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

[hack]

The team hasn't been the same since they won in Columbus. They peaked at that game, and have been on a downward trend since.

I think that team might be back now. Not the same, but the new Liversless version played with that kind of confidence and patience last night. They moved the ball, the stuck to the plan, they D'd up hard. We now very possibly have Brown and Johns settled into new roles, and Brooks is stepping up huge. 15-27 from 3 in the postseason. Starting to finish troubled possessions.

It could all end with the next game, for all we know, but the ceiling without Livers isn't so much lower that they can't do this. Brown won't be on fire from 3 every night, but if Johns can do this most nights -- play mistake free and steady -- then that's a different team than Livers' team but the ceiling is still high enough to have expectations. Especially if Brooks stays on fire. Definitely some big IFs in the mix, but Johns historically plays better as a starter in big minutes than in short spurts off the bench. If they beat FSU then that's just another game in which this new group finds more footing and more confidence, and more distance from that 2-3 skid. And we'd be done going against jumbo guards that Smith can't match up with. Maybe even Franz gets over whatever his problem is and takes over with more than five minutes remaining. Gaining strength and confidence with every victory.

[lineygoblue]

I hope that last night's game is a sign that they may be getting a second wind. Someone, or maybe a couple of people need to step up to take the place of Livers, and we may have seen the beginning of that last night. Livers may not be a scoring machine, but he knows the offense, and he plays pretty decent defense. And, he's a leader. That needs to show out thru others now. I think they can probably beat FSU, but Alabama will be another story. Those guys can flat-out shoot, and they make 3's from NBA territory.

But its all bonus play right now. They aren't supposed to be playing this far into the tournament. Coach Howard has done a great job with these guys. He took the returnees from 2020, and combined them with a couple excellent transfers, and here we are. Good on him.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I like Liver and Onions...

[AlabamAlum]

I wish you liked Liver and stfu.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[lineygoblue]

Under the heading of "Bet you didn't know" ...

The Michigan Women's Basketball team defeated #3 seed Tennessee tonight, to advance to the sweet sixteen for the first time in school history.

Congrats to the lady Wolverines.

[Mike]

There’s a women’s tournament, too?! What will they think of next??

[Hannibal]

I didn't get to watch the LSU game live. Only got to watch it last night.

Great game by everyone except Smith. It was great to see Brooks be the hero. He'll forever have that game.

I love that aggressive edge that Dickinson plays with. I can't wait to see what he looks like next year when he learns to rein it in just a tiny bit to avoid the whistles and improve his ball security.

I don't remember seeing this here, but Michigan is in the S16 for the fourth consecutive time -- the first streak of its kind in our program's history. Our relevance appears to be permanent.

Please, Juwan, don't be Fools Gold!.

[hack]

Only two programs in the last 4 S16s are Michigan and Gonzaga.

Agreed about Dickinson. More patience, a countermove, and ball security make him a Wooden Award candidate.

[Mike]

It was mentioned in the other basketball thread, but Michigan has the most NCAA Tournament wins in the country since 2013.

[AlabamAlum]

No SEC team has more tournament wins than Alabama after 2019!

[hack]

It's just so wonderful to be alive through the first weekend of the tournament. It's far from a perfect way to determine a champion, but HFS it's just so damn fun.

[lineygoblue]

Dangit ... the Lady Wolverines got #2 Baylor into overtime, but couldn't pull it off. They lost 78-75. Michigan was a 13.5 point underdog going into the game.

Nice run for the team. First time in the sweet sixteen, and they took the #2 overall seed into overtime.

They got the ball on a rebound with about 3 seconds to go in regulation, but called timeout with .4 seconds to go, and could not get a shot away.

Maybe a good run like this gets some positive attention for the program, and perhaps draw some of the better talent in the country to Michigan.

[lineygoblue]

Yikes ..

The Women's Basketball team had a bit of a scare on the way home last night. Their charter plane was flying thru some thunderstorms, when the cabin lost pressure and the oxygen masks came down. There was a sudden drop in altitude which caused the masks to deploy.

U-M spokesperson Sarah VanMetre said other than being scared, there were no injuries. A couple players had nosebleeds due to the sudden loss in cabin pressure.

The plane made an emergency landing in Evansville Indiana, and the team transferred to another plane, which brought them home to Ann Arbor early this morning.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2021/03/28/um-womens-basketball-team-makes-emergency-landing-oxygen-masks-deployed-everyone-ok/7035848002/

[JRB]

76-58 is your final. Michigan awaits the winner of Alabama-UCLA. This was an unexpectedly dominant performance at exactly the right time.