Game thread: Michigan at Illinois - Men’s Hoops - 7:00 pm EST on ESPN
Michigan travels to Champaign to face the Illini. The broadcast begins at 7:00 pm EST on ESPN.
Though Purdue leads the conference standings by two games, the race for second is tight. Our Wolverines are in second place in the conference with an 11-7 record, a half game ahead of seven other teams who have 8 losses.
A lot of comments in different threads. It’s as close to a “must win” as there is, if the team hopes to Dance in a couple of weeks.
Rumor has it that Jett will be in the lineup tonight…
Go Blue!
That’s not fair, he totally got Baker a shot earlier in the game. It went about the same as the second time, from the same spot.
To be fair. Baker took that first shot on his own out of the double on Hunter and the swing around. He should have never took it because he ain’t the guy who should. E shooting.
Second one on Juwan
Eh, a little easier said than done to get the guy every expects to get it an open look. I don't fault Howard for using Bufkin as more of a decoy on that last shot to get someone else a wide open look. At the end of the day that is a near 40% 3 point shooter getting a great look and airballing it. I am never going to fault a coach for drawing up something that got someone that wide open of a look.
Juwan did his job there. Players have to make a plays.
jett fouled out. baker had a great look on a well designed play. sometimes guys don't make shots. howard drew it up just fine and used the tools he had available.
and it's not howard's fault that our portal transfer tore his ACL and that our other starting guard transferred. our available guards have played very well down the stretch.
it's okay to be frustrated, but howard did what he should do with the guys he has available.
I think a lot of the variance in views of Howard hinges on how people view the Collins transfer, that is, whether they think it was something that Howard couldn’t have prevented or been aware or if they think he should have had a better understanding of Frankie’s mindset. I’m not sure there’s great evidence either way: Collins seems to love transferring , and Juwan seems to love starting transfer point guards.
But either way, the play he drew up was really good. If you want to complain about him in this game, it’s about not having an extra TO to slow the IL run in the second half and a more general complaint about atrocious defensive play.
Last play was fine. Great look by a shooter when D is going to try and foul. Biggest issue is how poorly their game plan was on D. Shannon is quick. Played him at half court and up in his space. He had too many driving opportunities. Biggest miss play was up 4 in OT, Hunter dribbling ball, Juwan HAS TO call a timeout there. Gotta regroup to get ball to Kobe/Dug, get a set for a play.
Collins transferred out because Juwan got Llewellyn in the portal. Considering Juwan's consistently baffling lineup decisions, it's hard to fully blame him. So yeah, I put some fault on Juwan there. Also Llewellyn was playing pretty poorly before he tore his ACL. It's not like there's much indication this season would have gone differently if he hadn't gotten hurt.
By the way, I don't blame Juwan for the last play -- it was well-designed. I blame him for the poor roster management, the terrible lineups, the three timeouts in the first half, not calling timeout on Hunter's dribble up the court, the decision not to play zone even after Illinois got baskets at the rim on like 8 straight possessions, and this team's apparent inability to close out games.
Baker should consider becoming a baker.
Or a butcher or a candlestick maker.
Proud of the effort, it's been one of those years closing out games. But it's basically young guys playing big minutes, and it's tough to play against grown guys in the B1G for 40, much less 48 minutes. Proud of the team, the effort. Get some rest somehow and got a short turnaround on Sunday in Bloomington. Go Blue
Being proud of effort and moral victories don't cut it at this level unfortunately.
That is what is so frustrating about this team. They have shown definite heart in certain gutcheck moments where they could have packed it in but at the same time just have not done the important things you need to do to win close games late. I am not going to be critical of their mental toughness because I do think that has been good but it takes more than just that to win close games late.
They will get blown out at Indiana. Not mentally tough enough to recover from losing a game like this.
Eh, that is what people said when they were 11-10 and had just been crushed by PSU. That they would quit, now I don't think they will win at Indiana but this team does not seem like one that will just completely quit.
Here’s a brilliant fucking idea…Bufkin was 3-3 from three today, Baker was 0-3 prior to that one and 0 for the field. Hunter hit a three against Wisconsin last game to send it to overtime…how about we design a plan for one of the guys who got you into this tight game in the first place?!?
And how many fucking precious minutes are we wasting each half with Cheddar starting? It’s like he has to dig a big ass hole and then put the better players in there.
You think Illinois would let Kobe get open? Hell even Baker had to do a double curl to get open.
Maybe let Kobe do a double curl? Maybe throw it up to Hunter? Baker was off and wouldn’t have been one of the first three options for me in this particular game.
If we just throw it up to Hunter he is definitely getting fouled before he gets a decent shot off. Getting a very good 3 point shooter a wide open look is the best scenario you can hope for in that situation . That play was the last thing you can complain about as far as coaching.
Yeah definitely easier said than done to get the guy the other team is zeroing in on a look. Using that guy as a decoy is definitely not the worst idea. At the end of the day with only 6 seconds to work with they got a great look, that is on the player for missing that badly.
Hopefully Juwan leaves after this season when Jett goes to the NBA...this basketball program already needs a new voice. I loved the Juwan hire, and for awhile it looked like it was really gonna work, but he's just bad at figuring out the game and how to utilize his players. Hell, at this point, Martelli could manage the game and lineups better imo.
Nah, every coach gets one missed tournament mulligan. Honestly I would be far more critical of Howard if this team quit when they were 11-10. It at least says something about the culture they didn't. But you only get one, if his happens against next year, well that begs a discussion.
Not sure why we wouldn't expect another similar season next year. Juwan's three non-covid years are 19-12, 19-15, and 17-13. Being a bubble team is the norm under Juwan. And the roster could easily be worse next year.
I think hunter was 0-2 from deep before his last second shot
Yet another massive foul disparity against Michigan. Had to stop following the game since this conference officiating is such a joke.
I think Hunter slept with DJ Carstensen's wife. He's had it in for HD 3 years running now. And Scirotto, don't get me started.
If the committee simply dismisses that as a quad-one loss, it's on the committee. Tired of this arbitrary categorizing and obsessing. The more interesting question is whether this team could do some damage if it makes the tournament. Lately, it looks like it might. Jett takes some crap, but when he's fully healthy, he creates opportunities.
If this team can do some damage, how about doing it now in the Big ten?
They are in second place in the B1G…
Yeah, with like 6 other teams lmao
This team wouldn't be win a tournament game. They don't play smart or hustle.
What sport did you play after 7th grade…?
I mean it makes total sense to say that a team who lost to majority of the good teams it has played doesn't deserve to get into the tournament.
Right now we have a win against Pitt, a split with MSU, a sweep of Northwestern, split with PSU and Maryland and a win at Rutgers. That's really not an impressive resume if we're being honest. They're solid wins for sure, but really not a good tournament resume.
I want them in the tournament, but they haven’t won many games against good teams. That’s how you ought to assess teams, and losing in double OT isn’t winning.
Once again, Kenpom is a god.
*sigh*
Michigan outshot Illinois from 2’s and 3’s. M had more blocks and boards.
Illinois went to the line for nine more FT’s, and turned the ball over less.
It was a winnable game, for sure. I still can’t believe Illinois scored 12 straight to end the first and start the second OTs.
I do find it funny how Jett was clobbered on his three with no call but Iowa dude is barely touched when we played them and they got the crucial four point play so go to overtime. Always a difference in calls at home vs road and bigten officiating sucks bad anyway.
I have been an advocate of professional officials for years. With all the money in the media deals - I certainly hope this changes - they hire, train, and evaluate officials who are conference employees.
Full time or not these guys should be better. Some of the stuff they miss/make up and their complete and utter lack of consistency is not understandable, the only thing neccassary to get some of things they get wrong right is two functioning pair of eyes. Not to say there are not more difficult calls in a game that are understandable if missed at normal speed, but there are simply too many calls missed that only require eyes and calling the game per the rulebook to get right.