Tonight was a season defining game
We go down by 8 early and we fight back to only be down 2 at halftime. Our best player in Glenn Robinson iii goes out with an apparent knee injury early in the 2nd half. We fall back down by 6 and fight back to take the lead. Irvin and Walton play like the players we all hoped they could be right out of the chute. I love this team! I love 2014!
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:30 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:31 PM ^
2014, I like you...
so far
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:46 PM ^
Nice win, but maybe juuuust a little overreation...
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:00 PM ^
That's why I said ".....so far". I'm aware we have 363 more days of the year lol
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:15 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:48 PM ^
in huge type read 2014
At first glance, I thought it was part of a new MGOBLOG banner.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:33 PM ^
Didn't get a chance to see the game. First impressions regarding Glenn's injury? Out for the game, a few games, a month!?! Hold me....
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:33 PM ^
January 3rd, 2014 at 12:46 AM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:33 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:33 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:34 PM ^
I am on board if we can put a stake in Bram Stoker
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:36 PM ^
January 3rd, 2014 at 9:02 AM ^
Obligatory,
In case you're curious, he's also a motherfucking sorcerer.
January 3rd, 2014 at 10:41 AM ^
Turns out there are creepy, Nosferatu-esque stills of almost every basketball coach on the web.
and so on...
Older white guys who comb their hair straight back are particularly vampirian when they snarl.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:34 PM ^
I would be shocked if GR3 is out for more than a week, but it could be one of those lingering type of injuries.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:35 PM ^
but if Robinson is out for any length of time this could get ugly.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:35 PM ^
I wondered on here if this team was going to be able to get over the hump after losing that crushihng game to Arizona. This was a game that there would have been plenty of excuses had they lost, but they buckled down and got it done. Extremely proud of the effort tonight. Only thing is that we need GRIII to be okay.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:35 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:38 PM ^
Luckily, Nik's mistakes late didn't come back to bite us.
For a while I was wondering why we didn't have Nik bring the ball up with Walton and Spike struggling, but tonight it was clear that Nik doesn't quite have that handle. Just not his strength. We'll need to be a PG by comittee team until, hopefully, we can rely on Walton to carry the load.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:33 PM ^
Something to add to this, is when Nik is about to go, and is really going to dribble hard somewhere, he brings the ball up high and at 6'6 is very prone to letting hands get in there. He's done damn well this season and don't mean to slight him too much, but in discussing him as a ball handler, he's pretty good but definitely not PG material.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:39 PM ^
and shooting threes
January 3rd, 2014 at 11:06 AM ^
Walton looked much better last night - more confident ball-handling and he positioned himself well for several rebounds.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:36 PM ^
Great W. I really don't want to play another road game without GR3, though. It's critical that was just a minor bump and not something that will keep him out or linger.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:37 PM ^
Assuming we take care of business, a 4-0 start in the Big Ten looks very likely. Then we have a tough 3 game stretch of @Wisconsin, Iowa, and @MSU. If we can start 5-2 or 6-1 I would be thrilled.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:38 PM ^
This shows you how good Beilein is. We've come a long way since Charlotte/Duke and the team is playing better even though we lost McGary and now Robinson.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:51 PM ^
I would still like to retroactively slap everyone who dared mention "Fire Beilein" or anything else dissing the coaching staff early on. They're not perfect, but I don't think there's any doubt they're one of the top 10 (maybe even top 5) coaching staffs in the country. And if you doubt that, I'm sure a poll of college coaches would support me
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:12 PM ^
According to Division 1 coaches, Mr. Beilein is actually #2, only behind Izzo.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:40 PM ^
1. Every win on the road in this conference is a signal event.
2. Hung in there when GRIII went down.
3. Looked today like perhaps Irvin flipped positions with Spike -- he was on the floor at the end of the game.
4. Lots of film to identify problem areas. Got to be better at switching when guys get beat off the dribble -- that cost us 10-12 layup/dunk points tonight. Need to box out a lot better.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:01 PM ^
It looked to me like Beilein was putting Spike in on offense for better FT shooting and then bringing Irvin in for better D when Minny had the ball.
And I agree that interior D and rebounding were the most glaring weaknesses, especially when GRIII's shot-erasing ability left the game.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:41 PM ^
He missed a couple of bunnies and had a terrible full court pass to the other team, but overall I thought he was a huge part of the win with his play down low on offense and his defensive rebounding.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:43 PM ^
Horford was 6/8. The last miss was much more difficult than people are making it out to be. It wasn't a lay, more of a 6-footer. The FC outlet pass was the right decision, but poor execution. Caris had his man beat, but Horford needed to lead him to the right and instead poorly underthrew the pass.
He was crucial and we would have assuredly lost without his game tonight.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:48 PM ^
I was not trying to be too critical of his play, just saying there is still clear room for improvement. He had one of the best games of his career tonight.
January 2nd, 2014 at 11:03 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:41 PM ^
Zak Irvin is very good at basketball.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:45 PM ^
Very good at shooting 3s would be a more accurate description at this stage.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:57 PM ^
he is just a shooter?
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:28 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:42 PM ^
We have younger guys that can get a lot better if they are playing. It may not be comparably optimal to, eg, having McGary in shape/playing, but it will make the team stronger as the year goes by and as March approaches. Hopefully we will see Walton benefit a lot from this - our biggest need is still a point guard who can shoot and distribute the ball consistently.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:43 PM ^
It's hard to remember at times how young these guys are! Our "vet", Stauskas had some "odd moments" down the stretch that made things closer than it should have been. Any road win in the B10 without your two best players is really an accomplishment. Have to wonder about our defense on the last play AGAIN - open look from the top of the key. Next up Northwestern, who got blown out by Wisky...
January 3rd, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^
In what world isn't Stauskas the best player on the team? He isn't the best athlete, but he is a better basketball player than GRIII. I'd also give him a nod over McGary, but I am glad for all three of them.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:43 PM ^
was really rough most of the night on both ends of the court. but they found a way to win. that's what good teams do. to win with such adversity; on the road, without mcgary and GRIII and struggling PGs is truly a defining game. thank you big time horford and irvin.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:43 PM ^
Michigan State
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:46 PM ^
Really. We win our biggest basketball game of the season and you bring up Michigan State. sad really. I focus on Michigan athletics.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:49 PM ^
Settle down. Was just kidding, kind of. You really need to not let MSU bother you so much based on your posts in the MSU threads.
I'm glad we started out 2014 with a win. Here's to a better year in 2014.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:44 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:48 PM ^
6-8 shooting. can you really expect more; bunnies or not? plus he hit a couple mid range jumpers.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:45 PM ^
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:45 PM ^
Tonight just showed that we learned from the ISU, Charlotte and Arizona losses.
I won't take anything more from this game.
January 2nd, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^
learning from past mistakes and how to win close games, particularly on the road is huge in College bball.