Open Thread: Michigan vs. Villanova

Some good signs, lots of fight. Streaky shooting tonight and too many fouls but great signs of stuff to come.

But I think bielfeldt officially belongs in the 'worst scholarship players in the beilein era' discussion along with Blake mcclimans and eso akune

The block was clean but he went right through Irvin's body afterwards.  It was probably a foul but not one that you'd ever expect to see called (Burke vs. Louisville notwithstanding).  The ones that infuriated me were on the last Villanova shot -- it's either a block on Caris or a charge, but there's no way it's a no-call -- and on Walton's drive.  Every time they showed the replay to prove it went off of Villanova, all I could see was the Nova player starting at Walton's shoulders and raking down his arms to pull the ball out.

As nearly as I could tell, that was the theme of the game -- it seemed that the referees ignored almost everything on the hands, but were calling ticky-tack body contact.  It seemed like Doyle, in particular, got foul calls for the penalty of being in existence.  The net result of this was Villanova picking Michigan's pocket and Michigan players holding up their arms to show where they got slapped.

I mean -- Michigan commits fewer fouls than just about anybody, rarely turns the ball over, and can't rebound worth a lick.  Somehow, Villanova generates a ton of turnovers, Michigan's in the double bonus at the end of the game, and Michigan -- not Villanova -- picked up several loose ball over-the-back fouls on rebound attempts. (?)

Ultimately, though, Michigan isn't going to win many games with well under 1 point per possession -- but I don't think they'll lose many games where they hold the opponent under 1 point per possession either.  You could see the improvement of the team during the big second-half run, and if a couple of shots that frequently go down hadn't rattled out, it wouldn't have been close enough at the end for officiating to matter.

It's nice to be this angry about the outcome of a Michigan sporting event again -- and it's doubly nice that none of the anger is directed at the Michigan coaching staff.

(I do think that Donnal should have passed quickly after receiving the ball, right before his 1 and 1, but I think he was terrified of a turnover -- not unreasonable at all for a freshman playing his fourth collegiate game.  I think he'll do better the next time he's in that situation).

Think the block was clean but Ennis undercut Irvin and threw him off balance before that.

basketball is hard

it is tough enough 5-on-5

5-on-8 no way

before today's game

i did not care about jay wright

now i think he sucks

The big picture is that Doyle has had two good games against quality opponents. He is our 5; we didn't have that a weak ago.

Villanova is a tough opponent and we did more than just hang around. We should have won.

We will get better.