MICHIGAN MEN'S BASKETBALL- '23 -'24 Season.

[Hannibal]

What's everyone's concern level on the season in general? As far as covid goes I mean? Lots of games being cancelled and programs being put on pause right now. I am thirsting badly for the NCAA tournament this year after not having one last season, but I gotta admit unfortunately that I am worried about how they're going to pull off a 68 team tournament...

They need to stop cancelling games, period.

[Mike]

What's everyone's concern level on the season in general? As far as covid goes I mean? Lots of games being cancelled and programs being put on pause right now. I am thirsting badly for the NCAA tournament this year after not having one last season, but I gotta admit unfortunately that I am worried about how they're going to pull off a 68 team tournament...

This is a huge concern for me because I think Michigan is legitimately one of the best teams in the country. Hopefully, if there's any significant Covid issues, they are mitigated by March. I imagine the NCAA will do everything humanly possible to get a tournament in this year.

[Cody_Russell]

Favorite moment of last night’s game... HYPE.

[hack]

...all we have is volleyball...

...walks away in shame...

Isn't it true though that people like you are actually able to find volleyball entertaining?

[hack]

I'm worried about game cancellations too. It's crucial right now for Michigan's AD to be strongarming the league office just like OSU did to get the rules massaged to ensure its conference championship and postseason run. It's one thing to put the kids potentially in harm's way for profit; a whole other to do so in a careless way that negates any accomplishments they have worked so hard in the process to achieve.

For now, though, Holy Fuck. Just wow. I don't think this team came out of nowhere exactly, but each of the three new players in the rotation weren't clearly going to be awesome but are all now at or wildly exceeding best-case-scenario expectations. It's coaching, IMO. Juwan still has plenty to prove, but he's aced every test so far. We got very lucky. We should start throwing more money at him immediately. If he wants those banners back up there in Howard Arena, fine with me. Commission a sculptor for the statue we're going to erect at the corner of Howard Street and Howard Avenue after he's passed a decade of excellence. Hail to the Howards.

[lineygoblue]

Agree. If Howard brings this team home at the end of the season with even just a sweet sixteen appearance, its time to get him signed long term for a lot of money. Give him what Harbaugh was making.

[Niffla]

For now, though, Holy Fuck. Just wow. I don't think this team came out of nowhere exactly, but each of the three new players in the rotation weren't clearly going to be awesome but are all now at or wildly exceeding best-case-scenario expectations. It's coaching, IMO. Juwan still has plenty to prove, but he's aced every test so far. We got very lucky. We should start throwing more money at him immediately. If he wants those banners back up there in Howard Arena, fine with me. Commission a sculptor for the statue we're going to erect at the corner of Howard Street and Howard Avenue after he's passed a decade of excellence. Hail to the Howards.

Lol yeah I think it's safe to say that he has quieted his doubters...for the time being, anyway. I'm sure they will be back though at the first sign of adversity.

[Hannibal]

Shitty rematch

[lineygoblue]

Welp, it looks like the basketball team is taking a giant crap in Minnesota.

Hopefully they can bounce back on Tuesday against Maryland. The rematch will be at Crisler Center.

[Hannibal]

What a difference a couple of weeks makes.

i wonder if we can get Smith or Brooks back for an extra year. If not, we might look an awful lot like Kentucky looks this year. Zeb Jackson is not good.

[lineygoblue]

It would have been nice to beat Minny, who is a very good team, in their building, but that's a hard thing to do. They were red hot, and ready to play. Michigan might have missed Brooks' ball handling today, but Minny was just ready to play. They would have beaten a lot of good teams today. Give them credit, they beat Michigan fair and square.

We never expected Michigan to go undefeated anyway. They're still a very good team. Back home to Crisler on Tuesday to face the Terps.

[lineygoblue]

Looking at today's box score, it looks like the team missed Brooks a little more than I thought. Chaundee Brown started in place of Brooks, and scored 14 points, but the other guard Mike Smith didn't score a single point. Smith did have 10 assists, but its clear that the team missed Brooks.

Michigan shot 39% from the field on 22-56 shooting. They were 27% from beyond the arc on 6-22 shots. If they would have made 5 more FG and 3 more from beyond the arc, they would have won. Shows how a team can cool off in just a matter of days. They shot nearly 60% against Wisconsin.

Livers had 11 points, and Brown had 14.

Liam Robbins (22 points) and Marcus Carr (17 points) combined for 39 of Minny's 75 points. If Michigan faces them again in the tournament, they got to get after those guys.

[Cody_Russell]

Can’t win them all.

Offense was really sloppy. Non-stop bad turnovers with lazy passes and bad hands. Give credit to Minnesota for playing hard on defense. Minnesota really wanted this game after losing 10 days ago to M.
Brooks was missed, but it wouldn’t have made an 18 point difference.
Oh well, I’m guessing M will still move up in the polls. It’s a good loss... On the road vs a ranked team.

[Niffla]

Zeb Jackson is not good.

Zeb has looked lost, and clearly has a long way to go, but in his defense he's a true freshman and has played in mostly garbage time and just a total of roughly 50 minutes over the course of 12 basketball games.

I'm certainly not going to write him off yet, but yes at this point of the season it appears that it's unlikely that he'll be a contributor as far as this season goes.

[Cody_Russell]

I remember people being concerned about Derrick Walton Jr. and Zavier Simpson early on in their M careers. Burke didn't have much concern as a freshman.
Zeb is receiving the least amount of playing time among all of the recent highly rated PG recruits/players, but I'd at least give Zeb another year to put it together.

Expecting the M roster to be very fluid this offseason with the recruiting class coming in, potential of players leaving via the transfer pool, and the fact that everyone gets a free year of eligibility due to COVID. It's possible Mike Smith, Chaundee Brown, or Austin Davis... etc ... COULD be back next season, right? It's going to be very interesting to see what next year's roster looks like.