Has Michigan hit the wall?

[glidinghawk]

With the loss to Wisconsin today, they will have lost 3 of their last 5 games with Sparty looming on the schedule. They really seem to have a tough time with their half court offense and transition defense.

With the loss of McGarry, their inside game is weak. Kaminski carved them up in the paint today. Stauskas really hasn't played that well since the game against Michigan State just over 3 weeks ago. I think they will lose 2 or 3 of their last 5 games.

It will be nice to see Wisconsin come into Carver with a swagger and see Bo with that certain look as the Hawkeyes kick their badger butts back to Madison.

 

[H8IAST8]

Have you seen Michigans remaining schedule? It is WEAK. After MSU they play the bottom of the conference.

 

[glidinghawk]

Have you seen Michigans remaining schedule? It is WEAK. After MSU they play the bottom of the conference.

I think they will lose to Sparty and will lose one of their road games.

 

[spliff45]

Had Iowa taken care of winnable games at home against Sparty and OSU, they'd be in a tie for first.

 

[sirfarmsalot]

Had Iowa taken care of winnable games at home against Sparty and OSU, they'd be in a tie for first.

Iowa would actually be in first all alone as MSU would have 3 losses in your scenario. Had the Hawks won those two home games, a big ten title would be very attainable, but as it is we are looking at 2nd place as the likely high water mark. Not bad, all things considered.

 

[Xerxes]

They probably are hitting a wall but as Ohio St and Wisconsin have proven during the conference season, when good teams hit a wall they can bounce back. B1G season is a grind. Fortunes changed regularly.

Look at Wisconsin, early this year, easy schedule, they looked like the B1G favorite. Then they fall off, lose 3 straight at home and look awful. Now in the last week they've beaten the top 2 teams in the conference, are tied with Iowa's in the B1G win column, and have a very soft schedule outside of Iowa the rest of the way

 

[kctom]

"...Have you seen Michigans remaining schedule? It is WEAK. After MSU they play the bottom of the conference...."

At Purdue may be tougher than you think, probably -3 vs MICH. Plus, MICH will have to face Hammonds inside. Additionally, Purdue crushed an IU team by 20' that beat MICH. So, i think MICH can be exploited on the road to capable tams with inside elite players.

 

[UncleHawk]

The difference in today's game was Kaminsky. MI had no answer for him. I'd like to think Iowa does. We'll find out Saturday.

That, BTW, is how MI has hit the wall. Once their outside game is shut down, they don't have a big guy to go to. If you only have one dimension of an offense to figure out, some opponents are going to be able to put the L on you, no matter how good that one dimension is.

 

[atxhawk]

People have figured out how to slow down Stauskas.

 

[HawkeyeHypnosis]

Iowa would actually be in first all alone as MSU would have 3 losses in your scenario. Had the Hawks won those two home games, a big ten title would be very attainable, but as it is we are looking at 2nd place as the likely high water mark. Not bad, all things considered.

2nd is not the highest. 1st is not far out of reach. Take care of buisness and it can be a title for the Hawks. Ill take any of the top 3 but 1st is still attainable.

 

[atxhawk]

Sparty is down 8 at home right now to Nebby.

 

[Bigtenchamp]

Michigan hasn't hit a wall... things are averaging out like they should.

Michigan is a good team but I think Iowa is the best team in the big ten.... MSU when healthy maybe is better than Iowa but they are just not healthy.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Had Iowa taken care of winnable games at home against Sparty and OSU, they'd be in a tie for first.

Those games are killing me now.. After MSU losing today, too, Iowa would be alone in first place. Sigh.. Oh well, just take care of business and go into East Lansing and mop the court with those guys. That's gotta be the focus now.

 

[PCHawk]

Those games are killing me now.. After MSU losing today, too, Iowa would be alone in first place. Sigh.. Oh well, just take care of business and go into East Lansing and mop the court with those guys. That's gotta be the focus now.

We would have a 2 game lead on MSU right now. Damn those loses!

 

[DDThompson]

With the loss to Wisconsin today, they will have lost 3 of their last 5 games with Sparty looming on the schedule. They really seem to have a tough time with their half court offense and transition defense.

With the loss of McGarry, their inside game is weak. Kaminski carved them up in the paint today. Stauskas really hasn't played that well since the game against Michigan State just over 3 weeks ago. I think they will lose 2 or 3 of their last 5 games.

Possibly hitting the wall. But they'll get a second wind and a weak schedule after Sparty.

The front of their schedule was not strong so they were confident and peaking when Wisky, Iowa, MSU heart of the schedule came which they passed with flying colors. Now another tough four game span and it's not quite so 'easy' this time. Winning every other game like Iowa did for a spell.

 

[Hawk1960]

I think the rest of the league has figured out how to guard Stauskas. Next question ...has MSU hit the wall? They seemed real flat today at home and have three tough games the rest of the way (Michigan, Iowa, OSU).

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

People have figured out how to defend Michigan. Take Stauskis out of the game with a quick defender, and force their big people out on the court...then hit the offensive glass. You have to be multiple or teams will take away your bread and butter. Think about how many ways Iowa can score...transition, Marble and Gesell can both get to the rim or shoot, Oglethree, then you have White and Uthoff who can shoot the midrange jumper (Uthoff the three too) and both can put it on the floor and beat you, then you have Basabe, Woodbury, and Oleseni pounding the offensive glass. Teams have tried to completely shut off the transition game, and forced us to beat them in the half court. The only way that works is if we can't hit shots because we are good in the half court offense most of the time. If this team develops more consistency from the outside, we are going to be tough to beat.

 

[MisterLucky]

People have figured out how to defend Michigan. Take Stauskis out of the game with a quick defender, and force their big people out on the court...then hit the offensive glass. You have to be multiple or teams will take away your bread and butter. Think about how many ways Iowa can score...transition, Marble and Gesell can both get to the rim or shoot, Oglethree, then you have White and Uthoff who can shoot the midrange jumper (Uthoff the three too) and both can put it on the floor and beat you, then you have Basabe, Woodbury, and Oleseni pounding the offensive glass. Teams have tried to completely shut off the transition game, and forced us to beat them in the half court. The only way that works is if we can't hit shots because we are good in the half court offense most of the time. If this team develops more consistency from the outside, we are going to be tough to beat.

And I think Gesell is the answer.