Michigan Basketball
- Thread starter WinOneThisCentury
- Start date
VTHawk
Well-Known Member
Yeah they destroyed Minnesota last night. I caught the last few minutes and they were up big and I guess it was their reserves but they were still playing super aggressive. Maybe that is a testament to their coaching maybe its nothing at all.
Either way the Michigan Wolverines look for real.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
They are good. But they have a dream schedule this season...and have played no one on the road. It’s impossible to know if they are Ohio State/Rutgers good or Iowa/Illinois/Wisconsin elite.
Their best win away from home is at #46 (Kenpom) Maryland. They play road games at Wisconsin, Ohio State and Indiana. That’s it...3 road games against current top 25 Kenpom teams all season. Win 1 of those 3 and 1 of their 3 home games against Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin and they could be outright Big 10 champions at 16-4...and still not proved they are an elite team IMO. Win by double figures at home Tuesday against WI and they will at least start proving they might be top 10 material.
I’m not saying they aren’t elite...seeing signs they could be. But I need them to win 4 of their 6 tough games. And I want to see what happens after their 1st loss. Right now they feel invincible.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
One last thought... Look at their schedule and consider how many Big 10 teams would be undefeated right now having played the same schedule. I’m thinking potentially 4 to 7.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
Michigan has fewer Q1 games than any other team in the top 30 of net besides Drake. Who you play and beat matters, Michigan could be the best, but so far I would say they've benefited from not playing nearly as hard of a schedule as literally 29 other teams in the country.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
Agree. What I can’t figure out is how they are #4 in the NET Rankings. My understanding of how those rankings work they don’t check any of the boxes.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
I think they are the odds on favorite because of their schedule.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
I watched both Michigan and Baylor last night. Baylor controlled the entire game and didn’t really look like they were trying all that hard IMO.
MisterLucky
Well-Known Member
Michigan plays Illinois and Iowa only once this year, both in Ann Arbor. Their next game is, once again, at home against Wisconsin and because PSU has canceled it's game with them, they will have almost a full week to prepare for the Badgers.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
Who you play and who you beat matter, but you can only play the teams on your schedule. That said, they play in aggressive in your shorts defense every night they step on the court. That type of mentality isn't something that comes and goes with the flip of a switch. Schedule or not, they play defense and I'd always take the defensive minded team that can put up points against a team loaded with offensive firepower that struggles to play 40 minutes of good defense.
Defense wins Championships because it puts you in a position to win when the offense isn't necessarily clicking. It allows you to come up with stops to keep it close rather than hoping a team goes flat or stops making their shots. It prevents giving up easy buckets or "once in a lifetime shooting performances" that we see on a nightly basis that allow a team to come back from a 7 point deficit with 44 seconds left, only to blow the roof off the gym in OT.
It wasn't our defense that gave up the 7 point lead near as much as the missed free throws. Not that that point hurts your argument.
We play them the 2nd to last game of the year.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
I'm willing to bet Michigan is gonna lose some games in similar fashion this season, that's just how cbb works.
Amen... And two of the guys that missed shoulda made most of em... CJ and JT are good FT shooters. All they had to do was make one more between em in regulation. So frustrating
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
Varying opinions and all are justified IMO. We may not know what Michigan really is until the postseason since they’re playing a very watered down schedule.
HawkeyeFever
Well-Known Member
Yep. I think we will have a better idea in 4-6 weeks after they have played some tougher games. I get the feeling that the game in March against the Hawks will have a LOT riding on it in terms of the B1G regular season championship.
When CJ got fouled on that 3 up 6 points, we had to be 99.9% to win that game. It's hard enough in this league to be in that position enough times to win the conference, let alone do it enough times to afford blowing one of them. If we end up losing by 1 game, those 40 seconds are going to be remembered by hawk fans for a long time.
