Before you give up on this MBB season...
February 22nd, 2015 at 8:16 PM ^
February 22nd, 2015 at 8:22 PM ^
February 22nd, 2015 at 8:23 PM ^
To the OP, I don't know that anyone has given up so much, but I believe that many have conceded to the reality that injuries and a tough schedule have probably kept the NCAA tournament out of a realistic discussion at this point. Best estimates at this point give us an 85% or so chance of winning 1 or 2 more games (combined probabilities of both scenarios) and that doesn't put us in the big dance. It might get us into the NIT if it pans out that way, but going back through the records of those who did not automatically qualify, there's a realizable chance even this does not occur. I've not given up (I doubt anyone has - this is the highly engaged end of the fanbase), but when you throw stats into the discussion, the "likely / not likely" debate is probably the better way to frame this.
February 22nd, 2015 at 8:57 PM ^
I don't think anyone is going to give up. These kids have outperformed and it has been truly fun to watch them mature as a team without our 2 best players!
February 23rd, 2015 at 8:10 AM ^
I will always root for and love Michigan basketball, but I dont think outperforming has been the case this year.
February 22nd, 2015 at 9:35 PM ^
yeah, I'm going to be just a little bit careful of that combination.
Love the optimism, though.
February 22nd, 2015 at 10:03 PM ^
Over, did you say over....
February 22nd, 2015 at 10:47 PM ^
like they should have... they would have a legitimate shot as a bubble team. Flip their 3 overtime losses and the close loss to Villanova and they're probably looking at a 3-seed in the NCAAs.
February 23rd, 2015 at 8:55 AM ^
February 23rd, 2015 at 7:54 AM ^
But what if Hoke wins out?
February 23rd, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
We have one week for Beilein to get this team ready for Maryland. Win that game and it's two straight wins over tournament teams. Two more wins to close the regular season puts you at 17-13 (10-8) with may get you on the "Next 4 out" line. If they make it to the semis, that means two more wins, one of which would be over either a bubble team or an "in" team. That may be enough to get us in the "Last 4 in" category depending on what happens in the other conference tournaments. Our odds improve greatly if Walton is back in any form because depth will become an issue playing back-to-back-to-back days.
February 23rd, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^
Maryland is an awful matchup for UM. Think Iowa with better guard play.
I am looking at that Big 10 seeding for the tourney and almost every team seeded 1-8 is actually a bad matchup for UM save for OSU and maybe Indiana (who we can never beat on their court and who Yogi turns into an NBA all star each time he plays us). The size and athleticism of those teams up front is just really a bad combination for us to face across the board.
There is a reason we have mostly won against the dregs of the league and mostly lost to the better teams. We are what we are. Rutgers and Northwestern are winnable - Maryland is a serious reach. Not impossible but the recency bias is fascinating as always to read. Our last wins before this were Nebraska, Rutgers, PSU, Minnesota and Northwestern - not good teams. Our only quality wins in Big 10 have been Ill and OSU. Extrapolate the whole year and add Syracuse and I guess Oregon (with Caris and Walton) - that's it. Let's have some perspective.
February 23rd, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
February 23rd, 2015 at 2:18 PM ^