Michigan/PSU Postgame Thread

MSU is coming close with a trip to Michigan and Ohio State, and home games against Indiana and Wisconsin.

It was extremely quiet inside Crisler for the most part, but it was also understandable the game was definitely a snoozer.

And what is so hard about finding the right color maize? The past two times they gave out shirts, the shirt was orangeish. But in the sections where the blue shirts were given out, the maize on the shirt was the right color. I don't understand it.

before the game. They seemed tired and not very energetic. I know these guys well so this isn't something I am use to seeing. The team in general looks like the are tired. When you watch the offense there is a lot of standing around on the perimeter while Burke figures out the defense. Today the pick and roll was totally absent thus no scoring from the Bigs. On the other side PSU ran the pick and roll effectively a day and seemed to score at will with it.



It seems to me that the offense is a little stagnate. Not much movement and getting the play running too late in the shot clock ending with an off balance shot or bad shot in general. When you watch other teams in the Big 10 I see movement and these teams attack the basket from all directions. Michigan seems like they attack only from the point to many times. Wing players are in their positions but don't move from there once Burke starts his move into the lane. It looks like he is being a little selfish and not getting everyone involved like good point guards do.



Burke had a great game as a shooter and he did complete a couple nice lobs to Robinson for dunks but Hardaway was pretty invisible and the Bigs need more touches. That starts from the point. One last observation that I've noticed the last few games is other good teams pushing the point out way past the three point line. when this happens its difficult to get the offense going. Teams like Indiana, MSU, and Ohio State move the ball around much better and everyone on the floor is getting touches on about every play. I am not talking shots but touches. this creates a defensive nightmare for teams and this creates the defensive breakdown those teams I listed attack. This team as it stands right now seems a little flat footed against the better teams in the Big Ten. This is something I didn't see earlier in the season. I hope it gets corrected. GoBlue.

Glad we avoided it, but man we look like a shadow of our early season in most phases of the game. Hoping we can use excessive time of and get through next two to get our second wind. Go blue!

Some thoughts...



McGary needs to stop trying to jump the passing lanes on D. In the second half Penn St got a couple of easy buckets because McGary went for a steal, failed, and forced a help defender to come up and play the ball handler.



Robinson's game is largely dependent on transition opportunities. He isn't confident or skilled enough yet to do a lot of damage one-on-one.



Hardaway wi be fine. He's a streaky shooter. Sometimes it leads to the 2nd half against Ohio, sometimes it leads to the past two games.



We have not displayed the requisite effort to win the battle on the boards in the past three weeks. Offensive boards have been killing us.



Going zone might be a good idea since a lot of our defensive problems stem from perimeter players getting beat off the dribble freeing up big guys underneath or shooters in the corners.



The week off is coming at the perfect time. Beilein will have ample time to look at film and the guys can get some rest after that gauntlet.



I still think we can run the table until the NCAA tournament and go in with a 30-4 record or maybe 29-5. That should be good for a one seed.