Michigan vs. IUPUI mens basketball open thread
Cleveland State beat Bowling Green earlier tonight in OT 79-73 so Michigan will play CSU tomorrow if they win.
9 PM ESPNU
November 12th, 2012 at 10:35 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:36 PM ^
Pearl is cracking me up
"Burke has some tree trunks under those trousers"
November 12th, 2012 at 10:37 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:37 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:37 PM ^
Pearl: "If Aaron Craft is not at Ohio State..."
...awkward.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:40 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:38 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:39 PM ^
What I liked best was all the non-scoring plays THJ was making - assertive on the boards, setting up his teammates - you didn't see that as much last year
November 12th, 2012 at 10:40 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:40 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:40 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^
layups anyone?
November 12th, 2012 at 10:43 PM ^
If we can put it together defensively and at the line, the skies the limit for this team.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:44 PM ^
I am loving our faster tempo this season. Last year, I know we had to operate at a slower pace to conserve energy with our thin bench, but all those 60-55 games got a little tiresome. I love that we now can drop a hundred on somebody.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:44 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:47 PM ^
Also, in semi-related news, Darius Morris has (finally) looked pretty good with the Lakers the last few games since we canned Mr. Potato Head. He still gets lost on screens quite often, but frankly EVERY one else in L.A.'s been pretty guilty of that this season (sigh) He's been great at bodying up on his man and using his size to deny penetration. His aggressiveness has been a welcome contrast to Steve Blake's passivity and he's given some quality minutes in relief, to the point where he might well be the main backup at point when Nash gets back.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:47 PM ^
AKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNE
November 12th, 2012 at 10:49 PM ^
This is an exceptional team, but man, the college basketball regular season is frustrating to watch, because more so than in any other sport, there's this sense that its all sort of meaningless. Our sucess or failure as a team will be juged based on whether we luck into a good or bad day sometime several months from now in late March.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:53 PM ^
Our 2012 Big Ten title was definitely not meaningless. Yeah, the tourney is the big deal, but if you can win your league that's pretty big, too.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:57 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:49 PM ^
I feel like we very well may be looking at the best offense in the NCAA.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:49 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:50 PM ^
I have two kids at Cleveland State so I might be somewhat conflicted tomorrow night.
Ok.......no I'm not. Screw CSU.........
November 12th, 2012 at 10:50 PM ^
So umm, this team can kinda shoot the rock a bit.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:51 PM ^
10 Points
5 Rebounds
2 Assists
1 Deathstar
November 12th, 2012 at 10:53 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:57 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 10:57 PM ^
Ace. Recap. STAT.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:00 PM ^
I can't wait until ESPN steals this. Just awesome.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:32 PM ^
I see you've already learned your lesson and added the watermark. Wise decision.
November 13th, 2012 at 12:16 AM ^
Can't + past 5, so I'll throw in a
Space, bitches. SPACE.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:53 PM ^
Deepest Beilein team and Michigan team in recent memory.
Most quality big men Beilein has had at Michigan.
Most skilled team Beilein has ever had.
I thought the team looked a bit shaky on defense early, but the halftime adjustments were great and this team is flat out skilled, and dare I say it, the most fun team to watch since the Fab Five! The freshmen will only get better and love the effort defensively for most of the second half. Burke also took it to another level. This team could be scary good, but I will temper the excitement until they play a decent team. Love what I'm seeing though.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:13 PM ^
I'm not saying that's how far this team is headed (or that they can't go further)...NCAA Tournament is so much about matchups. But this is without question a perfect team to do serious damage.
During the B1G season they'll run up against teams that know their system and have familiarity with players. But come tournament time, when you look at system, talent, depth, versatility...you're not going to find too many teams that are better. This team can go big, small, fast or slow --- and they can be patient enough to find a matchup that works.
I know we're a looooong way away, and I'm going to enjoy it game by game. But I've been around basketball for many many years and this is unquestionably a GREAT team in the making. The top 5-6 teams are all there as well...this team deserves to be mentioned with the best.
And for those who want to relate it to football. Football is different, Football got good coaching and overachieved. They're an offense with one superstar, one top notch OLineman, a couple solid players with elite potential and a bunch of "every year we get guys at least this good because we're Michigan." In 2-3 years that should change and they should truly be an elite team. With basketball --- the time is NOW.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:27 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 11:30 PM ^
It's all about the D. This team has TONS of scoring options, but some D problems. As soon as Stauskus can put up competent D consistently (mid-year, I would think), he'll take over starters minutes, if not actualy starting.
November 12th, 2012 at 11:31 PM ^
November 13th, 2012 at 12:01 AM ^
Vogrich's defense isn't very good anyway. Staukas looks really good shooting wise and his height is an advantage.
November 13th, 2012 at 12:12 AM ^
I think people are under-rating the leadership provided by vogrich he does a lot of litttle things right. A lot of teams have guys that start the game but don't nescessarily play more minutes than their backup but it can help the team stay consistent in starting of games and keeping a level head.
November 13th, 2012 at 2:36 AM ^
November 13th, 2012 at 12:08 AM ^
Also, if we beat Clev St, anybody else want Lehigh to beat Pitt so we get to see us go up against McCollum.
November 13th, 2012 at 1:17 AM ^
What an exciting team to watch! There's obviously still a long way to go until March, and a lot of work to do before then. Still though, this team can ball!
November 13th, 2012 at 1:53 AM ^
it's nice to have genuinely high expectations for the Bball team. Could be ELITE this year. WOW!
November 13th, 2012 at 7:57 AM ^
I think Horford or McGary will start over Vogrich eventually...
Or it'll be a situation where he always starts each half, but he's out by the 1st media timeout (16:00).
November 13th, 2012 at 12:32 PM ^
Absolutely not.
Step into the spotlight, and enjoy.