Michigan Wolverines’ Free Throws at Crisler Center Beat Michigan State Spartans
Multiple referee decisions made it possible for Michigan to prevail against Michigan State, 60-59 on January 17, at the Crisler Center, in Ann Arbor.
Michigan’s Tim Hardaway Jr. drew two first half charging fouls on layups made by MSU that should have been called blocking fouls. Hardaway’s feet were moving and clearly not set. Four points were taken off the scoreboard and two foul shots were taken away from the Spartans.
A replay showed Michigan State’s Draymond Green being fouled while shooting, but no call was made. This took away two free throws.
In the second half, MSU’s Keith Appling was clearly fouled on a running jumper. He made the shot and should have had a free throw tacked on.
Later, with the Spartans leading by three, Michigan’s Stu Douglas missed a lay up and MSU’s Derrick Nix grabbed a rebound. With the ball in the hands of Nix, a ref called a shooting foul on Michigan State’s Draymond Green giving Douglas two free throws.
On these observations alone, MSU had four points and three free throws taken from them, while Michigan had two free throws given to them. These events played a large part in the outcome of the game.
Michigan led for the first 35 minutes of the game, yet MSU led in major statistical categories including: Rebounds (31 to 15), assists (13 to 8), three point percentage (47% to 29%), and free throw percentage (80% to 62%). Field goal percentage was close at 48% for MSU, to 51% for Michigan, so something else had to contribute to the outcome.
A closer look revealed that MSU shot only five free throws while Michigan shot 13. MSU was called for 12 fouls, while the Wolverines was only whistled for eight.
This had a strong influence on strategies of the coaches and had a direct effect on the game’s outcome. Free throw differential has been a recurring theme in Michigan’s wins over MSU, in Ann Arbor.
Michigan has won five of its last nine games against MSU, in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines have more than doubled MSU’s free throw attempts in four of five of the games, and shot 11 more free throws than MSU in the fifth game.
Their free throw attempt advantage was greater than their margin of victory in every win. There was only one game at Crisler where MSU shot more free throws than Michigan, in a 54-42 win in 2009, when Michigan fouled on purpose late in the game, giving MSU eight more free throws.
Michigan has attempted 74 more free throws than MSU in their five wins. In 2012, Michigan shot 13 free throws to MSU’s five.
In its 2011 70-63 win, it shot 31 free throws to MSU’s 20, while MSU had four more fouls.
The Wolverines won in 2007, with the help of 33 free throw attempts against MSU’s 15, plus there were six more fouls called against MSU.
2006 was the most lopsided differential, with the Wolverines shooting 34 free throws to MSU’s 10. The Spartans also had 11 more fouls called against them.
It all started in 2003, with the Wolverines shooting 24 free throws to MSU’s 11, and MSU was called for six more fouls.
The outcomes of these games were decided by free throw attempts more than any other factor.
One may think that this is just an example of “home cooking” that also happens at home for the Spartans.
In the last nine MSU vs. Michigan games played at the Breslin Center, only 2007’s 59-44 Spartan victory had either team shooting 50 percent or more free throws than the other, at 16 for MSU and four for UM. MSU’s 15 point margin of victory in the game was greater than the free throw attempt difference.
The issue in Ann Arbor is related to four referees.
Ted Valentine and Terry Wymer worked the 2012 and 2011 games. Donne Gray officiated games in 2006 and 2007. Steve Welmer worked the game in 2003 and teamed up with Gray for the 2006 debacle.
The problem of the free throw attempt difference is something that the Big 10 should investigate to ensure fairness in future games.
Over the past nine games at the Crisler Center, Michigan has attempted 70 more free throws than MSU. It’s hard enough to win conference games on the road. A team shouldn’t have to beat their opponent and the referees.
All statistics from the Michigan Wolverine stat site thevictorsreport.com
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Cavaliers know drama of free agency all to well
First came LeBron James. Then Carmelo Anthony, then Chris Paul.
The idea of an NBA superstar not being totally content in his current city has become a yearly ritual. That’s not to say it’s wrong. Annoying maybe, but not really wrong.
Anyway, the latest example of this is Orlando’s Dwight Howard, the best center in the game and the hot free-agent-to-be.
The Cavaliers get their first look of the season at Howard and the Magic on Friday, and it’s hard to envision why Howard might want to leave.
Orlando is a great city. It’s warm. There are no state taxes.
As a franchise, the Magic have won more games than anyone but Boston and the LA Lakers in the past four years (regular season and playoffs combined). They also made a Finals appearance in 2009. So clearly, the Magic are committed to winning.
Yet for some reason, that’s not good enough for their best player.
Cavs coach Byron Scott understands free agency. He was a member of the Magic Johnson-led Lakers teams of the 1980s. But when the Showtime Era was at its end, Scott had to make a decision. Stay in his hometown LA or seek out a new situation.
This was long before the Internet, long before when every player’s next contract became fodder for 247 rumor-mongering.
“The biggest thing for me (in free agency) was if I could go somewhere and help that team win,” Scott said. “If you go there and perform and the team does well, everything else would fall into place.”
The year was 1993, and Scott chose Indiana.
Think about that. Scott left the bright lights and bigger stars for a much smaller and blander market in the Midwest. Nothing against Indiana, but it ain’t South Beach.
“I went there because of Reggie Miller and Rik Smits and the Davis boys (Antoine and Dale),” Scott said. “The Pacers had never been out of the first round, but I knew they had potential. I knew if I was on that team and coming off the bench, we could get to the next level.”
Scott didn’t comment on Howard or the Magic specifically, but he did talk about the city of Orlando.
“Nice place,” he said. “The thing I liked about it (as a player) is there are no taxes. You got great weather and things like that, but how players today view it, I have no idea.”
Today, things have changed. It doesn’t often seem to be guys wanting to become a piece of a deep and balanced team. It’s more about teaming up with another star, or if you’re not a star, riding the coattails of those who do join forces.
The Cavs experienced this sort of thing firsthand with James in the summer of 2010. They’ll get another look at it Friday. But fortunately for them, it’s the guys in the other uniforms who have to deal with it this time.
Kyrie Not Afraid
Cavs rookie guard and leading scorer Kyrie Irving said having the imposing Howard clogging the middle won’t keep him from playing his normal game.
“I will be throwing that ball almost as high as the shot clock, I’ll tell you that,” Irving said, laughing.
But he actually does have a plan of attack beyond that.
“Playing against great shot-blockers, you just have to catch them off guard sometimes,” Irving said. “You know, stop-and-pop. I love going in (the paint), but once you see Dwight Howard, sometimes you stop-and-pop, sometimes you make the easy pass to your teammate and let him make the play.”
Irving added, “He’s a great shot-blocker, but that’s not going to stop me from going to the basket or trying to make plays for my teammates in the paint.”
Dribbles
Orland waived former Cavs guard Larry Hughes on Wednesday and signed free agent Ish Smith. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said Smith will play Friday against the Cavs despite participating in just one practice with his new team.
Van Gundy on Smith: “He’s real quick, can really penetrate the ball and make plays. Hes supposed to be a pretty good pick-and-roll player, but I havent seen enough to say for sure on that.”
Smith will play behind veteran Chris Duhon. Normal starter Jameer Nelson is out with concussion-like symptoms.
For more on Smith, and how he may be the perfect ft for the Magic, check out this piece on FOX Sports Florida.
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Kenyon Martin Officially Becomes Unrestricted Free Agent
Welcome back Mr. Martin.
After being stuck in China for the last four-plus months, Kenyon Martin is finally free to come back to America and play in the NBA, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein:
There is a bevy of suitors interested in the 34-year-olds services. According to Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski, at least six teams are interested including the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.
In other words, any team that has championship aspirations and lacks depth is interested. The Denver Nuggets won’t be re-signing him, but may be able to get something out of him by pulling off a sign and trade depending on how the NBA rules on this unique situation.
So what’s the time-table for when K-Mart can suit up for the third team in his career? Fairly quickly:
I think you can look at the curiosity in Martin and realize the ridiculous season currently being played in the NBA. Teams are already extremely banged up and desperate for depth as they are run ragged through the grueling schedule. A 34-year-old with almost 750 regular and postseason games under his belt should not be a hot commodity.
Martin has had multiple knee surgeries and is a shell of his former high-flying self. Last year’s 8.6 ppg were the lowest of his career.
But regardless, he is still capable of playing strong defense in the post against some of the league’s top power forwards and he does have almost 100 games of playoff experience including two trips to the finals.
I expect K-Mart to be logging minutes in the next 10 days for either the Hawks or Heat, two teams that can provide him with the most playing time.
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10 College Basketball Teams in a Midseason Free Fall
As UConn demonstrated so aptly last year, a college basketball team can make up for many flaws by getting hot at the right point in the season. Conversely, though, an ill-timed losing streak can take a promising squad and keep it from getting a shot at a postseason run.
In a down year for the Pac-12, Johnny Dawkins’ Stanford Cardinal looked like one of the conference’s leading contenders for a spot in March Madness.
Those hopes are dwindling rapidly, however, thanks to a three-game losing streak that has dropped the Cardinal two games behind the league leaders with a month remaining on the schedule.
Herein lies a closer look at Stanford and nine other teams that are currently plummeting down the standings after strong starts in 2011-12.
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Chicago Bulls: Is Kyle Korver Getting a Free Pass?
While the timing of this article may seem odd considering Chicago Bulls forward Kyle Korver‘s performance Monday against the Washington Wizards, I do not want a single game to cloud the big picture.
Korver has played poorly for the Bulls this season.
While Carlos Boozer gets much of the criticism (and justifiably so) very few people seem to be looking at Korver and his lack of performance off the bench.
Of course, expectations for Boozer were much higher as a starter and the Bulls big free-agent splash last offseason, but Korver came with expectations as well.
Those expectations were not 20 points and 15 rebounds every night that Boozer had but they certainly were more than 6.5 points per game and 42 percent from beyond the arc.
This is not a fluke either; Korver struggled last season as well.
He was able to increase his points per game from 7.2 as a member of the Utah Jazz in 2009-10 to 8.3 last season; but he did so at a much less efficient rate.
Korver shot a stunning 53 percent from the three-point line with the Jazz and while that percentage was unsustainable, a plummet to 41 percent should not have happened.
Over 69 percent of Korver’s total shot attempts are threes, which is not an issue given Korver’s skill set. Regardless, he has to be more efficient from the outside.
Korver severely lacks options to his offensive game. He cannot dribble, cannot penetrate and struggles ever creating his own shot.
If his initial look breaks down, Korver has trouble passing out of tight defenses or finding another option on the floor.
Where I believe Korver struggles most is defensively.
This was especially evident Sunday against the Miami Heat as Korver blew multiple assignments leading directly to big shots by Heat guard Mike Miller.
For a fanbase so eager to crucify Boozer for his lack of defensive prowess (again justifiably so), Korver seems to get a free pass.
Korver routinely struggles moving his feet, too often playing defense with his arms and has issues battling through screens, especially backdoor.
I do not expect Korver to be a defensive stopper like Luol Deng or Ronnie Brewer, but his defensive breakdowns are just as galling as Boozer’s. I would like to see both of them take a more serious approach to that end of the floor.
I have faith that Korver can be a valuable asset to the Bulls. His performance Monday night showed just what he is capable of when hitting shots at a high percentage.
Despite these solid performances as of late, I can help but be somewhat disappointing by what Korver has given the Bulls this season.
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Bulls vs. Heat: Missed Free Throws, Inadvertent Whistle Doom Chicago
With 16 seconds remaining in a 94-93 intraconference matchup between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, someone blew a whistle.
Exactly who produced the sound remains unclear. ESPN play-by-play man and former referee Mike Breen briefly suspected a fan was to blame: “Earlier in the game, I thought I heard a whistle from the stands.”
With his team leading by a single point, Heat forward LeBron James had just missed two consecutive free throws, prompting a mad scramble for the rebound between Heat and Bulls players below Miami’s basket.
Miami’s Dwyane Wade attempted to save the ball while falling out of bounds, raising his arms in bewilderment when that whistle sounded, assuming the official positioned along the endline had ruled the ball out of bounds, possession to Chicago.
Instead, raising his arms as if to declare, “It wasn’t me,” was referee David Jones, the lead official. Meanwhile, slot (center) official Monty McCutchen did not react to the whistle’s blast.
After a brief pause during which most players stopped playing as Miami’s Chris Bosh secured the loose—yet dead—ball, trail official James Williams hustled in to stop play and convene a meeting of his officiating crew.
The final ruling? An inadvertent whistle—someone had accidentally blown their horn while the ball was alive and in play. The whistle had blown before Jones ruled Wade in- or out-of-bounds and before the loose ball was recovered by Bosh.
Per Rule 5-VII-c of the NBA Rules Book, an inadvertent whistle signifies two things.
First, an inadvertent whistle during a loose ball results in a center circle jump ball between any two opponents presently in the game.
Second, and perhaps most importantly, Rule 13 does not allow for the review of plays involving an inadvertent whistle. Because Jones had not declared Wade’s status on the court prior to the inadvertent whistle, the play could not be reviewed, even though in- vs. out-of-bounds was a debatable issue.
The ensuing jump ball at center court between Miami’s James and Chicago’s Taj Gibson was also fraught with controversy.
Replays appear to indicate James illegally contacted the jump ball while it was still on its upward trajectory. Per Rule 6-VII-c, “neither jumper may tap the tossed ball before it reaches its highest point.”
The penalty for this infraction is the awarding of the ball out-of-bounds to the opponent of the violator.
For Miami, the sequence was a culmination of a series of unfortunate events at game’s end that left them four points short of forcing overtime.
The Heat led 94-93 when Bulls point guard Derrick Rose was fouled by Miami’s Udonis Haslem with 22 seconds to play.
Rose then did something unheard of (for Rose), missing two consecutive free throws.
The two misses were Rose’s only imperfections from the line on Sunday and Rose’s first fourth quarter free throw misses of this lockout-shortened 2011-12 NBA season.
Rose had previously been 28-28 in fourth quarter attempts from the charity stripe.
Heat forward LeBron James secured the defensive rebound off Rose’s second miss and with 21 seconds left in regulation, the Bulls were forced to foul.
Joakim Noah picked up his sixth foul, meaning Noah had fouled out and the Bulls would have to rely on Carlos Boozer and Taj Gibson for the rest of the game.
Noah’s disqualification would prove costly for Chicago, as Noah’s absence explained Gibson’s presence for that final jump ball.
Over the course of Sunday’s game, there were four jump balls, all of which were won by the Heat.
The Bulls had several chances to pull ahead or climb back quicker, but suffered with a 27 percent three-point shooting percentage, 15 turnovers and a 71 percent mark from the free throw line.
On the plus side for Chicago, Rose scored 34 points in 45 minutes, the only player throughout the NBA to have scored over 30 points against the Miami Heat this season.
As Chicago now must pick up the pieces and regroup for their Monday night contest in Washington, one thing is clear.
Given the excitement generated by the final minutes of Sundays Bulls-Heat thriller, NBA fans are in for a real treat if and when Chicago meets Miami in the 2012 NBA Playoffs.
Gil Imber is Bleacher Report’s Rules Featured Columnist and owner of Close Call Sports, a website dedicated to the objective and fair analysis of close or controversial calls in sports.
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NBA Rumors: Pacers Must Gamble on Eric Gordon in Free Agency
The New Orleans Hornets and their newly-acquired star shooting guard Eric Gordon have reached a decision to put off signing an extension until after the season rather than try to get something done by this Wednesday’s deadline.
“Eric Gordon said Friday morning it was a mutual decision between him and the franchise to put off trying to get an extension agreement finalized before Wednesday’s deadline. Gordon will become a restricted free agent on July 1, and the Hornets general manager Dell Demps said they will make a push to re-sign him.
“It wasn’t that I turned down anything, it works both ways,’’ Gordon said. “Yes, I’ll be restricted, but I am just a basketball player right now and the future is unclear. All I can do is worry about coming back at this point to try and help the team win games at the end of the year. It’s not the best situation, but it’s also not the worst. As long as I get back playing that will be the thing.’’
In other words, maybe he will and maybe he won’t be a Hornet next year. This begs the question, if not New Orleans, where?
How about the Indiana Pacers? Marc Spears seems to think so.
There’s good reason to believe they’d go after the Indianapolis native.
First, the Pacers have the money to go after him. They have been building a quality team for the last couple of years and they’ve been financially prudent in doing it. They have four of their current starting five under contract next year, and only $37 million locked up for next season.
That means they have the money to offer Gordon a substantial contract of around $10 million, as well as a contract for Hibbert of about the same. Technically, they can sign Gordon for more and then go over the cap to extend Roy Hibbert.
Gordon is arguably the best young shooting guard in the game right now. Adding him to a starting five of Darren Collison, Danny Granger, David West and Hibbert would give them one of the most balanced starting fives in the NBA.
The Pacers are trying to establish themselves as “contenders” and not merely “pretenders” this season, and adding Gordon would certainly vault them into contender status.
There’s some gamble here based on Gordon’s injury history, though. He’s already missed significant time this year, and he’s expected to miss a few more weeks. It will be the third straight season in which he’s missed at least 20 games.
Still, when he’s on the court he’s been a high-quality player, averaging 22.3 points and 4.4 assists per game. He could be enough to make the Pacers a valid contender for a championship. The reward risk-reward assessment makes him more than worth the risk.
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Howard to Celtics in free agency?
Add the Boston Celtics to the expanding list of teams the Orlando Magic center would consider playing for should he become a free agent.
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NBA News: Trade and Free Agency Roundup
Despite the fact that the 2011-12 NBA season is shortened, fans should look forward to this coming summer, when an incredible crop of free agents hit the open market.
Forget the Big Three that was established in Miami a few years ago, for this summer’s free-agent class features some of the following: Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, Steve Nash and many other top talents.
People have been following the Howard saga for the past year or so, but rumors have quieted down since his preseason trade demand.
Conversely, Nets star Deron Williams has already unveiled a free agency wish list of some sort and struggling Boston may soon become a hotspot for trade activity.
All in all, it will be interesting to see how each scenario plays out, be it during the season or over the summer.
Bleacher Report NBA columnist and free-agency obsessed Josh Benjamin has been eying various rumors this week, from East Coast to West Coast, as he tries to figure out just what’s going on.
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2012 NBA Free Agency: Why Kevin Love Should Re-Sign with Minnesota
Kevin Love is a top-five power forward in the NBA. The Minnesota Timberwolves are lucky to have him.
But they’re on the verge of losing him. They need to sign him to a five-year $84 million by Jan. 25 or he becomes a restricted free agent this summer and an unrestricted free agent the summer after that.
At 23 years old and only three years of NBA experience he’s averaging 24.7 points and 14.5 rebounds per game through Minnesota’s first 15 games—not too shabby.
And Love would be smart to sign that extension and sign the contract extension with Minnesota. It’s of benefit to both parties to keep Love a Timberwolf for the foreseeable future.
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