Looking at yesterday's box score
https://mgoblog.com/content/michigan-86-lsu-78#read-more
Well, there is an "I" in Tiger but not in advance.
This was a close game but the two teams took totally different approaches. No Michigan player took more than 11 shots, and the team racked up 22 assists (!) on 28 made baskets.
Meanwhile, Smart and Thomas each jacked up 23 shots apiece. LSU managed a meager eight assists for the game.
LSU took 17 more shots than we did, but we made one more. We shot 54% to their 39% and our bench outscored theirs 26-2.
Classic example of one side playing as a team and the other as individuals.
March 23rd, 2021 at 12:49 PM ^
There were a few times during last night's game when Franz' basketball instincts really shined. I'm not a big Xs and Os basketball person and it even jumped out to me. M is lucky to have him on the team, even if he does disappear during stretches of games.
March 23rd, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
A classic example of a really bad basketball coach.
March 23rd, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
My takeaway - Mike Smith had a rough game. Four turnovers, 25% FG shooting, and -11 +/-.
I'm actually a big fan of his potential and game, but he was a visible weakness last night.
March 23rd, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
I'm surprised he only had 4 turnovers, I thought there were more.
He didn't play like Z, or X.... that's for sure.
he seems to be going great game then bad game then great game then bad game. he just had 18 pts and 15 assists against MD last week.
He had a really bad game. He tried to force things that weren't there, repeatedly underestimated LSU's length and athleticism, and shot terribly.
FSU will send more of the same at him, so he needs to be ready.
That was a bizarre performance by Smith. He's been very consistent, especially in the last half of the season where he rarely turned the ball over and reliably scored 10 - 15 a night. FSU will be equally tough on him but I bet he bounces back.
Well, Thomas and Smart are probably the most talented 2-guard combo he's ever played against in his career. He looked caught off-guard at just how good they were. Hopefully he will adjust against FSU.
March 23rd, 2021 at 12:42 PM ^
those 8 LSU assists were all or nearly all in the first half.
I'm shocked they had 8 assists
March 23rd, 2021 at 12:48 PM ^
Thomas and Smart together took 66% of LSU's shots; Thomas, Smart, and Watford together had 82% of LSU's attempts.
You have to combine 5 Michigan players to get that percentage of our total of 52.
March 23rd, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
The TEAM the TEAM the TEAM....
we've been a pretty well balanced squad all year. It helps when you have to overcome losing one of your best players.
GO BLUE
March 23rd, 2021 at 12:57 PM ^
HD Had 4 fouls again. He cannot continue those ridiculous cheap ones going forward against the remaining teams in the tournament.
he played 30+ min, so it really wasn't an issue this game. if the fouls come in the first five min of the game, however, that's a different story.
That reach from behind foul at half court was full bonehead. That would be wrong in a middle school game. He will benefit from the big game experience and wisdom - he’s a very smart kid and won’t make that mistake again,
agreed.... and in context, it was out of frustration because he was hacked at the rim, just prior to that silly reach in foul.
it was crazy that Brown got a flop warning, but lsu never did....they were some floppin' fucks!
i had a very erudite, very level-headed game thread post that went something like this: FLOPS!!!! CALL THE FLOPS!!!!
I am pretty sure Brown did NOT get a flop warning. The announcers were just clueless.
Brown has a small collision with his LSU defender, which sent the LSU guy sliding 10-feet back into the lane. The official IMMEDIATELY started signaling "flop" and didn't blow his whistle.
He waited until there was a break in play to go over and issue the flop warning, which I'm like 99% sure was against whoever was guarding Brown. Howard seemed very happy with them at that moment.
Of course, the announcers were 100% oblivious to this happening. I assume they are watching the same broadcast we are if they are announcing remotely, but they seem to miss a ton.
floppin' ridiculous!
You could hear Howard yelling at him about the stupid fouls. Remember, he's a freshman, even though he usually looks like a junior. He needs to play smarter.
i believe we also made several more TOs which kept the game closer than it could have been, but our FT shooting in the 2H helped seal the deal.
Ive been listening to all the talking heads this morning and Ive learned quite a bit...Apparently Michigan the #1 seed is the 3rd most likely out of 4 to win the East...How did we ever manage this year? it was ALL Livers apparently because without him we have ZERO chance...ZERO ....according to the Jay Bilas, Seth Greenberg , loudmouth Steven Smith and all the rest over at ESPN CBS etc etc....We should just pack it up and go back to AA
To be fair, beating FSU and Alabama back-to-back will be a significant challenge, especially without Livers. Michigan can do it, but they will need to shoot well from 3 in both games.
as do FSU or Bama its not like were chop LIVERS or anything...oh wait......
Bama gets #11 seed UCLA before us though. Not that UCLA is a cakewalk, but I'd much rather face them than FSU. KenPom has UCLA as the 3rd worst team left, though the Pac-12 seems to be under-rated.
Great coaches teach their teams to play smart.
but......not even the most well coached players are immune to a momentary lapse in judegement.
One of the oddest box scores I've seen. Two of their players took almost as many shots (46) as our entire team (52). They got their 17 extra shots that you need to make that game plan work. We just flamed them for 86 points on 53% shooting.
Watford 3 blocks, others had 1
Johns 2 blocks, others had 1
Johns is a shot blocking beast