Emphasis on defense = tired legs?
I am so very proud of this team, but watching our Wolverines struggle to hit open shots was frustrating. I have been shocked at how much our shooting regressed during the tournament. The first weekend seemed like it could have been nerves, but after seeing how beat our guys looked at times it made me wonder if much of the poor shooting could have been due to dead legs.
Sanderson has been highly praised for the conditioning the team achieves - and it seems like the ability to outlast their foes has been an advantage for Michigan in recent years (case in point - back to back B10 tournament championships) - but during the last two games our guys looked exhausted by 10 minutes in after fast starts.
My theory is that putting so much more effort into sufficating defense is wearing Michigan out and affecting the offense - shooting in particular. If this is the case then I wonder if a deeper rotation with more limited minutes across the board might not be an effective counter. I seem to remember Shaka Smart relying on heavy bench minutes to keep his Havoc defense fresh.
Anyways, I am proud of and amazed by this team and what it accomplished. Beilein uber alles and Go Blue!
said no one ever
That Villanova was just a better team......don't need to be looking for a smoking gun that's not there...
They had the better team. Hence the 1 seed. Everyone seems to forget, they throttled everyone in this tournament. We just happened to be last throttlee.
I will say the team carried themselves differently in San Antonio. It seemed like the moment was too big for them. Have to remember, 3 of the starters for Villanova won it as Freshmen/Sophomores, nothing surprised them. Lets hope we are saying the same about Poole, Livers, Brooks in a few years.
They had a ton of open looks and could not hit the 3s. Hit a couple of those and suddenly the "tired legs" get lifted up and become inspired legs.
That redheaded Donte kid did that all night long for Villanova.
Michigan did not have a player, or players who could match that.
I suppose its due to youth and inability to rise to the pressure of a big game.
Not sure we would have been successful trying to just trade baskets with them all game. They were a going to hit 3's and free throws. We weren't going to hit FTs, so unless we hit some 3's, we weren't going to beat them in a 2-point shooting contest. At least that is my feeling. Plus the refs were allowing a TON of contact when our guys went to the rim.
It may be due to defensive effort, but I thought the team looked exhausted in the 2nd half of the NC. Never saw that all year, even in the BTT. It made sense that Mo was gassed early, I was surprised by the other guys.
I don't think poor shooting was due to fatigue. There were a lot of shots that were missed left or right. Tired legs typically mean you're missing short. The L and R misses suugest tightness and pressing. This is also why it was several players missing L or R... as the misses pile up, players start to press to make shots. They think either, "I HAVE to make this one" or "I can't miss another one" or even worse, "I hope I don't miss this one".
Hesitation, lack of confidence and pressure of the situation lead to a break down in shooting mechanics. On the other extreme is DiVincenso... someone shooting with confidence like he had last night doesn't think about anything except, "I can't wait to get the ball back and shoot". Muscle memory makes those shots effortless. It's why people after a unconscious shooting display say they were just letting it fly.
More to do with the pressure of the moment and of the misses piling up than fatigue in my opinion.
I put this in a comment, but what the hell - post it here as well.
In the last 10 minutes of their game against Loyola Michigan scored 27 points while holding the Ramblers to 12, shooting 43% from 3 and 64% overall. So somehow, Michigan's tired legs got rested up in the last 10 minutes of a game and were both super-active on defense and efficient on offense.
So no, I don't think it's particularly relevant the idea that these guys had tired legs. Especially since this NCAA tournament, like all games, is more a series of long commercials broken up with moments of basketball. It's hard to imagine they didn't get sufficient rest.
Michigan just wasn't all that good of a shooting team this year, and then had a terrible game shooting too boot. It happens. Nova is the best team in the country. Sometimes you have to lose those games.
I'd say it like this, not being a very good shooting team in the first place = not shooting well in the title game.
M has had a lot of scorers in the past with a scorer’s mentality and this team has a lot too. Couple that shift in mental approach with the fact that two of three guys on the court are bad shooters to begin with (Matthews and Simpson) and it’s not surprising that we struggled.
I think this is why freshmen generally struggle defensively. They’re not used to focusing on it because they are usually the best offensive weapon on their team their entire life before entering college.
Time .
I agree with most of the thoughts regarding an offense that has been less than ideal much of the season so it doesn't appear to be appropriate to blame the defensive style for that shortcoming on Monday.
Beilein mentioned that the foul situation put much of his offense on the bench to allow the Villanova run at the end of the first half. We can't get the Duncan 6 for the win if Duncan is on the bench. I am too biased to do a fair evaluation but I thought there were numerous ticky tack or even phantom fouls on Michigan without a corresponding call against Villanova. The Michigan team showed plenty of examples so I don't think it is just me. The last fouls on Wagner and Matthews were ridiculous. One was non-existent (shades of Louisville) and the other was minor contact to pick up a loose ball (in my opinion.) The game is essentially over and the refs are still imposing their will.
Texas would like a word with you.
It wasn't tired legs. It was Nova having a guy that was red hot and his teammates making sure he got the ball.