February 17th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^
Still waiting for the next time JB calls a good end of the clock play.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
I thought the play against Wisconsin was pretty good.
We had some good dual wing action going on there, Penn State just timed their trap really well.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^
OK, we're a second-half team, right?
February 17th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^
THJ, 5 points in his last 60 minutes played. Get your head together kid. You're a great player. Don't beat yourself.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^
Our bigs are awful
February 17th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
I'll gladly take a tie at halftime after that crap half. Hopefully Coach B can refocus them in the locker room.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
BTN studio announcer knows his stuff
February 17th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
On the last possession, PSU pulled out a soft trap with two guards on Burke. They hadn't showed it yet and we weren't prepared for it. Credit them for good timing.
That's the reason I wouldn't have called timeout - you're giving them a chance to set something up defensively. However, I'm sure Coach B is thinking "Let's set something up so we don't have Trey Heroball."
Sometimes you have to tip your cap. Credit PSU for the timing of showing the trap. Now we can expect it and be prepared for it.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
Yep. That was a great defensive call and Burke didn't handle it very well.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:56 PM ^
......sadly are neither Leaders or Legends - have to turn down the volume
February 17th, 2013 at 12:56 PM ^
Here's what it looks like by the numbers...
HALFTIME | ||
Penn St. | Michigan | |
Points | 32 | 32 |
FG% | 45.8% | 36.0% |
3FG% | 33.3% | 20.0% |
FT% | 80.0% | 75.0% |
Off. Rebounds | 3 | 3 |
Def. Rbounds | 15 | 9 |
Assists | 6 | 4 |
Blocks | 0 | 0 |
Turnovers | 6 | 2 |
Plenty of game left, of course, but I do wonder what the halftime discussion will entail...
February 17th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^
This game has a double digit win written all over it.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
not playing with any confidence lately, I am not digging these dog days of February
February 17th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
Not giving up on anything yet. THIS IS BASKETBALL. Not everything is a blowout. Being up or down by a couple doesn't mean anything until the very end.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:59 PM ^
Everything should a blowout against Penn State. Honestly against any other team in this conference, I would agree with you, but winning this game by <20 is a very bad sign.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
Classic hangover game. They started to get their confidence back there in the last 5 minutes. Want to see them come out with 3 defensive stops. We'll be fine this game. Long term, need Stauskas and McGary to start being more diligent about moving their feet on defense.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
We got them right where we want them!!
February 17th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
Where is the FUCKing attitude, i thought after the ass whoping last week we would come here and destroy penn st...can we fucking start playing tough, shove ppl around punch them in the face i dont care just fucking PLAY TOUGH.. this is frustrating i dont even want to watch anymore
February 17th, 2013 at 12:59 PM ^
That's some great analysis there, champ.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
Whats urs??? Did u see what a real good team (indiana) did to Purdue yest?? Thats what i expected us to do
February 17th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
Think you need to realize your watching KIDS play a GAME.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^
They aren't "kids" anymore. Semantics, but with the responsibilities required of them, I would argue they should be classified as adults or young adults w increasing expectations of responsibility. But it is a game! :)
February 17th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
These are 18-22 year olds playing a game that is highly stochastic. PSU came out with a gameplan specifically designed to attack our weaknesses, and then went on a 12-1 run that we countered by eventually tying the game up. You can't expect to win every possession -- that's why games are 40 minutes long and coaches exist to make adjustments.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
Has been pretty poor. It is never just one man (see Stauskas, Nik) but it also falls on help line guys and the two pass away guys who should be in the lane ready to give help. Really don't know the principles taught in relation to where they're taught to steer the ball, but clearly the help line guys aren't doing their job, either.
February 17th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
We're going to hit a few 3's and a few PSU starters will foul out. We will win by at least 15
February 17th, 2013 at 1:01 PM ^
Agreed. They put it all out there in the first half and will run out of fouls/gas in the second half when Michigan stops shooting 36%.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:00 PM ^
Doesn't coach b start playing more zone? Make a team like this beat u from the outside. Too many easy layups for a crappy psu team. The definition of insanity apply's to his defensive philosophy for our team. Just play a 2-3 zone for awhile and pack it in. Throw in a 1-3-1 every now a then. I am also amazed of what a terrible rebounding team we are on both ends of the court.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^
Requires solid man principles, which either UM has forgot or needs to keep working. They may be staying in man to keep working on POE's during the week of practice
February 17th, 2013 at 1:08 PM ^
Also can be used to hide / compensate for some of your man to man weaknesses. There are no fundamentals you can teach Nick S. from getting blow by with dribble penetration ( which btn just showed happening going to the break).
February 17th, 2013 at 1:12 PM ^
But if the helpline guys can't do their job, same things happen in zone. Guys get split, ball gets to middle of floor and trouble. If Nik needs to be "hid", then don't put him on the top. Well, not you, coaching staff
February 17th, 2013 at 2:07 PM ^
Would add is that in man on the pick and roll our big guys hedge so hard we end up alot of times with bigs up high and smaller guys underneath trying to rebound against another teams bigs. With a 2-3 zone you have less rebounding miss matches down low. Against teams with good big men (Minn, Ind, Ohio) we have been getting killed on offensive rebounds this year
February 17th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^
Trey is trying to do too much, Stauskas seems to have misplaced his offensive abilities (and can't make up for it with any defense), GRIII has to be handed everything on a silver platter as it's now pretty obvious that he can't create any offense for himself, Timmy is in one of his annual funks and is trying to overcompensate for it by being over aggressive,and the only semi-competent big man we seem to have is MItch and while his energy is amazing, he struggles to finish shots and is a liability in the defensive post. This, combined with defensive play which can best be described as apathetic, is why we're staring at tied ball game against a team that is yet to win a game in Big Ten play. It makes me sick to my stomach and I fear for what is in store for us the rest of the season if this isn't fixed.
Good news is, all of their best players are in foul trouble, so I can't see the Nittany Lions hanging around much past the 12 minute mark of the 2nd half.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
Okay I'm pretty concerned about this team gong forward. Defensively they're not getting any better. In fact they look like they're getting worse. Burke has to play hero seemingly every game now because he's not getting much help. There seems to be a very apparent lack of toughness and grit with this team, and there are no Novak/Douglass type players for everyone to rally around and look to for leadership. Not sure what's happened in the last week or so, but they just look like their confidence is absolutely shot. They're letting a god-awful Penn State team, which before today has had zero inside presence, dominate inside the paint and walk all over them.
If this stuff isn't fixed, and in a hurry, we're looking at another first round exit.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^
I was more encouraged towards the end of the half
- PSU lead evaporated, tied. Not ideal, but better than going into the half down
- Seem to be attacking the rim more. Yes, we've missed some easy layups, but overall I think we're near the rim more and that's encouraging.
Our shooting troubles are a bit disconcerting. A few games ago, we were a top 5 shooting team at over 50%, we're down to 49% because of the tough stretch, but State held us to 30-something % and we are only shooting 36%. If we can get some of our shooting back, we'll have no trouble (sort of, well, duh, I guess)
February 17th, 2013 at 1:08 PM ^
I'm wondering if the shooting troubles are coming because they are getting tired (especially the Freshmen). It's a long season, and their legs might be feeling it now. Weak legs and your shots are that harder to make.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^
Ok, so for the 2nd half, I think we need to get Timmy an open shot to get his confidence back up. I think GRIII has started to wake up and we'll see more action from him. Lets go Blue!
February 17th, 2013 at 1:05 PM ^
That was awesome!
February 17th, 2013 at 1:05 PM ^
Woah, where do they find these halftime entertainers. Cool hand painting.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
Impressive
February 17th, 2013 at 1:05 PM ^
"Penn State brought a lot more than five hour energy to this game"
February 17th, 2013 at 1:05 PM ^
I feel like the Wisconsin buzzer-beater broke the team. Hard fought game against a top-20 team on the road and Hardaway hits a clutch 3 to seemingly win the game. Then BAM, a lucky prayer. Since that first great steal by McGary to give us the lead in OT and subsequent missed lay-up, we can't hit shit and our D has gotten worse. The only expression is don't let the same team beat you next week. Well I feel like that buzzer beater is beating is for the third time. Really missing Novak and Douglass right now. Lack of senior leadership is showing.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^
That's what I'm thinking too. That's not a game you can just let go of and forget about. Those are the kinds of losses teams carry with them for a while, whether they're Penn State or Duke.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^
let's get this thing going and get hot for the rest of the season, the time is now!
February 17th, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
Maybe we can put the "We can't shoot FTs" meme to rest today. 75% as a team in the first half.
It probably helps to actually get to the line more than once a game, too.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
Apparently no one read Erik_in_Dayton's excellent piece on being a KU fan. Some of you folks have developed a ridiculous sense of entitlement. Get a grip.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^
No joke. We're a good team, but good teams struggle, too. Hopefully we're getting the crappy performances out of the way so we can win in March.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^
This is also a reminder that game threads are consistently filled with the most negative people on earth, and they usually don't know much about basketball.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:08 PM ^
What ad agency does the BWIII commercials? They are beyond brutal. It's like they were written by guys who not only don't actually....you know...follow sports but maybe by guys who've never even SEEN sports.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:08 PM ^
Opponent getting way easier looks than we are.
Layups/tips/dunks:
PSU: 6/8
UM: 4/6
And this is the best it's been in a while...
February 17th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^
John B does not recruit typical big ten players. And his style is not typical half court big ten bball. He likes to have bigs who play on the outside and shoot as well and this team is better suited to run. the last few games the team has fallen into letting the opponent dictate the pace of game and thats not good. If michigan can get back to playing michigan ball they are as good as any team in the conference. and remember 5 of top 7 players are freshman or sophmores. This team is young. So lets come down a little as a fan base.