A fan's take into why we lost tonight
Great season but very dissapointing last few weeks... I think one of the most important factors going into the NCAA tournament is team hot streak/momentum (take UConn '11 as the prime example) , and we had none... We had consecutive poor showings since the Penn State game and it carried over into the blowout loss vs. OSU and into the tournament. Watch as a team like NC State or FSU make a deep tourney run this year due to their gathered momentum/confidence in their respective conference tourneys. This is why the last few games of the regular season/conference tournament are of paramount importance.
Although the majority of the teams going into the tournament are coming of a loss many of those are just happy to have the opportunity to play in the tournament. So this does not apply to your typical bubble team (or typical 8-16 seed) because the mere fact of making it into the tourney is momentum enough. However, it is extremely applicable to a team like ours this year (and 1-6 seeds in general) who have known for a while that they were going to the tournament.
So why did we lose to Ohio? A combination of wear and tear from a grinding B1G season (especially hard on undersized teams) combined with an early peak (mid February) and a hot team in Ohio U.
Anyway, after much cursing and throwing of objects into concrete walls (yes, I am a man without cellphone since approx. 9:45pm) lets take a minute to put this aside for a second and think about all the great things that Zack Novak and Stu Douglass have done for this basketball program. Sure, they lack athleticism, size, and strength but these kids brought Michigan BACK! THANK YOU!
we took to many three's at the end of the game. We had 8 straight possessions at the end of the game when we were down 4 or less points. Only one of those which was the first one did we look inside and find Morgan for a hook shot. Ohio did not score down the stretch at all. Two points in the last 4 minutes if i can remember right. We had not been hitting our three's all game except for the little spurt that allowed us to even get back into the game to begin with. I'm not trying to blame anyone for this loss, but if i had to put it on someone, it would have to be the coaches. Regardless of whether or not we are a three point shooting team, we should have drove the lane and tried to draw fouls. Whether it was Burke or Hardaway or just giving the ball inside to Smotrycz, we needed something other than a three at the end. We kept going for the tie instead of going for a one point game, getting a stop and then going ahead. This team has a lot of promise, but we need to run more plays that get open lanes to drive or a inside post game. Also, I did not see one patented back cut the entire game, whether that was because of Ohio's defense or not, we usually get at least one, but not tonight.
Going to assume your post said, in not so few words, they scored more points than us?
I said this at multiple times during the year and I'm sticking to it. On paper, this team is just not really very good.
Do not take this the wrong way, and please hear me out.
I am not trying to knock on these guys by any means. They won the basketball program's first Big 10 Championship in 26 years. This team has clearly earned its place in Michigan basketball lore, and Novak and Douglass are guys that will never be forgotten by our generation. But when it comes down to it, you can't deny we just wayyy overachieved. We have a grand total of one four star recruit on our entire roster, and the guy doesn't even start.
Think about it. Last year, after the tourney, what would you have thought if I had told you that Darius Morris would go to the NBA, Tim Hardaway Jr. would shoot 23% for three, Horford would be sidelined all year with an injury, and Jordan Morgan's offensive production would go down? You probably would have punched me in the face.
When you look at the elite teams out there, they outmatch us in both size and athleticism. Novak and Douglass have been absolutely priceless for us in bringing this program back to the top, but face it: they are short, unathletic, and so-so when it comes to shooting. They would not start on any other top 15 team.
Watching the Big 10 Tournament Championship game, I just could not even begin to fathom how we ended up beating BOTH of those teams, and tying them for the conference title. They are chock full of blue chips and have legitimate contributers (plural) on the bench. Hence the reason I was enraged that Izzo won Big 10 COY. Beilein is a freaking magician for being able to win with what we have. The luster of his accomplishments, and the team's accomplishments, is only increased by the fact that the team greatly exceeded our expectations.
It clearly goes without saying that it'll be interesting to see what the team will be able to do next year adding two consensus 5 stars and another top 100 four star to the roster. Granted, the departure of Novak and Douglass is a blow in the leadership department. It's hard to tell what impact that will have. We'll have two junior starters in Hardaway and Morgan - hopefully they'll step up and the young-guns will rally around them.
All in all it was a great season and it was certainly disappointing to see it end this way, especially for Novak and Douglass. Although I'm guessing their Big 10 Championship rings will cheer them up at some point.
My reaction was/is similar to yours. However, I wouldn't say, "When you look at the elite teams out there, they outmatch us in both size and athleticism." It's not just the elite teams. Even a team like Ohio at least matches, if not outmatches us in size and athleticism, and we could throw in depth and experience against most teams, whether elite or not, as well. How many other teams really only go 6 deep and of those 6, 3 are in their first or second year of college ball?
But what does it matter if they are not good on paper? We've seen them beat the best teams in the Big Ten so we know that they are capable of winning against great competition.
Sure, the four star and five star recruits you get on paper will typically make a team be better but it comes down to playing the games and it turned out our team chemistry and coaching were great even though we still saw big weaknesses.
We may have overachieved but it's not like you felt we won most of our games by luck (Northwestern exception?). Something just wasn't clicking recently like opposing teams figured out how to exploit our weaknesses.
We should still be disappointed because this team looked at times like it could get to at least the sweet sixteeen and at least threaten for elite 8. Tough loss to swallow after waiting so many years for Michigan bball to return to form but at least we still have a lot of hope for next year of avoiding a similar fate.
March 17th, 2012 at 10:01 AM ^
against sparty and osu were in A2, no really big/significant/statement wins on the road.
This team had big pieces missing and despite that achieved a lot. Give the players and coaches a ton of credit for achieving more with less. But when you're constantly playing 4 guard offenses against bigger, and often more athletic teams, it's going to catch up with you sooner or later. And this team was really not playing well going into the tournament as the OP said. This loss to Ohio was very predictable. Last year we had Hardaway on fire, and Darius Morris making a lot of big plays, and a bunch of momentum. Next year will be MUCH better. Finally we'll be able to field a complete team and not have a major size and athleticism disadvantage against most teams on our schedule. Go Blue!
Uh, those last few weeks included a Big Ten championship. How quickly we forget they finished the conference season on a 7-1 tear. They didn't dominate Minnesota in the BTT but then again, whom exactly did they dominate at any other point in the season? Afterwards they lost to OSU because in our heart of hearts we know they're the better team right now. Bugger they lost today but five years from now what's going to be the difference between losing this game or the next one? The tone of this thread makes it sound as if the team suffered a collapse. They were merely upset by a capable team, full stop.
March 17th, 2012 at 10:03 AM ^
good regular season, disapointing post season.
is it just me or does the whole "ohio" reference to osu lost a shit-load of luster last night?
March 17th, 2012 at 10:48 AM ^
March 17th, 2012 at 11:34 AM ^
March 17th, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^
March 17th, 2012 at 11:38 AM ^
Groce had a great offensive plan yesterday. Cooper was fantastic, but I think the key was Ohio continually isolating Zack on defense and taking advantage of Baltic's 3-4" height advantage at the power forward slot. Baltic played great...his shot was virtually unblockable, he played under control and created a ton of good offensive opportunities (including a few last-second shot clock beaters). Our defensive rotation was not sharp most of the night, and I'm exactly sure why. I don't fault Zack at all. It's been incredibly unfair to ask him to repeatedly guard 6'8" power forwards throughout his fantastic UM career. He did what he could and battled.
I also counted at least 5 missed layups. Baltic's offense + missed layups = Ohio victory.
It looked to me that the offense was much more trying to go inside this game than usual. Ohio looked a little bigger, causing us to throw up circus shots. Love Beilein, but does anyone think he outsmarted himself?
My problem with the OP is that no other Big Ten team was suffering from "wear and tear of the season". Every single other B1G team won this week (right?). Even Ohio State and Michigan State, who just finished playing in the championship game, won their games.
The grind of the conference season is not an excuse for us.
Also if u get that bent over a game to break ur phone seek help. Your life won't change if we win or we lose. If the best thing going is a school you like winning then you need to get a hobby or therapist.