four guys.
BOTTOM LINE
Losing five of six, Michigan needs just about anything to turn the tide on a season that feels like its unraveling quickly. Iowa appears as vulnerable as Michigan but is still favored at home, 84-80, according to KenPom, with a 37% chance of a road upset.
GO BLUE!
KEYS
Transition defense: The good news is that Michigan has already faced several aggressive transition offenses this year and won?t necessarily be caught off guard against the uptempo Hawkeyes. The bad news is that Michigan?s defense hasn?t exactly excelled at defending in transition. 20 transition points is the magic number, if Michigan holds Iowa under that mark, it should have a chance to win this game.
Interior scoring: Iowa?s been abused defensively inside the arc and Michigan needs to take advantage with its interior scoring. Olivier Nkamhoua has great matchups in this game and even though he?s been up and down a bit, it feels like a chance for him to have a productive offensive night. The Tschetter/Nkamhoua lineup also feels a bit more viable in this one than the Nkamhoua/Reed lineup.
Dug McDaniel: Dug McDaniel has shown what he?s capable of in his best games, but Michigan has also proven that it can?t win with an average or below average game from their floor general. Iowa will throw a lot of bodies at McDaniel, change defenses, and try to make him uncomfortable. Michigan needs the version of McDaniel that can find spots to score, run the team and get U-M into good shots against Iowa?s mix-and-match defenses. If not, it will have a hard time keeping pace.
Tarris Reed: I can't believe I am about to advocate for Cheddar starting over him, but here we are. Reed has been awful in every aspect of the game. He can't do simple things like control a pass off the PnR on offense, he is a blackhole when he posts up (even when he's been double and triple teamed), and it looks like he put in zero time working on FTs this offseason. His promising defensive potential has taken a nosedive with him taking on a larger, starting role. He's going for non-sensical blocks and giving up very easy putbacks because of that. He has a lot of tools, but he looks like he's a Teske-length development project at this point. Cheddar will give up athleticism at the 5, but he at least forces the defense to guard him from 3 and that can open up driving lanes for the other four guys.
BOTTOM LINE
Losing five of six, Michigan needs just about anything to turn the tide on a season that feels like its unraveling quickly. Iowa appears as vulnerable as Michigan but is still favored at home, 84-80, according to KenPom, with a 37% chance of a road upset.
GO BLUE!
