Basketball Open Thread
Not sure how no one has started to discuss this but today has been big so far. Syracuse hits a Brust-like buzzer beater to beat Pitt and Penn State comes back to beat Indiana in Bloomington. Also Illinois and Nebraska are battling it out in Lincoln.
February 12th, 2014 at 9:48 PM ^
February 12th, 2014 at 10:00 PM ^
IU also beat Wisconsin. They just seem to play to the level of their competition.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:41 PM ^
Eh I'd say they're just a bad team. Outside of us, Wisconsin is their only decent win. They're 4-7 in conference with losses to pretty much everyone in the bottom half of the conference. We should have beat them handily.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:55 PM ^
Yes, Michigan should have won but I don't know about "handily." It's hard to win anywhere on the road in conference play.
Now, at Crisler? I expect Michigan to exact some revenge and win by double-digits.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:31 PM ^
Our loss to IU bothers me. IU losing to Penn St.? That actually pleases me. I hope they lose every game the rest of the season.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^
Everyone wants to beat Michigan and, what ever the sport, the other team just gets fired up when we come to town or they come here.
IU's football team was thisclose to beating us a few times recently, You know the basketball team wanted payback.
Even Arizona with thier silly "we won for Rich Rod" statement. Really?
Going back a quite few years, Illinois finally beat us in football after 20 something years and they acted like they were crowned Big Ten kings forever. They still talk about it while wearing their tattered and faded Rose Bowl tee shirts.
Frustating, but makes every win that much better. After all, we're Michigan forgodsakes!
February 12th, 2014 at 11:12 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 1:32 AM ^
February 12th, 2014 at 11:26 PM ^
"Teams just play harder against Michigan"
This is some serious nonsense and sounds like sour grapes excuse making. Michigan is going to lose some games, across all sports. Some teams (e.g., MSU, OSU) will come with some extra fire, but Michigan is not some magnet for super competitiveness from all teams.
February 13th, 2014 at 12:17 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 10:35 AM ^
I get the weird Illinois dynamic, but he specifically said "everyone...whatever the sport," then referenced Indiana and Arizona. I really doubt Michigan inspires all their opponents across all sports to play extra hard all the time.
This is a sentiment I've heard from fans when Michigan loses, and it always sounds like post-loss excuses.
February 12th, 2014 at 11:35 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 8:23 AM ^
And it doesn't matter.
February 12th, 2014 at 9:54 PM ^
That Syracuse shot was ridiculous. They just won't lose.
Indiana losing to Penn fuggin' State at home is just hilarious. Though, as far as overall Conference perception and getting the most amount of teams to the Dance, Indiana losing doesn't help, but eff that noise; Crean suffereing a bad loss is just fine in my world.
I'm officially on the Nebraska and NW bandwagon so I'm hoping to see Nebraska win another one (and get to 5-6 in conference; whodda thunk it).
Lulz at UNC getting post-pwnd (GET IT!!?) at home VS Duke. Srsly guys?
February 12th, 2014 at 10:12 PM ^
Really the conference isn't that great this year. There's just too much evidence to the contrary, and we can't hide behind the SEC football thing of good teams beating themselves because of a larger sample size. It ultimately doesn't matter and we may benefit from perception this year.
February 12th, 2014 at 11:06 PM ^
February 12th, 2014 at 9:58 PM ^
Penn State eFG% - 48.15%
Penn State OREB% - 32.35%
Penn State - FTR - 33.33%
Indiana eFG% - 57.32%
Indiana OREB% - 28.00%
Indiana FTR - 58.54%
Penn State really tried to give the Hooisers a relatively easy win but Tom Crean was just too proud. The Hooisers had a team 0.700 A/T ratio, and while Penn State's was also below 1.00, it was better than that. This literally became a game of inches - terrible, sloppy inches.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:06 PM ^
Stanford is currently leading Washington at the break, 34-27.
The Cardinal have been playing much better of late, winning six of their last eight since opening Pac-12 play 0-2. Their only losses were at home against Arizona -- where they led nearly the entire way before falling late -- and on the road against UCLA. They are looking like a tournament team.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:08 PM ^
Aaaaand the Huskies go on a 6-0 run to begin the second half. Now 34-33, Cardinal.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:35 PM ^
I hate shots like the Syracuse three. Teams shouldn't win on crap like that. Also, I don't understand why teams don't just funnel guys like that to the left everytime for buzzer beaters. The shot is twice as difficult if he's forced left.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:43 PM ^
We've been victims of those crap shots multiples times
February 13th, 2014 at 8:01 AM ^
SU, just like Michigan, hung around in a game that they looked to be losing. They put themselves in position for that shot and made it.
That's basketball, and what makes it awesome/heartbreaking.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
college basketball. That is why Buffet is willing to put up a Billion dollars that no one can pick all the winners in the tournament.
Yesterday, San Diego State #5 in the country got beat by unranked Wyoming.
Each week there will be surprises. I hope Syracuse uses up all their luck before the tournament.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:34 PM ^
Well i got one prediction right. The immortal Yogi Ferrell came back to earth shooting a blistering 4-13 against Penn State tonight. And it's not like PSU has some sort of lock down defense at work - as a rule they pretty much suck at defense and yet, once again, a shooter goes nuts against us - returns to normal against all other teams.
February 13th, 2014 at 12:36 AM ^
Naturally.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:36 PM ^
February 12th, 2014 at 10:39 PM ^
Nebraska had better hold on against Illinois. We need to be the only visitor to win at Pinnacle Bank.
February 13th, 2014 at 1:29 AM ^
February 12th, 2014 at 10:42 PM ^
IU loss exposes how bad Crean is in-game. He's a great recruiter but his tactical skills are pretty awful. How do you blow an 11 point lead with 2 minutes to go?
IU lost talent to the NBA, but they still shouldn't be this bad. Crean brings in so much talent every year but they don't achieve up to expectations. It serves him right. I'll always hold a grudge against him for his classless actions against Kevin Meyer. I hope he struggles for the next few years.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:47 PM ^
They had four turnovers in those last two minutes. That'll do it.
February 13th, 2014 at 7:41 AM ^
February 12th, 2014 at 10:52 PM ^
Kevin Meyer?
February 12th, 2014 at 10:57 PM ^
He meant Jeff Meyer, Michigan assistant.
February 12th, 2014 at 11:09 PM ^
Oscar Mayer?
February 12th, 2014 at 11:21 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 12:28 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 8:40 AM ^
Any and all "Better Off Dead" references must be upvoted. It's a thing.
February 12th, 2014 at 10:58 PM ^
I hate Indiana even more now. HOW THE HELL DOES PSU WIN THERE AND NOT US?
#angrycaps
February 12th, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^
http://www.insidethehall.com/2014/02/12/video-tom-crean-reacts-loss-pen…
February 12th, 2014 at 11:54 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 12:07 AM ^
No different from Brady's ''We just didn't execute'' line. It's annoying no matter what coach's mouth it comes out of.
February 13th, 2014 at 12:13 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 12:59 AM ^
I wouldn't say he looked like a complete child. I thought it was dumb for saying someone needed to call a timeout when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself if he needed to though.
February 13th, 2014 at 9:00 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 1:42 AM ^
What is Brady Hoke supposed to say. I like him saying "we didn't execute" as opposed to "We fucking suck right now. Our interior line is all freshmen and they play like shit."
February 13th, 2014 at 8:01 AM ^
It's all the same. "Both teams played hard" "We didn't execute" etc