Monday, March 17, 2014

Michigan Monday: March Madness

So that was a unique weekend.  Michigan played well is spurts and not so well at other times.  MSU is clearly playing to their potential and was more physical then Wolverines in the championship game.  It seems the Wolverines have trouble finding "their legs" when playing 3 games in 3 days. 

Now on to the next step on the ladder. 

Michigan plays Wofford who started the year 3-7 but won the Southern Conference Championship as a 3 seed.  

So how do we see Michigan playing in the NCAA?

If Michigan hits 3's they play well.   If they don't they don't.  Michigan's defense is not strong enough to beat big physical teams that have a number of low post players.    Michigan will really miss McGary after Wofford.    Michigan couldn't buy a rebound yesterday.

I like Michigan all the way to Duke, both teams have already played this year with Duke not having much trouble with the Wolverines in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.   Duke will give the Wolverines a challenge but the young Wolverines could sneak out a win on a neutral floor. 

Here are my keys for success in the tournament:

  • More motion on offense.  Too much standing around for someone to hit a 3.
  • Find a little low post game
  • More 1-3-1
  • Have to shoot lights out
  • Morgan and Horford have to stay out of foul trouble
The book is out on how to beat the Wolverines, contest the 3 and out rebound them.   If Michigan can shoot teams out of the building they have a chance to make up for the lack of defense or rebounding.  Should be fun to watch.   I love this team but I don't think they would have been a legit #1 seed.

It starts at 7:10 on Thursday.  

  • The football team had a scrimmage on Saturday.  Here are some highlights/lowlights if your worried about the offense line.

  • Speaking of the offense line, there are rumors that 5th year Alabama Center Chad Lindsay who started some games last year due to injuries to other guys might be transferring to Michigan.  He is no longer on Bama's roster and will be transferring to another team.  Since he is a 5th transfer he will not have to sit out a year.

4 comments:

Scott K said...

Morgan and Horford actually tryed playing some physical post defense.. and were each prompty called for very questionable personals in the first 5 minutes of the game.... That took away any chance we had of putting up a fight, defensively, in the paint.
I honestly think the game would have looked considerably different had the officials not put our 'bigs' in foul trouble so early.
Had a Sparty fan getting stupid, saying we beat their bench twice and couldn't hold water for their healthy line-up.
Having McGary on the court would have changed things a little yesterday, but... you gotta play with who you have... I just asked how they manage to be so gracious in wins and so humble in losses?

I think if we keep the ball spread around and involve everyone, we can go far.... My biggest concern is Defense... how did we give teams so much trouble early in the year, forcing turnovers and stiffling scoring.. yesterday we couldn't slow down a drive, let alone stop it!!

GO BLUE!!

Anonymous said...

I agree Scott, the whole first half was shaped by those quick 3 fouls. I believe the last of the 3 was with 18:45 left in the first half. I thought the officiating was very uneven for a championship game. Sometimes ticky-tack stuff called and other times no blood no foul. How Payne only has ONE personal foul in that game is beyond me. Bottom line is we shot poorly.

Big35Hurt said...

Well.....just watched that scrimmage video...sure looked like the same ol' same ol' from the OLine...LOL

Bob said...

Good Points guys on the foul trouble guys.