Spike on last year's title game
Whole thing is worth a read.
in the final game of the season, there at the Georgia Dome, we saw one of the finest title games in years. It was free-flowing and high-scoring, low on turnovers and rife with scoring runs. As much as anything else, it was a showcase for two bench players who became stars. The night belonged to Spike Albrecht, the tiny Michigan freshman, at least until it belonged to Luke Hancock, the sweet-shooting Louisville junior.I traveled to Ann Arbor and Louisville to re-watch the game with its two standouts. Nearly a year after the wild first half that made them famous, both remember almost every last detail from that night. Both are entering this tournament with increased roles on altered teams that are once again peaking right on time for March Madness. Both could return to the Final Four this month. But both know that even if they lead their teams in scoring on the way to a national title, they will never experience another night quite like April 8, 2013.
With my dad that I'd name my firstborn son Spike if UM won. I'm kinda pissed I lost the bet.
This logic is precisely why I named my daughter Spike.
(Great article, OP - thanks for posting.)
So now do you have to name him Luke?
We named our post-tourney firstborn male goat "Spike"
Dude was small, savvy, and had major cojones, just like his namesake. Had to castrate him though and he wasn't the same afterwards.
True story.
There are moments in the Michigan huddle during that first half when Albrecht’s teammates stand around in silence, hands on their heads, staring at him. “There was a lot of disbelief,” he says. “It was kind of like, ‘Is this shit for real?’”
I admit. I laughed out loud here. That might actually be one of my favorite Spike quotes now.
Spike did very well indeed for someone who was, minutes before he went on a wonderful run, convinced that he would not see action that evening.
This was an interesting read - thanks for sharing this!
Amazing article, and great highlights. For some reason my computer froze when I was about halfway through the article. Oh well, I'm sure I didn't miss anything worthwhile.
A shame that the officials had to ruin what would have been one of the most memorable performances in tournament history.
I agree.
"we saw one of the finest title games in years. It was free-flowing and high-scoring"
Free-flowing? What freakin game were they watching?
March 20th, 2014 at 12:03 AM ^
Just fucking stop.
this article also deserves posting
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/twenty-five-years-ago--t…
I fucking hate Louisville. And those refs
The article didn't mean both at the same time, just that both teams have that chance.
This brings back so many good memories, and so many bad ones. Call me a sore loser, but I'll forever hate Louisville and hope they lose every game they ever play.
because that Louisville game is one of the most painful in my Michigan fandom experience. Not pain of losing to a rival, but just a win you wanted so bad and were crushed you didn't get.
- Basketball National Title Game - Louisville
- Hockey National Title Game - Minnesota-Duluth
- 2006 Ohio State
Those all just feel like games we coulda-shoulda won.
March 19th, 2014 at 11:44 PM ^
I hate we lost too of course, but I don't get people hating Louisville for it. Would it be nice to beat them this year for revenge? Sure. But it's not like they were dirty or talking trash or anything.
Excellent article, although the pain of losing that game will always be something I feel.
Thanks for sharing.
Best game I've ever been to but dammit was it a heart breaker. Honestly, I think back on that game and play "what if" all the time. I can't imagine how much angst somebody actually on the team would feel. I will never forget Spike.
On the way back down the court, the cameras catch Albrecht smacking hands with Jon Horford and Glenn Robinson III and yelling, in between, “Let’s fucking go.”
He laughs. “Yeah, I’m poppin’ off a little bit right here,” he says. “It’s funny. I’m always the calm dude. But there were a few times during the season when the cameras caught me talking a little shit. Beilein would sometimes pause the game film, like, ‘What in the world are you doing, Spike?’ Everybody would just be dying laughing. They loved it. Because if I was talking, then things must be going pretty good, so everybody would feed off it.”
cotton pickin' maize and blue heart then watch the YouTube highlights!
That loss truly sucked, but the first half could be the most exhilarating 20 minutes of Michigan basketball or football I've watched since the early 70s. In terms of drama, improbability and sheer entertainment value it's hard to top that.
The entire nation agreed. No team has ever looked better in a loss. Would have been true had Louisville lost too.
Louisville would have just been another clutching, grabbing, cheating team coached by a ref-bullying scumbag that was outclassed by the true champion. Fuck Louisville
Great read. Go Spike.
I still don't want one. But there is something to be said for the fact that anyone who watched that game had to see that Michigan could have won. And that's a pretty big step up for a program that struggled to make the tournament not that long ago.
Loved reading the first part, can't bring myself to read the Luke Hancock part, still hurts too much.
GREAT play-by-play article. Made me re-live the whole thing again . . . the build-up, CWebb in the house, Spike going off. The first half was one of the most intense, exhilarating events I ever experienced. I was totally in the moment. There was just me and a few square inches of TV screen for an hour. Nothing else existed.
I rewatched the game last week and damn- the end of that half always makes me think what could have been. I look at the last 3 minutes of the first half as the biggest factor as to why we lost
As much as the loss in the title game hurt, it's somewhat softened by knowing that we lost to a team that had some good guys of their own who were easy to root for. Luke Hancock's father was battling cancer and later lost his battle and Peyton Silva had to talk his father out of suicide at age 13.
Absolutely loved the article. What a great read. We could have won. Louisville did, and I personally don't think we were robbed. It could have gone either way.
The worst call of the game was the block/foul. What some Michigan fans don't acknowledge is that even if it is a block and not a foul, that doesn't guarantee Michigan wins the game.
Hancock made an interesting observation (that it would have been harder if Robinson or Hardaway had been guarding him.) It has occurred to me that I think LeVert is a much better defender now than he was a year ago.
I love the fact that Michigan has improved so much, and that we are legitimately in a position where we could win the whole enchilada. I love the fact that we're doing well consistently now, with a great coach who is highly respected.
My personal hope is that we face MSU again in the title game, and beat them decisively. Now that would be a statement game for the ages.
All I can think about is that it might have been the worst officiated basketball game I've seen since the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal game. Not that they threw it--just that they were utterly incompetent.