Nik Stauskas - Tremendous!

Submitted by oriental andrew on

And it's not just me saying it. 

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21984439/nik-stauskas-shot-michigan-past-florida

Boy was shooting at a TREMENDOUS clip!

 

They have a thing they say at Michigan when someone's having a great game shooting the ball. Whoever's doing it, they say, "is shooting at a tremendous clip.

 

OK, it's not everyone at Michigan who says it. It's 6-foot-6 freshman Nik Stauskas. For whatever reason, he fell in love with that saying this season. He said it a little bit. Then he said it a lot. Too much? "Maybe," said senior guard Josh Bartelstein, smiling and teasing.

 

The only reason I know about Stauskas and his kooky saying is that when the media walked into the Michigan locker room on Sunday after the Wolverines had blown out Florida 79-59 for the South Regional championship, teammates and coaches were yelling at Stauskas, "You were shooting at a tremendous clip!"

Ok, so it's a Gregg Doyel article, but worth a read.  Another Doyel article worth a read (I know, twice in one post???):

http://www.cbssports.com/general/blog/gregg-doyel/21984525/florida-deserved-to-lose

I didn't see the press conference or read the transcript, but Donovan seems to give little praise to Michigan, and maybe didn't take this team seriously.  The day before the game, Doyel asked Young and Yeguete about McGary and they dismissed his ability.  Boynton after the game didn't even know Stauskas' name! 

And in the "did he really say that?" file: 

"Listen," Donovan said. "Stauskas, if he goes 0 for 6 ... [it's] a different game."

America

April 1st, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^

"Listen," Donovan said. "Stauskas, if he goes 0 for 6 ... [it's] a different game."

 

A different game as in our walk ons don't get to play and we only win by 10?

denardogasm

April 1st, 2013 at 12:07 PM ^

That really is shamefully poor sportsmanship and makes him look bad.  When you lose by 20 and are down by double digits the entire game after minute 1 it's not because of luck or the bounces not going your way.  They got trucked.

Edit: Made this comment before reading the whole article.  After reading, I would like to make an addendum: Donovan is a complete and utter clown.  I would not expect a guy with as much success as he's had to have his team so totally unprepared and demonstrate such Sparty level disillusionment.

This is Michigan

April 1st, 2013 at 11:54 AM ^

And if Hardaway doesn't go 0-for in the first 30 minutes, the game could have been much worse.



Not a knock on Hardaway, but this team has multiple weapons that can pick up the slack of someone having an off night.



Shame on Billy.

Moleskyn

April 1st, 2013 at 11:54 AM ^

Yes, and if we had missed all of our shots, it would have been a different game. It would have also been a different game if we had kept our starters on the bench the entire time. If Beilein had stayed in the locker room all game, it would have been a different game as well.

How many other things can we come up with that would have made it a different game?

LB

April 1st, 2013 at 11:57 AM ^

wouldn't have been able to drive a stake through our hearts. It would have been a different game. Just goes to prove that those guys up there will steal anything that isn't nailed down. 

lazyfoot10

April 1st, 2013 at 12:11 PM ^

Yeah Billy Donovan. 

And if McGary doesn't get boards it's a different game. Or if GRIII forgot how to dunk. Or if Burke left for the NBA last year. Or if Eric Murphy actually makes a shot. Or if a crazy monkey army comes in, seizes control of the stadium and takes away all of the Michigan players causing them to forfeit, it's an ENTIRELY different game. 

Weak excuse Billy. Enjoy your weekend golfing.

 

jblaze

April 1st, 2013 at 12:14 PM ^

 

"Donovan volunteered that Michigan is a "good defensive team, [but] I wouldn't say they're a great defensive team."

What's more, Donovan said, "That's not a great shot-blocking team."

And furthermore, he said, McGary "is not a guy you throw the ball to and post him up. Everything he gets is off Burke."

Those guys," Donovan said of Michigan, "they don't have players that really are able to create for themselves."

ca_prophet

April 1st, 2013 at 12:27 PM ^

These quotes are all things the fan base was saying a few weeks ago. With the possible exception of Hardaway, we don't really have anyone besides Burke to create a shot for themselves - that's why there's a heroball meme floating around here. We don't as a rule block shots, run post plays, or get offense via 1-1 plays except for Burke. It's just a lot easier to laugh them off on the heels of a Final Four appearance.

What we do is avoid fouls, run the break, and get easy shots ... which we did to perfection against Florida. Go Blue - Beat Syracuse!

Naked Bootlegger

April 1st, 2013 at 12:14 PM ^

I like playing the "it's a different game if...." game.   We could do this until we're blue in the face, and we (the UM fanbase) frequently played this game throughout the season during some of our close losses.   But losing by 20?   I'm sorry, but you can't play the "its a different game if..." game under these circumstances. 

It's a different game if...

(1) Trey Burke is healthy.

(2) GR3 doesn't completely shut down a hapless Murphy (a matchup Donovan was totally trying to exploit early in the game...FAIL).

(3) Michigan lost to Kansas.

(4) Etc., etc.

Sorry, Billy.   You didn't show much class or grace hanging out this post-game dirty laundry.

Hardware Sushi

April 1st, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^

I read the Doyel article about Donovan and now I'm confused.

I read another article where it sounded like Donovan was pretty effusive in his praise for Burke and our team's offense, in general. I thought it was a very respectable press conference.

The stark difference in the two makes me sort of think this is classic Doyel troll. Doesn't matter either way. FINAL FOUR WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!111111

MightyMatt13

April 1st, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^

It definitely is just a nonsense troll piece. I watched the entire presser and Donovan was not disrespectful at all. He probably is too frank and doesn't use as much coach-speak as we're used to in this tournament, but why fault a guy for that. Every quote that sounds dickish was taken out of context, like when he said none of our players create for themselves and then went on to explain why they dont have to because of Trey. He said his team didn't have the fire, which is true, and maybe they would have gained confidence if Nik doesn't drain all of those 3s, also true. I have no beef with anything he said

yoyo

April 1st, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^

I watched the pressor and Donovan was pretty respectful while I was watching.  He said he wasn't even upset about this loss compared to previous seasons because we far and away deserved the win while other years he felt like Florida should have won.  He admitted we were the better team.  Of course that's quite obvious but also respectful.

ZooWolverine

April 1st, 2013 at 2:01 PM ^

I was wondering about that but I hadn't seen the press conference--the article seems to make a huge case out of small snippets and conjecture. Yes, Stauskas was open a lot--that's something that should have been corrected for more quickly, but he had been cold up until this game, I don't know if it's the worst strategy in the world to help on Burke and see if Stauskas will burn you.

He says they didn't know how to pronounce Stauskas, therefore they had no idea who he was--I've got to say, I've seen a few clips of Beilein putting keys up on the board where opposing players are referred to by number--you don't run down the court yelling "Which one of you is Stauskas? I'm not supposed to leave you open!"

He says they disrespect us because they say we don't have a great defense--who, exactly on the board thinks that's wrong? Or that Burke doesn't create the vast majority of everyone's points?

There were a couple of stupid comments that are hard to add context to and make better--McGary is not much of a threat is just stupid--but it's written in a style that's taking small snippets, filling in a lot of assumptions and hoping you don't notice.

Indiana Blue

April 1st, 2013 at 3:56 PM ^

and he whined through the first half of it.   "we were 3 for 17 in the opening and we missed 11 shots from 3 feet or less".  Does everyone remember Florida missing 11 of their first 17 shots from 3 feet or less?  Must be not counting blocks by Mitch or GRIII.  He simply said that Trey was our entire team ... nothing other than the well if they missed WIDE OPEN shots it would have been different.  That's right Billy ... WIDE OPEN SHOTS because your "great defensive" team was fucking clueless how to defend against 5 guys that are ALL able to score.  

Hey Billy ... grow up.

Go Blue!

snoopblue

April 1st, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^

That is the scary part. Burke and Hardaway haven't even shot well. Obviously, with McGary's emergence, everyone's scoring will go down and I'll take that because he will get higher percentage looks with much better chances of finishing. Still, if Burke and Hardaway get going they could probably add in an additional 10 points. The thing I love about this team is everybody will defer to the guy with the hot hand and everyone seems to know where that person is. Stauskas behind the back to Mitch. Hardaway finding Stauskas in the corner. 

I read Donovan's comments yesterday. Sore loser, I know Pitino didn't teach him that, although I haven't seen Pitino get dominated like that before. 

LSAClassOf2000

April 1st, 2013 at 12:19 PM ^

"Those guys," Donovan said of Michigan, "they don't have players that really are able to create for themselves."

I am sort of forced to ask at this point - which Tournament has he been watching or reading about? Much of what he said made me think that he did not take this game all that seriously until he found himself in the middle of a drubbing. It seems like a presser is not the best forum for criticizing specific players on your own team either. He's been there before at Florida (he's won it all twice too), so he could at least act like it, you would think. 

Ali G Bomaye

April 1st, 2013 at 12:34 PM ^

Having players who can create for themselves is Michigan's greatest strength.  Besides Burke, who is obviously one of the best in the country at doing so, Hardaway can get a decent-quality look pretty much anytime he wants, Stauskas has proven that he has a handle (NJAS!), and Albrecht can usually make something happen.  We have some weaknesses, but that ain't one of them.

quigley.blue

April 1st, 2013 at 12:34 PM ^

Stauskas made his first three to put us up 7-0

#2 Gave M a 18 point lead,

#3 a 19 point lead, 

#4 a 21 point lead,

#5 and #6 gave 24 point leads

I don't know how different exaclty anything but the first one made this game...  What are rebound statistics like on corner 3's anyway?  Pretty good odds to get the putback or at least another posession the way McGary was playing inside early.

mGrowOld

April 1st, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^

Well after reading the attached articles it's pretty damn obvious we stink according to Donovan.  I think we are unquestionably the WORST team that has ever beaten Florida by 20 points as a matter of fact.

I hang my victorious head in shame.

BlueinLansing

April 1st, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^

everything about Donovan's responses and approach to Michigan in the game led me to believe they did a very poor job preparing their kids for that game.

 

 

Dix

April 1st, 2013 at 1:19 PM ^

Burke is our point guard, it's his job to create shots for his teammates, especially if they can't create their own.  Criticizing the other players' inability to create shots is meaningless if you can't stop the point guard from creating shots for them. 

What a weird interview.

bluefanindc

April 1st, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^

How the three freshmen(Stauk, McGary, and GR3) would perform. He wasn't prepared and it showed. he should just take it to the chin, and say we were outplayed. Simple as that. BD has sour grapes it sounds like from this interview.

SamirCM

April 1st, 2013 at 3:16 PM ^

Has a great sense of the obvious. Instead of coaching, he should use his powers for good. Only he would understand that things would be different if something different happened. If his PG hadn't punched Mitch in the nuts things would have been different. If he had been born a women, things would be different. If the South had won the Civil War, things would be different. Man, what a wise man!

Smash Lampjaw

April 1st, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^

I don't think so anyway, so I'll repeat myself. At half time it looked to me like they had not had time to scout Michigan since Friday night. They did not seem to think Nik was a threat, even after (3) 3's. I said at halftime that we were leading by one Stauskas, and we ended up winning by a Stauskas, too. I was glad for the short turnaround between games.