B1G/NCAA basketball

[iam416]

Well, Michigan was a 2' point favorite against Tennessee and managed to not cover thanks to Nikky Dickhead. Obviously, I backed M (incidentally, I also had MSU -2' against UVa, but at least Harris intentionally missed his 2nd). But, the point is that the general betting public accurately sussed out that game. So it seems to me that M was pretty accurately respected. Just like they were in the B10 Tourney when they were dogs to MSU.

UK happens to be a 2 to 2' favorite depending on where you play. I personally love M in this spot. I think they dodged a huge bullet not getting the Cards. M can shoot UK out of the gym, and unless UK plays out of their mind like they did against Wichita, this should be easy. This is has the makings of last year's elite 8 redux. Wichita or Louisville would have been really tough for M, IMO. UK is only going to be tough if they shoot the ball well, and that's not what they typically do.

Now, Wisky will be tough.

[WM Wolverine]

I don't get the line either, people buying too much into UK playing well lately. I don't think their regular season was as mediocre as most felt; 3 of their losses were to #1 Florida who are deservingly the #1 team.

[iam416]

Yeah. Kenpom has it as Michigan -1. Most full season models would be in that area.

[hack]

I dunno. All season I've felt like Michigan has a soft underbelly waiting for someone to maim. I'm not totally comfortable with this team in the man/pants/clutch/hustle category, but at some point the ``you are what your record says'' maxim comes into play here. Some of those teams maybe peaking now, but Michigan has been taking on comers of top-notch quality since mid-January.

To an extent I agree re Kentucky. They MUST shoot well and they MUST to stop us from doing that. Tall order.

[iam416]

IMO, UK at it's best is better and more problematic than Louisville. But, Louisville had a much wider range of games that would beat M. Anywho, they're not playing Cards or Shockers. Just UK. UK needs to shoot well enough to keep inside relatively open. I think 1-3-1 could be really problematic for UK. They have sketchy ball-handling and inconsistent shooting. I could see that forcing some really bad possessions. Though, it's harder to rebound out of, so I think they'll play mostly man and just use the zone on occasion if they need to regain some momentum.

Right now, Florida and the 3 B10 teams are the best teams in the tourney. I mean, I know you hate hearing about MSU, but they're playing really well.

[hack]

I don't mind hearing about it. I'm sure they feel that this was their year (they certainly know next year isn't, and the year after too probably) and they lost the chance to snatch that ring. But the whining is fucking annoying seeing as we lost more games started to injury than they did and we just went about our business quite successfully. I'm just sick of hearing about the injuries as if they're the only one to ever endure such a trial.

[iam416]

Funny how league titles and success are so much more important this year. :-)

[hack]

Blah, blah, blah. Srsly tho, I'm annoyed now but it's going to be fun in the next few years, with them actually having to compete and suffering a pretty serious talent gap with us. For now though, fucking obnoxious. I'm glad we won the conference outright, but what's what now underscores why it really is a secondary accomplishment for me -- it's been forgotten about already.

[lineygoblue]

Amazing how a minor traffic accident can have repercussions that span nearly 2 decades. MSU was trailing M for Mateen Cleaves services at the time of the rollover. He was close to being a Wolverine. After the accident Momma Cleaves would not give her approval for Mateen to go to M. That accident caused important people to start asking a lot of questions.

No sympathy here for MSU's injury situation during the season. M has had to put whatever it had on the court against them many, many times, and most of those times it was a mismatch in favor of Sparty.

[hack]

Yeah, that incident was just remarkably fateful. Has fundamentally influenced the careers of a few people.

[lineygoblue]

Aw darn .. msu lost ...

Yukon 60 .. MSU 54

Community alert issued to safeguard your sofas and couches in East Lansing ...

[hack]

Well, fuck them. At least we've got some talent coming back next year. I'm looking forward to sweeping them again.

[lineygoblue]

I think there's a good chance everyone but Stauskas (and Morgan who is out of eligibility) comes back.

I can see GRIII coming back, and I don't think McGary will leave after a year sitting out due to injury.

[WM Wolverine]

Hate losing to a team that was bought, absolutely no respect for Calipari who is the sleaziest of all the sleaze balls in college basketball.

[hack]

I hate that too. A bit of resentment simmering on low this morning. When the violations are found, should Stauskas and everyone else with pro prospects file a civil suit alleging that Calipari wrongly damaged their future earnings potential? Can that happen?

Bottom line, though, Beilein's system does tend to toss out some well-established conventional wisdom, and that was one of the times it bit him in the ass. Michigan needs to shoot really well from 3 against elite teams and it just didn't do that. Being reliant on jumpers falling is not a strength of the system. A more robust system would account for that with better defense and rebounding. But no system is perfect, and now is no time to ditch what we have because it isn't perfect. In the end, if UK didn't have two mediocre shooters on a remarkable run - Young in the first half in Harrison in the second -- then Michigan would have won.

Goals for next year -- get tougher on D and on the glass, of course. But very specifically Cody's noticed pattern is really interesting and it kinda held true last night, only Calipari took 10 minutes to figure it out unlike Barnes or Martin needing 30. Teams that are unfamiliar adjust to Michigan during the game, and Michigan hasn't had anything to counter with other than being exceptionally efficient as the game goes on taking advantage of a dwindling number of good looks at the basket. Just a guess, but it seems like unfamiliarity with Michigan's system helped them in the tourney last year, but this year teams adjusted. That's the opposite of Big Ten play, in which it seems that the teams know each other pretty well and Beilein looks better at the in-game chess match. He doesn't look better at it in the tournament, or at least hasn't in the last two years.

I think for the future Beilein needs to keep looking for kids that can shoot and handle, but he can start being a little more picky. Start filtering out the kids that have no shot at staying in front of their man on defense. Look to recruit to the defense a little bit as well, within the confines of recruiting to the offense first and foremost.