BasicsWho: Michigan (11-11, 4-6) vs. Wisconsin(17-5, 7-3) |
 |
Wisconsin’s consistent success in the Big Ten is tough to explain. Luckily, KJ hit the nail on the head in his MSU/Wisconsin preview earlier this week:
Take a team that went 10-8 in Big Ten play in 2009, subtract the team’s leading scorer and leading rebounder (two different guys), add two freshman role players playing a combined 21.1 minutes per game, and you get . . . a team that starts the season 13-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play
Now go ahead and knock the team’s new star out with an injury–a guy who had emerged as the team’s second leading scorer, top rebounder, and a legitimate contender for the conference player of the year. Now, of course, you have . . . a team that still managed to win 3 of 5 games to find itself in a second-place tie in the Big Ten standings. [ed: Now 4 of 6]
My point? The Wisconsin basketball team, as coached by Bo Ryan, defies rational analysis. But we’ll give it a shot anyways.
In an era of sports that is dominated by super stars and glamour, Bo Ryan defies logic and keeps on winning games; that includes all 5 match-ups with Michigan head coach John Beilein. Beilein will look to finally knock off Wisconsin as he attempts to right the ship in Ann Arbor.
Michigan led the first match-up for 35+ minutes before crumbling down the stretch while Trevon Hughes and Rob Wilson took over. Michigan proved to themselves that they can play with the Badgers, who shot terribly in the first match-up, but nobody knows what sort of effort you will get from Michigan on any given night.
All things considered, this feels like one of those games where Michigan will come to play and remind us that they are actually capable of putting a good game together. It’s against a big name opponent, at home, on a Saturday afternoon, and on national television. Then again, if there is one thing that this team has taught us, it’s don’t assume anything.
Michigan is 1-4 since they knocked off UConn two weeks ago. Some of the games have been close but 1-4 is not good, no matter how you spin it. So why is Michigan struggling? Here are the two biggest reasons in my book:
- Manny Harris is going through one of the worst stretches in his Michigan career. He not only missed one game due to suspension but he has played very poorly in the other four. He is shooting 33% from the field (19 of 57) in his last four games and averaging more than 3 turnovers per contest.
- Shooting. Michigan’s shooting numbers over the last five games are absolutely terrible. FG%: 36.6%, eFG%: 43.2%,2PFG%: 42.5%, 3pFG%: 29.4%. It’s really hard to win games when you shoot that poorly.
A game versus Wisconsin is unlikely to cure either of these problems. Manny Harris has traditionally struggled against the Badgers and the last time out Tim Jarmusz held Manny to 11 points on 4 of 14 shooting with 3 turnovers. Wisconsin also has one of the best defenses in the country (6th in KenPom adjusted efficiency). They hold their opponents to 43.5% 2point shooting and 45.2% eFG shooting overall.
For more on Wisconsin and their personnel, check out my preview of the last game (which was less than two weeks ago). Trevon Hughes is the guy that makes Wisconsin go and after that it’s a crap shoot as to who shoulders the load on any given day. Keaton Nankivil hit 7 of 8 triples at Purdue after making only 1 of 7 versus Michigan. Jordan Taylor, Jason Bohanon, and Rob Wilson have also all notched double digit performance since Leuer’s injury.
Each player in the Badger’s lineup is just barely dangerous enough that you can’t forget about them on the defensive end. To have a chance in this one, Michigan will have to match Wisconsin’s defensive intensity from start to finish. Because Nankivil is the only player in the Wisconsin rotation over 6-foot-6, DeShawn Sims should be called upon early and often. His 23 point (9 of 14 shooting) 13 rebound performance in Madison was the only reason Michigan had a chance to win.
After that it comes down to anyone else hitting shots. That hasn’t happened much this year so it’s tough to predict anything but a Wisconsin win. Pomeroy likes Wisconsin, 58-53, and gives Michigan only a 26% chance at the win on their home floor. I’ll take Wisconsin 64, Michigan 54. Let’s hear your predictions in the comments.
Michigan comes out to play this game because to have a decent chance at the NIT we need this game. The way I see it we need to try to win at least five of the next eight games. Four of the games are home and the other four are away. So far the team has not shown toughness on the road except for a few games. Three of the road games should be extraordinarliy tough and the fourth is certainly no gimmee as we learned last year (although this year Iowa really doesnt have any stellar players).
The point is that Michigan needs to hold home court and sweep the home games it has remaining on the schedule. If the team is truly serious about these last 10 games being a new season they will shrug away the loss and play their game.
Michigan brings its best effort to this game and finds a way to pull off a win against a very dangerous Badger team that just destroyed a very goos Michigan State team.
Final score: 63 – 60
oh, to see us hit the player cutting through the lane, if even to have him pop it back out. and the backdoor!
No matter how bad things have been, I always have a difficult time saying Michigan will lose. But…
No, I can’t do it.
Michigan 66
Wisconsin 61
Maybe? Ugh.
Its simple. Wisconsin gets all the calls at home. This isn’t at Wisconsin. Therefore Michigan wins. 54-50.
Here’s Beilein’s quote on Manny from today:
“I wouldn’t say, right now, he was ready to talk about that,” Beilein said. “He was talking more about the big picture and not from a personal decision about what people have to do. I wouldn’t say he was ready to make a statement. You shouldn’t be thinking about those things right now — and he isn’t.”
Before anyone gets riled up about that quote. I think it makes perfect sense. This is something that will be dealt with after the season.
http://www.umhoops.com/2010/02.....-him-time/
uw 71
um 59
me 12-15 beers
Yeah, I smelled a rat immediately regarding Harris saying he’s coming back. I’m kind of surprised how many people took it as the gospel when it was reported. Although, since it was being reported that “Harris said he will be coming back for his senior season” on radio and television, I guess I shouldn’t be. This is an example of the misuse of power by certain media members.
on that note: isn’t there some sort of level of draft feeling that you are only allowed to do once? and manny was sure to not do that last year, to make it so he still had an option this year?
or am i totally making this up?
What the heck, UM 62-59. Later on the ice at Camp Randall, UM 2-1.
If there are any Maize Ragers reading this, please be ready to give a warm welcome to Gary Grant. He is back to Crisler for his first time since playing on Saturday.
Players like him don’t come to UM very often to play basketball, just look at our recruiting the last 12 years. So how about a few nice chants and a friendly welcome.
A wise man once told me to win money always bet on the underdog at home against a ranked opponent. Vegas has Michigan getting an extra 1.5 points, so we’ll likely win or lose by 1 pt.
I hope we wear maize. i think in maize uniforms we win 65-62.
in white, wisconsin takes it 73-64.
I also hope we hit shots, that Morris and LLP become visible, that nankivil’s shooting returns to within acceptable human variance, and that we find an inside game.
if UNC is still tournament-eligible (and nobody on ESPN can bring themselves to admit that they aren’t), we are allowed to hold out hope for our wolverines.
Looks like Cornell has basically locked up a bid tonight with Harvard losing at home to Princeton.
@ gpsimms. I believe you are correct that players can only “test the draft waters” once with the option to return. If Manny were to elect that again this year (i.e. Chicago pre-draft, etc), he could not return.
I don’t say this very often but GO BLUE!
but steiner i thought he did his pre-draft research short of that point lst year, so as to make it so he could come back after doing that…
i guess ii’m remembering what i read wrong.
DSims puts the team on his back again and UM defends home court again in 2010, the one thing they’ve done well so far this year.
M by 3.
Yeah, about the draft. I believe you are allowed to officially enter your name in the draft and then pull it out one time. Manny did not enter his name in the draft last year, so he could enter his name this year and then pull his name out. It is most common for juniors to enter their names early because they can get a good sense of where they would go, but still have the option or returning to school.
And I think we pull it out, 64-56
Free throws in the closing seconds stretch a four point lead to seven. M wins 57-50.
ok, thanks sam. that is wat i was trying to remember. as for the game, i feel like wisconsin is coming into their own without leuer. they demolished state and seem to have the post-leuer thing ‘figured out’ i don’t see how we win this.
Vegas has the game as a pick ‘em. Michigan opened as a 1 point favorite and some people have Wisco as a 1 point favorite. But sheesh, I’m a bit surprised to say the least.
Lines and stuff here: http://tracking.earnreal.com/c.....mp=1001001
Maybe the guys that make the line are not as close to the program and don’t get emotional about the losses, so they don’t seem as bad to them. It’s almost like they realize someone loses every game.
I think this one’s all about what happens with Peedi early, with us going to him and them going at him. We have to hope he doesn’t pick up a couple early fouls. If he controls the paint and they’re forced them to shoot from outside on the road, and we get some decent defensive rebounding (help, please, Manny) and turn it into some quick points in transition (threes – I’m looking at you, Stu), and we play intense D like against Sparty, and Novak makes his layups, and we hit from the stripe, we could seriously spank ‘em. I kinda think that’s what’s gonna happen, especially since I’m staying in my U of M pjs all day. 67 – 47.
I never get emotional about….oh never mind.
I wish I could bet on this game. I just have no confidence in our boys to beat Wisconsin. Maybe they’ll surprise me, but Wisconsin seems like a lock.
UofM pulls it out by 3. UofM fans begin wildly predicting scenarios in which the team can STILL make the NCAA tourney. UofM responds by losing at Minnesota.
I kind of tend to think along Erik’s idea… I could even see them beating Minnesota or something ridiculous, then losing at Iowa. Just the way the season has gone.
We need to continuously get better over these next eight games while at least winning five of them.
Then we raise some heck in Indy. That is truly a different season where anything can happen.
Alex: what’s different about it and how can anything happen?
Erik, I’ll bite even before we win today. We need to win 8-9 more games to have a good chance at making it. Most likely scenario for that to happen is win 6 of the last 8 regular season games (lose at OSU and MSU) then make a run in the BTT, winning 2 or 3. Yeah we’d probably need to beat MSU, Purdue, Wisco, or OSU on the way, but I give us a better chance at a neutral site than on the road.
But of course like Dylan said I wouldn’t be surprised if we beat Wisco and win at Minny then lose at Iowa.
Let’s get Coach B his first ever win against Wisconsin today.
Giddings I’m not sure that BTT games count like regular season games do. If we only win six I think it would be impossible to get an at-large bid. Winning games in the BTT keeps you in the at-large discussion but doesn’t get you into it. For example if we had lost to Iowa last year in the first round we may have lost our bid.
Someone correct me if my interpretation is wrong.
I’ll give the home team a very reluctant 58-54 win.
Alex, last year Baylor finished the regular season 17-13 (5-11 Big 12) before going on a run in the Big 12 Tourney, winning three games to advance to the finals (where they lost to Missouri). Obviously before the Big 12 Tourney no one was talking about them as a bubble team, but when they won the 3 games there was some talk (ultimately I think everyone realized that 5-11 in the regular season would doom their at-large chances). When their Big 12 Tourney run ended, their record was 20-14 – this was the record that the NCAA Tournament committee would have taken into account when evaluating Baylor’s at-large profile.
Maybe Garde Thompson has some eligibilty left for todays game. Now there was a UM player who could hit the three.
Giddings, I was just being cynical because I think we’ve already given up any chance of making the NCAA tourney. Yes, I know it might still be statistically possible, but I don’t think we have a remotely realistic chance.
I’m just going to hope for a good game today.
Is this game televised? What station is it on?
CBS but much of the country is showing CAl/UCLA instead.
It’s streaming online though
http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/cbk-live
thats cool, put it on CBS and have my area have the CAL UCLa game instead. what a joke
TY Erik
Wisconsin disgusts me.
I swear, did Wisconsin bring the refs from the Kohl’s Center with them too?
I was disappointed with Sims play the first half of this season, but he has been bringing it the past 5-10 games. His mid/long range shot is really increasing his draft value.
Now, if Manny would stop dribbling it off his leg allowing a fast break 3 the other way…
I’ve said this before when watching them, Wisconsin hits more shots with the shot clock winding down then any team in the country. They look like they really came to play today also.
is that hightower?
Trying to upset a top 15 team is one thing. Trying to upset a top 15 team when they’re just throwing stuff up and it’s going in is another
Harris is playing so sloppy today. Some times I wonder if we really would be better off without him. He lost his handle dribbling twice, lost the handle on a shot once, forced two bad shots already, and zipped a pass towards sims out of bounds (luckily it was tipped).
Many of these mistakes led directly to points on the other end.
erik,
see: road games vs. purdue and rethink that.
wow not one three point attempt yet? what gives?
wisconsin does not miss in crisler
Ugh, slow motion domination.
Wisconsin hitting everything, rebounding everything, getting all the calls.
Ted Valentine is a disgrace. He makes Jim Burr and Ed Hightower look good.
chalk up another L
i was going to wait until halftime to go get a bottle of whiskey, but what’s the point of waiting?
according scacc stats, wisconsin’s scoring 1.7 points each possession. this might be a record.
JESUS! trevon hughes is ridiculous.
JESUS! could they just miss something?!
R u Kidding Me.
F*ck.
My God. There is no way they can continue shooting like this in the 2nd half. They are shooting 3 pointers better than we shoot free throws.
Yea Wisconsin aint lucky at all lol. They hit everything under 5 secs and then that buzzer beater.
That last one shouldn’t have counted. The clock stopped after Michigan’s basket.
anyone know the stat on their field goal percentage?
I have never seen a team shoot like that. We are playing good defense. They are in a zone.
This is going to be one of those days, I actually thought that was going in as soon as he shot it–it’s just the way their first half was going. Almost everything they threw up in the air went into the basket in the first half.
Wow, I’m not even mad.
according scacc again, wisconsin is scoring what must be a one half record setting 1.75 points per possession.
.682 FG%
.692 3%
.886 Efg%
and yes, there is no way wisco keeps this up. on the other hand, unlike some teams i know, wisconsin also will not lose a 14 point lead.
gpsimms, I dont understand your comment about @Purdue. manny didn’t play and they lost by a respetable 10 points to the 2nd best team in the conference. Look at some of the games Manny HAS played in….heck look at today and against NW last game.
I’m not saying Manny should go…he clearly has some skills. But I am tired of his shot selection, turnovers, bad situational awareness, and just overall appearing sloppy/lazy. If he goes pro I don’t think I’d feel as worried as many others. I think it would actually bring about a more fundamental, team oriented offense that would take better shots and have better passing.
example: so far, there have been 23 possessions in the game. so, if there are another 23 possessions in the 2nd half, we can only win if we score .61 points per possession MORE THAN wisconsin. so like, hold them to .6 AND we score a little more than double that per possession.
um, erik. that loss to purdue was embarrasing. stop saying silly things.
purdue was up by 27 with 12 minutes to go. we went on a run in garbage time. AFTER the game was statistically over (no team has ever come back from a game that is statistically over).
im not saying manny has been great this year. but he is one oof the only good players on this team, and is definitely better for the team than not.
Lost in all this Wisconsin slow moving perfection is the fact that Darius Morris is looking better and better every game.
aawesome defense there by darius. totally agree ag2
and can people stop criticizing manny’s shot selection? the only people on the team with higher efg’s than manny are:
peedi
gibson
vogrich (only because of 5/5 3pts against miTECH)
manny taking a bad shot has a better chance of going in than anyone else on the team except deshawn and gibson…and i dont think any of us think more shots for gibson is the solution.
manny is a pass-first guy on a team with only one other scorer. i respect the way he looks to pass, and i will never blame him for taking a few tough shots after watching his teammates throw up a million bricks.
I know there is some discussion as to whether Harris is coming back next year. I undderstand he is a good college player, but what am I missing here? He is not strong at shooting and ball handling. Other asepcts of his game are good but not excellent.
Why is Wisconsin waiting until the shot clock buzzer to make all their shots? Its like they’re trying to showboat. We get the point, Badgers, you’re jerks, we know.
because we’re actually not playing terrible defense. when wisconsin gets a good shot, they take it. but they dont take bad shots. there have been many times where we’ve played 35 seconds of good d, with wisconsin getting zero good looks, but throwing in a bad look at the buzzer anyway.
dont get me rong, our defense hasn’t been good. it’s just that every time we play a good posession wisconsin makes it anyway.
also. is zack novak seriously a 65% free throw shooter? that kid’s shot is busted. i don’t think he should be allowed to shoot anymore.
I hate to say this, but JB’s system is ill-suited to come back from this kind of deficit with the clcok working against us. The reason a team like Nova can come back from deficits is that they penetrate, score and aggressively pressure on D, ensuring they get as many opportunities to score and that they get the other team’s big guys in foul trouble. They don’t waste time running a system and hoping for an open look that never comes.
Alf, we’ve been doing what you said all second half. But we’re not hitting the free throws. Figures, the ONE time the refs actually call fouls on Wisconsin all season.
I gotta agree with michiganfan. Manny’s stock has got to be dropping rapidly in B10 play.
gpsimms, the arguing is pointless I guess since this team is obviously underachieving and we’re all frustrated. I just think it’s kind of silly to point out a 10 point road loss to the #2 team (even if the spread may have been up to 27). Especially given the fact that we are almost down 20 now AT HOME against the #3 team in the conference WITH Manny Harris.
Bottom line, no one but Sims is playing well on this team.
It’s not just me and the grey weather, right? This is a terrifically depressing game, right?
Pathetic.
I can’t help but feel like the way Wisconsin is playing is downright unsportsmanlike. They’re toying with ‘em, waiting until less than 2 on the shot clock and hitting everything.
Still, I’m very very optimistic about D-Mo.
Vogrich should be in to get minutes from here on out… really since halftime.
If I was JB I would burn some redshirts for the rest of the season – this season is over and I don’t think he should wait funtil next season for his freshman to get some experience. Novak needs to start sitting a lot more – he adds nothing. Start playing Vogrich more to see if he can contribute next year.
This team has 2 players at best and usually only gets production out of 1 or 1 -1/2 each game – and both of those players are gone next year.
THis team has quit – all of them – empty the bench.
burn redshirts? i agree clear the bench, but burning redshirts doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I am sure the bball team is like the football team. They have great practices but can’t seem to replicate the success in practice during an actual game. It’s obvious that Manny isn’t going to go pro. Who would draft him?
I can’t wait to see what excuses we can drum up after this game. How bout we do away with the “efficency” charts and all that other +/- crap from here on out. It should only be one chart, and thats the “can this team get any worse poll”?
whelp, let’s go hockey.
Burning redshirts when there is nothing to play for makes no sense.
Thought the defense looked good, but same old story on offense. No offense. Morris is looking a lot better, which is positive for next year.
Trey Ziegler you would be the man at UM.
Yep, I’d prefer to see a 19 year old Jordan Morgan fumbling around the last few games of this lost season than a 23 year old 5th year senior Jordan Morgan, 4 years from now. That makes sense.
actually. we scored 1.1 points per posession in the first half…which against wisconsin is very respectable.
that number finished at .9, which is obviously not great, but i think it got brought down a lot by chucking some bad shots after the game was over.
when the game was still “in reach” (using that term ve loosely), the offense was relatively efficient (again, considering wisconsin is kenpom’s #6 most efficient d in the country, best in the big ten)
anyway, the d wasnt the reason we got killed either. wisconsin throwing in half court buzzer beaters like that was killer.
This program is a total embarrassment.If Manny leaves we will be fighting for 10th place in BT.
Just play guys, just play. Play for seeding in the BTT. That’s all there is to it.
Maybe Douglas/Novak can recover from a sophmore slump and team up with an older/wiser D-Mo and do some damage.
Why are people still getting mad at this point? Just accept that we aren’t a good team. Pretty funny that we were favored today.
The team hasn’t quit.
How did we lose by less than 40 when we can’t make shots and the other team can’t miss? I’m serious, we could be worse.
Confidence has suffered from a year long shooting slump.
Douglas’ t-shirt was gone, I wonder if he reads this blog? It is good to change things up, even if it doesn’t seem to have worked.
The way we are playing, as mentioned above, Trey can pick his spot.
It seems possible that the expections have ruined the season, next year they won’t have that problem and the year after they’ll be a more experience team.
Playing for the future should only happen when games have been decided, so JB might be a little quicker with playing time for young guys but you still have to try to win every game.
Beilien is overmatched against far too many BT coaches.
some of you people are ridiculous…NO team in the Big Ten would’ve beat Wisconsin today…
i think it’d be much more accurate to say that our players are outmatched…
NO team in the country.
DEVELOP A PLAYER BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELILEINEILNELINE
Incredible, I’ve been talking about how much better D-Mo has gotten all season and this Amaker backer starts trolling.
As for beating Wisconsin when they’re shooting that well, the objective is to prevent them from shooting that well. As a matter of fact, Keaton Nankavil shot 8-9 from 3 @ Mackey and they still managed to hold on.
MR, if you want to rank your Big Ten Coaches go right ahead. Mine are:
1. Tom Izzo
2. Bo Ryan
3. Bruce Webber
4. Matt Painter
5. John Beilein
6. Tom Crean
7. Tubby Smith
8. Thad Matta
9. Bill Carmody
10. Todd Licklighter
11. Ed Dechelis
Bottom line – we’re not a good team and only have three players who belong in the Big 10, Manny, Sims and Morris. Manny and Sims are exhausted from carrying the entire team for the whole season. I thought that we looked like an exhausted and beaten team against Northwestern but also thought that may have been just a bump in the road. Today confirmed it. With the high hopes for this season some of my feelings could be frustration. It also shows what a miracle last season was. Today, it looked like the team just wants to get the season over with. Sadly, they’ll get their wish sooner than I expected.
I think there are only two coaches in the B10 that truly stand out amongst the rest: Izzo and Ryan. Painter has had great success but took over an equally successful program. Webber has had some excellent success but not quite as consistent as Izzo and Ryan. I think the jury is still out on Beilein and Crean. Matta and Tubby are good recruiters but haven’t shown to be great at the other part of the job.
AG2- One more recruiting class and Crean will dominate Beilien. Recruiting is a major part of coaching, Matta will have more success than Beilien. Carmody would give his right arm for Manny and Sims and still took both games (no excuse). I give Lickliter an incomplete, they will both have their rosters next year.
I’m just going to expect we will suck again next year. Seriously. Then even the slightest improvement from the debacle that is this season will be like a pleasant surprise.
I agree with Rick, but I’ll just make one correction. Harris, Sims, and Morris are the only players on the roster that belong on a starting lineup in the big ten. I think Douglass and Novak would be amazing bench players to provide a spark.
To me, Laval Lucas-Perry has been the biggest disappointment this year. He has been invisible in big ten play minus an amazing performance against Penn State. And don’t get me started on Anthony Wright and Zach Gibson.
Bottom line: the team’s biggest weakness is just a lack of talent. Don’t blame Beilein; it’s always an uphill climb when you start one player above 6′5, zero players above 6′8, have one player off the bench that can score, and are a 3-point shooting team that can’t shoot 3’s.
Well I’m not exactly impressed by Crean so far, and that includes his career at Marquette. A final four and D-Wade was nice but that’s not nearly enough for IU. Besides, once again, Beilein’s recruiting is getting underestimated. Two top 100 players next year and a top 50 guy in 2011. Crean’s class next season is weaker than Beilein’s
That Matta can recruit, but his coaching is holding them back. Bruce Webber is a decent coach but what has he accomplished without Bill Self’s players? For all the talent he’s brought in, Tubby’s not as far along as Beilein is.
I think we’ve seen what Lickliter can do, and that’s run off players.
I agree the major weakness is talent. Beilein has got to get better players. Trey Zeigler could be for Beilein what M. Cleaves was for Izzo. Sometimes just one player can turn a program around.
Do you think history would be different if Cleaves went to UM instead of MSU?
The team tried and that counts for something. As someone said earlier no team would have beaten Wisconsin today. They kept making shots at the very end of the shot clock. They had four shot clock violations which shows our defense was pretty good.
I wish the outcome was different but maybe there was something to learn. Hopefully the team uses the last seven to get better and hopefully make some noise in the BTT.
Things seem desperate. The season seems like it’s over. It isn’t quite yet. They need to bring the intensity they have shown in some games to every game they play from here on out.
Go Blue!
Steve Fisher used to say something like this regarding media opinions of his team: ‘You are not as good as they say you are, when they say you are good. Also, you are not as bad as they say you are, when they say you are bad.’
I think that little bit of wisdom applies to this team. Coach Beilein has to get them to believe in themselves again.
Wisconsin hit on everything even the dance team. I mean what a shooting performance. Unreal. They didn’t play bad defense. Manny’s shooting was down right lousy. Just a good old butt whoopin.
well. im glad that wcha officials decided there should be no happiness in any michigan fan’s life since march, 2009.
Took a little sabbatical from posting since I discovered that I was living my life on Umhoops.com. Not that there is anything wrong with that. In fact it only meant that I speant most of my time on Mgoblog.com.
thoughts on todays game: Wisky was awesome. I thought we played really solid D throughout the entire game. Not great D, but solid. There were a couple lapses but for the most part we made them take jump shots and many of them were contested. They just made everything. We were not going to win this game with the way they shot it.
I really think this team has just lost all confidence in their offense. Guys are passing up looks they would have taken earlier in the year, guys are overpassing on drives instead of taking layups, even Manny cant seem to find the consistency he had earlier. The combination of the disappointing early season tourney, plus the shooting struggles, and the loss to MSU have killed the confidence. At this point I dont see it coming back unless they have one of those games were everything in the world goes in. Hmm, maybe they can talk to Wisconsin about that.
It was once again a pretty lifeless crowd today. I dont know if any students who go to games read these comments, but if they do, they really need to figure out some cheers to get other fans involved. Jumping and yelling is great, but its not going to get fifty year old ladies out of their seats. I hate to say it, but the Go team color one, Go team color two, chant that State does is really good for getting an entire crowd involved. I dont think we should do a Go BLue, Go Maize chant. But maybe some more Go – Blue chants or something more inventive, would be good.
Amir Williams was at the game. did not hear any chants of his name. I think Carlton Brundidge was there as well but not sure on that.
Stuart Douglass–zero pts. Zack Novak–three pts. People who are down on Manny may fail to understand how much pressure lies on his shoulders in a situation where GAME AFTER GAME 3/5 of the offense produces NOTHING. Believe me, Beilein wants Harris back.
As many people said, Darius Morris was one of the few bright spots today. Having a confident player who can dribble-penetrate next year might be the difference between disaster and mediocrity. D. Simms, meanwhile, is a soldier in the army of the lord.
Next year might not be as bad as most of us think if Morgan, Mclimans, and Smotrycz (possibly Horford) can provide us a front court instead of Sims with 4 guards.
The talent level on this team is very weak. Stu, LLP,Novak, and Douglas would get as many minutes on the ‘84-85 team (honored at halftime) as Steve Stoyko did. Beilein is not the trouble fundamentally, though this season has raised some doubts. His almost pathological unwillingness to put any size on the court is odd, and his lack of fire seems to spill over to the team, barring a C.J. Lee type firebrand on the court. If Douglass, LLP, or Novak (at the 4) are starting next year expect the same results. Legit starters do more in their second seasons than timid, fear-ridden, play with averages below seven points and shooting percentages lower than Ichiro’s BA. I would favor a starting lineup something like this next year: Morris, Manny (at the 2), Novak or Hardaway, and the best two of Smotrycz, Morgan, and McLimans at the bigs. We desperately need more talent and size on the floor. Someone who could really shoot would also help. Any chance we will ever again see a UM guard who can pull up and hit the mid-range jumper? I know they are out there…every other team has one.
I agree, Mattski. Manny and Sims have a HUGE weight to lift on their shoulders. Manny’s had a rough few games, but no one else steps up to help out, especially LLP, Novak, and Douglass.
The one beacon of hope I’m seeing is Darius Morris; he has improved a lot this year in my opinion, cut down on the mental mistakes and has some offensive moves. I like his potential down the line.
I’m not so confident that Morgan, McLimans, Smotrycz, and Horford will be adequate replacements next year for Sims…Sims is the best player on this year’s team in my opinion.
Let’s hope for Trey Zeigler, Jon Horford, continued improvement by the young guys, Manny Harris coming back, and maybe a little luck on our sides. GO BLUE
Oh, and I’m a student and in the Maize Raige and I agree that the chants and cheering need to be improved. Today the crowd was quiet, but I think everyone’s hope was completely deflated by Wisconsin’s first half shooting clinic.
When Bohanon hit that 3 at the buzzer at the end of the first half, you could hear everyone’s energy deflate.
I agree about the talent being weak, but let’s think about it for a second:
Ant Wright and Gibson were Amaker holdovers. Can’t blame Beilein for them.
Cronin and Morgan got injured. With even one healthy, we’d have a much different lineup, with Novak playing his natural position. Can’t blame this on Beilein.
I agree about LLP being the biggest disappointment. At the time, I think Beilein had to take him to add depth last year. However, from his highlight tapes I really expected more out of him. Definitely disappointing.
Next year will be much different and improved. I can’t believe the people that still blame Beilein. He puts his guys in position to make open jump shots, but they just can’t do it. That’s on the players, not Beilein. On defense, well it didn’t even matter today. When a team makes those shots that Wisconsin was making….it doesn’t matter.
It always hurts to know big time recruits were in the house to watch us get stomped.
Small ball sucks.
what recruits were at the game?
Carlton Brundidge and Amir Williams were both in Crisler.
“I have no idea (when he’ll be ready to play) I do a lot of things but hurting a kid so it affects him the rest of the year is not one of ‘em”
That was Tom Izzo referring to Kalin Lucas. I guess I’m not the only one who thinks Wisconsin is dirty.
weird…cause I think MSU plays a more dirty than Wiscy…MSU defense reminds me of a rugby game…at least wiscy seems to be in position instead of just grabbing moving players…
I saw players at Fifth Quarter tonight.
I didn’t see the Lucas injury. Was it dirty? The article I read said Lucas was up in the air and came down on someone’s foot. Usually that’s pretty accidental.
Erik i’ve seen talk on either side of that injury. Stoney said on the Ticket 97.1 that he thought it was dirty, and Stoney still knows more about sports than most other folks know.
Misread, AG2. I don’t think that was a swipe at Wisconsin by Izzo. I think what he meant was “I’m not going to put Lucas into the line-up before he’s ready and risk tweaking the ankle and injuring it further so it effects him the rest of the year.” That’s the right read.
Some MSU fans will swear up and down it was dirty. Some will call them delusional. I’m in the latter camp.
Erik – It wasn’t remotely dirty. Hadn’t even cross my mind until I read your post.
As for the frontcourt next year, I expect Smotrycz to be a prime contributor–probably a starter all year. It’s hard to know what to expect from Morgan except that he’ll get minutes. McLimans will probably average less than five minutes per game and won’t play in close games. I expect us to land one more scholy player, and he could be big. A frontcourt of Horford, Smotrycz and Morgan would give us some great games and some off games, but those guys could embody *part* of a pretty good team in upcoming years–if Brundidge and Hardaway pan out and if Morris develops apace, you’d have an up-and-down team that would ultimately put quite a few wins on the board. But it’s more a matter of which big recruits we can bring in in ‘11-12 and ‘12-’13. We absolutely need at least one more four-star player and two to three three-stars.
I’d heard that Bo Ryan teaches his players to put a foot underneath a guy coming down and that’s what I thought Izzo was referring to.
I’d like to know what Beilein has in mind if he can’t bring in either Williams or Plumlee fo 2011. Those are the kind of recruits that can legitimize a program.
Michigan couldn’t win the MAC this year. Just pathetic!
wow that would be low if true… what coach in their right mind could encourage that?
I don’t believe Ryan teaches that. That sounds like a Spartan conspiracy theory. Izzo’s big men “beat the s*** of your opponent then flop when they bump you back” is the hardest thing for me to watch in the Big Ten.
agreed old style…cant stand that “d”…i actually am impressed with how wisconsin plays d…position over physicality
AG, even if Izzo believes that I doubt he’d say it publicly unless it was egregious. Again, I think it was meant to suggest Izzo doesn’t want to hurt Lucas by re-inserting him too early. I still don’t think it was dirty. Stuff happens.
Oh, and I don’t come here to debate UM fans, but I don’t really think you can call MSU serial floppers. That just doesn’t hold up from watching their games. I don’t see MSU players on the floor all the time. Green is even drawing fewer charges this year.
MSU’s “D” is something you can complain about as an opponent, for sure. Flopping? No way.