First Look At Michigan & SIU; Coach K Continues To Experiment

Michigan 77, Michigan Tech 55
The good news for Michigan: Manny Harris looks like he's going to be even better than he was last year. He isn't much of a household name because Michigan didn't spend a lot of time on national television last year, but people will get to know him in what may be his final year before heading to the NBA. Michigan Tech just didn't have anybody who could remotely cover him. Michigan also looked more aggressive on offense, and more willing to push the ball up the floor. I don't think we'll see any more 34 point Big Ten Tournament performances. They also looked pretty good as far as help defense went. Whenever a Michigan Tech player got past his man, he was immediately impeded by a help defender. I saw a lot of good defensive rotation. That said, the bad news is that I got to see too much of that. Michigan's man-on-man defense was pretty weak. They also struggled to rebound against a clearly inferior team. But we already knew this team was imperfect. They should be improved, and I expect them to be a bubble team. But they don't have the overall talent (other than Harris, of course, who could be First Team All Big Ten) to be a real contender in conference.

Southern Illinois 66, California (Pa.) 52
This game was actually tied at halftime, although I don't think anybody should really get too down on SIU about this. They were pretty messy on the offensive end, and that should get cleaned up as the season goes on. They also got a surprisingly weak performance from senior Bryan Mullins. Based on his year-by-year progression, you have to think that you can pencil him for 15 points and 7 or 8 assists per game. I wouldn't get worried about one bad game. And besides, there was one very bright spot for SIU, which was sophomore Carlton Fay. To be honest, I'd never even heard of the kid before this game - he was an unheralded recruit who scored all of two points per game last season. But he blew up for 16 pounds and 11 rebounds (including six on the offensive end) in this one. If this isn't just a part of playing a Division II opponent, then Fay could be the final piece of another Missouri Valley Championship puzzle for the Salukis.

#5 Duke 97, Georgia Southern 54
One of the funny quirks of the RPI is that the fact that it so heavily rewards a tough schedule leads to some very funny rankings early in the season. This game actually pushed Georgia Southern ahead of Duke into #1 in the RPI rankings at the moment. Duke's #2 spot is pretty safe though, as they're miles ahead of #3 ranked Presbyterian. In all seriousness, though, I'm somewhat perplexed about how much Coach K shuffled his lineup compared to regular season game #1. After Miles Plumlee started the last game, he didn't even get on the floor until the second half of this one. Brian Zoubek got the start this time, although foul trouble again kept him off the floor. This time he got four fouls in 14 minutes, although he managed to spring for six points and five rebounds in his short time on the floor. Olek Czyz once again only saw garbage minutes, which suggests that I was right in my prediction that he won't see a lot of time this season. Elliot Williams looked very good in this one, and as a very highly touted recruit I would not be surprised to see a lot of him this season. But the question remains: who will play on the inside for Duke? It looks like Coach K is still trying to decide on Plumlee versus Zoubek. Maybe we'll get a better idea next week when the Blue Devils take on the winner of the SIU/UMass game currently being played.