Michigan v. Purdue Postgame Thread
Alright Ohio and Little Brother, it's time to suck it up and root for your most hated rival. Michigan holds the keys, maybe they'll let you ride to the title with them.
...have the best two comments in this thread. LET'S GOOOOOO!!!!!
1 game season at this point. For a Regular Season B1G Championship. Earn it on the floor, PERIOD.
That was hard to watch there for a while. I was under some bad anxiety; the lack of execution on our end and Purdue's "making all the plays" was ridiculous. I think we stole one, for the most part, but I think everything started balancing out a bit more. Purdue as a team came back to earth minus Terone Johnson; give that dude a lemon cus' he was awesome.
Stauskas' free throw shooting was very good, as someone else mentioned earlier, but that three he hit was a dagger and clutch for us. If he's not going to be the 45% 3-pt. shooter and be more of an average one, being able to hit clutch shots like that will help compensate for not being the "all-world" shooter.
We saw them play with some heart at some point. Or maybe it was just Burke.
It was Burke only at first, but then Stauskas and Hardaway got involved. Burke kind of led by example though at first.
this game seems pretty important for their prospects in the tourney. They could have folded but kept plugging away and found a way to stay together. Trey Burke, what more can be said that hasn't been said 10,000 times this year? Coach B will be showing cut ups of him for years. Already missing him and he isn't even gone yet.
Also, was very impressed with the calmness of the coaching staff when the team was struggling and down double digits in 2nd half. Team seemed to reflect that calmness.
Lots of things to dislike about this game, but at the end of the day - it's a road win in the Big Ten. Those are not easy to come by no matter who you're playing.
IF: Michigan Defeats Purdue
Michigan St Defeats Wisconsin
Ohio St Defeats Illinois
Wisconsin Defeats Penn St
Michigan Defeats Indiana
Michigan St Defeats Northwestern
(1) Indiana 13-5 (4-2 vs. OSU, MSU, and UM)
(2) Ohio State 13-5 (3-3 vs. IU, MSU, and UM; 1-1 vs. UW)
(3) Michigan 13-5 (3-3 vs. IU, MSU, and OSU; 0-1 vs. UW)
(4) Michigan State 13-5 (2-4 vs. IU, OSU, and UM)
(5) Wisconsin 12-6
IF: Michigan Defeats Purdue
Wisconsin Defeats Michigan St
Ohio St Defeats Illinois
Wisconsin Defeats Penn St
Michigan Defeats Indiana
Michigan St Defeats Northwestern
(1) Wisconsin 13-5 (3-1 vs. OSU, IU, and UM)
(2) Ohio State 13-5 (3-3 vs. UW, IU, and UM; 1-1 vs. UW)
(3) Indiana 13-5 (2-2 vs. OSU, UM, and UW; 0-1 vs. UW)
(4) Michigan 13-5 (2-3 vs. OSU, IU, and UW)
(5) Michigan State 12-6
IF: Michigan Defeats Purdue
Michigan St Defeats Wisconsin
Ohio St Defeats Illinois
Wisconsin Defeats Penn St
Indiana Defeats Michigan
Michigan St Defeats Northwestern
(1) Indiana 14-4
(2) Ohio State 13-5 (1-1 vs. IU)
(3) Michigan State 13-5 (0-2 vs. IU)
(4) Wisconsin 12-6 (1-0 vs. UM)
(5) Michigan 12-6 (0-1 vs. UW)
IF: Michigan Defeats Purdue
Wisconsin Defeats Michigan St
Ohio St Defeats Illinois
Wisconsin Defeats Penn St
Indiana Defeats Michigan
Michigan St Defeats Northwestern
(1) Indiana 14-4
(2) Wisconsin 13-5 (1-0 vs. IU)
(3) Ohio State 13-5 (1-1 vs. IU)
(4) Michigan State 12-6 (1-1 vs. UW)
(5) Michigan 12-6 (0-1 vs. UW)
just for my knowledge HOW IS THIS TROLLING??? the IFs were for the ENTIRE scenarios not the michigan beating purdue
We didn't play overly well, and Purdue shot lights out it seemed for good stretches of the game (T. Johnson 32 points!). Still, I'm glad that they didn't lay down when they went down by double digits. Very nice to see them fight back.
After so much has gone wrong on the road, I'm sure the team is relieved to get a win on the road. Especially since Purdue was coming off a road win against Wisconsin.
On to Sunday. Beat the Hoosiers!
for most of it till the last 8-9 minutes, we turned it on and finished strong. Something this team really needed to show.
I also believe the last 2 games has significantly helped this team grow up more and be confident going forward. We've been waiting to see this for a few weeks now and it seems we may be getting hot at the best time we can.
25-5 is great (should be 27-3!).
adversity is good
road wins of any type are good.
IU is beatable esp. at home
a long tourney run seems likely
what are people worked up about?
I can't say we should be 27-3. I think our record is where it should be. We've now won three games (OSU, MSU and at PU) that could have easily gone the other way.
I think people are worked up because this team disappears for stretches during games. There are points in the game where they play poor defense and take questionable shots. Our inconsistent play during games could cost us later in March.
But pretty much every team has stretches like that. We wouldn't be ranked #7 in the country if it was just us having those bad spells.
I think it's been so long since Michigan was a top 10 team that a lot of people around here don't recognize what a top 10 team looks like nowadays. They seem to think there are teams out there as good as 1976 Indiana or 1992 Duke, when there aren't. I mean, Gonzaga is ranked in the #1 in the country, for crying out loud.
No disagreement from me. Starting the season as strong as we did raised the expectations of the team a little too much. At times it seems that every time we don't play well, some people wonder why we're not playing like the best team in the country.
the W. That's all that matters at this point. Coach B should have the team read "Season on the Brink" before Sunday.
A win is a win. When you're on the road, it doesn't always come pretty. The payoff for this win is that we've almost certainly clinched a spot in Auburn Hills for the first two rounds of the tourney.
To echo the comparisons to last year.
Last year we lost to bad games at Iowa and home against Purdue. We went into overtime with Northwestern twice. Had tight games against Minnesota and at Purdue. And the conference, while strong, was wayyyyy weaker than this year.
Yes, we're still not playing offense nor defense consistently. But we just won one the road by 5. Now we're in the position to win the B1G on Sunday. This is an incredible position to be in and the team stuck it out tonight, when nearly everyone, including myself, wrote them off in the second half.
I'm excited.
Welp, I'm a little confused.
I thought I was going to leave this game feeling confident that "we're back" and we can make a run at the Final Four...orr "we're done" and that "gauntlet" stretch of 4 games just cooked us.
I don't know if I feel either...or if I feel both.
Does anyone else come away from this game still wondering where we are?
Now don't get me wrong - I'm ESTATIC that we won, and I'm THRILLED we still have a shot at the B1G Regular Season crown.But all season, I've been thinking Final Four, that's where my bar was...and I still don't think it was/is unrealistic.
I'm so conflicted right now...I seriously dissected EVERY possession of that game. Nothing made be believe, but nothing made me go off the deep end.
Here's what I mean:
Burke: Great game, 20+ points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, some steals...a typical Burke game. BUT, he took like 17-18 shots, plus 8 free throws. He should have 20+ points with that many attempts. The efficiency isn't there like it was earlier in the season.
To me Burke is going through somewhat of whatever it was THJ was going through last year. He seems a little rushed, pressing a little bit, and he's WAY more emotional now than he's ever been. And emotion isn't bad, I love emotion. But his emotion seems to take him out of his own game...similar to LeBron James pre-Championship. Some guys (i.e. Stauskas, FEED off emotion), Burke not so much. Or at least not as much as he does now.
He's the PG and the leader, if he was playing SF, I'd say fine...let's roll with it. But I feel like in the past 3 games he's been pressing a little too much and putting too much on himself. It's like he has a me vs. the world mentality, but that's not really him (again, similar to James). I hope he can just relax, have fun and play ball...when he's that, he's the best player in the country IMO. Nonetheless, you can't argue with his stats and the wins.
THJ: It was good to see him break out of his recent funk. He's so much more mature this year...I love watching him play. It's a 180 from last year. The thing I love most is that he doesn't have to score to contribute.
Stauskas: Welcome back. He played awesome today. He attacked the rim, he shot well. He played solid defense. McGary used to be our X-Factor, Stauskas may have stole that title.
Robinson III: Not his best game, but I just look for him to be aggressive. When he's aggressive, he's 10x better than when he's not. I don't know if anyone heard during the MSU game, but Burke challenged him during a team meeting at a Pizza place to be tougher...it's showing. He's playing tougher, with more emotion, he's playing at a higher level.
Morgan: Consistency.
Bench: No issues, LeVert was a little out of control on offense, but he's been that all season minus 2-3 games. It's just freshman jitters, he's going to be SO much better next year --- and the thing is, he's pretty damn good now.
Coaching: I thought we did a solid job, my only issues were some of the subs late. Where the hell was LeVert?! #1 LeVert is a better defender than Stauskas... #2 THJ was playing with 4 fouls! Obviously it didn't hurt us, but I think that's a weak excuse. You have to get LeVert in the game either for a stop (when you're only up 2) or because THJ can't afford to foul (when you're up 4 and 5 points).
My last thought on coaching is that I think we adapt to the other team TOO much. Purdue is small, so we go with Albrecht for extended minutes (with Burke). This is fine, but sometimes you just have to say "HEY! This is Michigan!" and roll with who you roll with and make them take out one of their 2 or 3 PGs and play bigger. It's the Greg Mattison Concept. We're not going to adjust to you, you're going to have to adjust to US.
I was not thrilled with Albrecht today. He dribbled the air out of the ball and got taken advantage of defensively several times. He did have that nice finish on the break, but he's got to do more to get the ball moving on offense.
And ball movement seemed to be the main issue in the big offensive lull. The ball was getting stuck on one side of the court.
You shouldn't expect much from a 3-star rated freshman.
But again, that's us adjusting to Purdue's 2 PG offense. I still would've played LeVert more...or played 2 Bigs and made Purdue adjust and get bigger.
5 rebounds in 44 minutes of action for our "bigs" is not acceptable.
But keep in mind that we were playing 2 PGs for extended minutes...
Also, I'm not sure why, but we almost REFUSE to play 2 Bigs at the same time. I'm sorry, I know I've been saying this since the WVU game in Brooklyn, but it just doesn't make sense.
Early in the year it didn't matter, but we were playing the directional Michigan schools. Now we're in the B1G season. We need to get bigger, stronger and tougher inside. The majority of the teams in the conference are playing a Morgan/McGary, Morgan/Horford, McGary/Horford type combination. I don't see why we don't when we have the talent on the front line to match up with those teams (or in this game, overmatch those teams).
Not trying to be rude but how'd you come up with the 44 minutes.
...and sometimes we had 2 bigs on the floor at the same time. I assume by 44, that we had them on the floor together for 4 minutes.
(in other news...that's not nearly enough. Again IU that needs to be at least 50).
don't know what numbers he's using, but I see 42 minutes.
Morgan - 22
McGary - 13
Horford - 4
Bielfeldt - 3
a UM shot went up and there were 5 white jerseys in the paint and only 1 blue jersey could even be seen on screen (the other 4 were heading back down court on defense). I have noticed this in many other games. I don't know if that is how they are being coached, but it is not going to win you many rebounding battles.
But it will greatly reduce your chances of giving up a basket in transition. That's the other side of it. Crashing the glass is a calculated risk that can leave you exposed if you don't get the board.
At least conference road games are over for the year.
I think it's impressive that Burke willed this team to a win after what amounted to a 24 point swing (from 12 up to 12 down).
and out score them 40 to 23 to close out the game. That was encouraging.
I have a rule that I never leave a game early. Never, ever. It comes from hockey, where you expect your team to fight if they can't win.
I had my finger on the trigger early in the second. I wanted to. But I will never leave the Team. The Team. The Team. The Team.
Go Blue.
Dammit, I don't have the BTN and I couldn't find a live stream
Me neither. Oh well, we can always just follow a live blog and get a sense of how the game is going by how drunk and agitated the posters get.
The game will be on again at like 2am.
Although it's not really worth rewatching. And that's not me being a downer, we just didn't really do anything well or there wasn't a stretch of THJ 3's like the Ohio game or a "Game Stauskas" like the Iowa game.
Nothing memorable that you missed is what I'm trying to say. But a good victory on the road.
I was one of the ones with some...questionable comments earlier...my b...
In my defense, I was drunk way before this game started. Gotta love spring break. Also I never called for Beilen to be fired, just called this team frauds, no chance to win a NC and the like...
Friends don't let friends post drunk.
we play so much better at home. We should just play all of our games there
Will the Palace of Auburn Hills suffice?
They did cut down the nets after their loss last night.
That makes them truly likeable and easy to root for. We play with emotion and it seems the guys on the team genuinely love each other and want to do well for their teammates.
All that said, the next time we are the physically stronger team, it will be the first time. I know we have a bunch of freshman out there, but we get pushed around a lot because we are so weak. We almost always get beat out for loose balls and often lose position underneath. In my opinion, that has mostly to do with our lack of physical strength.
Could be an anomaly, but seems like a trend over the last few years. Might just be due to our chosen style of play, but it seems like the rebounding thing will be a recurring frustration until we make strength a higher priority.
This was supposed to be a six point game before it ever even started. Some of the comments in the game threads are unreal.