Basketball Snowflakes and upcoming schedule
This team needs Brooks to show up on the road or it’s going to be bad.
Wagner and Johns need to do more.
X played hard but cannot be your leading 3 pt shooter.
Cassius is an amazing player. Just tip your cap to him.
We have Purdue, Illinois, PSU, Minnesota and Iowa coming up.
3-2 would be fantastic. Buckle up everyone.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
It’s disappointing, because the team played hard and had some chances they lost to sloppy mistakes. I’m sure JH will make adjustments and have them ready for the big stretch coming up.
But, at the end of the day MSU had Winston and we didn’t.
On the plus side, we still have Poseidon’s Trident and no one can take that away from us!
January 5th, 2020 at 11:52 PM ^
You have to wonder why Cassius did not go pro last year. The Schizzo difference is nobody seems to go pro early. Imagine how we'd be if nobody left in a year
January 5th, 2020 at 4:02 PM ^
A lot of shots missed that needed to be made by Dejulius, Brooks, etc. Cassius was just throwing up absurd shots that had no business going in.
The game felt like a statistical anomaly. If State and Michigan shot closer to their usual FG% it would have been a nail biter.
We left an awful lot of points on the floor.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:12 PM ^
Nice to see Eli Brooks follow up his monster 0 point game against Oregon with 2 today. Unacceptable performance. Again.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:27 PM ^
I actually would advocate for Brooks to shoot more. Wagner, too. Michigan won’t break .500 if they don’t so while Livers (who was sorely missed today) is out.
DeJulius has questionable shot selection and often shoots needlessly off-balance, but that might be a necessary trade-off for having a shot creator.
Johns is a skilled 4 with a wobbly 3, but I’m glad he’s getting more involved.
In our losses, it often feels like we’re out of position on loose balls, leading to too many opposing OREBs and loose ball fouls.
January 5th, 2020 at 6:19 PM ^
Michigan needs to do a better job setting him up with open shot attempts. He's not the kind of player to make difficult 3's with people in his face. MSU did a very good job with perimeter defense.
January 5th, 2020 at 11:40 PM ^
Don’t be a homer. Winston didn’t make that many unbelievable shots at all. He made great plays and decisions, and also was feeling it today. Nothing was really crazy or lucky or improbable etc
January 5th, 2020 at 4:05 PM ^
I dont feel like this game would be any different with Beilein out there with the lineup we have. We need more firepower and that is coming next year with hopefully Josh Christopher providing some 3 point shooting.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
All good analysis OP and Tom Izzo is still a whiny little bitch.
Brooks has disappeared in some crucial games and the team needs to play smarter with ball movement and shot selection, many times guys had open looks and then would step in to be defended better, it was very frustrating.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:47 PM ^
Things change fast... pre-season most here wanted Brooks gone...now they want him to shoot more... Brooks seems to play either, well, or bad.....
January 5th, 2020 at 5:44 PM ^
I really detest all the "working" the officials shit. It's one thing to plead a real case, and it's good to get a tech every now and then when you have a real beef. But what Izzo does is ridiculous. He berates in order to get an advantage. To allow his team to get away with shit and get calls like the offensive foul against DeJulius where the little shit in green was no where near being in position. And one of the fouls created by Winston where he obviously flopped. It didn't cost us the game, but it did impact it a good 8 - 10 point swing. It ruins the game and, I think hurts Big Ten basketball, in general. It needs to be curtailed, somehow...
But this has been the case for forever, so I usually just watch games at Breslin as good practice and development time for our players.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:07 PM ^
For a lot of the game Brooks, Wagner, Johns, and DeJulius seemed like boxers who wouldn't "let their hands go". The seemed reluctant to shoot when there were semi-open looks. They simply need to play with a bit more aggression on offense. Further, if the defense is going to suffer anyway, Coach Howard may as well play Nunez in an attempt to spread the floor. Nunez has incredible range, and he should be allowed to come in and try to hit a few from deep.
Also, Coach Howard needs to recognize more quickly when his players are tiring. It was apparent on the 2 missed free throws that Teske needed a rest. And, Coach Howard has to have some open 3 point shot plays diagrammed. They run so much pick and roll, but he's got to have some set plays to get his shooters some more open looks. Run Brooks, Wagner, DeJulius off of 2 back screens and get them a wide open shot. Maybe that will lead to more confidence in other shooting situations.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:16 PM ^
Nunez? He should never see the court again. He cant play defense and cant shoot in games for whatever reason. You want to play someone who actually can shoot, play Bajema.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:40 PM ^
I doubt Nunez' lack of defense would have hurt the team much today. 87 points indicates that virtually no one was playing good defense. Coach Howard has to try something when the team is cold and hesitant to pull the trigger from 3 point land, AND the defense is a sieve. Coach Howard is an NBA guy, so he knows how players are used in specialty situations. I'm simply advocating that in a game where Michigan's defense is lacking, AND the offense is invisible from 3 point territory, give Nunez 5 minutes and about 3 shots to see if he can spark the offense. If he can't, no harm done because there was a lack of existence of 3's and D, anyhow.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:45 PM ^
Nunez shoots 29% from 3. I'm all for what you are asking, if we are gonna give up 87, get someone in there that can shoot. Nunez isnt that guy. Bajema plays half as many minutes and shoot 50% from 3.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:49 PM ^
Need I remind you how bad Robinson was at defense ?
January 5th, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
Do I need to remind you that Nunez isnt anywhere near Robinson on offense? Bajema would be a closer comparison even with a small sample size.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
Should Martelli resign and give you his seat?
January 5th, 2020 at 4:08 PM ^
Two blatantly obvious observations to me...Winston is on a different stratosphere than Simpson...Howard runs a ton of sophisticated sets and action with counters and more counters but we NEVER should have let go of Yaklich - we play the game similar to an NBA style with more emphasis on the offensive side.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:13 PM ^
I like Simpson, but anyone who is still banging this “Well, in some ways Zavier is better and I’d actually take him over Cassius” drum after today, really needs to just knock it the F off and acknowledge the reality that CW is just on a different level.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:14 PM ^
What makes you think we let go of Yaklich?
January 5th, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
I would have done everything to retain him —- dude is a defensive genius.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:17 PM ^
The genius that got toasted by Winston 3 times in a year? Nah.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:26 PM ^
Yup same one who swept them in 2017/2018 —— that guy...how’s that 87 points sitting with your belly today...
January 5th, 2020 at 9:55 PM ^
Remind me again how Texas is doing this year?
January 5th, 2020 at 4:14 PM ^
Wait but I thought Juwan Howard was a defensive coach who was responsible for having the Heat in the top 10 on defense every year. So which is it? The narrative is always changing around here. 87 points is unacceptable I don't care who is out there on the court.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
Again... Michigan is better on D than Yak’s Texas team. Just stop.
January 5th, 2020 at 9:24 PM ^
91 and 87 in two conference games? Eyeball test?? Hmmmmm....like I said, we shall see.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:14 PM ^
You realize Michigan is ranked ahead of Texas by 13 spots in adjusted D right?
You also realize Michigan has been changing its defense depending on the opponent all year right? We hedged against Iowa and played drop against UNC.
This lovefest with Yak is just stupid.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:23 PM ^
Yes I do realize that - UT gives up an average of 60 ppg—- we’re at 66 ppg.....let’s wait a few more weeks to see who’s where and then we can talk....my money is on UT my man.
January 5th, 2020 at 9:18 PM ^
Tempo is a thing.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:14 PM ^
Cassius has been a killer the last 3-4 games. He destroyed our D last year. At the level he's playing, there are simply few answers for their pick and roll game. Yaklich got toasted by them 3 times last year.
Livers would have helped today, with more athleticism at the 4 to help on the roll, but what really hurt was leaving open shooters on the wing. I'd rather have a somewhat contested 2 than an open 3 on that D.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:09 PM ^
Win at home, steal a couple on the road. Get, and stay, healthy.
They got decent looks today. A couple of those 3s fall and it plays out a bit differently. Today's outcome bothers me none.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:33 PM ^
C'mon...the difference today was more than "a couple of those 3s falling." Give credit where credit is due, and move on. Howard will accomplish some big things as he brings him better and better recruiting classes going forward.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:11 PM ^
I mean hate to say this but this was About as i expected to be honest. No Livers, that’s an auto 10pts off the board combined with his lengthy defense, game is different ...seems like this went as it should. Brooks is just a rotation guy and is who we have seen lately....X, Teske, Johns and Franz all go 10+ , DDJ goes 8. With Livers it’s just a different game.
January 5th, 2020 at 11:22 PM ^
brooks is a better shooter than he showed today. he's also solid on D. but msu's shooting guards had a height advantage and they took advantage of it on some short range jumpers.
brooks must be more aggressive at getting his shot. unfortunately, he's not a very good ball handler.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:13 PM ^
I thought we showed some grit to stay in the game. MSU played really really well and it could have been over a lot sooner than it was, but we hung in there
Cassius Winston is just great, too your cap to him.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
We got our ass kicked this is Michigan moral victories don't do anyone any good.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:37 PM ^
Those moral victories, the basketball fans taking lessons from the football fans.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:40 PM ^
Been a member for 3 days and have posted nothing but shit.
January 5th, 2020 at 5:04 PM ^
Presumably this is the same guy as Section 1, who was such an asshole that Brian finally stepped in to ban him.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:14 PM ^
Meh. Big Ten is a gauntlet this year.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:38 PM ^
so I won't be seeing those "Matt Dudek appreciation" posts any time soon?
January 5th, 2020 at 5:52 PM ^
How so?
MSU has lost to almost every nonconference team with a pulse and even one without a pulse (Virginia Tech)
OSU lost to West Virginia in a virtual home game and lost at home to Wisconsin
Wisconsin and Purdue straight suck
I think the big ten is really down this year but every team is about the same in conference so it looks like everyone is competent
January 5th, 2020 at 6:30 PM ^
It’s a gauntlet that there are a bunch of good teams, but no great ones. So in order for someone to emerge from this mess as champ, they’re going to have to go and slug it out on a nightly basis and they can’t just rely on their superior talent to carry them through tough stretches.
January 5th, 2020 at 11:26 PM ^
well, the BIG won both challenges against the ACC and big east. but i guess those games don't count.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:17 PM ^
O/U 11.5 conference wins.
January 5th, 2020 at 4:33 PM ^
Just went through the schedule. 12-8 if Livers comes back healthy soon.....
January 5th, 2020 at 5:08 PM ^
10 is the ceiling if Michigan is lucky.
January 5th, 2020 at 6:47 PM ^
10-10. Comfortably in the tourney with impressive wins.