Well, That Could Have Gone Worse

Vogrich was in and promptly threw the ball away. At which point, he returned to the bench.

Michigan comes in this year with a "better" team than last year, but last year they were hungry to prove themselves. This year they are confused and clearly not ready to play many of these teams they should easily compete with. Until they get their heads straight, it's going to be a long season. They should have worked harder over the summer to prepare themselves mentally for the game.

Morris impressed today. Showed a lot of character after his first shot was an air ball and had to fight thru the chants. I think it's apparent why Belien still has confidence in him. Hopefully Vogrich can earn Belien's trust. Turning the ball over in 30 sec. of action won't help.

Have to disagree about putting him in there. Against any team with the type of athleticism Kansas have he's going to get picked apart and hurt the whole team defensively. Maybe Beilein can scheme to cover him up at some point but it doesn't seem we're there yet. He seems really far away on that end to the point that I wonder if he can ever become a viable player against elite athletes. Putting him in would be pure desperation.

Does Beilein need to like, take down the rims, attach a hula hoop with a net there instead, just so the kids see the ball going through the hoop in practice? I mean, they're obviously capable of shooting a basketball, we saw it last year. It has to be confidence, right? I'm all for psychological gimmicks at this point.

I didnt hear the rockchalk chant until well into the final minute, so thats a morale victory. As is the fact that Michigan backers cashed a winning ticket for the first time in a marquee in a while.

The last three halves of hoops from a defensive standpoint and from a Sims standpoint have been much better than the rest of the season. Its good to have found that in time for league season. As a Michigan fan, I feel much better now about this team going into IU on 12/31 and hosting OSU on 1/3 in the first weekend of Big 1o play and getting off to a good start in the Big 10.

So frustrating to see them miss time and time again. In big games you obviously have to hit your shots and I'm waiting for the breakout game. I was hoping today would be the day. I still have hope, but it's getting late to salvage things this year.

isn't there just the wee chance that the reason they're so horrible at shooting the ball as a team is that—with the obvious exceptions of Harris, Sims, and the yet unproven freshmen—they're just not that talented? If you judge basic basketball talent, don't you have to include being able to put the ball in the freaking basket with some reliability—in games, not just practice—as one of the fundamental skill sets that comprise basketball talent?

Vogrich is not the answer. Anytime he is in the game is time that I want to turn away. He's terrible on defense. He's Anthony Wright except he actually has a chance to make a 3 but has no chance of defending anyone.

At this point, I think the only thing we really need to focus on goal wise is getting a top 5 Big Ten finish. The reality is that without a 12 or 13 win Big Ten season, this team isn't getting an at large bid to the tournament. They just didn't do what they needed to do to build up the resume. BUT, there is the other obvious way to get into the Big Dance, and that is by winning the Big Ten tournament. I think the chances of any team winning four games in four days are extremely small, so getting a first round bye is really an essential thing to do. Top 3 would be even better so you play a team on Friday that played on Thursday, but that might be getting a little greedy. So let's get out to a strong start in the Big Ten with some winnable games, show up against UConn and get in position to make a run in the BTT. I think that's pretty much where we're at.

This team is starting to gel on the defensive end. The second half was the best defensive performance of the year. That's two games in a row, I have been able to say that with confidence, which is a sign that things are starting to come together. This team will make shots. It should also be noted that Kansas is an extremely tough place to play during the day because of the natural light in the arena. This team will find their stroke at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. Go Blue!

I never knew much about Bill Self other than that his team was very good and a traditional superpower, but I now think he's a piece of shit:

Here's what he said about UofM:
"We let them think they could play with us."
http://www.detnews.com/article/20091219/SPORTS0201/912190392/U-M-falls-i...

Really, Bill?
We missed a boatload of open threes. You had double the FTAs. You shoot over 50%. And, we "thought we could play with you"? What if we made a few more three's? Maybe we would have thought we could win. What a dick.

I thought the KU players seemed like bitches, crying about any call. I guess it comes from the top.

It's easy to say that the three point shooters aren't getting it done but when the defense can play so far outside, the shooters get "pinched" by the defense. The open looks just aren't' there and when they are Michigan seems to miss. I also sense this team is wrapped tighter than a banjo and not just playing against Kansas.
While I did find it encouraging that Michigan did not get blown off the court, certainly someone has to step up and make the inside presence felt. The young players need to step up if Michigan is going to have any kind of hope for a descent season. Go Blue-I still have hope for this Big Ten season.

I agree with Tim that sure if we had made 30% + of our 3s we may have won this but I also agree with the announcers that Kansas played a terrible 2nd half.

live by the three, die by the three. This team just doesn't get enough easy baskets game in and game out.

Get a stress free win against Coppin State and then get a nice road win at Indy and the team might start to feel confident heading into the Ohio State game (w/out Turner).

If the D does continue to improve, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Michigan could start the conference slate 4-1 (even 5-0) before playing @wiscy after the UConn game. Indy twice, NW at home and @PSU... all winnable games, of course all are "losable" too.

There's still time for the offense to get it together, but the D seems to be improving and that bodes well for the grind it out type games of the Big Ten.

With 3:37 left in the first half, Michigan is down 41-18. For the next 23:37 of the game, we beat Kansas, the #1 team in the nation, by 12 points.

I normally don't follow basketball as much, but I watched the game closely today and I do see some encouraging signs. First, for all his hype, Aldrich was thoroughly outplayed today by Sims. If he didn't get into foul trouble, it would have been 25-30 points for him. Aldrich had zero field goals and Sims easily beat him on inside moves. This was one of the first games where both Sims and Harris played relatively well. They weren't perfect, but both need to play well at the same time because the other players are liabilities. Novak and Douglass are absolutely worthless unless they hit 3s. They probably know that. You could see they feel the pressure. Their 3s didn't go in, but there were a lot of rim outs and close shots. They're misses, but I can easily see them regaining form. Another positive was Morris. He more than held his own out there and made some shots. I wonder if he should be given more looks.

Harris and Sims need to carry the team now. Even with Novak and Douglass making shots, they're still clearly the best players on the team. I liked what I saw today from both of them. If they continue to play well together, I can see 10+ conference wins.

They really need to beat UConn now. The non-conference has not been going well.

This is what games look like when one team is clearly better than the other (yes, I know we all know this). But the statement that we "played with" them implies we could be considered on par with them on some level.

No.

Your implication that if UM hits a couple more 3's, Kansas doesn't step it up (and plays the same) is incorrect IMO.

This was OSU vs UM 2007 and 2009. They were better, and when they needed to score, they did.

Good teams build lead then not let the other team ever get close.

Think of big brother holding his hand against little brother's forehead while little brother feably attempts to hit big brother (only to miss).

That was Kansas and UM after they built a lead.

This type of game happens all the game.

Now we didn't embarrass ourselves and I certainly liked how Sims, Morris and Manny played.

thaaaaanks

Self does sound kind of arrogant with some of his comments, but I don't think he's totally wrong when he says that they let us believe we could play with them. If they had really played like the #1 team in the country, then this game gets up to 35 point dominance territory. That we were able to cut the lead down shows that we have character, and there's value in that. But if you can't shoot the ball, character isn't going to get it done against a team that's as loaded as they are. (What Self didn't do, which makes him seem like a self-absorbed, narcissistic blowhard, is admit that we were part of the reason his team struggled.)

I'm disappointed in the way things have gone so far, but also still believe that we can turn things around this year. Beilein knows what he's doing and anyone who thinks he's the reason we're doing poorly should go watch another one of our many sports teams play since you're probably never going to be happy with where the basketball program is now.

I was shocked we actually out rebounded Kansas, if we can start shooting better I still think we can make noise in the Big Ten.

Yes, I know, when people say this it is because they are consoling someone. Michigan fans want wins, not consolation. Kansas tested Michigan's meddle. I saw a team that tried to step up to Kansas. I saw effort. They need a 3rd scorer to step up. Michigan's needs some athletic big man that rebounds too.

I happen to think that Michigan may do well in B10 play. Here is why I think this is so. First of all Harris and Sims are playing well. UM is very young. UM's effort is pretty good. Shooters can't stay cold for long. I can't see them shooting near 20% all season. Point three, Beilein's system is different enough that it will get wins because teams don't see it often.

Lastly, we're Michigan and poor performance won't be tolerate by this team. They'll get it together!

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