was it all a crazy plot to get what he wanted? "A way to exceed expectations is to manage them [laughs]. We were in a situation where it was absolutely unclear what the ultimate decision was going to be and I wanted to make that known that it was unclear and the fan reaction was very helpful and very important."
Basketball: On To The (Lack Of) Postseason!
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The Postseason Before The Postseason
The Big Ten Tournament walks a weird line between being the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason. It also happens to be Michigan's only chance to, like, make the postseason (they do not plan to accept a CBI bid if they don't make the NIT). In Round 1, Michigan faces off against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 8/9 game, with a rubber match against Ohio State lurking if they should advance. Your full bracket, from the Big Ten:
To make the NCAA Tournament, the tall order of defeating Iowa, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Purdue or Michigan State seems to be necessary. Basically what I'm saying is that there are only a couple basketball games left this season, so try to enjoy them.
Lists: We Is On Them
"We" being only DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris, of course. The Official Big Ten All-Conference honorees include DeShawn Sims as a Second-Team selection and Manny Harris as a Third-Team nod. Manny was named to the official First-Team squad in the preseason. Ohio State's Evan Turner was named the conference POTY.
Other outlets making lists include the Big Ten Network's Big Ten Geeks, whose squad (first team only, plus freshman of the year) includes no Wolverines (HT: UMHoops). The outstanding Michigan State (durr: oxymoron, durr) blog The Only Colors determines the Big Ten players who are most valuable based on PORPAG, whatever that means. Points Over Replacement Player Per Adjusted Game decrees that DeShawn Sims is worthy of his Second-Team consideration, and Manny Harris was one of the great disappointments in the Big Ten this year. Players of note:
| Big Ten PORPAG | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Player | Value |
| 1 | John Shurna (NU) | 4.41 |
| 2 | Jason Bohannon (UW) | 3.96 |
| 3 | Robbie Hummel (Pur) | 3.75 |
| 4 | Evan Turner (OSU) | 3.59 |
| 5 | Demetri McCamey (Ill) | 3.23 |
| 10 | DeShawn Sims | 2.82 |
| 25 | Manny Harris | 1.90 |
| 32 | Zack Novak | 1.48 |
| 50 | Darius Morris | 0.37 |
| 51 | Laval Lucas-Perry | 0.15 |
| 52 | Stu Douglass | 0.13 |
The stat is imperfect - it only covers offense, and defensive rebounding is one of Manny's great strengths - but it indicates that he has a lot of offensive work to do, and would probably be better-served by staying in college for his final season.
Manny Harris
It might just be me, but it seems like Manny never really does good in the marquee games on the schdule. He didn't do anything at Ohio State or Michigan State. He really needs to come back next year.
March 9th, 2010 at 5:00 PM
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Ah...
That 7 seed with a potential second round matchup against a Hummel-less Purdue would have looked a lot nicer than what we're stuck with now.
“Some people watch adult videos on their computer. I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me aroused.”
the one caveat
is that Purdue is essentially playing at home and Ohio State will be something of a neutral game. (The bandwagon from Columbus is actually pretty big, which is disappointing; in general, OSU basketball fans seem to be not much different than OSU football fans.) In fact, being the 7 seed would have meant starting off with Indiana also basically playing at home ...
I think the key is to simply kidnap Evan Turner, forcing Matta to make an adjustment. That should pretty much take care of that game. That would still leave Wisconsin/Illinois and Purdue/Michigan State ... sigh ... never mind.
FWIW
Including defensive stats wouldn't help Manny's case much. His defensive rebounding percentage in Big Ten play is down from 22.4% last year to 13.5% this year.
manny
although manny's offensive #s are comparable to last year, what disappointed me most about him was his consistent lack of desire on defense. his rebounding was down significantly and he often gave up uncontested layups.
this season was frustrating, because they weren't far from being a bubble team. the lack of hustle and desire on D could easily translate into a few more possessions per game, which could have made the difference in several close losses (think bama, bc, wisky, psu; i won't include the close msu loss, because i think they did hustle that whole 40 min.). Instead we're staying home. frustrating indeed.
it can happen
If Michigan makes a run at it, it wouldn't be the first time that an upstart team won a conference tourney. They will probably have to average 50% from the three point line over the four days to have any kind of chance. It could happen (no way in hell).
Under the assumption that we
Under the assumption that we need a .500 record to get asked to the NIT, it is mathematically impossible for us to get there.
At 14-16, if we win 2 games in the B10 tourney then lose the 3rd one, we'd be 16-17. If we win 3, then lose the title game... 17-18. And if we win all 4, we go to the NCAA tourney.
I'm also told that the win against Northern MI doesn't count... so at 13-16, the task is exactly the same.
Win the B10 tourney, or the season is done.
