Michigan vs. Wisconsin Snowflakes
Here are mine. Give me yours.
1. I never realized that you were allowed to attempt to shove an opponent into his own teammate that is going up for a layup on a fast break and only get charged with a common foul, negating the layup. That fucking bullshit cost us 2 points. Davison is now on my Mount Rushmore of hated players.
2. Davis’s footwork and low post development is incredible. He won’t play in the NBA, but you can be sure that he wouldn’t even have had a chance to play overseas with Beilein and staff. He has a legit greater than 0 chance to make some money playing basketball after graduation after being coached by Juwan.
3. Today sort of separated the players that were hurt most by the layoff with those that didn’t miss much of a beat. Livers obviously came out firing and aggressive. Chaundee is a great example of a momentum player. He really struggled to get into the flow, as did Dickinson and Brooks (except on D). Smith, Davis, and Wagner are other examples of not taking too long to find their flow.
4. Brooks D is pretty incredible. I loved how he made poor Trevor Anderson pick up his dribble while straddling the halfcourt line. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
5. Dickinson is like an octopus on the offensive glass.
6. Jonathan Davis for Wisconsin only had 11 points but on an efficient 5 for 8 afternoon. He really kept them going with some very difficult and athletic shots. Without him Michigan take the lead and pulls away much earlier.
7. Wisconsin just seems like a team of tryhards. They are just not very athletic but put forth a lot of annoying effort. They have to realize at this point that they want nothing to do with Michigan in the BTT. Perimeter Potter and maybe Trice or Davis are really the only players that even have a chance to compete against us at their positions.
8. I feel like we really broke their will when they were up 51-46 and we twice forced them into 3s right at the end of the shot clock. Of course Potter made his but released it barely too late. But at that point you could tell that we packed our D for the trip to Madison and they were having trouble creating. We went on to outscore them 21-8 after those two possessions.
9. Not sure how Trice feels, but I would be fucking embarrassed if my mom pulled that battlepig bullshit on opponent free throws. If I were a Wisconsin parent I would always try to sit as far from her as possible.
10. Such huge wins over Wisconsin on both the hard court and the ice after long layoffs. Both teams needed some time to get back into the flow, but once they did, ooh boy. Hopefully the icers can complete the sweep later today.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:09 PM ^
Good call on Trice's mom and how he might feel about it. Its been nearly a decade of her doing that shit. I think it's only against us if I'm not mistaken?c u next tuesday.
Dickinson's rebounding is pretty great. For as large and "tall" he is he finds a way to snare some balls a bulkier big man has no chance to go after. The one late he snagged while under the hoop should've been an undercut foul on a Wisconsin player but I'm glad it didn't get whistled as Dickinson immediately got it to Livers for a huge 3ball.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:14 PM ^
I missed it -- what does she do?
February 14th, 2021 at 4:20 PM ^
Same, what’s this battle pig thing?
February 14th, 2021 at 4:26 PM ^
Nevermind, found it. Obnoxious, but not surprising.
here’s an example: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CPIQt239prk
February 14th, 2021 at 4:51 PM ^
The best part of this video is that it was shot by a family member in the front row in the family section right behind the Wisconsin bench. Clearly it is not just opposing fans who find that woman remarkably annoying! Beating her is almost as gratifying as beating little bradley
February 14th, 2021 at 6:35 PM ^
That wasn’t shot press row by a reporter?
February 14th, 2021 at 4:16 PM ^
What did the mother? No idea what “battlepig “Means.
The rebound by Dickinson was pretty tremendous,!swooping under the basket. it was the second time he done that and you are right, the other dude should’ve got an undercut foul call.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:31 PM ^
I was watching some college game several years ago while not sober, think it was back when Pittsburgh was good and hosted a big home game. There was a fan near a cracked mic and she screamed the entire game when the opposition had the ball. It was unreal. For some reason the term "battlepig" came to mind and I've used it ever since. It kinda seems like the right term at this point.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:12 PM ^
One word:
Coaching.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:13 PM ^
The move to the 3/4 court press energized our guys and exposed UW's lack of athleticism.
In Juwan I trust.
February 15th, 2021 at 7:45 AM ^
Wisconsin is a very old team and while that makes up for some of the team's lack of athleticism, it only gets you so far. Wiscy has used a similar philosophy on the football field also and has produced a bunch of NfL players, particularly on the O-line, but the overall lack of athleticism has kept them out of consideration for national championships, IMO.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:18 PM ^
Livers is such a luxury to have. Some games he'll be in the background and not score a lot. Up comes a day the offense isn't in a groove and shooters are struggling early. Livers steps up and keeps us in the game.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:27 PM ^
Well said, UNC.
Here are mine:
- Livers absolutely kept us in the game. After a bit of a slow start this year, he's delivered everything one could hope for, and more. His leadership is off the charts.
- I'm still struggling to believe how hard Michigan played after looking dead-legged and tired-armed in the first half. I really feel Davison's cheap shot inspired the entire team.
- Connected to that, Michigan's defense was absolutely ferocious in the 2nd half. Great switching, tremendous hustle attacking shooters. Wisconsin looked like the gassed team at the end.
- DIckenson destroyed Wisconsin's bigs down the stretch. Wow. He was so impressive on the glass, and swatted anything Trice tried to toss up there.
- Brooks was a man possessed chasing guys all over the court. His subtle nudges, the way he harrasses shooters without fouling - he's a wizard on defense.
- Halftime adjustments - wow. Juwan and his staff take advantage of players with super high hoops IQ. They looked like a completely different team.
- This team has the instinct of an assassin. When they smell blood they are ruthless. No way Wisconsin was gonna win once Michigan finally pulled ahead. A team that can close like Michigan is gonna be VERY hard to beat in the tournament.
Best win of the year - Go Blue!
February 14th, 2021 at 4:36 PM ^
good stuff, great post.
You can see that Livers makes a concerted effort to get going on the very first possession. He's done that in several games this season. I have to believe that Juwan ochestrates that in the team huddle just before the tip, reminding everyone that Livers is the primary right off the bat.
As Livers can really drift and disappear at times, such great coaching to force him to make something happen on the first possession.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:43 PM ^
Agreed - and I feel like Livers understands his importance. It's always fun to watch a kid grow into a leader.
With the best players jumping early to the NBA these days, we don't often get to see that kind of senior leadership, especially from a very talented player.
February 14th, 2021 at 7:43 PM ^
Players like Livers are a key to winning national championships. They're experienced and mature leaders who make the team so much better. Freshmen rarely can do that.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:27 PM ^
Howard has instilled a remarkable resilience in this team. They are playing for each other right now, and when that happens, anything is possible.
When Michigan tied the game, I knew it was over. That’s how strong they are.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:32 PM ^
Thanks!
February 14th, 2021 at 4:38 PM ^
I have no idea what the whole battlepig thing is about, care to explain?
My only issue with Juwan was that he took Livers out too early in the 1st half when he was the only guy hitting shots but other than that, it was a great coaching job by he and the staff to overcome everything we were dealing with and win!
Also, we missed some FTs late and should have won by 12 if we had hit them.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:48 PM ^
Why do you keep harping on this point? Livers played 38 minutes. Guys need breathers during a game. Livers first came out around the 9 minute mark in the first half and promptly went back in with 7 minutes to go in the half. You cannot realistically expect a player to play all 40 minutes every game. It's not a matter of Juwan sitting the guy with the 'hot hand', it is a simple matter of giving a guy his due break during the action.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^
I appreciate that he needs a rest, just maybe pick a different point when someone else gets going first.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:56 PM ^
Sure, here's my explanation. I should have defined it in my original OP. Sorry about that.
I was watching some college game several years ago while not sober, think it was back when Pittsburgh was good and hosted a big home game. There was a fan near a cracked mic and she screamed the entire game when the opposition had the ball. It was unreal. For some reason the term "battlepig" came to mind and I've used it ever since. It kinda seems like the right term at this point.
February 14th, 2021 at 4:58 PM ^
Don’t ask me why I felt the need but I checked out RCMB reaction and there are so many people over there commenting on how Martelli is doing all the coaching. Hilarious!!
February 14th, 2021 at 5:18 PM ^
The level of delusion on that board is fascinating. Makes you wonder if they even watch the games or just spout nonsense that they make up?
February 14th, 2021 at 5:18 PM ^
I hate to throw around accusations but it seems like a big segment of that board is racist. No other reason to think that Juwan doesn't have extensive Xs and Os knowledge after spending over half a decade as an assistant to one of the best head coaches in the NBA.
February 14th, 2021 at 5:27 PM ^
And he played in the league for 19 seasons. That’s about 1600 games at the highest level. How many NBA games did Izzo play?
February 14th, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
Oh, I don't doubt that for a second. The things that they post regarding Juwan Howard are truly vile.
February 14th, 2021 at 5:43 PM ^
True. But not surprising coming from a fanbase that defends to the death their coach who harbored a woman beater and named his son after a rapist.
February 14th, 2021 at 5:20 PM ^
Fuck them, they're just bitter and know they will be getting a beatdown when we play them and 2 if we can makeup the ppd game.
February 14th, 2021 at 5:46 PM ^
Even if there is some truth to Martelli coaching, well that's why he was hired. Obviously I think we can all safely assume, or hope, that Juwan will outlast him at Michigan. But until then Juwan will learn a ton from him. Might go down as one of the shrewdest assistant coaching hires in some time.
February 14th, 2021 at 8:18 PM ^
So, according to Sparty, our assistant coach is out coaching their Hall of Fame head coach who still can’t figure who his best players are.
February 14th, 2021 at 5:11 PM ^
Juwan called the play after the elbow for Smith intentionally.
February 15th, 2021 at 5:10 AM ^
Heard him cannily discussing this during the presser when Brendan Quinn asked, and it brought a smile to my face.
February 14th, 2021 at 5:17 PM ^
My two cents:
Penny #1. Our pick-and-roll offense was not good. The time off hurt us there. There were numerous times I expected Eli or Smith to dish to the big for a finish, and it just didn’t happen. Not to excuse Eli’s poor shooting, but it seemed like several times he got caught in no man’s land and ended up having to make a late decision to shoot because the timing of the pick-n-roll was off. Upon initial viewing, it seemed like Coach Howard switched to more motion and isolation and fewer pick and rolls. His ability to diagnose what’s going on and adjust in real time is special.
Penny #2. Is Wisconsin really a team of “try-hards?” On Stu Douglass’ last podcast, he mentioned how he never sweat when they played against Wisconsin because the games were so darn slow. I haven’t seen Reuvers break a sweat all season.
February 14th, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
I think in this instance "try-hards" means "not particularly athletic or talented". Which is true. Trice is solid, other than that who else would play for Michigan? Potter maybe off the bench?
February 14th, 2021 at 5:52 PM ^
I guess we can all have our different definition of tryhard, has nothing to do with pace for me.
February 14th, 2021 at 7:16 PM ^
I didn’t mean to imply slow pace. I meant they don’t “try hard” as evidenced by their lack of perspiration. Trying hard means defending hard, getting down into the defensive stance, denying passing lanes, boxing out for rebounds, cutting hard to the basket, moving on offense so your opponent has to expend effort to defend you. Whether you’re playing a 60 or 80 possession game, if you do all the things I said above, you should break a sweat.
February 14th, 2021 at 7:44 PM ^
Ok, so you seriously don’t think their players sweat at all during games?
February 14th, 2021 at 5:23 PM ^
Going forward, I will utilize the following game watching strategy:
For the second time this season, I started watching from the beginning of the game. The other game was Minnesota. In that game, I watched the entire game and Michigan lost. Today, I left at halftime to run errands. When I returned home, Michigan was up four.
From this day forward, I will turn on the game and immediately leave my house. To further ensure victory, I will first go to the vet and purchase ear drops for my dog and then go to Starbucks. The rest of this season should be a lay down, if my math is correct.
February 14th, 2021 at 5:57 PM ^
ok, you're making me admit this....
The RichRod years were so difficult for me that I invoked a new watching strategy. When we're behind I turn off the game (that I'm recording) and track on Gamecast. If we never tie or take the lead I don't watch again.
I now do this for all Michigan sports, and I hate myself for it. I've been absolutely castrated, but I think I may live longer. Today I tracked most of the 1st half on gamecast. In the second half I purposely went to Whole Foods when we cut it to 3. I finished the rest when I got home only after I knew we had won.
I've found over the years that I just cannot watch a second of a game that we lose. So even though I attended both the Louisville and Nova "losses", I have never seen them on TV after the fact.
February 14th, 2021 at 11:38 PM ^
It's okay. You are not alone, UNCWolverine.
February 14th, 2021 at 5:32 PM ^
Is it an aunt or the mom making the yeti call?
February 14th, 2021 at 5:58 PM ^
I think she's known around the Michigan circles as "momma trice".
February 14th, 2021 at 6:50 PM ^
Wow, look at this quote from Juwan. No wonder he’s such a good coach. These few sentences ooze team, confidence, swag, and and a tenacious mindset:
“Our guys looked at it and saw their brother looking pretty dazed and affected by the elbow,” Howard said. “But Mike told his teammates, ‘Hey, I’m fine, I’m ready to go.’ I was a little fired up, too. But it was nice to see that they all rallied together. It was a big huge test of our culture, No. 1 thing in our culture, what we say and the word we believe in, we’re all a family. And it just goes to show you, family got tested, and everyone banded together like brothers for their family.”
February 14th, 2021 at 7:01 PM ^
Goalllll!!!
3-2, 2:19 to go.
Go BLUE!!
February 14th, 2021 at 7:10 PM ^
Oops, wrong thread.
But since I'm here, that's now final. We lose 3-2 to split the weekend series at Yost.
February 14th, 2021 at 7:52 PM ^
How in the hell does Potter and Ruevers go without getting a single rebound between the two of them?
February 14th, 2021 at 8:50 PM ^
Because Hunter denied them and he wanted it more. All of the inside battles were won by Meeeechigan. After that POS elbowed Smith, we owned their pathetic asses. Can't emphasize more the heart and fight of this team.
February 14th, 2021 at 8:17 PM ^
Wins like today give me confidence in this team’s potential to win it all. Hunter summed it up best after the game - they feel like they can win playing any style. For the most part, this team is matchup proof and has great versatility.
February 14th, 2021 at 8:50 PM ^
"matchup proof" is a great concept and will certainly be tested. One of our greatest strengths is our halftime adjustments. Hopefully that bears fruit in the postseason.