Whew, I’ve been having a hard time writing this post because I can’t stop thinking about that wonderful bowl game.  Hopefully I can pay attention long enough to get out information valuable to our basketball fans.

The Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor to face off against Michigan a couple of days after getting trounced by Wisconsin in Madison.  This game won’t be easy, but it has better chances of turning out well for the Bucks as we’ll get to in a moment.  For now, let’s get to the info.

You didn't seriously think I'd post the Michigan Logo without messing with it somehow did you?

Michigan Coach John Beilein was a recent departure from West Virginia, as many might remember.  I’m certain that West Virginia fans are extremely happy with Michigan (sarcasm) for relieving them of both of their big sports head coaches, though they certainly haven’t suffered in Basketball after hiring Bob Huggins.  Beilein was the first of the two to make the switch and is currently leading his 3^rd Michigan team.

Beilein has a reputation for being a coach who prepares well for his opponents, and who runs very sophisticated offense sets.  Unfortunately, different results appear on the court, especially this season on offense.  I would hate to find out that this was by design, but Michigan’s team suffers from a severe lack of team play.

Michigan’s best player is by far and away Junior Guard Manny Harris.  He leads the team in most minutes played on average (35), most points on average (19.5), most rebounds (7), and most assists (4.9).  Sounds great, especially the assists.  So why am I complaining about the team play?  When you watch Michigan play, pay close attention to the way the players move the ball and choose shots.  This is easily one of the most disgusting sights in basketball.  This team will make at most one or two passes before taking a shot, and usually the shot is a misguided attempt to improve the player’s statistics.

Seems like harsh criticism, but it was readily apparent in the couple of games that I watched Michigan play.  You can tell that just about every player Michigan has just wants to score, regardless of what will help the team win.  If you want to look for this, watch carefully at what a player does when they get the ball.  Usually if they are looking to pass, they’ll check the defense, maybe make a few moves to see what the defense is giving them, and if they can’t find anything, will make a pass.  Michigan players will often get the ball and attempt to force something at the net, either by jacking up a three or by forcing something into the lane that they shouldn’t.  Manny Harris’s 3 turnovers per game and 26.7% three point shooting percentage on a disgusting 60 shots during the season.  This is far too many for someone shooting so poorly.

Also worth mentioning is Senior Forward DeShawn Sims, who many of you who follow Buckeye basketball should be familiar as he’s been around for a while.  Sims is a very dangerous all-around player, scoring near 16 points per game, 7 rebounds and shooting 47.8% from the floor…including 30.8% from three!  Someone has to keep an eye on him at all times or he can get out of control in a hurry.

Michigan has been fairly inconsistent this season.  Sometimes they play surprisingly well, such as against Kansas.  Though it wasn’t close, it was closer than it should have been with how good Kansas is this year.  They then go and blow it to mediocre Indiana in Bloomington by 6.  Now, admittedly, I never would have thought that I would ever expect Michigan to whack Indiana, but there’s a first for everything.

This is going to be another tough game for the Buckeyes, but it’s going to be a lot easier for them to play without Evan Turner than the one against Wisconsin.  Michigan has a lot of good talent and can do some damage, but I feel like they don’t utilize that talent well.  That plays perfectly into Ohio State’s hands.

The game will be played tomorrow (January 3^rd) at 4:30 PM ET in Ann Arbor Michigan.  You can see the game on the Big Ten Network.