The Curse of Maui
Michigan, Duke and Tennessee all come back from Maui and play sluggish, weary losing-effort games. (Tennessee losing to Oakland U.) Interestingly, all were away games (even more travel after returning from Hawaii; that's a lot of time on airplanes).
Not all of the Maui teams lost upon returning to the mainland. But the others were smart enough to schedule walkovers and mostly home games; UCLA (Pepperdine), Memphis (Jackson St.), Georgetown (IUPUI), and Kansas (smartly, not playing until tonight versus Florida Atlantic).
November 30th, 2011 at 11:05 AM ^
Key is to be better in the long run at the end of the season, this loss will be a good place for us to learn and grow as a very young team. Basketball is all about getting into and ready for the B1G tournament and NCAA tournament.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:09 AM ^
to Tony Bennett son of Dick Bennett and on the Bo Ryan coaching tree than to Wisky
This loss stings, but, hopefully we learn from it
November 30th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^
I hadn't thought about the Maui hangover until this morning. It seems very real. Michigan made a good amount of mistakes last night, but I don't think I'm being a homer when I say that they're better than Virginia...Also, those refs were absolutely awful. They aren't the reason Michigan lost by any means, but they were truly putrid.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:24 AM ^
Had the same thought about the refs. Thought maybe I was just trying to write off Michigan's offensive ineptitude in the 2nd half.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:27 AM ^
They hurt Michigan more than Virginia. Hardaway's alleged charge was the exact same play on which a Michigan defender later got a blocking call.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:32 AM ^
Too much one on one play on offense last night - we aren't set up for that. Not one back door cut and we failed to realize they were sagging in the lane on our screen and rolls and leaving a man wide open in the corner.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:44 AM ^
Only saw the second half but most of the time it looked like the offense was: who ever has the ball try to beat your guy one on one and the other 4 stand at the 3 point line.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
Their legs looked tired on defense particularly. Lots of reaching and failure to close out on Virginia's shooters.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^
Maybe, but I think this was just our "Come Back down to Earth" game. We're a good tournament level team, but with a
- freshman (future star) PG who has to learn to be more patient in running the offense
- A defense that needs full effort at all times by all players
- and a star that has to consistently score points for us to have a chance
We're going to lose a couple of winnable games against these sorts of teams
November 30th, 2011 at 11:29 AM ^
the others were smart enough to schedule walkovers and mostly home games
The thing is Michigan had no control over this part of the schedule. The Virginia game was part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge--Michigan had part in choosing their opponent or where the game was played. In fact, Michigan should have had a home game this year in the challenge but got shafted because of the additiion of Nebraska.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:43 AM ^
Excellent point. Duke got caught in the same problem. And, like Michigan, the matter was compounded because they had to go on the road too. I was being sort of facetious about "smart" scheduling, but you are entirely correct.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:38 AM ^
Duke was a Maui victim too, getting blown out by Ohio State. I realize that Ohio State was ranked no. 2 ahead of Duke and the game was played in Columbus, but the travel probably took something off Duke's game.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
I hope the travel took something away from Duke's game. Otherwise OSU is going to be scary good (yes, I know they are #2 but that 22 pt gap would represent a huge gulf between the top 2 or 3 teams and everyone else), and I don't relish the thought of them making a run at a national championship.
November 30th, 2011 at 11:52 AM ^
Curse? Losing one game after a trip to Hawaii isn't exactly a portent of the apocalypse. For Michigan, losing to Virginia isn't even an upset. Nobody goes undefeated anymore.
November 30th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
Between the fact that it is still pretty early in the season and that the challenge schedule is not Michigan's doing, I am not worried. I think games like last night early in the season are teachable moments and you can move forward as an improved team with most of your schedule left, particularly the portion that IS within your school's control.
November 30th, 2011 at 1:06 PM ^
Better to lose now than later.
November 30th, 2011 at 4:40 PM ^
Stu Douglass has terrible decision making as a senior. He is streaky as a shooter and if his shots aren't going down he strikes me as a liability in every other area on the court. I'm not trying to be overly negative, but that's my impression of him having played the sport and seen him for four years. He impressed me more as a freshman.