Nick

January 9th, 2014 at 11:44 PM ^

Mich was a 5.5 pt fave at the sportsbooks, and projected to win by 4 by Kenpom ( which doesn't know about McGarys injury). 1pt win isn't that far off expectations and if Mich had made free throws or Nebraska didn't go crazy from 3 they'd have been right on. Still lotta issues on D guarding screen roll that need to be fixed. But I expect Nebraska is better than NW an PSU and could compete with purdue for 9th in league.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 1113

SurfsUpBlue

January 9th, 2014 at 11:25 PM ^

GRIII is looking better every game. Stauskis looked strong. I hope Lavert can pick it up. Walton seems to be slowly coming around and you had to love the first half buzzer beater.

Joined: 09/01/2011

MGoPoints: 1444

goblueram

January 9th, 2014 at 11:25 PM ^

Good win there at the end.  Kept thinking we would (and should) pull away from them in the second half, but we will take a close road win.

Now we've got the Wings tied after 1 thanks to another beauty from Tatar.

Joined: 08/18/2009

MGoPoints: 11701

Space Coyote

January 9th, 2014 at 11:26 PM ^

And rotations were very slow tonight as well. Easily allowed Nebraska into the lane far too often. Whether their hedging screens or pushing screens into wing help, they can't allow the guy with the ball into paint so easily and expect the other team to miss.

I felt watching that Nebraska did a lot of aimless dribbling, had looping drives, and made lots of cuts to nowhere (or to spots that weren't beneficial), but the defense just didn't respond.

That said, the offense did (outside of free throws). Bigs are doing what they need to do when given good looks and the SOs are really stepping it up. Walton needs to work on his entry pass into the high post against the zone though, but he made up for it with the big basket at the end.

Joined: 06/18/2009

MGoPoints: 38962

samdrussBLUE

January 9th, 2014 at 11:34 PM ^

We have a lot of work to do each day in order to make this season a success (conference play). Better to win than lose. That's about it for tonight

Joined: 01/21/2012

MGoPoints: 18004

Qmatic

January 9th, 2014 at 11:53 PM ^

3-0 in the conference, I'll take it. Win on Tuesday vs Penn State and we'll meet a for sure undefeated team in Madison. That will be a big test for us, but if our starters play like they did today, and if we can get a little more production from Irvin and Horford off the bench, I like our chances vs anyone in the B1G

Joined: 01/09/2013

MGoPoints: 32583

robmorren2

January 9th, 2014 at 11:54 PM ^

I don't really think there are many positives to be taken from a 1 point win vs a dead Nebraska program.

  • FT Shooting - Horribly bad. 33.3% ... yuck
  • Rebounding - Bad - Penetration is leading to help defense and easy 2nd chances.
  • Defense - Bad - Can't close out, stay in front of guards, or protect the rim.
  • Coaching - so/so - Coach B waited for the 4th consecutive three to be made before he called a timeout to tell his team to close out on the shooters. Remind you of anything? He did have them ready out of timeouts, as well as ready for Neb's changeup Zone D.
  • Offense - so/so - A lot of aimless dribbling. There is still no identity. Players take turns dribbling around the arc and shooting threes. The best it looks is when Nik or Caris penetrate.

Joined: 06/04/2011

MGoPoints: 2486

kgh10

January 10th, 2014 at 12:13 AM ^

Well. A win is a pretty big positive. Well take what we can get until these guys start to gel. I refuse to prematurely count Belein teams out after the run we had last year and the progress of our younger players. Yes that's not really analysis but winning is positive.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 3149

robmorren2

January 10th, 2014 at 1:05 AM ^

A win helps us get into the tournament. I agree with that. However, this is just one more example of this team not being anything above decent. I think are well behind MSU, Wisconsin, OSU, and Iowa. We're in the middle third of the B1G. I've seen no evidence of a team that can make a run at winning the B1G, B1G tournament, or make a run in the NCAA tournament. Even with Mitch, I don't think this team has the offensive chemistry, defensive ability, or rebounding ability to make a run. They do a lot of things decently, some things not so good, and a few things poorly -- nothing great.

Joined: 06/04/2011

MGoPoints: 2486

umumum

January 10th, 2014 at 12:00 AM ^

this is one of those games which reminds you that stats don't always tell the truth about performance.  Nik and Caris had very similar stats, but from a real-world perspective it wasn't close.  Nik played a good to very good game--Caris not so much.  Putting aside recent shooting issues, Caris as "elite defender" should have been our best match up with Nebraska's dribble-drivers.  He was no better (albeit not necessariuly worse) than anyone else.

Joined: 01/06/2011

MGoPoints: 7864

M-Dog

January 10th, 2014 at 12:04 AM ^

A third of the ESPN Top Ten Plays involve current/former/future Michigan players:  Derrick Walton, Tim Hardaway, Austin Hatch.
 
Cool.

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 256963

seksdesk

January 10th, 2014 at 12:58 AM ^

Oh, I'm 20 now? Allow me to exhibit all facets the fans have been waiting for. Inside, outside, mid-range, above the rim and all over the baseline. The fire in his eyes and the GRowlll! Sure hope it becomes the norm.

Joined: 02/02/2011

MGoPoints: 1132

LSAClassOf2000

January 10th, 2014 at 6:20 AM ^

It was a little close, of course, but you do have to like these situations when we're really on our game from a shooting standpoint. We were 31 of 50 from the field and had an effective FG% of 68.00% - that's rather good. We only managed four offensive rebounds, and I think the lack of second chance baskets probably contributed to making this closer than it should have been, as well as being only 33.33% from the stripe - need to make those. Good game though, and an addition to a great start to conference play. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130561

Naked Bootlegger

January 10th, 2014 at 9:15 AM ^

I'm in the "any road with in the Big 10 is good" mentality.  Remember when a Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway led team went to Penn St last year in a very important game and lost?   A Penn St. team without the services of their best player?   Yeah, I do too.   Nebraska may not be an upper echelon B1G hoops team, but it's still gravy to pull out a victory away from home.   Nebraska will beat a few people at home this year...I'm just glad it wasn't us.

Other snowflakes:

(1) GRIII seemed to be amped up on the defensive end.   Nice.

(2) We need someone to step up defensively against the dribble penetration.  Petteway was driving at will last night.

(3) Walton is getting more comfortable.   I see good things ahead.

(4) Front court depth sure is nice, isn't it?  Morgan and Horford may not be All Big 10 caliber, but they are experienced and effective B1G players.   McGary's injury leaves a huge void, but we can still win games with our current roster.  

 

Joined: 01/28/2011

MGoPoints: 34631