Hopefully the thin air is what our shooters need to find their distance… :/ This could get ugly fast if we don’t pull out some of these non-conference games, go blue!

Added a latest tweets widget to the sidebar. Hopefully a good way to pass some information along without a whole post. A little hard to read right now, but I’ll tweak it. Suggestions welcome, there are plenty of recruiting tidbits from last night’s games over there on Horford, Brundidge, etc.

I’m very nervous about tonight’s game. UofM has already dug themselves enough of a hole that this is virtually a must-win game. I really hated to hear that Utah is such a big team. However, they must have some major weaknesses to have lost to Seattle, Idaho and Weber State. I’m just hoping Utah’s big men are really unathletic. For example, Northwestern is actually quite a big team, last year they had five guys in their rotation ranging from 6’8″ to 7′ and we swept them. In short, I’m hoping we match up well against them despite their size advantage.

I’m not worried about their size really at all. Michigan will win games if they make their 3′s and will lose if they don’t. It really is pretty much as simple as that. We do need to clean up the D and make sure we rebound but if we had made our 3 pointers in our 3 losses we would be undefeated.

Is anyone else going to the game tonight?

Dylan,
Rumor has it that Duke has been on the late recruiting trail for Zeigler, and I heard that assistant coach Nate James was actually at the game last night. What do you think of this? Could this possibly be the reason Horford is coming into the mix late?

So let’s hope this game goes more like Northwestern and less like Wisconsin!

Hopefully UofM will go uptempo and make the big men lumber up and down the court.

Does anyone else think Dylan’s Utah preview sounds a lot like this Michigan team?
“After shooting the lights out last year…struggling to put the ball in the basket. e field goal percentage is only 48.8% only 31.3% of their threes. They still do a great job of holding onto the ball and manage to get the line at a respectable rate”

THAT IS MICHIGAN TO A T! the only difference is a huge size disparity, so we will see if quickness or size prevails tonight… conventional wisdom suggests we should get blocked to death, but we all saw how marquette blew us out with speed. We however, are no marquette.

Fear rating- 8 out of 10

I felt this way for boston College too and we know how that turned out– But I feel good about this game. I think they will have a good shooting night (I already knocked on wood.) I predict a 72-58 WIN. Call me overly optimistic… but I can hope.
I looked around and could not find anything on the Zeigler and Duke rumors… Where did you hear that Drew?

Fear rating is about right. I felt good about this game until I read the preview!

If JB ran a fast break offense i think we’d be better at running past their big guys.

But if Manny blows up tonight (the good kind of blowup) and Deshawn plays big, we’ll be OK.

Acedeuce, I agree except for the “shooting the lights out last year” part. Didn’t we finish dead last in the B10 in 3-pt % despite taking more threes than any other team?

Anyone now if you can catch the game online?

This game scares me but every game scares right now with the way they are playing.

Just a heads up, if there are any fellow Chicago peeps out there….I have basic extended with Comcast and the game is avaliable on channel 232 tonight. I’ll be cheering on the Maize and Blue from butt ass cold and windy Chicago tonight! Good guys win….73-68

We will be liveblogging from courtside tonight if you guys are interested, we’d love to have you stop by. Thanks.

http://rushthecourt.net/2009/12/09/rtc-live-michigan-utah/

dylan for those in the ann arbor area the comcast channel is 255

i see michigan playing well enough to win. shoot better and defend better

UM 69
Utah 61

Just as an aside, how good would this U-M team be if they had AL Horford. I know its silly, but isn’t that exactly what we need, a tough as nail rebound first mentality big man who can swatch shots and abuse people inside? Even if Jordan Morgan can be a poor man’s Horford that would be great.

Duke is recruiting Trey and had an assistant coach at his game last night. That being said, they definitely got in the game late.

I don’t think that recruiting the younger Horford has anything to do with Trey’s recruitment. The staff has seemed comfortable with taking two more for some time (formerly Prather+Zeigler) and it says more about Horford and Michigan wanting more big men.

Thanks, ChiGoBlue, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find the game, and I do NOT want to go out to the tavern in this (stuff). Is Ch. 232 CBS College Sports? I didn’t know we had it…

IU and PSU looked good last night, IU especially (PSU way overmatched their opponent). Those teams are supposed to be among the bottom feeders. Every conference game is going to be a bloodbath. If I were ranking, I’d have us at #10 in the B10 right now. .500 in the league seems like it would be a tremendous feat.

Looks like it’s

255 CBSCHD CBS College Sports Network HDTV

in Ann Arbor according to Yahoo TV.

Yep the B10 will be brutal. Only Iowa looks soft, and it will still be a tough game away. Other than that, no gimmes http://www.bigtennetwork.com/sports/mbasketball/standings.asp

So nobody has found a way to watch this game online? I guess listening to the game on radio while watching UCONN v. Wall wouldn’t be too bad…

Apparently Horford played a great game, but he was outplayed by a junior from Grandville. Kid had 29 points and 6 threes. 3 year starter… Too bad the class of ’11 looks like it has little space.

How is Michigan even favored tonight? Smart money is on Utah based on results thus far.

@Bird….yea, I checked the channel last night. We’re good to go in Chicago! I would venture over to Duffy’s but this weather blows (no pun intended) On a side note, if any Michigan fans make it to Chicago..you HAVE to visit Duffy’s. It’s up in Lincoln Park, just north of downtown. Just off the corner of Diversy and Sheridan (just off Lake Shore Drive) It’s a Michigan bar….big Maize and Blue flags outside….typically have a pep band in the bar for all footballs game. It’s a blast! Just an FYI….

Responding to Michael, you’ve clearly never seen Jon Horford play. He’s as far from a tough as nails, rebound first mentality big man as I am. Somewhat athletic, but thin as a rail and awfully soft.

Try ch# 734…..comcast listings from there web site. It’s on there sports package not just expanded basic.

Dan – he said Al Horford fwiw

regarding trey, next year at duke he’d have to compete with steph curry’s brother who is transferring, nolan smith, andre dawkins, and two other incoming guards for pt. do [people think duke has a good chance with him? i also noticed mccallum’s four finalists include UCLA and Arizona, is there still talk of ray and trey playing together in college?

Novak out with flu-like symptons per JB’s pre-game radio comments. More minutes for Gibby then tonight perhaps? Also Ant i would imagine…

http://www.justin.tv/cbb2k8

Watch.

Well here’s Gibson’s chance

Ugh…Stu…worthless thus far.

And team does immediately worse with Wright in the game.

this team still doesnt have it

Nice effort by Morris so far

omfg…turnovers, NO!…bad bad bad.

akunne will save us!!!

For any Novak doubters, you’re about to see how much we need him.

Don’t know if they said it on the telecast but sounds like Novak has the flu.

still havent fixed the score…should be 20-21

Stu is a complete liability on both of the floor.

really going deep in the bench tonight, but someone please tell Beilein no more Wright!

Free Throw shooting is atrocious. Com’mon boys.

this team really lacks toughness . . . I can’t believe how much I miss the CJ Lee era.

Why is Manny pulling up for flailing 17 footers when he has his man beat and a clear lane to the basket?

this team isn’t going to win many games shooting ft’s this way, and with douglass being the worst player on the team.

Ugh. Michigan needs to get back on defense. Those kind of baskets are unacceptable.

Utah does not seem like a good team at all. However, we miss free throws, open lay ups, have huge defensive collapses, can’t rebound, I mean the list goes on. I guess we don’t turn the ball over but outside of that we are just sloppy. At least we aren’t forcing too many 3′s tonight. But outside of that…ugh

bye bye ncaa tourney

has stu done anything positive tonight?

Douglass is pure brutal right now………

Team looks slow and lazy. Everybody doing a lot of ball watching instead of finding bodies to box out or defend. Utah just wants this game a lot more than UM does and it is showing up big time. All the hustle plays are being made by Utah. Hmmm, who is that guy that usually makes those hustle plays for UM? I cant remember . . . some slow, short, unathletic, white kid from Indiana that some people hate.

We couldn’t finish in the top half of a MVC.

so bad

Utah stinks and we’re getting owned. worst thing of all is we look disinterested. Hard to believe.

Ugh is the word of the night. This team is a great team for about 20 seconds on any given possession but they always break down/turn the ball over on a drive/ miss FTs, it’s just the little things they are missing. Leadership? possibly, but they will not go anywhere til it’s fixed, I have faith in Beilein, but it’s rough. I feel like it’s a hole in a dam, every time you plug a hole, another one spouts. Halftime adjustments could be big, but I think we are getting way out sized and their guards are matching us well. GO BLUE!!!

Who are all these guys that hate Douglass? Is it all the same guy just posting under different names? I agree he has sucked major balls tonight, but this is a lot of hate.

What a completely unlikeable team. Deshawn, way to play yourself out of the draft. Stu. Why are you on this team? what do you do well? if you cannot shoot, you are worthless. Manny is obviously injured. No backdoor screens, no plays. Lots of bad shots. Beilein is doing a horrible job this year. Sorry guys, its true.

Utah is appallingly unathletic outside of maybe one or two guys. We are just not hanging onto the ball, not getting any defensive rebounds, and not playing solid D. It’s getting old, but this game is not out of reach by any means. I’m telling you, this Utah team is BAD. We need this one.

I think it’s time to admit that this team just isn’t any good.

Oh, the pain… I keep going in to each game thinking this is it, this is the game we turn it around…

i hate to break it to you novak lovers, but he wouldn’t be the difference in this game. The problem is not our interior defense. When you play a team that is much bigger than you and likes to hoist shots from the outside, your guards have to rebound. Right now douglass, perry, vogrich, etc have all been caught watching the shot and not finding a body. This team lacks fundamentals on defense right now and until they get it fixed they won’t be a tournament team.

Down by 8. Not bad. I still believe. If Illinois can come back against Clemson down 23, I’m certain this team can make it back against a bunch of lumbering 7 footers. Peedi will find his stroke and Vogrich will roll. Go Blue!

Tweeter all these posters are regulars. It’s good to see Darius finally shoot. Definitely a bad first half but we should be down by more I say.

A2MIKE: I agree we look pretty bad regardless of Novak being out. But Novak is about 300x better than Wright, and it hurts to have to him, Cronin, and Akunne out there instead.

GBMDC02 – couple things. I dont necessarily disagree with your feelings about some of the guys, but I do completely disagree with your assessment.

Stu does many things well besides shoot. He is maybe the best on the ball defender on the team, he is the best passer on the team, besides Manny he is probably the best at penetrating (but that says more about the lack of that overall on this team) and he also runs the team well from a point standpoint. So yea, he does lots of things well. He does suck tonight, and he has had a bad year shooting so far, but all you haters are just being silly.

I also dont think there were a lot of bad shots. Take away the two questionable 20 footers that Manny shot (and you have to live with that b/c he is such a scorer) and a couple quick threes, every other shot was a good look. The shots are not falling. Thats not on Beilein. He cant shoot them for the kids. Now maybe he should be telling them to attack more inside, but Im not sure he isnt. The last two games this team has looked more inside both to the bigs and off the drive.

So while this team has been disappointing, I think its a far cry from the way you just pass it off.

I agree, Tyler, we should probably be down my more. And I’m joining Max in Chicago! We’re coming back! Let’s Go Blue!!

yea I know Tyler, I have seen the names before. I was just commenting on how they all same the same thing without explanations.

My biggest problem with Douglass is that he is absolutely awful at off the ball defense. He really gets caught in screens, doesn’t block out his guy if and when his guy shoots, does a lot of ball watching.

my new theory is that douglas is actually a traitor and working for the other team.

right back to where they left off

I like seeing Stu at the line. Get him some confidence seeing that ball go through the net.

yea A2 that is a huge problem for all the guys. I have never see a team so weak at getting thru and around screens. I shudder to think about what they will look like against Wisky.

We not only are bad but we don’t get calls either. No goaltend???! How was that not a foul on the layup by morris there???!

woah..that was a charge- awful call- he was set.

A good run spoiled by a terrible call. Gibson is there in position and they call a block. If anything that is a no call since the utah player slid around him a little bit, but you cant call a charge there.

Awful, awful call there before the break. Thanks a lot for killing our momentum, refs.

btw, sims is brutal as well. I would be all for benching him at this point. I know we would lose the game, but similar to manny last year, something has to change and the coaches have to get through to him that this type of effort is unacceptable.

That was probably charging but Morris was blatantly fouled on that shot he made on the other end and they didn’t call it

HEY NICE OFFICIATING

Officiating has been terrible in general for this half… gonna make it that much harder to come back. Only way is to make shots.

Two more missed free throws

Is Sims even playing in this game? Totally invisible.

there we go baby!

LLP is hiding with sims, wherever they may be

This is going to sound really whiny but this officiating has been bruuuutal. 2 missed goal tends and several no calls on clear utah hacks…brutal. Manny putting the team on his back right now

Where is LLP? Stu, I like him don’t get me wrong, this year he just looks totally unfocused. I like seeing Eso guys he could be a good presence especially since he’s a walk-on. I liked seeing the two big men it was really good to see. Let’s see how this last 13 minutes turns out were only down by 3.

This is a serious question…in your opinion what is the reason we are not playing so good this year?

a) We got to full of ourselves
b) Mental Focus
c) Lack of leadership
d) Voice your own…

MANNY BEING MANNY

LLP is so soft. He’s gotta learn to get to the rim and dunk it, not lay it up for 7’3″ guys to feast on

What is up with this team and FT’s?? Atrocious this season….. and Wiscy just went down to UWGB!

free throws…………………

I should not have said bye bye ncaa tourney earlier. Bad fanship on my part.

not in response to Tyler, rather his big plays the last few minutes. But in response to Tyler, I think its probably a combination of things: lack of leadership, lack of toughness (intertwined with leadership), lack of focus, bought into the hype too much, not making shots. I believe its all those things. The thing is if this team just finds a way to make some shots, it covers up a lot of the other problems. However, if they want to be a very good team, they need to solve the toughness and focus aspects first.

Eso could be novak 2.0

but without the gritty white guy plays, bball

Is the box score right? Has Novak not been in the game yet?

well looks like we will lose with sims playing as well, please bench him

Novak has the flu Other MAtter

Thanks. I’m trying to catch up as I just got back from the Pistons game. Apparently Sims is as invisible as the box indicates.

Who is more disappointing this year: Sims or Stu? I vote Sims.

i cringe to think what this team will look like without manny.

uhh guy in the trap just switched pivot feet???? Refs hello, have you gone the way of Sims and LLP?

I suppose it’s just a matter leadership. CJ and David provided a measure of solidity that nobody on this team seems to possess. Novak is the closest thing with his energy, and Manny can give the team a lift with his pure talent. However, there is a lack of a coach on the floor. I believe that Morris can grow into the role, but being a freshman, he simply can’t handle the game yet. Game’s not over though, time to crank it up! Go Blue!

i am usually not one to blame officials, but its been pretty bad tonight…. curious if this is a mwc crew

Must get some defensive toughness! A 5 point run is useless if you are going to give up a 5 point run right after it! Sims is a pansy…def not NBA material!

this board is so negative right now its hard to even be on here….you either support the team or you dont

Manny nails a huge three and then we let them have a free layup.

That hurt

The announcers (Greg Anthony and some other clown) made some interesting comments in the first half. They said they had talked to Stu before the game and that Stu had mentioned that he doesn’t really know his role on this team and that when he’s in as a PG he’s not sure if he should drive or what.

62-51 now. This is gross.

Alright. 12-6 in conference play. Win the tourney. Here we go.

Max in Chicago:

Not likely.

This is a 10-12 win basketball team unless something changes FAST.

Is it bad that over the last 10 days Michigan basketball has stressed me out 20 times more than any of the 5 exams I’ve had to prepare for?

Please, please get it together quickly. My grades are at stake.

need some leadership.

classy A2mike….

do what you did last year douglass!! what is wrong with you?? you act like you’ve never played point guard before when you did it many times last season for stretches.. this offense doesn’t even have a true point guard.. and you should never be driving because you are not quick and can’t finish.. play the only role you can play and that’s pass and wait for a kick out for 3

heck, i think severe alcoholism is at stake for most of this board. This team is really breaking my heart right now.

I think we collectively jinxed Zack Gibson…

cmon A2 dont be such a DB

I’m very disappointed bielien didn’t go ape sh*t and get a tech on one of these horrendous calls earlier in the half. Show the team some fight and that you’re behind them to say nothing of letting the refs know they are horrendous…check that. As I’m typing we are now down 13. Awful.

Yeah Jordan, you’re probably right about that.

I suppose we should never devalue our Grad school walk-ons. They meant more than we knew.

I really don’t believe that much of this is Beilein’s fault, either. There’s just too much immaturity.

Still love this team though. Go blue!

Several times duing the game Utah drove down the middle of the paint for an easy layout. I have never seen so many easy baskets given up on defense.

Got to get up early tomorrow, so I cant really elaborate my feelings about this game or team. Will save it for Dylans postgame. Suffice to say, that this team still has a long ways to go.

On a side note, please refrain from personal attacks against players. It is really low-class and just db-ish. UM does not need fans that attack 19 year old kids cause they are playing poorly. You dont have to support everything the team does, but at least criticize with some class. Dylan, I would recommend that you delete such posts, but its your site, and you do all the work which I enjoy, so I will leave such decisions up to you.

We are truly a one man team. Maybe with NCAA tourney officially out of the question (barring B10 tourney bid) we’ll get our heads in the game. I seriously do not understand how almost the exact same team can be this much worse.

this was a very frustrating game to say the least. i cant believe whats happened so far but i guess its still early. were most likely not going to beat uconn or kansas so were going to have to do really well if we want to go to the tourney. this might be the most disappointing sports year in michigan in a long time. um football starts so well and doesnt even make a bowl. now the expectations for the team looked like they were way too high. i still have hope for a turnaround but this is sad so far.

Go Blue!

I don’t think this is a talent issue. We had Sims, Grady, Udoh, and Manny in year one for Beilein and we went’ 10-22.

I feel like this is comes down to shot selection. Our defense has never been that great especially considering how small we are.

Never let anyone tell you that “defensive specialists” don’t have their value. As Manny showed you, a good scorer can score even when he’s the focus of the other team, so don’t feel like you’re sacrificing scoring to use one.

Man…I feel like I only post when I’m frustrated.

That defense…is non-existent. The lack of intensity is troublesome.

Manny is a beast. Win or lose, look at his numbers. And he’s HURT! He needs some help. I wish we would’ve been warned before the game that Zack AND LLP wouldn’t be playing tonight. Seriously, Gary Coleman, record a single stat. Hell, foul someone if you have to.

I hope Michigan declines the NIT invitation. : )

Gotta say we really missed Novak. The Gibson starting/getting significant minutes theory didn’t work b/c he can’t stay outta foul trouble (although I thought there was some home cookin’ on some of those calls). He’s a good bench player b/c it seems like he’s only able to produce a lot in a small amount of time. Stu does not look comfortable handling the ball, especially in the lane. Once his shot is back (if that ever happens), he should strictly be a spot up shooter. Darius def has potential, and Sims looks more like an NBA D-league player at this point. Can’t wait to see Manny at 100%. Go Blue!

Is it possible that, psychologically, there has been so much focus on Harris and Sims that the rest of the team just sits around waiting for them to do something? Which is killing us!

AG2 please elaborate on your last statement…sounds contradictory to me. You are suggesting a specialist but manny proved they are useless

pretty ugly box score with manny included…
17-50 FG 34%
7-22 3PT 31.8%
11-20 FT 55%
21 rebounds total

..even worse box score w/o manny..

9/34 FG 26.5%
4/17 3PT 23.5%
5/11 FT 45.4%
15 rebounds total

This was my concern with talking about certain players needing to “diversify” their games over the offseason… right now the role players are simply not playing their roles. Two versatile “stars” is more than enough, as long as they do everything well then we just need the other guys to do certain things well. Last year Stu’s role was to come off screens, knock down jumpers and if the shot is not there, look for the open man but don’t try to do too much and turn the ball over. In the offseason we talked about him needing to become a better ball handler and working on his dribble penetration. Problem is, his natural abilities limit him to doing only certain things well (there’s a reason he was a 2-star recruit). I know we are thin at PG but Stu should not be playing there. He gets assists because he sees the open man as soon as he gets the ball, not because he can penetrate and dish.

I feel like if players like Stu had concentrated over the summer on becoming better at their roles from last year rather than trying to expand into areas that may not be natural for them, we would be looking at a much different team right now.

Is that we are getting teams A-Game right from the start. Think of the beginning when that kid hits a 3 and starts jumping up and down as he runs back down the court hollering, when is the last time someone did that against Michigan? I’m not saying we should be happy with losing, not in the least, but when teams see you as a legitimate challenge night in night out, its a lot tougher to pull off a 10-0 run and catch teams off guard. Yes there are some problems rebounding but a Beilein team will be outrebounded more often than not. The problem you see is the TOs and the ice cold shooting, which puts a spotlight on the poor rebounding when the shots are not falling. Stick by this team, they’re young, and come b10 season they should be fun to watch, just hope its not too late by then. Go Blue

Well I hear NYC is nice in March. Oh well. At least I wont have to be nervous about bubble watch this year.

I’ll still be pulling for them in conference season but we just blew our chance for the dance.

What the heck is up with this team? They can’ t be this bad or are they?

The ‘star’ players aren’t getting it done. And the complementary guys have regressed. Hopefully they can turn it around.

You can’t ask for much more from Manny, especially if he really is at 70% healthwise. Peedi is not getting it done, agree there. Did he get a single rebound tonight? Sure didn’t look like it on TV…

Easy there chief. Ha, had to say that.

Manny is definitely getting it done. Manny is even better than he was last year, which is pretty huge. If anyone on this team who wasn’t Manny could make a basket, he really would be getting near triple doubles every night.

The last two games, Manny has even started hitting his outside looks. IMO this is the worst of all outcomes: team playing terribly, Manny playing really well. His draft stock is probably rising, and his incentives for coming back for a senior year run are falling.

That was sobering. NIT champs, anyone? Has a decent ring to it at this point.

Salt in the wound:

Harvard 74 Boston College 67

IT BURNS IT BURNS!!!

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=293430103

Max, NIT Champs is wishful thinking at this point, imo.

Miss me?

I just meant that defensive specialists don’t necessarily take offense away from the 5 on the floor because when you have a scorer like Manny he can beat the defense even when they focus on him.

JSWB (jump shooting white boys) need to can shots. If we don’t can those open threes this team sucks.

By the way I played a parlay in Vegas tonight. UM -1, Wisconsin -5, Kentucky +1. Awesome.

NIT-bound. And even that is not a given, but would anyone even care?

I came to the realization last night that NOTHING is going to really change the performance of this team.

Changing the lineups, different defense, coaching strategy, etc etc etc. It’s all window dressing on a team that is consistently disappointing.

Quick question…isn’t Beilein suppose to be a “shot doctor” of sorts..gotta think he would be charged with malpractice! In all seriousness, I do think this team will improve as the season rolls on, I just hope they don’t have to big of a hole to dig out of.

hole???—-honestly, this crater is now practically too big to dig out of—-realistically i don’t see how/where this team wins enough games to make the ncaa’s.

At some point you have to at least question a system that provides no chance at winning when shooting isn’t there. I’m pretty confident that your average B10 team could win at least 2 of our 4 losses even with our shooting. And they’d do it by playing defense, rebounding, and not jacking up 3s when they weren’t falling. All four of these losses have the potential to be “bad losses” by the end of the year.

Here’s some info on Deshawn Sims performance so far this year: Against Northern MI, Houston Baptist, and APB–21.0 pts, 8.7 reb, 48.9% FLG%. Against legitimate opponents–10.8 pts, 5.8 reb, 38.3% FLG%. Not what I was expecting from a senior and #2 player on the team.

Hey guys,

Sorry the post-game is so late. Was up all night working on a paper, should have some (somber) thoughts this morning/afternoon.

Looks like no tournament this year for Michigan. Other than Manny Harris no one on the team is forcing the issue and is constantly back on their heals reacting to what the other team is doing. They are only shooting 29% from 3 point range this year which is 242 out of 258 teams. A Coach Beilein led squad lives and dies with the 3 and so far that is what is happening and we are dying. We need to be shooting about 40% from 3 point range to be affective IMO.

The lack of shooting is also translating to the defensive end of the floor because MIchigan goes to their 1-3-1 zone after makes and if you aren’t making shots you can’t implement that strategy. Last nights game was evident after misses they gave up numerous easy layups in transition because the guards like Harris and Morris have to crash the boards.

Also not being able to hit shots allows defenders to play off of our shooters and take DeShawn Sims out of the game as last night he was only 2-7 with 3 rebounds against two 7-footers from Utah who camped under the basket all night. LLP is out of sync and Douglas has lost his shot and needs to find it. Morris is coming around, but we need to shoot the ball better end of story otherwise it is going to be a long year.

With the loss to Utah and potential losses to U-Conn and Kansas still looming that would give a us 6-6 in non-conference play with really no quality wins. What would we need in conference to make the tournament. 11-7 with 2 wins the B10 tournament to get to 19 wins perhaps.

I don’t even want to think about what it will be like next year with out Manny(who should stay for his last year, still very skinny and doesn’t look NBA ready IMO) or Sims.

I’m not trying to be sensational, but this team is in real danger of missing the NIT. They will probably finish the non-conference season .500, so they will have to go 9-9 in a tough B10 plus win one game in the B10 tournament just to finish at .500 for the season. In less than a month of basketball, we’ve gone from a sweet sixteen candidate to a NIT bubble team. This sucks!

Just taking a moment to forget about our struggles, is Marshall Henderson anyone else’s new favorite player to dislike? After seeing him run down the court flailing his arms, and then flexing after that and one. Nearly caused me to go into a fit of rage at the bar I was watching the game at

I don’t think its just after missed shots guys are getting back and beating our defense. There were a few times where they started running right after a make, UNC style. I counted at least 12 wide open layups last night.

Was I the only one who saw that massive Utah run coming when Michigan cut it to 1 and Manny missed the and one free throw that would have tied it?

The way this team plays, even gimmes vs. UD Mercy aren’t guaranteed. Yet somehow I can’t help but feel like we can still turn it around, beat UConn and go 12-6 in the Big Ten. We would be 19-11 then, and still possibly in play for a bid. I don’t know, but I kinda think we’re getting better.

Drew,
Yeah, he was obnoxious, but my overriding thought, especially in the first half was, why aren’t they guarding this kid. After his second three, I said ok, they need to guard this kid and he continued to get wide open looks. That has become a pattern with this team this year–a hot shooter who just continues to get wide open look after wide open look. It was very frustrating.

I generally try to be an optimist, but I don’t see how we can even really hope for this team to be the 12-6 or so it would require in conference to make the tourney. The way they are playing they are headed straight for 5-13 or 6-13.

Alot of people keep saying they’ll get better. Why? They’ve been pretty suspect for the last 7 games, that’s a long time.

Dang it, I meant 6-12.

Drew:
The Henderson kid was definitely a humongous toolbox…but you know what?

He played with PASSION and EXCITEMENT! I hope he sneezed on some of our guys – Sims especially – and that stuff is contagious.

I was at the game last night in Utah, and was frustrated with the lapses and lack of consistent effort. On the rebounding front, yes they were a lot bigger, but there were also a lot of balls that bounced around that we didn’t come up with through what appeared to be lack of aggressiveness and/or effort. Also, when the game was still in reach Utah got a couple of layups that just shouldn’t have happened.

How can Stu Douglass (a shooter) miss two of two free throws? I know he is going through some things mentally, but sheesh.

I still think that Beilein is a great coach, but this team (outside of Manny and maybe Zack Gibson) has to play harder and more consistently.

[...] playing bad basketball and a 6-6 non conference record looks likely. As an astute commenter, Jeff, points out that means Michigan is on the NIT bubble, likely needing a 9-9 conference record to make the [...]