Horrible! MEN’S TENNIS
Unrest over turnover is making Michigan’s collapses worse…
Michigan coach Juwan Howard paused before answering questions at the podium. Taking out his pen, he started to annotate the box score.
After the Wolverines’ defeat at the hands of Rutgers on Saturday, Howard stated, “I was working, marking up the 19 turnovers.” “Basically, what I’ve observed previously—and as you mentioned earlier—when you give your opponent 19 extra possessions, you’re going to put yourself in a difficult situation and have to exert a little more effort.”
Even without the extra ink, Howard may have marked it on his own copy, but the turnover ratio—19 turnovers to the Scarlet Knights’ nine—jumped out of the page. There were not many statistics in favor of the Michigan men’s basketball squad following another disastrous collapse. The complete image of the defeat was drawn by the poor play in every area, which was reflected in the negative figures across the board.
However, the statistic that Howard marked on his paper was turnovers.
It might have been noteworthy because it was tied for the most points his club has allowed this year. Alternatively, it may have been that Saturday served as a cherry on top of the Wolverines’ ongoing problems with turnover this season.
There is unquestionably a correlation between turnover margin and record, even though it may not be causal. The fact that Michigan finished dead bottom in the Big Ten in both is undoubtedly evidence. The Wolverines’ 2-9 conference record is not too subtlely reflected in their -2.86 average turnover margin.
Michigan’s opponents’ second-half runs ruined almost all of them defeats. Additionally, as was the case on Saturday, turning the ball over frequently contributed significantly to the Wolverines’ defeat.
Just before the under-four timeout in the second half, the Scarlet Knights easily intercepted graduate forward Olivier Nkamhoua’s pass inside and took it the opposite way on a fast break, less than a minute after they had conceded the lead for the first time versus Rutgers. Guard Dug McDaniel, a sophomore, attempted a pass to the corner on the very next possession, but he also failed. In the closing minutes, Michigan went from a panicked to a desperate situation as a result of those two costly mistakes.
During that crucial part of the game on Saturday, those errors brought to light the worst aspects of the Wolverines’ turnover problem. But Michigan has shown itself vulnerable to mistakes even in close games. In fact, over its 11 Big Ten games, it has made eight more mistakes in the first half than the second.
The Wolverines’ early mistakes seem to be less damaging because of their noticeably better performances in the first 20 minutes of conference games—they maintain an average scoring margin of +2.45 in the first half compared to -10.27 in the second. In actuality, though, Michigan’s turnovers keep them from gaining the substantial advantage that their high shooting % would indicate.
The bulk of the Wolverines’ season-high 19 turnovers, which they initially tallied against Penn State on January 7, occurred in the opening 20 minutes of play. It didn’t appear to matter, as Michigan had a 10-point advantage at the half. The gap could have been bigger, though, as the Wolverines shot about 20% better than the Nittany Lions. Penn State overcame those ten points to win by a margin of six.
And when I looked back, I realized how expensive those turnovers were.
Following the defeat, graduate forward Olivier Nkamhoua remarked, “The most apparent thing is 19 to seven.” “You know, that will eventually catch up to you, no matter how effectively we or they are making shots. You cannot continually giving up easy baskets to them by mishandling the ball.
To make up for its turnovers, Michigan needs to outshoot their opponent by a large margin in almost every game. The Wolverines have generally been successful in doing so in the first half, but not in the second.
After the defeat, graduating forward Olivier Nkamhoua stated, “The most obvious thing is 19 to seven.” “You know, that will eventually catch up to you, no matter how effectively we or they are making shots. You cannot continually giving up easy baskets to them by mishandling the ball.
To make up for its turnovers, Michigan needs to outshoot their opponent by a large margin in almost every game. The Wolverines have generally been successful in doing so in the first half, but not in the second.
Turnovers hurt them terribly no matter when they happen, even though that means the early giveaways are frequently missed while the latter ones are examined. They keep adding up on the Michigan stat sheet because they happen continuously for the entire forty minutes.
And Howard had cause to be concerned as that figure matched a season high.
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