Which team is better--2012-13 or 2013-14?
Idle Friday thoughts: which team is better, last year's or this year's basketball team? Compare this team to how they were both at this time last year (ranked #1 for the week going into the Indiana game) and how they were playing at the end of the year, during the tournament run.
If they were playing each other, who would win?
January 31st, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
Last year's team. It had fantastic depth and an incredible range of offensive weapons. It also played in a tougher Big Ten (and went through a real gauntlet in the NCAA tournament) and did not get to benefit from the rule changes that have opened up the game this year.
The gap between the two teams is definitely smaller than I would have guessed a month ago, though.
January 31st, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^
I agree except for the rule change. I really haven't noticed its effect this year. People still get mugged in the B1G with about the same frequency of whistles it seems
January 31st, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^
The MSU game was the only one this year where I thought it was like last year. Officials slip up and allow some stuff here and there, but on the whole it's definitely a cleaner game on the perimeter, and nationwide, scoring and shooting percentages are up.
January 31st, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
come on, it's last year's team. we had the national player of the year and went to the championship game. we were ranked #1 for a good strech. we had a healthy mcgary and THJ who is playing like he should've been a lottery pick. i love this year's team, but last year's was better.
January 31st, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^
We were only #1 for like 4 days right? We finally got to #1 going into Indiana last year and lost and that was that. IIRC we floated around like 3-5 all year long
January 31st, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
Get to another Final Four and we can have this discussion. The '13 team earned legendary status and had one of the best tournament runs ever to not end in a title. No offense, but asking this now is ludicrous.
January 31st, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
How is this even a question at this point?
January 31st, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 3:27 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^
Agree that the record comparison is flawed. Last year at this time, we were about to begin an absolutely brutal second half of the Big Ten season, and ended up finishing 6-6 in our last 12 games (including BTT).
This year, the gauntlet has been split into two more manageable tough stretches. We may struggle in the second one but we're not going to finish 6-6 barring injury. Our final regular-season record may not be much different from last year's. I think last year's team was better but not specifically for this reason.
January 31st, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^
I think this years team with a healty McGary is better than last years team. I guess that doesn't matter though since we likely won't see Mitch again..:(
January 31st, 2014 at 3:28 PM ^
Ask me in April.
January 31st, 2014 at 3:31 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 3:32 PM ^
If you go down the line of matchups, I think the margin is pretty small.
Burke > Walton - this is the biggest mismatch in my opinion
THJ > LeVert - THJ wasn't always "on," so it's feasible that LeVert could outplay him on a given day
`13 Stauskas < `14 Stauskas - This is a huge mismatch. Stauskas of this year would destroy Stauskas of yesteryear.
`13 GR3 < `14 GR3 - While he is periodically absent, there's no question this year's version is better.
McGary > Horgan - This would be a pretty significant mismatch for most anyone, but I think Horgan could hold their own against Mitch on most days.
Frankly I'd give the game to whichever team was playing at home. Not sure last year's team would be able to come out of a hostile 2014 Crisler environment with a win.
January 31st, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^
Are we playing by this year's rules or last year's? Last year's team was hyper-efficient as it was, but with this year's rules, it would have been a team for the ages - and almost certainly would have beaten Louisville, with its hand-checking defense.
This year's team has done an amazing job to be statistically in the same offensive neighborhood as last year's, but the changes in officiating are like the basketball equivalent of bringing the fences in.
(Also, the center matchup should really be McGary/Morgan/Horford vs. Morgan/Horford. McGary only started eight games last year.)
January 31st, 2014 at 9:27 PM ^
didn't he do a study of ncca pts this year vs last year? i think scoring is up about 2 pts per game. not really that big of a difference, imo. but i do think it benefits a beilein team over the avg team.
January 31st, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
to one that hasn't even made it through the first half of the Big Ten season. Ask again at the end of the season.
Having said that, I did comment a few days ago that if last years team would have had Sophomore Stauskas instead of Freshman Stauskas, we would easily have won the national championship. Nik continues to amaze.
January 31st, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
Not enough info to determine this yet. Last year's team is one of my favorite of all time, but I think the offense has been even better this year. I think not having players rely on Trey or Tim to generate the offense has made the overall offense more patient and efficient, and that's not a dis to two NBAers and an offense that was the best in the nation a year ago, it's just a remarkable observation of how machine-like this year's offense is. Whether this year's team is better is yet to be determined. A Big Ten title and a Final Four regardless of result would definitely make the debate more lively, though. Right now the question is quite premature.
January 31st, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^
New question: which of your beautiful children do you love more?
January 31st, 2014 at 5:12 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^
Actually, one thing that is interesting when you look at last year's team versus this year's team is that, on some key metrics, they are within a few percentage points of one another, so the transition over the long term has been a little more seamless than I would have thought at the beginning of the season. A retooled Michigan hoops team is, at least statistically, similar to last year's team, although not in every respect.
It's not really a comparison - because the teams are of a different composition in each case and this season is still in progress - but they can do some of the same things just as well. The ball handling and efficiency as still there, and the shooting in some measures is marginally better this year, although some tweaks of the rules may or may not factor into some of this.
January 31st, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^
February 1st, 2014 at 12:13 AM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 5:14 PM ^
I'll be the contrarian and go with this year's team. I think that Burke was better than Walton, and THJ better than LeVert, and McGary better than Horgan. But I think that is a flawed way to look at things.
The question asked was "which TEAM was better. I believe that the sum is greater this year: the individual players aren't as good, but collectively, we're better. I just can't see other teams being able to shut down all the players.
Last night was another great illustration of this. They focused on stopping Stauskas & Robinson and Horgan, which left LeVert especially open. When I think of this year's team, I have tremendous confidence in Walton, Stauskas, LeVert, and Robinson, one of either Horford or Morgan, Spike to give relief, and Irvin to get hot on occasion. Last year was awesome, but didn't the team depend a lot, lot more on Burke and THJ, and later, on McGary? If two of those three had an off night, we were pretty much sunk. I feel like any two of our top seven can have an off night, and it doesn't matter. Three starts to hurt, but still not too much. We'd have to really have four of our top eight have a terrible night before it would cause us to lose.
January 31st, 2014 at 5:33 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 9:38 PM ^
was left off your last year's team. he was the 3rd leading scorer at 11 ppg and shot 44% from 3. that's what made that team so dangerous. it had the pick and roll with burke and if the D collapsed, burke kicks it to stauskus or hardaway for the open 3. plus, at the end of the year mcgary was an absolute beast at both ends of the court.