Michigan’s sluggish transition defence makes turnover problems more apparent
The men’s basketball team from Michigan enjoys gliding on thin ice. Being the lowest team in the Big Ten, the Wolverines have little room for mistake in any game.
Frequently defeated by elite teams and prone to blowing leads against mid-conference opponents, Michigan has instigated its own demise. The Wolverines break through the ice beneath them by committing turnovers at the highest rate in the Big Ten. Michigan shatters the floor and sinks below, showing little effort to defend in transition, especially after live-ball turnovers.
Coach Juwan Howard of the Wolverines stated, “If you look at the first half of our transition points that we gave up, it was low margin,” on January 27, following the team’s home loss to Iowa. “And then it takes the life out of you in the second half when you give up, whether it’s a layup or a three.”
One of the few games where Michigan won the turnover fight was their loss to the Hawkeyes. However, the Wolverines’ quickness and athleticism allow them to recover from turnovers and lessen their damaging effects. The only way those mistakes are fatal is if the defence does not put out any attempt to recover.
And such mistakes become disastrous because of Michigan’s slow transition defence.
Following a defeat to Michigan State on Saturday, graduate guard Nimari Burnett remarked, “It’s hard to get back to efficiently.” “And simply getting back, in general, after we lost the ball. It’s an all-out sprint, and they might have two individuals ahead of us already. Thus, turnovers accounted for a large portion of it; in the other cases, we only
The Wolverines, though, don’t seem eager to return. Their live-ball turnovers seemed apathetic, and as a result, they were often outnumbered when they were in transition. For the last seven minutes, Michigan’s offence was silent, so the Spartans used transition to extend their lead.
Graduate forward Tray Jackson was stripped as he drove inside halfway through the drought. Even though it was an expensive error made at a crucial juncture, the transition defence made it even more harmful. With three minutes remaining, Michigan State player Jaden Akins quickly outran the Wolverines and made an easy layup to extend the lead to eight points.
Michigan’s sluggish transition defence made its turnover issues worse, as it had all night. To make matters worse, it was its undoing versus the Spartans for the second time in a row.
Because the Wolverines had already watched film from their prior game before Saturday. Michigan knew quite well that East Lansing was the source of its issues.
Howard said, “Transition defence,” on February 16. “In the second half, we gave up too many transition points. Now in the first half, you only give up one point on transition, but in the second half, we gave up double digits.
Still, on Saturday the Wolverines allowed transition baskets to plague them once more.
Michigan let a game-changing vulnerability, which it knew about, to enter the championship game. Although there are chronic problems that contribute to those turnovers, such as needing to rotate starting point guards during a game, transition defence depends more on effort and communication than on skill.
The Wolverines are in a precarious situation due to a long list of other problems. However, their lack of defensive effort throughout the transition causes them to collapse.
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