2014 We LOVE You / Michigan vs. Nebraska SNOWFLAKES Thread.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:04 PM ^
PHEWFFFFFS!!!!!
January 9th, 2014 at 11:06 PM ^
That being said beilein should keep them in the gym right now to shoot 100 FTs each. 3-9 is unacceptable.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:11 PM ^
Who would've thunk Nebraska would go 11 for 11 at the charity stripe?
January 9th, 2014 at 11:14 PM ^
....not 11-11, they missed one in the last min for sure.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:23 PM ^
And then missed one to go 11-12.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:23 PM ^
That was their only miss of the game.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:04 PM ^
This team is finding ways to win and I absolutely love it. GRIII showing emotion all game looked like a beast. Walton with some clutch buckets...I'm happy.
2014!!
January 9th, 2014 at 11:26 PM ^
I've had my frustrations with Walton, but without him we probably lose this one. He's coming along exactly as he needs to, straight down to the ice water in his veins.
January 10th, 2014 at 2:47 AM ^
That baseline drive into traffic for the finish and one was incredible.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:04 PM ^
And the Jordan Morgan bunny doesn't go for someone else.
Goodness gracious. I love 2014. I love Michigan.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:08 PM ^
I said when we lost tough games to ISU, Charlotte and Arizona that those would help us moving forward. This team had to learn how to close, if not, it would've killed them late in the year.
They had to feel heartbreak and realize that you have to take it to a level you never thought you had when the game is on the line.
They also had to define roles at the end of the game.
They've done all of these things.
I miss McGary like heck, but this is a sneaky dangerous team.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
Agree to a certain extent. The team still can't hit free throws in the last 5 minutes, but they have a will, play together, and have a great leader in Coach B.
January 10th, 2014 at 8:50 AM ^
This team cannot hit free throws all game.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:17 PM ^
has not played better in the final minutes of games. they are still playing terrible D and missing ft's.
they are also not playing isu and arizona.
January 10th, 2014 at 1:02 AM ^
Than making FTs and losing?
They ARE playing better. Watch the fricking game and you'll see that.
It's about stops and key buckets.
If you miss a FT, then you likely have to get a stop. Who gives a shit if you miss, but get a stop and win?
If you miss a FT and they score, then the team didn't finish. You can blame the FT shooter and the defense.
FT shooting can absolutely come back to bite you in the butt...and you need to make shots, but more importantly, you need to win.
I don't care if we don't hit one shot down the stretch, if we're up 1...they better not score. If you do that, obviously you win.
DEFENSE is the most important part of the game down the stretch, even more so than free throws.
I know Uncle Drew and Bill Russell say the game is "always about getting buckets." And that's true, but in crunch time, you have to put the clamps on...otherwise it doesn't matter how many FTs you make.
January 10th, 2014 at 1:27 PM ^
is that the mere result of winning one close game vs. losing a different close game--when the two games are played against two different opponents--is not evidence that you played better in the winning game than the losing game.
if you play terribly against a bad team, you can still win. if you play terribly against a good team, you will lose.
you can't use the result of us winning against minny and nebraska to compare the execution down the stretch in the isu game and arizona game to the execution down the against minny and nebraska and say that it improved. the reality is that the execution was equally terrible. the difference is that we were playing worse teams, and we had luck on our side in the win.
so ultimately why am i saying this? because i don't think that you should use the fact that we won a close game against minny or nebraska as evidence that we could out-execute a good team like wisconsin, msu, or osu down in crunch-time. the evidence is that we are bad down the stretch, and will likely fail against a good team.
January 10th, 2014 at 5:10 AM ^
But watching the game, it felt like Michigan was actually giving a lot of effort on defense, while Nebraska was just hitting a lot of tough shots. I understand the "Big deal it was just Nebraska" crowd, but at the same time watching the game you had a feel for how badly Nebraska wanted this game, and it felt like on this night a Herculean effort was needed to come home with a win. It could have easily gone the other way.
January 10th, 2014 at 5:49 AM ^
I think a lot of people around here and elsewhere underestimate the teams Michigan is playing. Their first loss was 77-7 to the still undefeated and currently ninth ranked Iowa Cyclones. Second loss was to a currently 10-4 Charlotte team. Third loss was to number #10 Duke. The last loss was to #1 Arizona. When you factor in that every team wants to knock off Michigan like they are Omar from The Wire because they went to the NC last year, along with the extreme youth and unfortunate injuries on the team, 11-4 starts to look pretty damn impressive.
January 10th, 2014 at 10:12 AM ^
Iowa State: 14-0
Charlotte: 10-4
Duke: 12-3
Arizona: 16-0
Total: 52-7 (88.1%)
Also, obviously you meant 77-70 in the loss to Iowa State.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:04 PM ^
A win is a win, no matter how ugly. I'll take it.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:05 PM ^
The force-field kept that point-blank tip shot from going in!
January 9th, 2014 at 11:06 PM ^
Much like Mr Novak. I hate losing more than i like winning.
Successfully avoided a loss. I am pleased.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:25 PM ^
A great "must win road game".
January 9th, 2014 at 11:06 PM ^
Thought they had the tip in. THEY DIDN'T THOUGH!!! GO BLUEEE
January 9th, 2014 at 11:07 PM ^
That game was way too frightening and stress inducing... o.O
January 9th, 2014 at 11:08 PM ^
I'll take it.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:08 PM ^
Any road win is a good win.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:12 PM ^
I came here to say this, and since I can't up-vote I can just say yes I agree. True words were said here.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:09 PM ^
Who would have thought 2014 would be so good to UofM and it's alums/fans? Hopefully this trend carries through the remaining season and continues with the other teams ! :)
January 9th, 2014 at 11:09 PM ^
This is going to be a posbang, isn't it?
January 9th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
The team is starting to figure it out....they will make the tourney
January 9th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
GR3 deserves apologies from most Michigan fans lately.
Thankfully that's balanced out by most Michigan fans deserving apologies (and xanax) for having to watch this man-to-man defense.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:12 PM ^
Why? This shows how "off" he was for most of the OOC season. Only recently did he start playing up to expectations.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^
"He's awful, doesn't have any skills, great athlete/rec league basketball player, derppppppppppppppppppp"
It got pretty stupid earlier this year. Way further than "geez guys, he's not playing up to expectations!"
Consult pretty much any basketball thread on this site in the first month of the year.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:25 PM ^
"he's awful" would have to be a troll, and I'd be shocked if more than one or two people ever said that here. It's certainly not "most Michigan fans" who owe him an apology.
You're overstating the nature of the criticisms. He wasn't playing like a star earlier in the season and that was the nature of the bulk of the commentary, which was factually accurate.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^
No, I'm really not. I'm tempted to go back and show you, but it's not worth the effort. There would be 20 post stretches of nothing but GR3 trashing.
January 10th, 2014 at 8:46 AM ^
Perhaps you should let it drop, if "tempted" but not worth your time? I believe that there were some or even many posters calling out GRIII due to the, I think, unreal expectations placed upon him based on lastl year. It is the use of the word, "most" that I feel inaccurate. Prove it or drop it,
January 9th, 2014 at 11:47 PM ^
there was a consistent group suggesting he had no heart and no ball skills--and that the idea he would be a 1st round draft pick crazy. I suspect those were many of the same people who said similar things about Timmy.
January 10th, 2014 at 1:04 AM ^
I am one of those who need to apologize. I did post I thought it was odd he was being told he was a first round pick. I don't think he's the second coming or anything but he is playing like he deserves the accolades that were heaped upon him.
And I really thought to myself while listening to the game, I should bring this up here. But I was beaten to the punch.
January 10th, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^
People were saying some pretty questionable things about Glenn back in late November/early December. The game and snowflake threads were full of vitrol toward him in games that Michigan lost and/or in which he didn't play well.
To be fair none were on the order of some of the criticisms leveled against Devin but they were still pretty bad in their own right.
January 10th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
on the GR III bandwagon when a number of fans jumped off.
Thanks, Dan Jakich.
Oooh...I must be in the front row.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
coming up on the right side of close games is the hallmark of a winner. Kids are getting better, fast. And, tons of stuff to work on to improve. Got to do better guarding guys out at the perimeter. Hope that this is fixable with focus, and not just the fact that we have bad footspeed.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
I LOVE 2014!!!!!!!!!!
January 9th, 2014 at 11:11 PM ^
Tight games are probably going to even out in the end. Any road win is a good win!!!
January 10th, 2014 at 8:49 AM ^
My sentiments exactly regarding the Red Wings and shoot outs...
January 9th, 2014 at 11:11 PM ^
The title says snowflakes, but the feel of the thread is much more that of a posbang thread. So, WOOO! 2014! Glenn Robinson really showed a lot in this game! Wooo! So did Stauskas in almost a closer role like Trey Burke! Woo! Winning!
January 9th, 2014 at 11:11 PM ^
Did I miss something? Isn't Nebraska supposed to the worst basketball school in the Big Ten? I had to work all night so I didn't get to see it... are they actually good, or are we struggling?
January 9th, 2014 at 11:13 PM ^
Is by far the worst team. The 9-11 spots are some combination of Penn State Nebraska and Purdue, depending on who you ask. This was a good win, as Nebraska is tough to beat on their home court, sell out crowd, etc. Their coach is really building a solid program in Lincoln.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:23 PM ^
Agree Nebraska is in the 9-11 range, but they're probably going to land in the 9 spot. Petteway is good. We could get a bye to the big ten tourney, but my guess is we finish in the 5th spot again with MSU, OSU, Wisconsin, Iowa in front of us. Only other team that I think has a real shot of finishing in the top 5 is Illinois. Finishing 6th in the big Ten should guarantee a spot in the tourney. So our goal should be that or higher.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:11 PM ^
who would have thought michigan could win a basketball game that came down to a defensive possession!!
gotta say, GRIII was a complete player tonight. his defense is always spectacular but he scored in just about every way tonight including hitting shots all over the floor, a thunderous alley oop, and a dunk on the break off his own steal which covered for a stauskas turnover at the clock was getting low. stauskas looked great shooting and especially passing, jordan morgan was brilliant, lavert had a few signature circus layups, and walton showed some flashes. the crucial turnover when it was tied near the end was awful but he made up for it (sort of) by driving into contact and willing his way to a tough basket and a shot at the line, which of course he missed. given his phenomenal half court halftime buzzer beater, i can forgive the missed free throw.
i liked also that beilein was far less conservative than usual with his timeouts, calling several to prevent the game from getting out of hand, and always showing good adjustments on the return to play.