College Hoops Countdown | #10 Michigan

Posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 and is filed under CBB. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leading up to the 2009 NIT Season Tip Off on November 16th, Pickin’ Splinters will be counting down the top 25 of the college hardwood nation.

‘08 – ’09 Results: 21 -14 (9 – 9 Big Ten) Lost in the second of the NCAA Tournament, 73 – 63.

Coach: John Beilein 31 -36 (2 seasons at Michigan) 582 – 354 31 seasons

Key Returners:

DeShawn Sims – 15.4ppg, 6.8rpg

Stu Douglass – 6.1ppg, 1.4rpg

Manny Harris – 16.9ppg, 6.8rpg, 4.4apg

Laval Lucas-Perry – 6.5ppg, 1.7rpg

Zack Novak – 6.7ppg, 3.5rpg

Notable Non-Conference Tilts: 11/26 vs. Creighton, 11/27 vs. Marquette or Xavier, 12/2 vs. Boston College, 12/19 at Kansas, 1/17 vs. UConn

Stat of Identity: 75.7% from the free throw line – 11th in the country.

By Paul Gotham

John Beilein has made a career of reclamation projects. Beilein’s recent stop on his basketball odyssey is right on schedule. After finishing 10 – 22 his first season, the Wolverines improved to 21 – 14 last year. Beilein returns his top five scorers from a Michigan team that earned the school’s first berth to the NCAA Tournament since 1998.

Everything for Michigan starts with Manny Harris. The 6’5″ guard gets the motor running. He hit 33% (52 – 159) from the three point arc and led the Wolverines with 154 assists (next highest was 60). Harris also led the Wolverines with 110 turnovers. As the young Wolverines mature, Harris’s miscues will decrease, and his assists will increase. Harris accumulated 43 steals a season ago.

As freshmen, Stu Douglass and Zack Novak each dropped 52 three-pointers. Both converted less than 34% from long range. Another year of maturity and both these guards should finish more.

Laval Lucas-Perry will be one of four guards that will start for the Wolverines.

At 6’8″, DeShawn Sims is the tallest in the Michigan starting five. Beilein incorporates a five-out system on offense. This allows Sims to draw taller opponents out to the perimeter where he can use a back door cut.

When Michigan needs to slow down and run half-court offense, 7’0″ red shirt freshman, Ben Cronin, and 6’10″ Zack Gibson provide size off the bench.

25 | 23t | 23t | 22| 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11