U of M thread (in the Lions Forum) :)

[kayrone]

I wanted to be in the U of M marching band in the worst way, but my mom worked at Hope so I didn't have to pay tuition to go there. No marching band but free education from an excellent school is hard to turn down

[FVD]

Well at least you could still be a fan of Michigan's marching band since your alma mater didn't have one. Crisis averted on that front.

[Masspartan]

Another big call was on the rebound that Levert had when he came down out of bounds. A Louisville player crash the boards and came down directly on Burke's back. That forced Levert out. It had to be a foul, but wasn't called.

They need to get this physical shit back under control, it is ruining the game.

Agree to some extent .... one type of play that is happening more and more is the reaching in after a guy grabs a rebound. More often then not when guys are trying to knock a ball out of a guys hands after they grab a rebound they foul him ... Wisconsin is the team that comes to mind with that tactic ... if the refs call that foul more often those guys would have to stop and only go for the steal when they can actually steal the ball ... not when they just chop at a guys arms.

[*JD*]

Great season, great run but a rough ending.

I can't really fault Beilein for not putting Burke back in after he got whistled for his 2nd. Spike was on fire and I thought it was good to save him for the 2nd half. The one thing that didn't work out was LeVert got lit up by the bearded guy. Burke wouldn't have been covering him so that didn't matter. Caris just needed to not cheat off of The Beard, especially after he'd already nailed 2 in a row. Then, he got burned again late in the 2nd half. I think all 5 of The Beard's 3's came when LeVert was checking him.

Caris also did a poor job of not fouling late in the 2nd half. Burke couldn't pick up his 5th and about 15-20 seconds were wasted at a time that Michigan needed to be fouling.

Sorry to be so harsh on a Freshman but he had some key errors. He did have a very good game against Syracuse, though.
I'm sure he'll improve and will also gain a few pounds in the off-season. He's got the makings of a top defensive player and I look forward to seeing his development.

I wish this were a happier Tuesday but this team still had a great season and there's a lot to feel good about in Wolverine Land.

Now comes the time to see who stays and who goes to the NBA.

Burke is a 99%-sure goner but the PG position will still be in good hands. Derrick Walton is very talented and Spike has shown that he could be a capable starter, if needed. Zak Irvin could have a freshman season like GR III, if he gets the minutes, and Mark Donnal might be the Pittsnoggle-type 4 that could give more of a traditional front line. If GR III and Mitch return, this will still be a top 10 team that could make another deep run in the tourney. If Hardaway returns, that's icing on the cake. They would be even deeper than this year's squad.

[Deuce]

I think Irvin will have a better Freshman season than GRIII.

[CGVT]

Agree to some extent .... one type of play that is happening more and more is the reaching in after a guy grabs a rebound. More often then not when guys are trying to knock a ball out of a guys hands after they grab a rebound they foul him ... Wisconsin is the team that comes to mind with that tactic ... if the refs call that foul more often those guys would have to stop and only go for the steal when they can actually steal the ball ... not when they just chop at a guys arms.

Crashing the boards like that has to be called a foul. It negates the basic fundamental of getting good rebounding position. Too many times you see players with good position pushed out of bounds by player that was boxed out. Floor position is part of the game. You can't just force people out of the good position that they have established. It is against the rules. Call it.

Agree 100% on the fouls under the boards on the rebounds, but they are letting players do that all over the court. They need to get it under control.

We are actually starting to see the talking heads complaining about this. It's about fucking time.

[CGVT]

But really. How can this not be a foul?

[CGVT]

BTW, I am not complaining about who got the calls last night. I am bitching about the way they call the college game in general.

[SeattleLionsFan]

It's funny. Watch highlights of the Bad Boys. They play D like Michigan.

I remember when I was growing up, basketball was classified as a non contact sport. I don't know that I'd classify basketball as that anymore.

[BlueBlazer05]

Yeah, I was also gonna point out Levert's lack of awareness on the court last night. That type of play is why I was so down on him most of the season. I know not all freshmen get it right away, but he's out there, he needed to do better.

The way college games are officiated is highly frustrating to me. Louisville's plan all year was to hack, mug, and get up in your face for 40 minutes. The refs can't possibly call every foul, so sometimes Louisville forces dubious turnovers without getting called for a foul, and then it's off to the races. I hope people don't lazily look at the total fouls stat and draw conclusions from that.

Another frustrating thing is that the narrative will probably involve how Michigan was too young and inexperienced, not tough enough, etc. Nah, they could've easily won this game. A couple plays here and there, and the Wolverines very well could've raised another banner. Oh well.

[CGVT]

The way college games are officiated is highly frustrating to me. Louisville's plan all year was to hack, mug, and get up in your face for 40 minutes. The refs can't possibly call every foul, so sometimes Louisville forces dubious turnovers without getting called for a foul, and then it's off to the races.

My point is, that they can call every foul. If the refs come out and set the tone by calling that shit, the players have to adapt and quit fouling.

Look at what happened to Bruke after he had two fouls early. He couldn't play the same. The same thing would happen to the Lville players.

A team like Louisville may be better suited to play aggressively because of their depth, but if the players want to stay on the floor they would have to adapt. After a couple of guys get called for grabbing or riding a dribbler or crashing the boards from the three point line and landing on a player's back, they will stop doing that shit and the game will be much better for it.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Amen CGVT. But then Rick P might yell at them.

[*JD*]

Spike strikes while the iron is hot:

http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/04/09/Michigans-Spike-Albrecht-tweets-Kate-Upton-following-memorable-game-performance/3461365533021/

[DanO]

Random thoughts:

You can say the refs didn't cost UM this game and technically that's correct. From an individual basis good teams overcome bad calls, but the refs completely took UM out of their game and feed right into Louisville's game. It changed the whole complexion of the game in the second half. The refs called the game to Louisville's sweet spot and Um's weakness. Hard to win a game like that.

It was a great run for UM. I never expected them to make it as far as they did. It's still an opportunity lost and next year they may lay an egg in the tourney. No one really knows.

[Masspartan]

Spike strikes while the iron is hot:

http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/04/09/M...3461365533021/

Justin will not be pleased.