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Question

Is it any surprise that, "many of you have been seriously damaged in the past?" 

 

I think you answered your own question.

The "contest of 3 months" is

The "contest of 3 months" is a better indicator of who the best team is, but it is NOT "what it's all about." Tournaments, namely March Madness, are what it's all about.

Tournaments

After 30 games over 3 months the NCAA decides its National Champion in 6 games over 3 weeks. It's what makes March Madness great, and it's why autobids go to the champion of a conference tournament that lasts 4 days. It's not a perfect system, but from the AAU to the NBA tournaments determine champions. Like it or not, tournaments matter. Its why MSU gets to hang a banner this season, and why we were National Runner-Ups last season.

"Legs"

If 18-20 year olds (and Grandpa Morgan) can't play 120 minutes over 3 days without losing their legs the strength and conditioning staff should be fired. But they can so they shouldn't be. If we need to rely on immeasurable (ergo impossible to disprove) statements that help justify the loss, let's go with "it's tough to beat the same team three times." That argument has more legs. 

Editor's note

"Neutral-ish court" describes an off-campus basketball court whose location favors attendance by one teams' fanbase more than the other. 

"Neutral court-ish" suggests a truly neutrally-located basketball court that's maybe missing a backboard and a 3-point line. 

THANK YOU

Amazing how many people don't recognize McGary's blatant athleticism. His high energy is just a nice addition to his tremendous skillset. 

He doesn't need to develop a jumper for Michigan or the NBA. We need him to work the post and run the high screen, and I think the NBA would desire something similar.

Why does Booker's Twitter bio

Why does Booker's Twitter bio say, "Mississppi --- ✈--- Michigan" if he isn't coming here? 

D-line

Exactly. It's clear the D-line alone will not generate pressure against anyone, so we have to rush 5 or 6 nearly every down. The alternative wastes 4 players and hangs the other 7 out to dry by giving the QB all day to throw. We gotta rush 5 or 6 and ask the secondary to do their best in coverage. 

Usually refrain from comments like this, but...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA. 

Thanks, 

Read this comment again in a

Read this comment again in a few years. Tell me what ya think. 

the sweet part is...?

Being happy for his former teammates and coaches who did make it? 

Free throws factor minimally

Free throws factor minimally in a player's draft stock. 

Wait the "magazine" is just a

Wait the "magazine" is just a front for the actual goal of financially incentivizing Trey Burke to forego the NBA another year, right? 

Scratch that upon rewatch.

Scratch that upon rewatch. Classic overreaction to a few bad plays. 

I understand the sentiment

I understand the sentiment but we've been great all season in quick turnaround games. I wish we played Syracuse tomorrow because THEY need ample time to prepare for US. 

FWIW

 

Beilein vs Cuse

2007 - DNP

2006 - 0/1. Lost by 2 on road.

2005 - 0/2. Lost by 8 on road, 9 in BE tourney. WVU made Made elite 8.

2004 - 0/1. Lost by 13 at home. WVU finished 15-13.

2003 - 0/2. Lost by 14 at home, 38 on road. WVU finished 14-15.

2002 - 0/2. Lost by 14 and 12. 

Spike, Stauskas

Spike got 11 minutes because Stauskas missed transition opportunites and couldn't get through screens on defense, forcing us to constantly switch and lag one step behind the offense. Spike is better at getting around screens and being in the right place in transition. 

Rough game but Stauskas will improve when he's comfortable being a go-to contributor instead of always deferring to an elder. 

Thinking the same thing...

6 point halftime lead. Do just enough in 2nd half to win by 1 or 2. 

More missed shots than made

More missed shots than made shots. 

Shucks, late to this thread

But better late than ever. 

His excitement is genuine and

His excitement is genuine and warranted unlike the Dick Vitale's of the world.

Even though you don't appreciate his enthusiasm you do recognize he's one of the most well-prepared and thorough broadcasters in the business, yea? 

Blasphemy. 

Blasphemy. 

I expect us to play well

I expect us to play well considering we're good. 

Thanks, love ya.

Thanks, love ya.

The Game

Against Jay Z and Kanye but you find The Game entertaining? Must be a westcoast rap fan...

/s

Incomplete info

Need to know turnovers/game for a more complete assessment. 

Do you know who is

Do you know who is officiating today? 

Yea Minnesota plain stinks

Yea Minnesota plain stinks w/o Nolen. Smack them, beat msu, win the first B10 tourney game, and then we're probably on a neutral court playing for a tourney bid. 

You're allowed to have a

You're allowed to have a dominant hand and still be a successful basketball player. Darius's right hand is dominant and he prefers to finish with it, but he has the ability to finish left when necessary. And really we don't even need Darius to be able to finish left as well as he finishes right. As long as he can beat a defender going left he'll continue to draw fouls or draw help defense and create space for shooters. 

 

Exactly

And that's why it's so baffling that so many people can misdiagnose a perceived weakness. Basketball is not rocket science. Darius could not put up his numbers without a strong left hand. 

I think it's ridiculous to

I think it's ridiculous to say he has no left. He could not have so many assists and so few turnovers without 2 reliable hands. Otherwise opponents could just force him to go left and let the mistakes flow from there. Obviously that doesn't happen. It makes me chuckle when announcers say things like "ohhh, teams are going to catch on that he has no left hand and that'll show up in scouting reports" as if they picked up on some weakness before the other B10 coaches did. You can't force Darius to go left because his first left step is quick enough to beat his defender to the lane, and bad things happen from there for the defense.

And that's really my point in the context of Darius's NBA stock: scouts won't care so much how well he finishes with his left. As long as it's solid enough that he can't be forced to lose vision, lose control, make mistakes, i.e., as long as he has a high assist to TO ratio (he does) he'll be a serviceable NBA guard. Nobody drafts a player like Darius to score 20 ppg. They draft him because he creates a mismatch against smaller guards and can potentially avg 8 apg; his left hand doesn't prevent either from happening, so it isn't the reason Darius needs to come back next season. 

 

I never defended his jumper because I don't think it's that good. That needs more improvement than his LEFFFTTT HANDDjfdsaf

 



Now that Hoffarber's

 

Now that Hoffarber's been forced to take a bigger role Minnesota is as bad as anybody in the B10. If we can't beat them, even on the road, we'll have a hard time winning the other 2. 

I doubt Hightower holds a

I doubt Hightower holds a particular grudge against Michigan, but he seems to like some coaches more than others and lets those preferences preclude objectivity. He likes Tom Izzo. Maybe he didn't like Bill Freider. He's also a people-pleaser so he'll make bad calls to win the home crowd's favor.  That's how it seems anyway. 

He has no left hand right

He has no left hand right now? Hmm, i'll have to keep an eye on that... But I'll certainly take your word for it, BTN announcer/NBA scout. 

I agree his lack of

I agree his lack of explosiveness separates him from 1st round PGs. Thank you so much for not saying he isn't good enough for a lottery pick because he doesn't have a left hand. 

Pleeeeasseeee stop with the

Pleeeeasseeee stop with the "no left hand" nonsense! You take what the defense gives you. If Darius can go right he'll go right. If he must go left he'll go left, and he'll do so without losing vision or turning the ball over. 

Stu Douglass is an example of somebody with subpar ambidexterity. He dribbles competently with his right hand, but as soon as he's forced to go left he puts his head down, loses sight of the court and his teammates, gets trapped, and turns the ball over. Darius, not so much.

"mature, get stronger,

"mature, get stronger, develop his left hand a bit more and get a servicable jump shot."

 

thanks for the keen basketball insight you regurgitating idiot. watch basketball and stop listening to other people's generic commentary. 

Do you actually watch the

Do you actually watch the games or just listen to the announcers? Darius has a left. Stop being stupid. 

(No subject)
Hardaway's increased

Hardaway's increased aggression is the biggest cause of this. When he used to spot up behind the arc we had 1 playmaker, 1 big man and 3 shooters. Now we have 2 playmakers, 1 big man and 2 shooters, a balance that's much tougher to defend. 

Any chance you made a

Any chance you made a withdrawal off Full Tilt during December? Their usual payment processors were effed up and I ended up getting paid via a bizarre wire transfer that read 10 lines long on my statement from Chase. Felt shady. Anyway, you know if that problem is ongoing? 

"You have to really hate

"You have to really hate Beilein or his style to think the future isn't bright for this team."

Or just not comprehend the game. I politely disregard anybody who argues that Beilein isn't a good coach. 

Yea he sure does. There were

Yea he sure does. There were a handful of times yesterday I braced myself for a bad Hardaway shot, only to be pleasantly surprised by a good pass. 

Again, his 8 shots from 3 weren't bad looks, but when 2 of his 3 fga's were 100% dunks* you'd like to see him constantly attack the basket. 

*I quantify the likelihood of his dunk % because not every guy on the team (ahem, DMo) is completing 100% of their dunks. 

"His numbers are so good that

"His numbers are so good that we can expect him to regress next year, especially if he starts driving more aggressively. They're also too good to be a fluke given his usage."

This sums it up. Next year his TO% will increase but he'll more than compensate by getting to the line a bunch a la Manny. 

27 points on 13 fg attempts! 

27 points on 13 fg attempts! 

We all love Manny. The

We all love Manny. The context of the Hardaway improvement vs. Harris's career debate has more to do with their surrounding players than Tim v Manny as individual players/people. I do think Hardaway seems more coachable but can totally understand Manny's frustration his junior season. When teammates are missing open looks and your center can't catch your passes you end up trying to do too much yourself. Hopefully that's not a reality Hardaway will ever encounter. 

I beg to differ

Kevin Pittsnogle defines dominant. 

And hopefully they aren't

And hopefully they aren't victims of this recent 5-game success. They are still unlikely to make the tourney (KenPom has a 9-9 conference record up to a 15% probability now) but the fact we can even discuss it in February speaks volumes of how well Beilein and this team are doing. I just worry that if we finish the season 2-4 (somewhat likely) people will be angry, losing sight of the fact that a 7-9 B1G campaign seemed impossible heading into the season, even before we knew how good the B1G was this year!

Smotrycz is overmatched on

Smotrycz is overmatched on defense more so because he is slow, less so because he is weak. Look at Horford. He is equally scarecrow-ish in build but way better defensively because his feet are quick enough to get in front of his man to deny entry. Smotrycz gets beat to the spot and ends up committing ticky-tack fouls as a result. 

Tim and Metrics and Vogrich

Tim and Metrics and Vogrich can get lost in the mix when we do play zone, which could be part of the reason we switched to man. 

I agree he has great potential defensively but will have to learn to anticipate screens and not leave shooters wide open on the pick and pop.