I'm inclined as well to lean towards your latter statement too. If I was a parent getting to send my child to college, I would feel very queasy about sending them to MSU at this point, given the coverage. I'd say the same thing about another school if this was happening elsewhere.
But...Izzo, Dantonio, and others haven't actually been found guilty, unlike Dr. Nassar. The latter absolutely got what he deserved. Does anyone else deserve it? I lean towards yes given the coverage and the pattern that seems to have taken shape there, but only time will tell.
What I miss about my days growing up there. Cold, rainy, miserable weather, and sucking it up to root on the team anyway. It's not the same in Arizona with heat during games I tell you! Wish I could be there, and just hoping our offense improves quite a bit while the defense continues to do what has made us successful (at times, anyway). GO BLUE!!!
I'm no lawyer, and I admit I'm playing a bit armchair. What I'm trying to say is, at best, this many complaints looks really, really bad. However, I agree that this doesn't create guilt. A formal investigation does need to take place before sanctions, if any, are handed down. But I also can say that I firmly believe that when this many complaints and lawsuits pile on top of another towards one individual or in this case institution, such an investigation would seem to warrant taking a very high priority, if possible.
For now, MSU isn't guilty, so nothing should be handed down at this time. But the investigation taking place is definitely warranted. Once complete, then I think it becomes fair to evaluate what punishments, if any, are appropriate. Therefore, you won't hear me clamoring for the death penalty or anything like that right now. Maybe MSU isn't quite as bad as they look, we'll just have to let the investigation play itself out.
Of course as our rival I dislike MSU, but this goes beyond the rivalry and as a human being I just can't wish for something so horrific. At the same time, every victim at that school, as well as elsewhere, should have the utmost support from those around them.
I believe in innocent until proven guilty as much as anyone out there. But I highly doubt this many victims and witnesses can be wrong. Investigations against MSU at this point need the highest priority, and not by local governments with any MSU alumni or backers. It needs to be 100 percent independent at this point.
I'm being biased here, but I have to go with the games against A&M and FSU, because I was there. Getting to see them win their way to the Final Four was pretty special, and the tailgates before and celebrations afterwards were unbelievable.
Otherwise? Definitely the shot by Poole that gave me that chance to begin with, and Michigan another chance to go farther!
We finally have a solid defensive identity that will give us a chance in almost every game, as evidenced by our tournament run when we shot so poorly most of the time. If we keep that up and just work on our shooting - even without Mo, MAAR, and Duncan - we'll be fine. Plus, our incoming class has to give us plenty of hope.
So Beilein didn't quite get the kind of offense he's accustomed to. He figured it out on defense though, so that's something very positive to take into next year! Keep that effort up, and just work out the kinks we had this year on offense with who's returning and who's coming on. We do those things, and we've got one great team that can go that next level. GO BLUE!!!
Jordan Poole's game-winning against Houston. Plus his will to get us back in it to win against Loyola. You sir played well beyond a freshman. Can't wait to see more of you again next year!
Going to LA to root them on. What an electric atmosphere, and something I'll never forget and who knows if I'll get to do ever again! Michigan has a very strong Nationwide fanbase, and those who showed up represented us very well.
Coming back to beat UCLA. Beating State twice. Winning the Big Ten Tournament. All after being picked to finish 5th in the conference. Win or lose tonight, what a phenomenal team to watch! You make me proud to be a Wolverine. We'll be back soon! GO BLUE!!!
Yes, I'm sad like all of us are. But what an a-MAIZE-ing group of kids that still put something special together and overachieved for the season. Beilein's got a great thing going. Not taking anything for granted when I say this, but we'll be back again soon! GO BLUE!!!
I'm afraid my question wasn't answered the way I was hoping. Nova is just finding ways to shoot and make the threes, especially DiVincenzo. Great team, they deserve it. Still a proud Michigan fan though and glad I went to LA To root them on!
According to Bart Torvik, since 2/7 Michigan has by far the best defense. Texas Tech is 13th and Nova 15th. Makes me wonder if Texas Tech's number is predicated more on their early-season body of work, while we have just gotten better as the season has progressed.
And interestingly, Villanova's offense ranks at #2 since that date, only behind the long-departed Wichita State. I know the Big East is tougher than the American, and Wichita had an extremely weak defense, but, hmmm....
Trust our defense. It won't be easy but nobody ever said it would be. Our defense won't give up so many easy threes unlike what Kansas allowed. We can do this! GO BLUE!!!
What about their overtime win over Providence in the BET final? They didn't shoot too well in that game and they were at full strength. Could that game be used as a blueprint to beat them?
Providence didn't have a very strong offense at all per Kenpom, so if we can score as many buckets as we should and play defense like Providence did or better, I'm thinking we have a good chance. And their Torvik rating for that game was 95, their worst in postseason play so far but hardly their worst for the season.
No matter what happens, what a season and what a ride this year! Still, I want one more win. I feel like it's coming and our defense will give our offense just enough of a chance and they will be looser too. GO BLUE!!!
I notice too that Texas Tech gave up 24 three-point attempts out of 57 (about 42.1 percent), versus Kansas giving up 40 out of 65 (about 61.5 percent).
For our defense, 29.9 percent of the FGA's given up have been three-pointers. I think that percentage will rise a bit tomorrow, but we will probably be closer to giving up what Texas Tech did than Kansas. I agree on rebounding though, if we crash the boards well we have a good chance too.
The highest defense number for a champion has been 92.5 so far. That was North Carolina last year.
Villanova sits at 94.4 for now. So if we are going the weak offense route for us, also consider the weak defense route for Nova.
UConn in 2014 was weaker and ranked lower on offense on the season. But I think Syracuse in 2003 was also weaker on offense than us this year. It just doesn't show up in the rankings for that year.
They did also play Tennessee though, months ago, who played pretty good defense. In that case though, I think coaching is the difference. Rick Barnes does get good teams but they never seem to have as much success as their potential, unlike Beilein's, especially this year.
The only team with a defense in our league that Nova has played in this entire stretch is Texas Tech. I didn't watch that game as I was driving home from LA, but I wonder what Tech's overall talent level is like against what we have. Keenan Evans was a stud and they did win at Kansas earlier this year, but I can't name anyone else off the top of my head on their roster.
Can Villanova shoot and make so many threes on our defense?
If yes, unless we have a phenomenal night on offense, they deserve to win. If not, we have a shot! Let's go! GO BLUE!!!
I'm not quite going to go as far as to say I'd be surprised if we lost to Nova. We will still have to play our best. But as I've said time and time again in this thread, can they realistically take and make this many threes on our defense? If they can, then they deserve to win. If not, we have a decent shot if we can get the offense rolling!
26 of 33 of Villanova's shot attempts have been triples. I highly, highly doubt that Beilein and our defense will allow that many. Oh, they'll get their looks on us for sure, but it will be a lot harder.
How many of those have even been contested? So many look wide open. If they get that many on our defense, then maybe it's just a solid talent that they have. But our defense is so much better at not giving those up!
Of the FGA's that Kansas has given up, 38.5 percent have been triples. After today, 29.9 percent of our opponents' FGA attempts have been threes.
I'm not denying that it will be very difficult to beat Villanova, if they keep the pedal to the metal. But it won't be easy for them either if we bring it! And if we finally have a full evening of decent shooting....there is hope, folks! GO BLUE!!!
Look, Nova is scary on offense. But compare our defense with that of Kansas as well. I am confident we will figure it out enough for it to at least be close, barring a big comeback by the Jayhawks of course.
I agree on Nova, they look unstoppable and are hitting their threes.
That said, Kansas did have the weakest defense by all advanced metrics coming into the Final Four, and it wasn't very close either. Some of their shots look pretty uncontested to me. I have a feeling they won't have that much success on our defense, though they certainly will have their fair share. I still think we have a fair shot if we bring our A game and play defense like there's no tomorrow. GO BLUE!!!
Just absolutely love this team. They don't even know that the word "quit" exists! Down 10, not shooting their best, still find a way to win.
Seriously, how can you not love this team? Let's have our best game ever on Monday and win one more! GO BLUE!!!
I won't deny that Kansas may have the talent offensively to hang with Nova. However, there is no ignoring that their defense is by far the weakest left in the dance. I really think the only way Nova loses is if they have a very cold night, on top of having issues keeping the Jayhawks as bay with their defense. It could be a very close, high-scoring game though. I'm going to guess a final score of something like 85-80, with Nova on top.
I've said it in another post that Villanova's Kenpom defense number of 94.6 would be very high for a champion if they do win. However, I do indeed see a couple of impressive performances in the tournament so far. Their defense gave up fewer than .9 points per possession against both Alabama and Texas Tech. Maybe the Big East has strong offenses, and perhaps these two teams do not. However, this is still pretty impressive no matter how you slice it and dice it. Besides, other than against A&M, we haven't exactly lit it up on offense since the BTT.
I do agree though, if both Michigan and Nova make it and play their best against each other, it will be a game for the ages. I could easily see it coming down to the last possession even. Something just tells me that Michigan will play a lot more loose in the championship game, should they beat Loyola, than they have so far in the big dance (except against A&M).
I tend to agree that Loyola plays a lot like us. I also am not sure I read a lot into the size advantage we had over them, if A&M and FSU are any indication.
No, the difference really is we appear to be more talented. Matthews transferred from Kentucky and is showing his worth, Moe reminds me of Frank Kaminsky from Wisconsin as a center who can hit triples and as such stretch defenses, Z's defense has been key.... I mean, I could go on here. Loyola is good, but I don't know that they have the kind of talent we have. And our talent also works hard and plays well together too. I think we win by double digits, but it could be close for a while.
We also set the bar pretty high in LA last weekend. But it's the Final Four and I know all of you who go will do your job, just like this team! You can do it! GO BLUE!!!
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