Week 1 perspective - survived, advanced

Submitted by mi93 on

We survived the best 14 seed and the best 6 seed.  In front of us, the lowest 1 seed, lowest 2 seed (who's better than the 1 seed per Kenpom), and the best 4 seed (who's better than us per Kenpom).  A 7 and 9 are still alive in our region, but with tall tasks in front of them playing the 2 and 1 respectively.

We survived the toughest road any 3 in the tournament had to face.  Now JB has a week to plan for the next victim (or 2).

All Hail!

Indy Pete - Go Blue

March 18th, 2018 at 2:48 AM ^

We always seem to face the highest seeds; 2013 stands out and last year as well. It just makes the run that much more special! Why beat a weak 11 (or lose to one, Tennessee) when you can beat a 6 that should be a 4!

Occam's Razor

March 18th, 2018 at 2:36 AM ^

TAMU is strong in the front court but their guards aren't as good. 

If we can hit the broadside of a barn we should be able to stretch out their big men to the perimeter while Z and MAAR do work. 

I think that's a better matchup than UNC. 

TrueBlue2003

March 18th, 2018 at 3:46 AM ^

Robert Williams is really good, but who else are you talking about?  They don't have another guy projected to get drafted.  Not even close.

While their length and zone scares me somewhat, I'd still rather take the worse overall team: Texas A&M.  They are a generally bad offensive team and can't shoot threes. As long as we rebound, which we're very good at doing, I think we'd be fine (and it goes without saying that if we miss a ton of threes like we did against Houston we'd be in trouble).

North Carolina is a really good team. They'd be the tougher matchup.  We certainly can beat them, but they're good.

Michigan4Life

March 18th, 2018 at 3:04 AM ^

in the first two games. Thank god for the 3rd ranked defense that carried the team especially Zavier.  It's encouraging that they made it to the Sweet 16 without their usual offensive prowness.

If Michigan can find their groove on offense, it's game over.

StephenRKass

March 18th, 2018 at 3:21 AM ^

What an incredible game. Several factoids:

  • Michigan shot 35.6% overall, 26.7% from three.
  • That's the lowest we've shot all year . . . and we still won!
  • Zavier Simpson was abysmal (1 - 7 overall, 0 - 4 from 3.) Still was critical to the win with his defense.
  • Wagner quietly scored 12 points. As bad as he started, we always need his points.
  • Turnovers might have made the difference. 10 for Houston, 7 for Michigan. Gave us a few more shots, even though our percentage was lower.
  • Livers will get better, but he had 0 points. Robinson was in 30 minutes.
  • Lots of fouls. 22 total for Michigan. Questionable calls, imhe. Both ways.

TrueBlue2003

March 18th, 2018 at 3:55 AM ^

playing well on offense at all.  But he comes out for a minute and somehow Simmons forgets who he's guarding, leaves Gray wide open for a three which he of course drills, and I'm like get Z back in the game!  His defense propels this team, for sure.

And to you point about Livers, it doesn't matter that he didn't have any points. He doesn't use possesions inefficiently.  He only shot once, and he had on OREB to cancel that miss out anyway.  He's not in there to score.  He's in there to play defense and he does that really well.

He's also enough of a threat to occupy a defender.  I remember noting at one point that his guy wasn't leaving him in the corner when we drove to the basket.  And that's all you want out of your corner gunner: occupy a defender of hit shots when they leave you open. That's it.

maize-blue

March 18th, 2018 at 5:11 AM ^

Either means the team will come out of their funk or its just a matter of time before the inevitable.

Perkis-Size Me

March 18th, 2018 at 8:31 AM ^

If we play against UNC (let’s be honest, A&M is not upsetting UNC today) the way we played Thursday and last night, you can forget about the Elite Eight. Much less the Final Four.



Wins are wins at this stage of the year and style points don’t matter now, but they’ve got to bring their A-game on Thursday night or it’ll be a long flight home. These are the defending national champions you’re playing next. Luckily, Beilein and Co. have four full days to rest up, watch tape, learn from mistakes, practice, and prepare for the next game. He’ll have the team ready.