Michigan #20 in AP Poll
February 5th, 2018 at 3:51 PM ^
It appears that your basketball opinions are as terrible as your football opinions.
February 5th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^
immensely. BUT, that should not effect free throw shooting.
Lots of room for team to improve play. Go Blue.
February 5th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
But don't get too critical of their free throw shooting or you'll get negbombed, lol
February 5th, 2018 at 12:59 PM ^
Keep waiting for this team to turn the corner...
February 5th, 2018 at 2:20 PM ^
I know most of the wins haven't been convincing lately, but 19-6 is pretty good at this stage.
I'll say this for the team: if nothing else, they are very experienced at this point with having to dig deep and climb out of a big score defecit. They definitely don't quit.
February 5th, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^
Wagner should come off the bench. He ALWAYS picks up a foul in the first 4 minutes of the game and ends up sitting for the next 6 minutes anyway. Right now, when this happens it disrupts our flow and other teams capitalize on it. Beilein should put him in after the first TV timeout so he can waste that one foul whenever and not need to sit because of it. It would get other players into the action a little bit earlier and allow Wagner to play without the fear of that foul and getting benched. There is too much of a stop-and-start aspect to his presence in the lineup right now.
February 5th, 2018 at 2:52 PM ^
HOT TAKE RESPONSE -
You should (almost) never sit someone due to foul trouble. If they don't end up fouling out, you wasted extra minutes they could've been on the floor. If they do foul out, you maximized the minutes they were able to play.
Unless someone adds additional value for being on the floor in the last 2 minutes of the game vs. the rest of the game (85+% FT shooter). you should just maximize the number of minutes for your best players and not care when those minutes occur.
February 5th, 2018 at 3:02 PM ^
Players are typically benched for foul trouble not because of fear from the coaching staff that the player is going to foul out, but because of the self-preservation instinct of the player not to commit fouls once they have a couple. Players want to play the whole game, so a player with two fouls in the first half or one that picks up a third early in the second are cautious to avoid picking up additional fouls and tend to play timid.
That may not be the case for Beilein, however. I think that part of Beilein's auto-bench policy is that he sincerely hates when his players foul and it may be partially a punitive measure.
February 5th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
I do understand it if you're essentially punishing a kid to remind him not to commit stupid fouls. And I can see it being a disadvantage if a team is directly attacking a big to try to get him out of the game, and he's playing passively to avoid another foul.
On the other hand, how often does a player miss 10+ minutes in the first half, to end up finishing the game with only 2 or 3 fouls?
Also, refs know who is in foul trouble. If a player has 2 or 3 fouls in the first half, the next one is probably going to have to be blatant to get called. Same for fouling out in the 2nd half if its not in the last 2 or 3 minutes.
February 5th, 2018 at 3:13 PM ^
The team's won 12 of 15 games, with two of the losses nail-biters to Purdue. What is "turning the corner" exactly?
February 5th, 2018 at 4:04 PM ^
Can we PLEASE have a blowout somewhere along the line where I can breath?
February 5th, 2018 at 12:59 PM ^
I feel as though sometimes the 5 seed gets a bad matchup on purpose. Brackets love parity and thats the matchup the underdog always wins. I'd be willing to bet it happens for often than not the 12th seed is really a 7-10 seed seeded as a 12th....
February 5th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
Ranked higher than North Carolina AND Kentucky! Take that, you cheatin' hillbilly cousin fuckers!
February 5th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
UM plays at NW Tuesday, at Wisc Saturday.
NW played UM tight in AA a few weeks ago. I am expecting UM to lose at NW and win at Wisc. I am also expecting UM to barely stay in the top 25 after this week.
February 5th, 2018 at 4:09 PM ^
Book it.
February 5th, 2018 at 7:18 PM ^
You won the Go Blue positive award for 2018!
February 5th, 2018 at 1:45 PM ^
Movin on up!!
GO BLUE!!
February 5th, 2018 at 2:15 PM ^
Sounds like a 5 seed to me...with potential for a 4 if we win out the regular season. 3 Seed if we win the B1G tourney
February 5th, 2018 at 11:35 PM ^
Holy shit you have maize colored glasses on
February 5th, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^
So I haven't paid too much attention to Auburn basketball (I doubt most Auburn fans even remember that they have a basketball team), but to anyone who has seen them play this year, are they for real?
Your traditional SEC powers in Kentucky and Florida are down this year, by their standards, and Auburn hasn't played either of them yet. They do have a good win against Tennessee, but the two teams they lost to, Alabama and Temple, are not good teams.
Are they just beating up on a bad SEC conference, or do they look the part?
February 5th, 2018 at 2:49 PM ^
not seen either play this year, I can tell you unequivocally that neither Tennessee or Auburn are for real.
February 5th, 2018 at 3:42 PM ^
They're inconsistent, but a pretty good team.
February 5th, 2018 at 3:42 PM ^
2 legit scorers in Bryce Brown and Mustapha Heron, plus a ++ rim protector in Anferee “don’t call me Penny” McLemore”. As good a bet as any to win the conference.
February 5th, 2018 at 5:44 PM ^
Depends on what you are using to determine whether Bama and Temple are good teams.
In the RPI rankings, UM is 32, Bama 36 and Temple 37.
In Kenpom, UM is 24, Bama 48 and Temple 86.
February 5th, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
Keep climbing boys!! Practice those free throws!! Go Blue!!
February 5th, 2018 at 4:00 PM ^
as long as its not 8/9..those that have us as a 8/9 right now are suspect..
February 5th, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^
outside the SEC They are FRAUD
February 5th, 2018 at 5:31 PM ^
is a lot better then UMs. RPI has Auburn with a NCSOS of 95 and UM at 248. Kenpom has Auburn with a NCSOS of 202 and UM at 302.
February 5th, 2018 at 4:38 PM ^
to warrant negative thinking. They just deal with the situation and play the schedule. Nobody critiques how you won after you won, they only check the record and summary of details and make an evaluation. So, if your ranking goes up even if your play is't stellar, it's better than playing great and not getting ranked. It is what it is. This team will go as far as it's ability takes it, don't worry about the challenges or circumstances, life always intervenes in the process.
February 5th, 2018 at 7:17 PM ^
Are you new here? There are people in here that know no other way of thinking! I think that this is one of the best coaching jobs Beilein has done since arriving! Just watch the end of the Maryland game! If you’re a positive person visit the blog sparingly.
February 6th, 2018 at 9:05 AM ^
Even through winning games. And you can't just wipe away the win against Minnesota as nothing to fear. There's something that reared it's ugly head again, and could have very well cost them the game. Free throw shooting.
When the team gets to the national stage, the lights are brighter, and those misses are that much more important. This team needs to figure that s*** out in a hurry.
February 5th, 2018 at 4:41 PM ^
Would be awfully nice :)
February 5th, 2018 at 5:20 PM ^
Go Blue!
February 5th, 2018 at 6:32 PM ^
If we can go 4-2 in the last 6 with a win against OSU and win 2 in the big ten tourney we should land a solid 6 seed
February 5th, 2018 at 11:32 PM ^
5-1. BKfinest it
February 6th, 2018 at 7:16 AM ^
The team has solidified its national cachet. What's more, they have done it with defense and rebounding. It has been pretty ugly lately, but they have found a way to win.
Let's hope the shots start falling.
February 6th, 2018 at 9:38 AM ^
it's hard to tell if this team is overrated, underrated or just right. I love Beilein teams and I'm hoping for that patented Beilein February Surge (TM) but they've looked pretty pedestrian at times and not worthy of a #20 ranking. At the same time, they've looked like one of the best teams in the country against State and Purdue.
I've always complained that recent Beilein teams don't play up to their potential and often play flat and with no sense of urgency. But this team hasn't been playing well and they're #20 right now. It makes me wonder where the ceiling is. It's likely much higher.
I really hope they get their shit together tonight and play with some authority down the stretch.