Did Michigan mbb break OSU mbb?
I know there has been some injury stuff and poor officiating luck (lolz) but OSU basketball has not looked the same since the Michigan game. There is a whole half left in the Iowa game but...it looks bad. So, see the title did Michigan basketball break OSU basketball?
February 28th, 2021 at 5:17 PM ^
Garza is a rough matchup for them though you'd think they could take advantage of him at the other end.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:19 PM ^
Especially when your starting lineup is 6'7" and under.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:19 PM ^
Garza is tough for everyone, I saw in the “how would we fare against Gonzaga” thread Garza put up 30 on them. Hunter was tough for them but they still kept their game with us close. I don’t know, they just look like they lost some steam.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:36 PM ^
It's especially bad if you're undersized and he can shove you around though.
I disagree with the premise they're broken. They were never as good as their really hot streak and they aren't as bad as they were against Iowa.
Just going through normal fluctuations. They kind of got unlucky against MSU and Iowa was bad but they've had two worse games this season per Torvik's games scores (at Minn and against Umass-Lowell). Their Torvik trendline fitted to game scores is still pretty significantly upward sloping.
They were pretty bad in the beginning of the season, caught fire for a ten game stretch and have just come back down to earth a bit. I said it after the M game, they are a good, not elite team. They're pretty bad at defense which puts them in the Iowa category of relying a lot on offense and if their shots aren't falling, it can get ugly.
Points to Coach Howard's incisiveness as well. Give him twenty minutes to watch the game from the sidelines and he figure out what's working and what's not on that given night and in the locker room he distills it for the players who go on to dominate the second half. Doesn't always go perfectly according to plan but goddamn if it doesn't often enough.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:18 PM ^
According to Toggle on RCMB, it was Staee who broke them.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:45 PM ^
I would actually agree with that. I think they are letting MSU beat them twice.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:18 PM ^
Never count them varmits out...there’s evil down there.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:20 PM ^
OSU got to play at home, have an incredible officiating advantage, and had their most inconsistent player (Duane Washington) have a career game against us. All of that still wasn't good enough to beat us. Now they get some regression to the mean.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:25 PM ^
Stop with the officiating advantage. The UM/OSU game was a evenly called game. God sometimes UM fans do nothing but whine.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:28 PM ^
If fans become too fanatic i suggest a good reading club.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:32 PM ^
- I am a fanatical UM fan, but there is a limit. That was the best CBB game of the 2020/2021 season. Let's not taint it whining.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:41 PM ^
It can be the best game of 2021 and we can still criticize the officiating. The two things are not mutually exclusive
February 28th, 2021 at 10:41 PM ^
Not mutually exclusive but the whining from this fanbase about officiating is toxic.
e.g., 5 years later people are still bitching about the spot like someone kicked their puppy or slept with their wife.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:29 PM ^
I admittedly tend to complain about calls, but I can also admit that we've had some fair officiating and even some favorable officiating (cough cough.. Indiana). However, we objectively had some terrible calls go against us that kept OSU in the game far longer than they deserved to be.
February 28th, 2021 at 7:51 PM ^
Totally agree with you. Officiating is difficult, there's always going to be one team getting at least slightly better calls, it doesn't mean it's whining if you reference it to assess how well teams played. In the OSU game a more evenly called game and Michigan might have won by 6-7 more points. In the Indiana game seemed Michigan got some favorable calls with another crew it would have been a few points closer game.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:39 PM ^
You're blind if you thought that game was evenly officiated. I love when people try to be so unbiased that they can't acknowledge reality
February 28th, 2021 at 7:15 PM ^
If you honestly believe OSU can go a whole half committing only 2 fouls, I don’t know what to tell you. We went 10-13 on 3s in the first half and led by a measly 2 points because the refs swallowed their whistles to keep OSU in the game. Those things happen. It’s OK to admit the truth.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
Too early to say if it “broke” them, but they fell at MSU in what is THE definition of a trap game - an underachieving but talented team sandwiched between two top ten matchups. Watching Iowa now (time left as I type this), Garza seems clearly pissed off by the Michigan game and he’s playing like it.
That being said, OSU definitely treats our game like they do the football game (they even copied the gold pants from football), so losing to us in the most important game on their schedule (not even considering context of top 5 matchup) is an abject disaster in its own right - so I wouldn’t want to downplay that either. So in all ??♂️
February 28th, 2021 at 5:25 PM ^
That’s fair. I’m curious how Michigan will do with the back to back state games. When the games are called in two polar opposite ways against the same team that’ll be tough to watch
February 28th, 2021 at 8:34 PM ^
I like the regression to the mean explanation. That, along with the increased motivation that all the B1G teams are playing with as the noose draws tighter at the end of the season. Haven’t all the blogs been saying for the last couple of months that OSU has been winning with smoke and mirrors?
February 28th, 2021 at 5:23 PM ^
Short Answer — No
However they did probably suffer a letdown after getting so hyped up for our game. Combine that with the injury absence at MSU and you not only get a loss but tired players from all the minutes from a short bench at MSU.
I also think that Iowa/Garza matches up well against OSU. He really does well when he can bully a team’s bigs with his size. This something Hunter cannot yet do or isn’t asked to do in M’s scheme where I feel Garza has to get points inside for Iowa’s Offense to do well.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:24 PM ^
I don’t know, but I hope they continue to suffer and get upset in the first round of the tourney.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:26 PM ^
Great they are within 6 now. Jinxer.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:28 PM ^
They threw everything they could against us. No fuel left in the tank to take care of business the rest of the way.
February 28th, 2021 at 6:47 PM ^
So true my friend. They shot their wad against us and now they are a limp dick going forward. That and the whizzo effect on the refs cooked their goose.
Too bad, so sad ???
February 28th, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
I’ve watched some of their game since ours just because I thought they looked so good and also (secretly) wanted to see them beat up on sparty. As it stands right now, It looks like they used up all their good game tank on UM. Let’s see if they can get it together in the second half against Iowa.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:42 PM ^
This is how OSU has been the whole year. They just happened to be hot when we played them and they have regressed to what they were
February 28th, 2021 at 5:44 PM ^
Whom are we rooting for here? Would we want to face OSU or Iowa in a potential semifinal in the B1G tournament?
February 28th, 2021 at 5:50 PM ^
I think I’d rather avoid Garza. Even though Hunter owned him, tough thing to do twice vs a NPOY candidate.
February 28th, 2021 at 5:58 PM ^
They are about to lose to Iowa (in Columbus). That'll be 3 loses in a row. Do they come of the 1-seed line? I think so
February 28th, 2021 at 6:08 PM ^
The problem is that there's no one to replace them with. Illinois lost this week, too. Villanova sucks, ditto Alabama, and whoever else is in the top ten. It really is a three team race for the tournament this year
February 28th, 2021 at 5:59 PM ^
More likely the hatchet job in the MSU game. It was clear who the Big Ten wanted to win that game and it wasn’t OSU.
February 28th, 2021 at 9:08 PM ^
Wait until our games against MSU...If they’re still on the bubble at that point (maybe the bad loss for them today took care of that?) the refs will do whatever they have to for MSU to win and get in...
February 28th, 2021 at 6:01 PM ^
Not sure, but anything at OSU being broken makes me smile.
February 28th, 2021 at 6:03 PM ^
They needed some crazy heroball (and home cooking) to stay close to us. The contested threes aren't falling as much now.
February 28th, 2021 at 6:20 PM ^
I guess that's what happens when you are deprived of the gold jersey. . .
February 28th, 2021 at 6:22 PM ^
No, this is who they've been all year. If you recall our game against them, they actually hit a ton of crazy and contested shots. Coming into our game, they were hot, and they significantly outdid their average offensive performance against us. They're playing the same as they did against Michigan. They're just not making those shots.
8.6.1February 28th, 2021 at 6:27 PM ^
The thought crossed my mind with about 4 minutes to go when OSU, down 10, looked as though they simply gave up. Really??? Down 4 possessions with 4 minutes to go and you are throwing in the towel???
February 28th, 2021 at 6:30 PM ^
Yeah, OSU playerd their A game against M and M played the B+ game and has 2-3 block/charges go against them in the 2H. M still handled them by 8 was it?
February 28th, 2021 at 8:44 PM ^
I would say that they played an A+ game against us, most of the contest long twos would've not fall in a different day.
February 28th, 2021 at 6:37 PM ^
I was dubious that OSU was a 1 seed, but they were on a roll. Whatever the explanation for three straight losses, it brings a smile to my face.
February 28th, 2021 at 6:40 PM ^
We all sort of wondered how a team with the #3 offense and the #70 defense was winning so many of these games and we're sort of seeing it now, as their offense has struggled without a 3rd offensive option beyond Washington and Liddell (guys like Young and Walker just aren't consistent enough) when Ahrens is in a slump. They stayed in that UM game by hitting a ridiculous number of tough shots; that game's a UM blowout if they hit a reasonable number of those shots.
Anyway, I still wouldn't want to face them in a tournament because they have an offense capable of going off against anyone, but Holtmann's teams have done this cratering before to end the year and I'm a bit surprised he isn't under more heat for doing it again.
February 28th, 2021 at 6:58 PM ^
I think they’re probably down because of a hard loss. But I also think they played over the heads against Michigan and aren’t actually a 1-seed caliber team. More like a good 3 or 4 seed.
February 28th, 2021 at 7:48 PM ^
I think the toughest part of this year is who is really #4? There is clearly a top 3 and then...
I really think illannoy is #4 based on all I've seen this year.
February 28th, 2021 at 7:37 PM ^
I was just thinking earlier about how badly we broke Northwestern basketball. They were rolling and then lost like 13 in a row after Juwan came up with the road map to beat them.
February 28th, 2021 at 7:45 PM ^
Hopefully, yes?
February 28th, 2021 at 7:57 PM ^
Dickinson didn't get enough kudos for shutting down Garza, who to me, is as annoyingly effective as was Laimbeer.
February 28th, 2021 at 8:17 PM ^
O Saggy State lost any shooting edge after Michigan beat em. They ran out of steam near the end and showed no fight IMO. Stae put the hurt on them and Garza was too much to shoot over. Makes me Happy Happy!