IU Snowflakes

1.  There are two peaks to every successful basketball season.  Recall last year, we went through a very problematic period late in Big Ten play.  We are not a 32-5 type of team.  I think we are a contender, but it is going to be from a 3 or 4 seed (just like last year), not a 1 or a 2.  The Big Ten is still very much in play, but we were going to come back down to earth some time.  The sky is not falling at all, and this game is not an issue (except in the case of #3 below).

2.  Teams are overplaying Nik like crazy.  It has been evident since the Iowa game, and I am surprised that JB has not found a counter yet.  The backdoor does not seem to be there (I can't really figure out why), but I really think that some double screen baseline action would at least get him some looks inside the 3 point line.  He is too good of a player to only operate from one set.  I think work will be put in to get him the ball in more that one scoring position.  He is dynamic but he is too easy to defend right now.

3.  If that is all we are going to get from GR 3 our ceiling is the Sweet 16.  He has got to step up.

4.  Michigan and Bloomington do not get along.  F Assembly Hall.

IU scored with the shot clock off - a cardinal sin in basketball when the result is not in doubt. I won't forget that classless act and the team better not either. I don't want to just beat Indiana in March. I want to beat those motherfuckers by 20 points minimum.

And while I'd never blame the current players/staff for something over such a long period,  losing 16 of 17 at Assembly Hall is just disgraceful to us as a program. 

And apparently a large crowd angrily chanting "U S A" can almost blank your leading scorer.

Really this thread should renamed the "what went wrong thread: starring the entire Michigan offense". Maybe even spice things up and add Yogi Farrell as the special guest star. What a horrible opening to Sunday afternoon.

Team was due for a loss, and maybe this re-focuses after that gauntlet.  When one basket seems to have a lid on and the other team has a guy who can't seem to miss, games like this happen.  I do think games like thus should silence some of the Stauskas is going pro talk, because NBA GMs are going to notice that he's had trouble getting his shot against certain teams, and all seem to apply the same general principle of denying the initial pass and facing him up throughout the possession.

Sadly, I think the past couple of games have shown the issues with GRIII as well; for all the athleticism, he just can't seem to get his shot off.  He has rudimentary elements of a game, but right now he's all jumping and little else. 

This may temper the NCAA seeding a bit, but teams have been losing at a breakneck speed, and at some point UM was due to have a horrible game shooting.  That said, they kept it close against a quality opponent on the road, so all is not lost.

I would rather have an off day at this point in the year then later on at a more crucial date. Have to rebound against Nebraska and take it one game at a time. I still think this is a good team but just can't let Indiana beat us twice. They were the more desparate team now its our turn to get back on track. This next game at home is absolutely crucial and Nebraska won't just give it to us but Michigan has a great chance.

By the way, PLEASE don't believe the narrative that's about to come out - "Yogi shut down Stauskas, Crean showed the way to beat Michigan's offense."

Nik shut himself down. He's the key to everything in this offense, and when he chooses not to participate, it becomes Caris doing whatever, because no one else wants to or can. 

Ended today, we would still be the #1 seed in the BTT. Obviously a win would've been nice, but if you actually thought 18-0 or 17-1 in conference were in play, you're kidding yourself. Off shooting night coupled with Ferrell en fuego. Happens.

I love Beilein, but this game is on him. He didn't make the right offensive adjustments and his defensive adjustments were wrong.

On offense, he should have noticed right away that Sheehey was guarding out 5 while Vonley was on Robinson. He should have put Horford in for Morgan (who did have a solid game minus the FTs), because Horford has a much better post game than Morgan. This would have caused either a switch of defensive philosophy by Crean or someone from the top helping out by scrapping down low. If he choose the later option, it would have opened up the 3 ball  amd lanes to penetrate with ball movement.

Even without that, the offense started struggling with limited movement as Ferrell sticking on Stauskas. The answer for this is not more iso, which let the offense get very stagnant, but instead even more movement. Then set up the overplay with backdoor cuts to the basket. 

Also I was unhappy with Beilein's defensive choose of going to the 1-3-1. Man-to-man was working great, Indiana had a lot of very crappy positions that Ferrell bailed them out on with 3s at the buzzer. Just because they were going in, doesn't mean it was a good offensive possession for Indiana. Instead, the 1-3-1 allowed Indiana to have better ball movement and be able to get into the paint, which they were not able to in man. The defensive was good this game until he changed it. A made shot =/= bad defense. 

In the end though, it was just one game and Michigan will move on with hopefully lessons learned after a film session. The Big Ten title still goes through Crisler. Hopefully Robinson decides to wake-up. 

IU bball to Michigan bball is like Michigan football to ND football the past few years.

• Crean completely out-coached Beilein. I didn't think it was possible. Crean showed no respect for our ability to score inside, and it won him the game. He knew Stauskas wouldn't post-up Yogi, and he knew Morgan/Horford wouldn't be looking to score even with Sheehey guarding them in the post. Crean just made the blueprint on how to defend Michigan.
• This is the first game we truly missed McGary. It allowed Crean to go small in the post defensively. If he tried that gameplan with McGary, Mitch would have scored 20+.
• GR3 is lost. Those long 2's he kept chucking were basically turnovers. Right now he's the 4th option on offense after Nik, Caris, and Derrick.
• Coach B waited waaaay too long to go to the 1-3-1. I don't know why he tried the 2-3 before trying the 1-3-1. All of Yogi's effectiveness was generated around the top of the key. The 1-3-1 took care of that, and forced the ball into the corners.
• Nik has a rough road ahead of him. Harris and Ferrell showed how to defend him. Deny him the ball, and get into him before he gets his turned towards the basket. He doesn't have the ability that LeVert does to get around defenders. His long, swooping dribbles are only effective when he can turn the corner and get going towards the basket. Defenders are going to be face guarding him all season.
• Horford and Morgan have no post game. They never have, and they never will. It was painful to watch. They combined for 5 points with 6-7 200lb Will Sheehey guarding them. That's going to be embarrassing to watch when they see the film.

Most of all, this will probably be the game the costs us an opportunity to win a B1G Championship. We couldn't afford to slip up against the bottom-half of the conference. Michigan State has handled their business. We're almost certainly going to have to sweep MSU to have a chance now.