Thankful

Does anyone else see that Kramer dude from Purdue when they look at Novak?

like Michigan did not expect to have to do the intangibles. Some flat footed attempts at rebounds and so on. The Blue Jays were a little better than expected and it looked like they caught UM in a game when they did not expect to be. I think M will have a nice bounce back today and really come to play.

will tell us plenty. I, for one, was impressed with the way we played for the most part and if we would have just hit our foul shots at the end it would have been the expected 3 to 6 point win.

The officiating was "questionable" yesterday. They called a lot on Michigan and not very much on Creighton and their no-calls looked worse than our fouls.

...that Zack Novak knows how fucking awesome he is?

P.S.-Whoever awards me my 300th MGoPoint will get two free tickets to Michigan's bowl game this year.

we can officially give Zack Novak Michigan's first annual "Wes Welker Memorial Gutsy White Guy That Has Intangibles That Other White Fans Adore" Award.

His overtime play was oustanding. He's so tough! Gamey! (Riverboat Gambler, etc., etc.)

LLP got hot when we needed him in the second half. Without that spurt from him, I think Creighton might have pulled away. Good on him.

Please make free throws in the future.

I liked that announcers called Manny Harris a National Player of the Year candidate. Respect.

Tim, nice work getting a postgame post up.

A win is a win, especially against a good team like Creighton.

The team needs to get stronger around the rim.

Perry played his best game as a Wolverine.

Manny being Manny.

No panic, ability to get it done late, covered the spread. I was impressed and more than happy with the outcome.

I keep telling myself not to get too excited that one of the best coaches in all of college hoops has the best player he's ever had at his disposal.......but, whoa. If Manny is Manny and the rest of the team executes Beilein Ball to the best of their ability.........lets just say it will be a fun winter.

I'm not thankful for:

- Morris' defense. He is so soft. Didn't fight through a single screen and will continue giving up some wide open looks from the top of the key until he gets tougher. I was flabbergasted when he was called in to play defense on the last possession of regulation. I still don't completely understand all of Beilein's substitutions but far be it from me to question his faculty.

- Anthony Wright's game today. Didn't rotate, gave up an easy shot. Closed too early on a transition pass and gave up another easy shot. Hit a three. Took a bad three. Benched. When he's playing well/smart, he's a fantastic 7th man.

I'm thankful:

- That we could make so many mistakes and still beat a good team.

- For Morris' offensive skillz. Clearly a way better option at PG than last year's. And his D will come along, Beilein willing.

This game is an indication that UM will be the hunted not the hunter this year. The announcers kept talking about how Creighton could use a big win over a ranked team (like us beating Duke and UCLA last year).
Concerns: Defense in the paint, free throw shooting, rebounding.
Thankful for: How we kept our poise, 3 point shooting, Manny, Novack.

The refs did seem to swallow their whistle at times but I won't go as far as to say the calls were unbalanced. Michigan got to the line 23 times to their 6. That certainly had to do with each team's style of play more so than anything else, but if Michigan makes their shots at the stripe, they could have sealed this game in regulation.

I had to listen to the first half on the radio while driving and I would have guessed that the Creighton fans outnumbered the Michigan fans 2 to 1. I wasn't surprised though. In situations like this, the fans of the schools not playing probably gravitated towards pulling for the underdog.

Man I love his play. The hustle, the beautiful 3 pt ability, boxing out, all around awesome. And that reverse layup? Crazy! Quickly becoming one of my favorite players in a veeery long time.

Lots of things to be thankful today.

1. We won vs. our first quality opponent. AND winning in OT does add character. We can learn from a WIN today.

2. Manny has learned to be an all-around player. The RBs and assists are huge. That Iowa OT benching last year paid off.

3. Lions didn't really embarrass me that much today. Beats the 47-10 mauling by the Titans last year. GB is very good and we did have a chance for a while. Plus, we scored first (ya hoo!)

4. In spite of our football team's comparison to the 1962-63 teams (our last two really poor back-to-back teams), it hasn't affected the quality of a Michigan Degree. Glad I got mine!

5. The weather isn't too bad either. I can remember shoveling snow a few times on Thanksgiving this decade.

Those who stay will be champions, indeed!

The Michigan fans were quiet for a lot of the game, likely owing to the fact that we were underperforming expectations to an extent. However, during overtime, we were just as vocal as Creighton had been during the game, if not more so.

I watched this one with several Big Ten basketball fans. Entering the game I was pro-Michigan and felt the team could compete for a league title by winning at home and competing on the road. As the game progressed, however, I found my confidence wavering and had a difficult time explaining how Michigan would finish in the top three in the league.

What are your thoughts? Does this game provide any clarity for the season? I was hoping for a stronger performance against a mediocre team on a (primarily) neutral floor.

I usually don't bother to complain, but after the study that came out last week about officiating, it definitely looked like there was some validity. To me, it looked like the refs were trying to keep Creighton in the game so that the viewers would keep the game on.

Of course, it worked. They got an exciting, compelling game, and the constant hyping of Creighton as a team that was trying to make the best of its ONLY CHANCE to impress the NCAA Tourament committee looked more "valid" the longer they stayed in the game with "15th ranked Michigan."

I don't buy wholesale conspiracy theories, but I have believed since the 70's that officials, being human, are just as subject to human foibles as anyone else. I have always contended that if you gave me a striped shirt, I could influence the outcome of almost any football or basketball game, because I have seen it happen too many times.

Luckily, the correct team won today. I guess that's good enough for me.

yeah, that is astounding. when i was in undergrad i used to order triple doubles all the time at wendy's.

Can we add Douglass' three to tie the game at 65? He was 3-4 ft behind the 3-pt line. That was clutch! Another thing to be thankful for Manny: taking over at the end of the game to make sure the team won.

there were def more creighton fans at the milk barn for the game - seemed like many were creighton families making a thankgiving vacay of disneyworld...

The defense played pretty well for most of the game but there were some things that worried me. Against more athletics teams, such as the teams in the Big Ten, the trap zone Michigan played could get beat pretty badly. It took Creighton most of the first half to figure it out but once Creighton did they were getting a lot of opens cuts to the basket. Also Creighton had a good number of wide open three point looks that they missed which they would normally make. I understand that their percentage from beyond the arc wasn't to far below their season average but with the looks they were getting it could have been much higher than their average. But overall I though Michigan played pretty well against their first competitive opponent, should be an exciting season!

You can be thankful for Perry, too.

And not thankful to see Wright take 5 shots in 90 seconds towards the end of the 1st half.

On the refs - I just think that the quality of NCAA referees is, largely, poor. We saw it a ton in the Big Ten all last year. The refs weren't favoring anyone, in my opinion, they were just bad.

Great game by these guys in particular. Michigan should have run away with this one except for a run at the end of the first half, helped along by a couple crappy calls in a row and some hot shooting by creighton. Huge relief to get the win. Three disappointments of the game: 1. Manny missing four free throws down the stretch, he's usually money (of course he made up for it by a three point play and a dunk in OT); 2. Manny not getting the third triple double in Michigan history, SO CLOSE; 3. Matt Vogrich not getting a look from three, I'm excited about this kid.