2022/23 Basketball vs 2021/22 basketball at this point- No need to panic!
Michigan is currently 10-7 and on the wrong side of the tournament bubble but is it time to panic?
I don't think so. The team and lineups are improving and I think we are seeing the challenge of adding 4 new starters and 3 out of 4 new bench players.
Last year at this point U of M was 10-7 after defeating Northwestern, didn't have a top win and had lost to Minnesota and Central Florida. Last year Michigan made the Sweet 16
Positives versus last year's team at this point.
This team has more upside than the team last year due to better shooting. Bufkin is shooting 34%, Dug 32%, and Joey Baker 48%!
Tarris Reed has ability to be as effective as Diabate. Reed's block rate is twice as high as Diabate's. More importantly he seems to have better chemistry with Hunter Dickinson or maybe the better outside shooting is allowing 2 bigs to be much more effective.
I think we need to see Tarris Reed's minutes increase and more time playing both bigs.
I see more improvement this year from beginning of the season and I think the arc we saw in 2021-22 bodes well for what we will see from this year's team in terms of improvement.
Lastly- did you know that there are now 3236 operation Starlight satellites?
January 16th, 2023 at 8:09 PM ^
Michigan currently is ranked 75th and 12th out of 14 Big Ten teams in the NCAA Net Rankings. Only six Big Ten teams now are ranked in the Top 40 (Purdue-4, Rutgers-16, Ohio State-22, Illinois-23, Indiana-32, Iowa-35) and Michigan has six games left against those teams (two with Indiana, none with Iowa), including three of the last six games of the regular season, each of which is on the road. LINK to Michigan's schedule.
Michigan also has two home games left against Nebraska (NET Rank 94) and Minnesota (NET Rank 208), neither of which should be expected to improve the Wolverines’ NET rank.
Four of Michigan’s next five games are against the Big Ten teams Michigan already has beaten (at Maryland, home with Minnesota, at Penn State and at Northwestern). The fifth game in the middle of that stretch is at home against Purdue on January 26.
Michigan has a tough road ahead in order to get on the NCAA Tournament Bubble. In order to qualify for the NIT, Michigan can do no worse than go 6-8 before the Big Ten Tournament. To do that, the Wolverines have to beat the four teams it already has beaten, beat Nebraska and beat one team currently ranked higher than them in the NET rankings.
January 16th, 2023 at 10:27 PM ^
I don't think last year is a good reference point. I aspire to be much better than 17-14 in the regular season. Further, last year's team did not get better. After this point of the season, they basically went .500. This year's team has the talent to go on a 9-4 run, and win a couple BTT games, however... does it have the coaching?
January 16th, 2023 at 10:53 PM ^
I like Reed's potential. Not very explosive but moves really well for a thick big man. Could be a great defender.