OK, I lied. This will be a 1.1 version (new additions: play-by-play broken up by substitution patterns, added notes for every shot). Hopefully 2.0 (including defensive series, + and – for individual players) will come out after the Wisconsin game. No guarantees on that, however, considering it’s New Year’s Eve.

Personnel – Merritt, Douglass, Harris, Shepherd, Sims.
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
0-0	Harris	Shepherd	2	3-pt	Y
The assist didn’t really create the shot, as Harris just stood there for a couple seconds before shooting. The defender still didn’t close quickly enough, because Sims set a screen.
3-0	Harris	Douglass	2	3-pt	N
Transition 3-ball attempt from the elbow. Good look, but not a great one.
3-0	Harris	Harris	Fouled	Lane	F
Foul prevented a big transition dunk in a 1-on-1 breakaway situation.
5-0	Sims	Harris	3	Lane	Y
Alley-oop dunk from Harris comes on the 3-on-1 break.
7-1	Sims	Harris	1	3-pt	Y
More transition offense, as NCC doubles Harris taking the ball up the court, he finds Sims in the corner. DeShawn hits the very-well defended 3-ball in rhythm.
10-3	Sims	Douglass	2	3-pt	N
Deshawn drifts back to the 3-point line after setting a pick. He misses from the elbow.
10-3	Harris		3	Midrange	N
Manny rebounds DeShawn’s miss. He steps back and shoots from just behind the free throw line.
10-3	Sims		Fouled	Lane	F
Sims rebounds Harris’s miss this time, and is whacked under the basket to prevent an easy put-back.
11-3	Douglass	Shepherd	3	Lane	Y
Jevohn makes an effort play to get the steal and prevent it from going out of bounds. Douglass finishes with the left lay-in.
13-5	Sims	Harris	1	Midrange	N
DeShawn misses the turnaround in the lane. It’s well-defended, but he still should have hit the shot.
Substitution: Gibson in for Sims (twisted ankle). This personnel grouping: 3:33, 13-5 (+8)

Personnel – Merritt, Douglass, Harris, Shepherd, Gibson
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
13-7	Douglass	Shepherd	2	Midrange	N
Douglass tries the quick turnaround off a Shepherd feed to the inside. For the first time, NCC is in zone defense, and Michigan tries to exploit that. Gibson, predictably, gets the rebound ripped out of his hands by a guard.
13-9	Harris		2	Midrange	N
Manny tries to go glass after using the dribble drive to create some separation.
Substitutions: Sims in for Gibson, Lucas-Perry in for Shepherd, Novak in for Douglass, Grady in for Merritt. This personnel grouping: 1:22, 0-2 (-2)

Personnel – Grady, Novak, Harris, Lucas-Perry, Sims
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
13-9	Lucas-Perry	Harris	1	3-pt	Y
Because the Big Ten Network thinks a fun factoid about John Beilein is far more interesting than, like, the game, we don’t get to see this play develop. LLP still nails a pretty well-defended shot.
16-9	Lucas-Perry	Grady	2	3-pt	Y
Michigan’s shooters exploit the 3-2 zone of NCC.
19-9	Sims	Grady	Fouled	Lane	F
A great drive by Kelvin after the defense has been extended. He draws the post defenders and dishes to DeShawn, who is hacked to prevent an easy dunk.
21-9	Novak		2	3-pt	N
Horrible turnover by NCC results in a breakway for Michigan. NCC has more defenders than Michigan does offensive players, and Novak may be wiser to slow down the offense than jack up on pff-balance 3.
21-9	Harris	Grady	2	3-pt	N
Manny gets the ball near the top of the key, and just kind of stands there a second before shooting a three (like the first shot of the game, but he misses this time). It would probably be better in this situation to run some offense.
Substitutions: Gibson in for Sims, CJ Lee in for Harris. This personnel grouping: 2:37, 8-0 (+8)

Personnel – Grady, Novak, Lee, Lucas-Perry, Gibson
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
21-9	Gibson	Lee	3	3-pt	N
Gibson is wide open, as NCC is in man, but his defender stays in the paint as Zac drifts back to the 3-point line. With that much time, it’s a shot he really should make.
Substitution: Sims in for Novak, Harris in for Lee. This personnel grouping: 1:05, 0-0

Beilein clearly wants to have at least one of Sims and Harris on the floor at all times, and preferably both. He probably gave Sims a rest knowing that a TV timeout was approaching, as he reinserts DeShawn after the commercial. When Michigan is baioled out by a foul in a low-clock situation, Harris comes back in as well.

Personnel – Grady, Lucas-Perry, Harris, Sims, Gibson.
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
21-9	Lucas-Perry	Sims	2	3-pt	Y
Sims bangs down low and draws in the defense against the zone. That leaves Luas-Perry wide open on the wing, and he drills the open 3-ball.
24-12	Gibson		2	Lane	Y
Michigan breaks the press, Gibson drives from the wing and get a fairly smooth lay-in.
26-12	Harris	Gibson	2	3-pt	N
Again Manny hesitates before shooting, giving the defender a little time to close. If he shoots right away, it’s in better rhythm and he’s much more open.
26-12	Harris		2	Lane	N
Harris drives through pretty much the entire defense, but misses the layup. It looks (and sounds) like there may have been some uncalled contact, but that’s still a finish he really should make.
26-12	Sims	Grady	3	Lane	Y
If there’s one thing Kelvin Grady does very, very well, it’s run the fast break. This time it’s a 4-on-1, and he uses a pass fake to get by the defender, then actually execute the pass for an uncontested Sims dunk.
Substitution: Merritt in for Grady, Douglass in for Lucas-Perry, Shepherd in for Gibson. This personnel grouping: 2:07, 7-3 (+4)

Personnel – Merritt, Douglass, Harris, Shepherd, Sims.
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
28-15	Douglass	Merritt	2	3-pt	N
Douglass is pretty open off a screen from Harris against NCC’s zone defense. His deep shot clangs off the rim.
28-15	Shepherd	Harris	0	Lane	N
Shepherd gets pretty good position under the basket, but the defenses is able to close and his shot is blocked.
28-17	Shepherd	Merritt	2	3-pt	N
Another pretty good 3-point attempt by Michigan is missed. Merritt drives to draw in the zone defense, then kicks to Shepherd.
30-20	Harris		2	Midrange	N
Manny dribble-drives, and misses a leaning floater.
30-20	Harris		Fouled	Lane	F
Manny rebounds his own miss and is fouled on the putback.
Substitutions: Grady in for Merritt, Lucas-Perry in for Douglass, Gibson in for Shepherd. This personnel grouping: 2:59, 4-8 (-2)

Personnel – Grady, Lucas-Perry, Harris, Sims, Gibson
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
32-22	Grady		2	3-pt	N
Grady’s man is sagging off him to prevent the drive, so he tries to keep him honest, missing the 3-ball.
32-25	Harris		0	Lane	N
Harris drives into a well-inhabited lane, where he is blocked. He’s started the game somewhat slowly from the field, so he’s probably trying to force a bit to get things going.
32-25	Harris		1	Lane	N
Again with the forcing. He has DeShawn Sims under the basket in a 2-on-1 breakaway, but he drives right into his man and tried for a floater. The much smarter play would be to dish for the dunk, especially with momentum slipping away from Michigan.
32-25	Harris		3	Lane	Y
The previous miss is wiped away by when Harris rebounds his own garbage and puts it in.
34-27	Lucas-Perry	Harris	Fouled	Lane	F
An Eagle undercuts Lucas-Perry as he’s in on the basket for a fast break layup. He misses one of the shots.
Substitution: Wright in for Gibson. This personnel grouping: 2:47, 3-7 (-4)

Personnel – Grady, Lucas-Perry, Harris, Wright, Sims
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
35-29	Wright		Fouled	Lane	F
Wright makes a pretty strong drive, slightly diminishing my hatred for him. However, he should still make the layup through a weak foul (it wasn’t even close), and then the hatred-meter goes back up when he misses one from the line.
36-31	Harris		2	Lane	Y
Manny drives baseline, and is probably fouled on the way up (with no call), and still makes the finish.
End of half. This personnel grouping 2:22, 3-2 (+1)

Personnel – Merritt, Douglass, Novak, Harris, Sims.
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
38-31	Douglass	Harris	2 – Fouled	Lane	Y
Douglass finishes well on the break although he is under the backboard and takes a pretty good foul as well. He misses the and-1.
Substitution: Grady in for Merritt. This personnel grouping: 0:35, 2-0 (+2)

Personnel – Grady, Douglass, Novak, Harris, Sims
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
40-31	Douglass	Novak	2	3-pt	Y
Pseudo-transition bucket as NCC was settling into their zone. Douglass was pretty open from the corner.
43-33	Douglass	Harris	1	3-pt	N
Harris’s drive collapses the defense, and Douglass isfairly open from the same spot as the previous shot. The defender recovered much better this time around.
43-33	Harris		2	Lane	Y
Manny drives to the bucket at will (as per usual) and lays it in amidst 3 defenders.
45-35	Harris	Douglass	3	3-pt	Y
A very good/potentially illegal screen by Deshawn Sims allows Manny to be wide open at the elbow.
48-35	Sims	Grady	3	Lane	Y
Grady steals the ball and takes it almost all the way by himself on the 4-on-2. He bounce passes to Sims, who has an easy lsyup.
50-35	Sims	Harris	2	3-pt	Y
Manny gets between the defenders and Sims on a drive, setting a kind of reverse-pick. That leaves Sims open for three, and he hits it.
53-35	Harris	Sims	3	Lane	Y
It’s pretty easy to get dunks when your team enjoys a 3-on-0 fast break. DeShawn gets it up to Manny, who slams it home.
55-35	Douglass	Harris	1	3-pt	N
Douglass drifts outside the 3-point arc against the zone, but the defender sees it coming and closes quickly. The shot misses of the front of the rim.
Substitutions: Lucas-Perry in for Douglass, Gibson in for Novak. This personnel grouping: 4:30, 15-4 (+11)

Personnel – Grady, Harris, Lucas-Perry, Sims, Gibson
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
55-37	Sims	Harris	2	3-pt	N
DeShawn is open from outside by way of a nice shove to his defender, but the defense recovers  and DeShawn can’t knock it down.
55-39	Gibson	Harris	2	3-pt	N
Manny drives under the hoop and skips it across to Gibson. The closing defender looks like it spooked Zack a bit.
55-39	Harris		1	Lane	N
Not a great decision here. After rebounding Gibson’s miss, he drives it back in, and shoots an ill-advised shot surrounded by defenders.
55-39	Gibson		1	Lane	N
A spin move is executed so slowly that Zack doesn’t really lose his defender with it, and he tries an awkward layup.
55-41	Gibson	Harris	3	Lane	Y
Great cut by Gibson, and Manny finds him for the layup.
57-43	Gibson	Lucas-Perry	3	3-pt	N
The Gibson-heavy streak continues, as yet another shot is set up for Zack. He misses an open 3-ball from the corner.
57-46	Harris		Fouled	Midrange	F
Backs down his defender and tries for a turnaround. Whacked on the elbow.
Substitutions: Lee in for Harris, Sherpherd in for Gibson. This personnel grouping: 3:28, 4-11 (-7)

Personnel – Grady, Lee, Lucas-Perry, Shepherd, Sims
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
59-46	Grady	Lee	2	3-pt	N
Drifts to the corner, where Lee finds him. No go on the shot.
59-49	Grady	Lee	3	3-pt	N
LLP drives and kicks it to Lee, who swings around to Grady, wide open near the top of the key.
59-49	Lucas-Perry	Grady	2	3-pt	N
Nearly ariballs a pretty open shot.
59-51	Sims		2	Midrange	N
LLP is caught up under the basket, and kicks it way out to sims, almost from thre–point range.
59-51	Shepherd		Fouled	Lane	F
Rebounds Sims’s miss, and goes up, making the shot and getting fouled. He misses the free throw shot.
Substitution: Merritt in for Grady, Harris in for Lee. This personnel grouping: 2:33, 2-5 (-3)

Personnel – Merritt, Lucas-Perry, Harris, Shepherd, Sims
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
61-51	Merritt		3	3-pt	N
Harris rebounds Shepherd’s free throw miss, and kicks it to a wide open Merritt from the elbow.
61-51	Shepherd		Fouled	Lane	F
Jevohn rebounds Merritt’s 3-point miss and gets another and-1. He misses it again.
63-53	Sims		2	Lane	N
Sims knifes through the defense, but shows off a Grady-esque finishing skill around the hoop.
Substitution: Grady in for Merritt, Novak in for Lucas-Perry, Douglass in for Shepherd. This personnel grouping: 2:07, 7-3 (+4)

Personnel – Grady, Novak, Douglass, Harris, Sims
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
63-53	Harris		Fouled	Lane	F
Manny drives into the lane and is murdered on his way to the hoop.
64-53	Harris		1	Lane	Y
Manny drives along the left baseline. The defender’s move could likely be described as a “foul” under most officiating crews.
66-53	Harris		Fouled	Lane	F
Manny makes a backdoor cut as Douglass drives the lane. NC Central’s new defensive strategy against Manny is “murder him every time he gets the ball.”
68-55	Douglass	Sims	2	3-pt	N
Douglass hits Sims on the first half of a give-and-go, but he misses the open(ish) three-pointer on the back end.
68-55	Sims	Grady	3	Lane	Y
Good vision from Grady in transition, he hits Sims for the easy layup.
70-55	Harris	Grady	Fouled	Midrange	F
More killing of Harris. This time he knows it’s coming, and just tries to draw contact.
Substitution: Lucas-Perry in for Douglass. This personnel grouping: 3:07, 9-2 (+7)

Personnel – Grady, Novak, Lucas-Perry, Harris, Sims
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
Substitution: Gibson in for Sims. This personnel grouping: 0:23, 0-0 (0)

Personnel: Grady, Novak, Lucas-Perry, Harris, Gibson
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
72-55	Grady	Novak	3	3-pt	N
There’s a scrum for the ball, and Novak ends up scooping it to Grady. The nearest defender is on his stomach 5 feet away, but Grady can’t hit.
72-55	Harris		1	Midrange	N
Harris hesitates a bit before shooting, as he has with many of his longer shots in this game. He misses the three, but that’s understandable when the defender literally grabs his left wrist as he’s shooting. Not sure which rules that isn’t a foul in, but apparently there are some out there.
72-55	Lucas-Perry	Grady	1	Lane	N
Again Grady shows off his good vision in transition (his obvious strength), but Lucas-Perry doesn’t go up strongly to the hoop, and the defender is able to get enough contact to at least knock him off balance.
72-55	Novak	Harris	2	3-pt	Y
Manny doesn’t even need to drive to draw in the defense, and he kind of heaves the ball across to Novak, who hits a somewhat-open bomb.
75-55	Lucas-Perry	Harris	3	Lane	N
This is a somewhat inexcusable miss by Laval. Harris finds him open on the fast break, and he just puts it over the rim off the glass.
Substitutions: Merritt in for Grady, Lee in for Novak, Wright in for Harris, Puls(!) in for Gibson. This personnel grouping: 2:37, 3-0 (+3)

Personnel: Grady, Novak, Lucas-Perry, Harris, Gibson
Score	Shooter	Assist	Quality	Range	Made?
75-55	Lee	Wright	2	3-pt	N
This is going to sound weird, but I’d almost have preferred if Anthony Wright had shot this ball. He had an open midrange shot, but swung it to Lee, who was less open and misses from the elbow.
End of game. This personnel grouping: 1:09, 2-2 (+0)

Individual Player Charts:

Stu Douglass
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	–	–	1/1	1
Mid-range	–	–	1/1	–	–
3-pt	–	0/2	2/3	–	–

Zack Gibson
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	0/1	1/1	1/1	–
Mid-range	–	–	–	–	–
3-pt	–	–	0/1	0/2	–

Kelvin Grady
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	–	–	–	–
Mid-range	–	–	–	–	–
3-pt	–	–	0/2	0/2	–

Grady was cold from 3 after Beilein gave him more minutes in an apparent vote of confidence.

Manny Harris
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	1/3	2/3	2/2	4
Mid-range	–	0/1	0/2	0/1	2
3-pt	–	–	1/4	1/1	–

Manny didn’t get going until the second half, for the second game in a row. He was still making his presence felt, but came alive a bit more in the second half.

CJ Lee
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	–	–	–	–
Mid-range	–	–	–	–	–
3-pt	–	–	0/1	–	–

Almost no shots for CJ, and his only attempt was a blocked putback.

Laval Lucas-Perry
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	0/1	–	0/1	1
Mid-range	–	–	–	–	–
3-pt	–	1/1	2/3	–	–

LLP showed he can hit open threes, but did next to nothing in the second half. The missed shot from the lane probably should have been made.

David Merritt
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	–	–	–	–
Mid-range	–	–	–	–	–
3-pt	–	–	–	0/1	–

Called on to shoot very little, but made the most of his opportunities.

Zack Novak
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	–	–	–	–
Mid-range	–	–	–	–	–
3-pt	–	–	1/2	–	–

Again, either he or Douglass gets used a lot in the offense. This time, it was Douglass’s turn.

Jevohn Shepherd
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	1	–	–	–	2
Mid-range	–	–	–	–	–
3-pt	–	–	0/1	–	–

I think Shepherd is pretty effective when he’s on the floor, just not mostly in terms of his shooting.

DeShawn Sims
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	–	0/1	4/4	2
Mid-range	–	0/1	0/1	–	–
3-pt	–	1/1	1/3	–	–

I think Shepherd is pretty effective when he’s on the floor, just not mostly in terms of his shooting.

Anthony Wright
Location	0	1	2	3	F
Lane	–	–	–	–	1
Mid-range	–	–	–	–	–
3-pt	–	–	–	–	–

Again, apologies for the delay in getting version 2 of the UFR running. Keep suggesting features for it, and I’ll take them into consideration.

Posted under Basketball

Comments are closed.

More Blog Post