Love this team
January 21st, 2012 at 4:10 PM ^
love this team, but we are pretty inconsistent. crushing a pretty good wisconsin team then losing to iowa, and now after we just beat a good msu team we lose to a pretty decent arkansas team. it just angers me
January 21st, 2012 at 4:12 PM ^
I'm trying but it's hard... Our team is too mental-based and we suffer because of it. We're a great team if we play correctly and with confidence, but lately all I see is Hardaway forcing shots and not playing defense, Smotz just daydreaming, etc. It's frusterating to watch.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:11 PM ^
You love losing on the road all the time? You love getting down big on the road ( again) and having to come back, only to fall short? Just being realistic here, this sort of thing needs to be fixed now.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:13 PM ^
This needs to be fixed now....or what happens? Do random people on the internet just get more butthurt?
January 21st, 2012 at 4:14 PM ^
They need to fix the road woes. No need to be insulting.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:17 PM ^
NOW you're worried about insulting.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:01 PM ^
How exactly was anything I said insulting, rather than true? The maize colored glasses around here are amazing. Anything contrary to the "Michigan is the best" thought is blasted.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:20 PM ^
It seemed personal. No more or less than saying there is much needless butthurt on the Internet.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:37 PM ^
It's possible to love the team and also be frustrated over the slow starts on the road. The two do not have to be contradictory. I don't think the players are thrilled with how they played the first 10 minutes, either.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:01 PM ^
I totally agree.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:11 PM ^
if Smotz stayed on the bench and THJ pulled his head out of his ass.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^
I don't think that Hardaway needs to pull his head out of his ass. I think that right we are very cold as a team from 3 besides Novak, and he needs to drive to the basket more.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:51 PM ^
I agree. I think we need to clear out and let him go iso every now and then so he can get more into the game. He doesn't seem to click with the offense were running now with Burke running it. When he's fully in the game he uses his athleticism and becomes our best player on offense and defense.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:12 PM ^
But my rage at Stu continues to push him into Tristan/Burlon territory. Every time we went on a run, I feel like it ended with Stu. He airballs a wide open three, he drives right into two defenders and turns the ball over, he blows it on defense to give them a bucket.
I know a lot of people love him, but I just can't take it. When you play as much as he does, one timely three at MSU is not enough to make up for all the crap I see him do otherwise. He drives me crazy, and I will always appreciate his love for Michigan, but I can't wait for him to graduate.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:14 PM ^
I get frusterated with Stu too but he's a hell of a lot better than Vogrich. Vogrich consistently misses his shots, playing bad defense and is never in the right position. Stu at least plays decently, though he shoots way too often.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:17 PM ^
And he has, to his credit, cut down on the long threes he can't actually make at any higher rate than anyone else, even though the TV people think he can.
It's not ALL on Stu today, by any means. Tim and Evan really need to get their head back on straight and step it up, but the key there is that I know they have it in them and that they are in a bit of a funk. Stu I've gotten used to seeing this crap from for as long as he's been here.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:20 PM ^
When he takes bad shots, I try to remind myself that he more than makes up for it with his on-ball defense and ball control.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:58 PM ^
i've always kind of felt the same way about stu. there are a lot of apologists for him. and i was very excited about getting vogrich. i was hoping he would be a 4* version of stu and eventually steal his job. unfortunately, vogrich has turned out to be a 1* version of stu w/o any ball skills, and he will be a senior next year.
my hopes for this team are still alive though. top 5 big 10 finish and sweet 16. we all have to remember that we are still #1 in th BIG right now; the toughest conference, with a big week ahead of us.
January 21st, 2012 at 7:24 PM ^
us what you do for a living? You need a few more satisfying things going on in your life so you don't invest quite so much of your ego in college sports. Rage? And happy to admit it?
January 23rd, 2012 at 8:51 AM ^
People that take somebody else's choice of words so literally on the internet make me rage too. What do YOU do for a living that reduces you to have to nitpick the diction of an internet comment? If you think Stu makes up for his abysmal offense in other areas, feel free to say so, but don't go criticizing my life because I used a common internet meme word.
Go back under the bridge for a while and don't come back until you feel better.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:13 PM ^
Hardaway has got to find his mojo though. We could have used some points out of him today. Burke has been amazing though. That last shot goes down and he owns this town.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:13 PM ^
January 21st, 2012 at 4:17 PM ^
But probably still more successful in life than you.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^
January 21st, 2012 at 5:21 PM ^
So they've got you on that one.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:53 PM ^
If you don't like the team, don't follow them.
January 21st, 2012 at 6:11 PM ^
back in Iran?
January 21st, 2012 at 4:14 PM ^
These guys gave so much effort, and even though they made some mistakes, they were still giving it their all at the end (even guys like Burke who played THE ENTIRE GAME AGAIN, gotta respect that conditioning).
I hope they learn from this game and come back stronger and smarter next time. They're a great group of guys, I wish them nothing but the best.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:20 PM ^
Even though Trey made a lot of mistakes today, I still think he played the best outside of Novak. I feel like he made a lottt of freshmen mistakes but that he felt like he had to drive because nobody else was moving. I don't know what happened on that last play but he almost clinched it for us. He's got ice in his veins and doesn't overthink things like Hardaway (who feels the need to be a superstar) or Smotz (who ends up making mistakes because he's thinking too much).
January 21st, 2012 at 4:14 PM ^
More focused around Morgan? All he can do is dunk and hit open bunnies off the window. If he's covered, it's not going in. His rebounding is about as 50/50 as a Denard deep ball. He's not athletic enough and doesn't have the feet or jumpshot to have an offense focused around him. It's not like I'm mad about it and complain about Morgan, he is exactly what I expect him to be.I hope he plays well for the remainder of the season though, because with McGary and GR3 coming in he won't be playing much for the next two seasons. His height/size could maybe get him into the D-League or a European league.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:03 PM ^
i agree with the first part of your post. morgan doesn't have a good post game, especially not one for our O to be focused on, but it's improving. remember, he just a soph. and he gives good effort and he has improved over last year. this team would be lost w/o his toughness in the paint.
he will continue to get better and START over the next two years along side of McGary. Smot will be the guy coming off the bench to spell those two (along with Horford).
GRIII will primarily back up THJ, imo, next year.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:15 PM ^
We fought and never gave up. Go fucking Blue.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^
Love this team. The loss is relatively meaningless but they learned something about their ability to make a comeback and the press Losses suck but this isn't too bad .
January 21st, 2012 at 4:27 PM ^
a hell of a lot if guts coming back in the second half. A game like this is painful, but pays dividends down the road.
The risk is that these young guys can lose confidence and break down after this type of loss. But unlike some of pussies on this board, I don't think that's going to happen. The opposite in fact.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:27 PM ^
January 21st, 2012 at 4:52 PM ^
My god Smotrycz is slow. I really hope he can start shooting well again. He and Vogrich are two guys who bring nothing to the table if their outside shot isn't falling. But Smotrycz is agonizingly slow. And he has no handle whatsoever.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:41 PM ^
January 21st, 2012 at 5:06 PM ^
we went down to the wire with our best player and 2 others playing like absolute dog crap. if just one of those guys shows up, we win. we are a mediocre team w/o them. with them, we can beat anyone.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:01 PM ^
I love this team as well. But there is one burning question on my mind...
What is a Vogrich, and why does it get so much playing time?
It looks and plays like a 15 year old girl, yet it is still on a D-I men's basketball team?
Can anyone help me out with that one?
January 21st, 2012 at 5:07 PM ^
I don't understand why this team can't shoot better than 30% from downtown. Every game someone takes a turn going 0-8 or 1-7 or whatever. Its infuriating.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:07 PM ^
I don't understand why this team can't shoot better than 30% from downtown. Every game someone takes a turn going 0-8 or 1-7 or whatever. Its infuriating.
January 21st, 2012 at 6:50 PM ^
We need to flow through Morgan and Novak more and not Hardaway, it's hard to see this team constantly lose heartbreakers like that, but I love the fight that they show, which is why I'm so peeved at THJ
January 21st, 2012 at 7:10 PM ^
wish they could have pulled it out. This game and the loss at IU could be huge come tourney time. We really need a quality road win.
January 22nd, 2012 at 12:05 AM ^
to step up.
January 22nd, 2012 at 5:17 PM ^
Just like many on this blog seemed incapable of enjoying an 11-2 football team, many seem quite at odds with enjoying the best basketball team seen around these parts in a long time. Still a lot of basketball to be played, but there is a chance this is the best team Belien has ever coached. These guys are extremely tough minded and continue to compete even when they can't seem to make a shot. I think this team will finish with a better conference record than last years squad and go further in the NCAA tourney, hopefully they can match Belien's former teams that made it to the Elite 8.
Michigan could have went the way of Purdue yesterday, when Purdue took a butt whuppin' against MSU without much of a fight. Purdue did have a legit reason for not being at their best with the traveling issues they faced, but still they didn't fight back against the Spartans. I would be very surprised for M have that type of an effort in Breslin.
Today (Sunday), Wisconsin went on the road and beat Illinois and right now Minnesota at home is torching NW. Winning games in the BIG is a reason to celebrate. It really is easy to criticize college kids on their execution, I realize this, but this Michigan team more than makes up for lack of execution with a will to compete that I find refreshing and inspiring.