A Final Word On OHIO Comment Count

Brian

GYI0062627418_crop_450x500[1]trey-burke-lofted-winner[1]

FIGHT!

We've previewed the Bobcats, talked with people who've seen a lot of them, and revisited OHIO with some keys and questions. Meanwhile, the rest of the Michigan blogosphere has done the same. Maize and Brew already assembled the linkdump, so here it is:

Ohio has been covered well across the Michigan blogosphere, from here (Impressions From Ohio vs. Akron, Quick Ohio Profile, Breaking Down Ohio with MAC Report Online, Breaking Down Ohio with the Hustle Belt) UMHoops (Film Room: Scouting Ohio, Film Room: Ohio's Defense, Opposition Q&A, Presser Transcript) and MGoBlog (Death From Above, Another Q&A with the Hustle Belt, Scouting OHIO) in particular. The content during this past week has been fantastic, and there's been no shortage of information on a relatively unknown opponent.

If you don't know about the Bobcats by now, you will never ever know the Bobcats.

The assumption of most of the mainstream guys is that the game hinges on the one-on-one matchup between Trey Burke and DJ Cooper. That seems overblown to me since it's Stu Douglass who is likely to get the Cooper assignment and Michigan switches constantly on screens anyway. Also, a zone is a strong possibility at some point.

To me, Michigan needs to rotate well enough to prevent Cooper from getting too many easy looks or creating them for his teammates. I assume Michigan has a plan; we'll see how it works. On offense, either Hardaway has to continue his late-season resurgence or Beilein ball shreds an aggressive, risk-taking defense.

Predictions are stupid. Hope to be back with muppets around 10.

Comments

Erik_in_Dayton

March 16th, 2012 at 5:18 PM ^

Would winning this game warrant muppets?  I'm not taking a win for granted by any means, but Michigan is the favorite and has been to the Round of 32 in two of the last three years.   A Sweet Sixteen birth would certainly call for muppets, but I'm not sure if muppets tonight would belittle or embiggen Michigan and its fans. 

J.

March 16th, 2012 at 6:09 PM ^

+1 - IMO, save the Muppets for truly momentous accomplishments, lest we cheapen their meaning, or the joy of bringing them to life.  I say, if we advance to the sweet 16, which we haven't done in way too long, that's definitely Muppets-worthy.  But, I think we should be able to expect first*-round victories at this point.

*first = NCAA's second.

Wazoo

March 16th, 2012 at 5:33 PM ^

Since they are the real Ohio shouldn't it be Ohio (YTO).  In Hoke's mind they probably are Ohio (NTO) .  This stuff gets confusing.

BrownJuggernaut

March 16th, 2012 at 5:45 PM ^

Hoke calls them "Bobcats" for the record. Also, Muppets are warranted. A tournament win is a tournament win is a tournament win. It is something we should celebrate. Look at all the teams that don't get a tournament win and how devastated the kids look. It's not something that works out for everyone. I say celebrate with muppets.

B-Nut-GoBlue

March 16th, 2012 at 7:12 PM ^

Is lower than Michigan's doesn't mean they aren't worthy of feeling accomplished for beating them.  Mizzou would love to have Muppets after plaing Norfolk St.  I understand where you guys are coming from, but a Tourney win is a Tourney win: Awesome!  Michigan isn't Duke yet, where wins are automatic.  This has nothing to do with belief/confidence in our team; these boys are amazing so no one is doubting them (I don't think).  Again, a Tourney win will feel good tonight for many.  Bring on whatever celebration comes!

J.

March 16th, 2012 at 9:32 PM ^

... to withdraw my objection? :-(

Congratulations to Ohio. In a weird way, it's nice to be this upset about a loss in the NCAAs again.  Duke hurt last year, but only because we were so close when my expectations were so low.

aaamichfan

March 16th, 2012 at 10:12 PM ^

I'm kinda wondering what happened around the time of the Purdue loss at home that threw this team off their game. Never looked the same on defense or offense after that. 

snarling wolverine

March 16th, 2012 at 10:32 PM ^

I think the grind of playing heavy minutes finally wore the starters down.  We played good D most of the year without having any shotblockers or guys who were great at jumping the passing lanes.  It was just old-school hustle.  But at the end of the year we seemed a step slower than before.

tybert

March 17th, 2012 at 12:23 AM ^

The home loss to Purdon't was ugly. Beilein teams have been somewhat ugly on offense but at least DECENT on defense. Starting with that home finale loss, we really struggled holding teams on D. The OT win vs. Minny was a bad omen.

Plain old sucks tonight - but with a self-medicated combination of Guinness and Merlot (I'm drinking whatever is in our cupboard, so sorry for the weird mix of beverages!) and a YouTube replay of that 40-34 win over the REAL Ohio, I'll be happy when I finally run out of alcohol that's not part of NyQuil and crash for the evening.

crossvilliage

March 17th, 2012 at 12:21 AM ^

Ohio made a name for itself.

 

They  would never had been so motivatied without Hoke & Beeline blowing 12 months of  "Ohio"  smoke.

 

The Ohio University College of Knowledge- Columbus will treat the Ann Arbor Kollege of Knowledge Fooseball team in the same manner as the Bobcats drained your BBall posers.

Hoke's "ohio" drivel is offically checkmated!!!!!!!

 

 

UofM Die Hard …

March 17th, 2012 at 4:54 PM ^

Tough loss, sad to see Novak and Stu leave, those guys have a lot of heart and soul.  Best of luck to them with their next venture.

Great season though, share of that title, huge recruits coming in, we are set nicely.  Just need to take that next step to becoming an elite program and I have all the confidence in the world that will happen.

 

Love this team

All In!