double post, deleted

 Brian-- "A fever dream of how Michigan bombs out of the NCAA tournament." 

Indeed. For awhile  I was thinking "this is great, shows the team the suddenness of the tourney, how one false step can end the most promising of seasons."   But then...uh oh...

The way Illinois "Michigan'd" us is very disconcerting. Defense travels and Illinois played inspired, passionate D They clearly created anger out of thin air after the original game was postponed.  I now wish we had played then, we'd have likely lost by 12 to an uninspired team not out for revenge and quickly written it off ala Baylor coming out of a covid pause. 

Now? Definitely a few doubts creeping in..
in Juwan we trust...fingers crossed.

the -16 rebound margin exemplifies the general desultory feel of this game. 

That was about as good a slap in the face wake up call as a team can get.  As stated earlier, you need to stop Michigan's guards, wings, and center if you're going to stop this team.  Not stopping one of them, or even two of them, will not beat Michigan every time (you may get lucky once).  So, like with Baylor and Gonzaga, Michigan has proven itself to be one of a few in college bball that requires every level be stopped.  Not slowed down - stopped.

That's a requirement that most teams are not equipped to deal with.  Apparently, Illinois is!  I'd argue Baylor is, and maybe Kansas (they both have centers that look like they dwarf Hunter weight wise).  Not sure anyone else has a center that can man him up evenly - no, not even Gonzaga.  Timme is a stick, talented, but a stick.

The comparison to what we did at Wisconsin is perfect. I was thinking the same thing of what in the hell is wrong with Wisconsin. 

Trust in Coach Howard, he has the experience and determination to get his team ready for tomorrow night. 

We lost to Purdue twice in 2018 and were able to beat them the third time and make the NCG.

We lost to Indiana twice in 2013 and were able to outperform them in the tournament. Illinois has the two things that on paper cause a lot of problem for us: long athletic guards who can pester our short 1 and 2, and a massive C who can guard Dickinson 1-1. In a rematch, there isn't a chance of the team not being prepared again. Also, it will either be in the BTT Championship game or Final Four.

I am willing to give this team a one-off write off for this game. It is not like we have been on a tailspin of late. We won 5 straight games against teams slated for the tournament; two of which are teams that could be 1 or 2 seeds. If we look like our normal selves vs MSU, I don't think we should go into the tournament concerned about what happened vs Illinois because I just don't see any other team having the horses to effectively do what the Illini did. In fact, I would love teams to try and incorporate this game plan. Please give me Kithier trying to guard HD 1-on-1.

Sums it up perfectly - Michigan struggled, but Illinois had a great game plan, with the perfect personnel, and played with high energy throughout the game.

This could be 'the Book' on Michigan, but the question is how many teams have this mix of personnel? Unfortunately, the answer probably is "at least a few teams in the Elite Eight"

As Brian said, Michigan can't rely on opponents inability to run this strategy alone; they'll need a systemic answer within their offense (and personnel) to avoid this from becoming "a thing"

so, back to 3rd OA? I can see Baylor moved back to the 2 line, and Michigan falling back to 3...even with the win, I don't know how a 6 loss Illinois team jumps Michigan for 3rd

This is the type of matchup that we miss Zavier Simpson's physical ability to penetrate and dish.   But even Z/X couldn't have saved that game from spiraling out of control.   I feel filthy saying it, but major props to Illinois for bringing their A+ game to Crisler last night.

Dickinson also wasn't able to set up down low on the block on many of his post-ups.   The obvious reason during last night's game was the large and defensively talented human guarding him.

Illinois made us look very uncomfortable.  The rash of forced shots and relative lack of wide open shots that has been a signature of Michigan's offense were both key ingredients to this game.  Again, Illinois' defensive pressure and ability to handle Dickinson 1 v 1 are to be commended.

We seemed to be suffering from collective hubris before this game.  I hated the crap the Illinois coach was talking, and wanted us to rout them, but this loss may be a good thing going forward.  It would be nice to get a rematch in the BTT.

You know, there was another year - 1989 - where I saw an athletic Illinois team destroy Michigan. I had 2nd row seats and they were something to watch - Gill, Battle, Anderson, etc. - and I was easily convinced: no way UM could *ever* beat this team. 

And then, the Final Four. UIUC fans still talk ruefully about that game.

Let's hope for a repeat. Go Blue!

TL; DR... Illinois's best is just better than our best.

It's okay.

You can say it, Brian.

The Illini look a lot like our Fab 5 teams of the early 90s. I think the games would have been closer if Michigan made some shots. Some were tough but others shots just looked off. I worry about some of the blue blood programs improving. Kansas looks much better than they did just a few weeks ago. Even MSU worries me now. I hope our bubble did not pop on being an elite team. I guess we'll see how the remainder of the season and B1G tournament go.

Illinois may have done us a favor in the long run. This loss doesn’t cost M anything by itself, and assuming there’s a tourney, better to expose these weaknesses now than in an elimination game. There just wasn’t much to learn about this team over the last half dozen wins. But if these issues are fixable, a lot of coaches are gonna be pissed at Illinois for giving Howard the self-scouting he needed. 

I'd also agree that using Franz as the hub more is a useful way to approach these games. He was bad last night, so it didn't matter, but I don't think Illinois has a match up for him. The issue is that he has to score over, which means you either need to involve someone else in the Pick and Roll besides Hunter. You can use Livers, but I assume Illinois just switches it since the size difference isn't there. 

I think they need to set more stagger screens for Livers than a typical game as well and tell him he needs to rise and fire. I don't think Michigan has no answers, tbh. I think they can beat Illinois, but unlike some other teams in the conference, no way they blow them out. 

Michigan doesn't really have an answer.  If a team played like this vs. the past great Michigan b-ball teams, they would have been eaten up by Burke, Stauskas, Walton, etc.  You can't play great drop coverage again DUDEs like those.

Problem is Michigan has 2 short, athletically limited guards and Chaundee doesn't have the handle.  Teams that will be a MASSIVE challenge for Michigan:  Baylor, West Virginia, Illinois, USC, Oregon, Arkansas, & San Diego State.

Michigan doesn't really have an answer.  If a team played like this vs. the past great Michigan b-ball teams, they would have been eaten up by Burke, Stauskas, Walton, etc.  You can't play great drop coverage again DUDEs like those.

Problem is Michigan has 2 short, athletically limited guards and Chaundee doesn't have the handle.  Teams that will be a MASSIVE challenge for Michigan:  Baylor, West Virginia, Illinois, USC, Oregon, Arkansas, & San Diego State.

Silver lining. Dickinson to the NBA takes are cooling off significantly.

As should the "is this the best Michigan basketball team of all time?" nonsense.

First Impression: Eh, it was a bad game. Teams have bad games. No worries.

Upon Reflection: Are they losing their legs due to the revamped schedule?

Addendum: They best knock Sparty down early and keep a foot on their necks in the next game. You do not want to go to EL needing to win.

Honest question: Is Illinois better without Ayo? They're a very predictable team with Ayo since he is so ball dominant and they're arguably easier to scheme for with Ayo being the main initiator on offense and since he's so right hand dominant

I'm probably missing something, but didn't Cassius Winston destroy our drop coverage by coming off the screen and pulling up for an uncontested 3? Isn't that the big downside of drop coverage?

I know that shot (off the dribble 3) isn't the most efficient, and I know not everyone can hit it, but I feel pretty confident that Smith and Wagner (at least) could do it.

It also seems like a few 3s hit that way early on would've forced Illinois into adjusting. Given the general shittiness of that game they probably wouldn't have hit them, but if there's a next time, that seems like a good thing to try.

Yeah, as I mentioned in the snowflakes thread, Michigan has only one real threat to attack the basket (Wagner), and the deep drops forced the issue.  Honestly, it’s been a while since we’ve had guards who were good at finishing going to the rim, in part because we’ve had tiny point guards..  I’d rather send Brooks or Smith barreling into the center in hopes of drawing a foul than attempting to dodge him (Smith) or using a floater that never goes in (Brooks).   

And they can’t keep using the center as the first option when it’s Davis unless the opposing five is a bad defender.  

What killed us in this game was the rebounding advantage Illinois had and their second chance points.  I think it was 22-5 in second chance points?  That was the ballgame in a nutshell.  Psychologically it has to be demoralizing to play great D and cause a missed shot and they get it back and get a basket.  This happened all game long so I am not surprised the team's confidence was shot by halftime.  If Michigan can do what they've done all season and grab defensive rebounds with regularity then I do not fear a matchup with Illinois.

Illinois played the perfect game and played it with orders of magnitude more energy than we did.  Sometimes you crap the bed.  It happens.  Juwan is a great coach and motivator and will correct the deficiencies.