Michigan/PSU Postgame Thread
Post-game thoughts...share away!
EDIT: I'm choosing to share some of my thoughts in this OP because some drunken jackass wants to neg every post. Fine by me, all you can do is downvote this thread and that does nothing to me or my thoughts as far as visibility.
There are waaaaaaaay too many of you guys freaking out and overlooking that we just had the toughest stretch of ANY team in college basketball in terms of scheduling. You're also overlooking the fact that we didn't have our best big man for ANY of it...and didn't have him today. J-Mo doesn't do a ton, but he plays defense and gets rebounds. That's exactly what most of you who are bitching...are bitching about. Why do you leave out that caveat?
Michigan allowed 70 points ONE time in the 6 games prior to Morgan's injury. This is where I feel the defense "clicked" for Michigan and we were playing MUCH better on the defensive end.
Also, you fail to note the fact that we just played THREE top 10 teams in 10 days! ...and the other game? @ Wisconsin. One of the toughest places to play in the country.
So don't overlook those two HUGE facts just so you can whine and complain. Sidenote, no other B1G contender will have a stretch like we did. It's unfair and unfortunate.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:06 PM ^
hey glenn! we missed you!
February 17th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^
February 17th, 2013 at 2:15 PM ^
February 17th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
Yeah, but Purdue played awful against IU. Penn State just played one of their best games of the season.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:20 PM ^
has played their best game against Michigan lately. Maybe, Michigan just isn't playing great defense.
Stll, this team is down, and it's hard to blame them after Wisconsin and MSU. Good time to regroup mentally.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:21 PM ^
February 17th, 2013 at 2:46 PM ^
Their gauntlet is NOTHING like Michigans.
This is why I say FUCK YOU B1G Schedule Makers!
Just yesterday I looked at IU, MSU and Ohio's schedules...NONE of them have a stretch like us. Sure, they have a tough stretch, but every team does every year.
None of them have anything like @ IU, OSU, @ Wisky, @ MSU...none of them have a bunch of 9pm games. They all get an Iowa or PSU tossed in their "gaunlet." ANNND...they all get MUCH more rest/prepartation than we did between games.
It doesn't even compare IMO. They've got normal tough B1G stretches...we had hell.
I said this yesterday. We could have a run from the Sweet 16 to the National Championship that won't be nearly as hard as what that stretch was.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:41 PM ^
Because we've been playing with Morgan.
Is Morgan = Zeller? Hell no. But losing your big man in the middle is going to kill you in term of defense and rebounds. He was also a captain.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^
...just answer the question.
Yes or no. Was Cody Zeller in the game?
February 17th, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^
Actually, it should be easy to get up for this game. It was a chance to prove that the game against Michigan State was only an anomaly. I don't think that was proven today.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:21 PM ^
February 17th, 2013 at 2:27 PM ^
February 17th, 2013 at 2:40 PM ^
Because none of you guys are taking into account that Morgan isn't healthy, starting, etc.
From the Iowa-Illinois games...we were playing AWESOME defense. Burke was all over the place, THJ was locking people down and even McGary was getting steals and streaking down the floor for 2 points.
Morgan got hurt and all of that changed.
We also played IU on the road, OSU at home, Wisconsin on the road and MSU on the road in like 2 weeks. Name one team in the country that could do that and come out alive.
The Miami Heat don't count.
February 17th, 2013 at 3:41 PM ^
You know what else we were playing from the Iowa-Illinois games? Pretty crappy teams.
It's absolutely ridiculous to blame this all on Morgan. Over the last 5 games, everyone except Burke has regressed in one way or another. Not having Morgan isn't responsible for terrible on-ball defense from our guards, lack of movement on offense, Hardaway going 1-11, GR3 being invisible, etc.
Yeah, Indiana, OSU, Wisconsin, and MSU was a tough stretch, but we were supposed to be the #1 team in the country. Most #1 teams wouldn't go 1-3 against any four teams. We're not playing good basketball right now regardless of Morgan. That said, there is plenty of time to turn it around.
February 17th, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^
Are you as negative in real life as you are on this board? Not to be rude, but you seem like such a downer all the time.
We won, we're 22-4, which is an amazing record (a better record than the '89 and '92 teams had at this point, and equal to the '93 team's record) . . . let's try to appreciate it.
February 17th, 2013 at 4:24 PM ^
I just said that there is plenty of time to turn around our recent play, but it has been tough to watch, and I see no reason to blow sunshine like Mr. Yost. It is possible to think we have a good team and be frustrated at the same time.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^
The uniforms were great, but I wish Adidas had taken the time to replicate the numerals on the 1968 uniforms as well. There are a lot of small details on them that make them unique, not just standard varsity block letters like we saw today.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?id=S-BHL-X-BKT1968]BKT1968
February 17th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^
I don't even know what to think after this one.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^
It's frustrating to get badly outrebounded by PSU.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^
Drawing a lot of fouls, very good.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^
I only got to see the last five minutes or so. Were the fouls a result of typical home big ten officiating, or was it a decently called game?
February 17th, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^
but in general we drove the basket more this game. GRIII got hacked several times around the rim; to go along with his 4 alley oop dunks. stauskus got fouled a few times around the basket too.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
The officiating was tight, but it was tight both ways, which I think favors Michigan quite a bit (removes some of the physicality from the game, which we struggle with). Overall I think it was decent, Penn State had their fair share of trips to the line too.
It beats the hell out of a combined 8 FG attemps in the previous two games.
We tried to drive and score a bit more I noticed this game too, which helped with the foul calls. That was encouraging to see.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:48 PM ^
February 17th, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^
We need defense and a Novak type leader. Not a great performance today, but they showed some signs of improvement on the offensive end.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:15 PM ^
Morgan provides us with rebounding AND he's our anchor on defense. He's clearly missed down there in the middle.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:10 PM ^
McGary, Horford, and Morgan combined for 0 points. This is a bad thing. On the bright side, Trey Burke exists.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:10 PM ^
Burke is amazing as usual. Stauskas and GR3 came to play today.
February 18th, 2013 at 9:17 AM ^
Eh, Stauskas was pretty quiet offensively in the first half and his perimeter defense was lousy today. Nevertheless, he stepped up when it counted and was the difference in turning what could've been a horrifying upset at home into a comfortable, if unsatisfying, victory.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:10 PM ^
GRIII performance was nice. We need it against superior competition, though. THJ maybe will find his shot again with the week off (it was fugly early one before hitting a three or two in the second half). I'm personally fine with the Vogrich minutes. He didn't suck as most here would have us believe. Also these next 6-7 days are helpful to Morgans ankle. We need him and lately when he's been in it's been a little rusty looking. W is a W. Penn St. may not be a good team but they have some guys who can ball; we did just fine. If one expects a 30 point blowout in this conference, one may want to recalibrate in their minds how college basketball really works.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:35 PM ^
Vogrich was personally responsible for giving up two threes shortly after he came in. There is a reason he hasn't been able to see the floor and he should have stayed on the bench IMO.
February 17th, 2013 at 3:55 PM ^
definitely wasn't his fault. McGary, again, got caught overplaying on someone at the top of the key and Vogrich had to collapse to fill the void. He was late closing out the guy he had to leave in the corner, but that all happened because over the original bad play by one of the other defenders. I'm not sure what happened on the other three mentioned, but McGary's enthusiasm puts him out of position too much and holes open up in the D.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^
That was the only game on the B10 schedule we could win playing like that. I really felt this team would come out on fire today to get the taste of the last few games out of their mouths. I was wrong. Terrible defense and rebounding. This team needs to get back on track soon or March might not be as fun as it could be.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:39 PM ^
I thought we would come out and jump all over PSU defensively (wishfull thinking, maybe) and really shut them down.
We can't keep rolling along thinking that we can beat everyone just with offense.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin 63, OSU 41 with 5:20 remaining.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^
February 17th, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^
February 17th, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^
I think the concerning thing about GR3 is that he seems to get points almost exclusively in transition, alley oops, put-backs, offensive boards, etc. When good teams take that away, he has a lot of difficulty creating any offense for himself.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:16 PM ^
February 17th, 2013 at 4:48 PM ^
So your argument is that Robinson is active against bad defensive teams and not active against good defensive teams? That's not what I'm seeing. Today, almost all of his points were when PSU was forced to collapse, leading to an easy dunk, or from an alley-oop in transition. His athleticism is definitely an asset, but in our half-court sets, he didn't look much different today than he did against MSU.
February 17th, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^
February 18th, 2013 at 10:18 AM ^
The last two, not "the last too".
February 17th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
Right. Good teams do and are going to take that part of "our" game away. But it's been happening and it became apparent weeks ago that his points came from clean-ups/transition. He does have a tough time creating for himself but what's more disconcerning is the fact that this team and offense in general can't create for him; maybe a rip on Beilein a bit but the guy needs to be a part of our offense/scoring, somehow, someway.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^
simple movement can create shots, ie. backdoor cuts. periodically, i would like to see GRIII and stauskus criss-cross along the baseline to try and mix things up instead of just standing in the corner.
going back a ways, i remember richard rellford going back and forth continually along the baseline. he seemed to get a couple alley oops per game just by doing that.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:20 PM ^
Yes, that's how he gets a lot of his points, but that's because there is so much attention elsewhere that he's able to find his way behind the defense. He's a SMART basketball player. That's a good thing.
He's definitely shown he can create for himself. In the game at Illinois he had 2-3 nice drives from outside the 3-point line and got in around the basket.
He can do it, he just doesn't need to.
As long as he's playing with a passion and he's aggressive, we shouldn't bitch.
People look to his dunks and easy lay-ups and see negative, it's just what his role is on this team. Take Stauskas and Hardaway off the floor and I guarantee you see him drive more. Next year, you'll see him drive more.
He's a freshman and the 4th option for much of the game. He's in no position to be driving unless it's there. Especially since Stauskas does it so much.
When you have Burke and THJ, you can't have two other guys, especially freshman, pounding the rock that much.
Again, all GRIII needs to do is stay aggressive and stay physical.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:15 PM ^
Lack of point production from the big men. The big guys miss too many bunny shots. This will be our achilles heel.
They just finished a brutal stretch coming into this game so it's understandable that PSU would be a trap. Hopefully a week off and a better opponent in Illinois will get the team back on track.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^
We now have a full week off to rest and work on some issues before we begin the Illinois-Penn State-MSU-Purdue-Indiana final stretch (with MSU and Indiana at home). A week of rest and a final set of games that isn't DEATH will be good to build on going into the B1G tourney.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
PSU today to avoid a disasterous home court loss was just what the doctor ordered.
That and no game during the week.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:13 PM ^
because we can't play defense and when the offense goes cold, we struggle. If we run into a good defensive team who can get hot from deep, we'll be in trouble
February 17th, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
...you couldn't be more wrong.
This team has played GREAT defense when they've wanted to. Today they didn't have it. But they've turned it up at times this year. In fact, they had a 4-5 game stretch where they were the 2nd best defensive team in the league. Then J-Mo go hurt. That was huge.
Take Cody Zeller or Mason Plumlee away from their teams (defensively) and see how it affects them. Take Nix or that huge Johnson kid from Miami away from their teams and see how it affects them.
You lose a big man in the middle and it changes your entire defense. J-Mo was our Kendrick Perkins. Tough defense, a physical prescence, a few put backs, one decent offensive move per game and some rebounding. We need a healthy Morgan and you'd change your mind.
February 17th, 2013 at 2:37 PM ^
But this team is far too talented.
Our biggest issues right now are finding a way to get rest/healthy and figuring out a way to get more rebounds.
Jordan Morgan is big in both of those, if he can get rested and healthy. We get more rebounds. With that, we need our entire rotation to get some rest this week. They're clearly worn down.
Talent wise, we're one of the 5, probably 3 most talented teams in the country. We're also well coached and when we're playing like we should...we don't rely on one player.
We have the PERFECT team to go DEEP in the tournament. IU to me is clearly #1. But I'd put Michigan and Miami right there for #2. Everyone else to me has BIG TIME flaws.
Just get healthy, get rested, get aggressive. Do those 3 things, we're a lot closer to Atlanta than most teams.