Michigan vs. Purdue MBB postgame snowflakes
Impressive team effort, stellar play from Livers (21 and 10, great D) and I counted at least seven hustle plays from Eli Brooks. Great contributions from Austin Davis (who figured Eady out, as much as one can, and allowed us to not have to settle for the perimeter), and Brandon Johns, who ripped at least two OREBs out of Purdue bigs’ hands.
What did you all notice?
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:15 PM ^
Whoops. Apologies, as I was beaten to the punch! Mods, please delete if appropriate.
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:16 PM ^
HAIL JUWAN!!!
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:17 PM ^
Livers with a double-double. His last 3 game stretch starting with Wisconsin, is the best 3 game stretch he has had. Playing at a high level.
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:19 PM ^
We good!
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:25 PM ^
That was the dominating win. Road game vs a solid team where the refs were trying so hard to get Purdue back in the game. And it was never really close.
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:06 PM ^
Yeah, the refereeing was annoying. Too many phantom and arbitrary calls, although they seemed to avoid the ticky tacky calls when the game was close. But they sure were trying to even it up once Michigan pulled away.
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:34 PM ^
No problem on the extra thread—my snowflakes are so unique they need to appear twice!
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:38 PM ^
I thought the refs were horrendous, but our boys played through it and it never became a factor. Nice Road win.
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:56 PM ^
I try not to complain about refs but I have to agree this time. They seemed awfully protective of the Purdue bigs. The worst incident was the one where Edey went over Davis for a rebound. Davis actually had to duck to protect himself and Edey landed on him but Davis got called for a foul.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:41 PM ^
Edey did the same thing to Brooks and almost squashed him like a bug. Of course no foul there.
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:46 PM ^
Davis can be an offensive force. His improvement is amazing.
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:47 PM ^
How aweful was the refereeing?
January 22nd, 2021 at 9:51 PM ^
This was a very impressive win. Purdue is a really good team and could make a sweet 16 appearance. Nice win.
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:53 PM ^
No words... this is just an incredible team coached by a true M man! How fun is this?!?!?
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:31 PM ^
I seldom harp on refs but in this game the refs were trying to keep Purdue in the game with some non-calls. I rewatched some plays and it was clear to me the refs were giving Purdue the timely benefit of the whistle in the 2nd half. Ex: Not calling a loose ball foul on Purdue when Eli clearly had the ball. Or Eli not getting a and1 on a made layup where Purdue big man Zach Edey clearly fouled him.
Some Positives:
+ I loved the defense. Trevion Williams got going a little in the 2nd half but we made it very tough on him.
If we had gotten a bit more balanced whistle in the 2nd half, this is probably a 25+ point win.
+ Livers was very good both ways. More of that please
+ I read somewhere that Mike Smith is shooting 60% from 3 in conference play. Wow if true. He made this lone 3 point attempt in this game.
Some Negatives:
- Fran was 2-10 from the field and missed some 3s he normally makes. His body language after Eli didn't shoot the 3 in the transition was bad. Stephen Bardo immediately pointed that out. I understand Franz was frustrated but he can't take a play off.
- Purdue outrebounded us 41-39 and Purdue had an enormous 20-10 advantage on the offensive glass. That was annoying/frustrating.
- Finally, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. That is the one weakness of this team. (Coach Beilein spoiled us in this regard so it's even more jarring.) When we don't turn the ball over (and Hunter had a bad night out of PnR), we're absolutely lethal because our defense can clamp down and buy time until the offense gets going.
Some more thoughts:
- That said, this game proved to me that Franz isn't quite ready for the NBA. He has been fantastic in Crisler but he's struggling to shoot/score on the road. He has some very long cold stretches. At Minnesota, he missed a layup in the 2nd half. Tonight he missed a dunk in transition.
I think another season in college will help him with consistency. That said, he once again flashed some ability as a point forward. If he keeps working on that and becomes better as a catch-and-shoot player, he'll absolutely be a top 10 pick.
- Defenses are now doubling Dickinson every time he gets the ball out of standard post entry. (They're even doubling Austin Davis when he catches the ball on the low block. Imagine that happening 2-3 years ago! LULZ!)
January 23rd, 2021 at 6:33 AM ^
he really works hard on defense and rebounding. helps the team when not scoring
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:33 AM ^
Since you asked....
Livers has elite stroke.
Brooks is a poor man's star.
Davis seems like he could be great but seems overweight in midsection and carrying an extra 25lbs. Could be wrong buthw seems to lumber.
Franz still get mentally sidetracked and needs to disregard things he cannot control like a questionable call. I didn't understand that pouting.
Brown and Johns are so valuable, as much as the starters,after they come in when the opposing team is gassed and they bring that awesome energy. This can't be understated, especially when you think of the body language of Beilfeldt and Horford.
And I never thought I'd say this, but Smith is a star and that I prefer his play to Simpsons.