However, being a defensive minded guy due to, I dunno’….Football(?) I still like to see good defense and I had a
sneaking suspicion that Michigan might lose in this tourney in a shoot-out that
went to 80 or 90 points. But as long as
the formula was working, I was happy and I still am happy to be a supporter of JB
and the 3 Point Men and the exciting and winning style of hoops they
have played all season…
Until you get a game like yesterday. Two basketball giants (okay, maybe Michigan isn’t
quite up there with Kentucky – but you get my point) that were playing at their
best started trading shots and scoring at will.
Defense was an afterthought, sort of.
Kentucky tried taking away the perimeter and Michigan went inside to
Mor-Ford for easy points in the paint.
Kentucky took what Michigan was giving and the two teams just slugged it
out.
However, when the other guy doesn’t make a mistake and
plays the same game that you are beating everybody with…and maybe even plays it
a little better its starts to get a little concerning. Then, it’s like watching a mirror image of
yourself, only they look to be a taller and better on defense than you…And they
didn’t miss many of their shots late in the 2nd half. And, with the score tied and the luxury of
having the ball with the last shot, they literally “Burked” Michigan with 3
tics left on the ole’ clock…
Yeah…That sucks.
Still, when I looked at the numbers, Michigan played to
their season and tourney averages. They
did not play a bad game; in fact, I’m sure this will be an instant classic as
both teams had pretty good (if not great compared to 2 of the other elite 8
games) stat lines. Michigan, however, had a couple of bad trips
and crucial misses in the 2nd half.
And I’m going to go out and state here and now that the pivotal point in
the game wasn’t actually IN the 2nd half, at least it wasn’t to this
fan… No, I would need to look to the
first half when Michigan was up 10 and I had a thought, however brief, that
the Wolverines needed to win the game “Right Now”! Go out and play like you’re down 10 and hang
another 10 on these guys and don’t take your foot off the gas. Instead, UK came out a little motivated and
tied it up going into the half.
That’s the one place I will give the other coach (I
loathe) a little credit. John Calipari
used his time-outs whenever Michigan scored more than 6 points in a row. He made sure that he was on top of the mo-mo
and tried to nip it in the bud. He knows
his player and he has finally figured out that they are young and need to be
smacked on the ole’ noggin more often vs. less often...
But…every season has to come to an end and in hoops, 67
teams that make it into the NCAA end the season with a loss…there’s
no way to win the last game if you’re in the tourney. No bowl you can hang your hat on. Just a loss…and at least we can say Michigan’s
was a good loss. If there is such a
thing. A loss that the entire team can
look back on and say they left it all out on the floor….
I hate to look at a B1G Championship Season coupled with
an Elite 8 appearance and say that it’s somewhat of a disappointment. However, I’m not sure how you categorize it
if you’re not going to call it a disappointment. This team played so well down the stretch and
did so many amazing things that I truly believed they were the team to beat
this year, regardless of what all the prognosticators said. If UK wins the bid enchilada, we can at least
say, “Well, there’s that. We (again)
lost to the eventual NCAA Champion.”
But I really believed Michigan was going to win it.
Now, that’s clearly not meant to be. And I’m going to miss a lot of these
players. I’ve watched each game in the
tourney thinking it MIGHT be the last, but a feeling crept in and hung around
(even after Michigan tied it) and I didn’t like it. It wasn’t the, “Okay…we tied it up and we are
going to OT” feeling…It was the “Uh-oh…19 tics on the clock and the other guy
has the last shot. And they haven’t
missed in like…forever. I don’t like
this…”
Yeah…THAT feeling.
Hence is why I really wasn’t ready to write this post
this AM. I was anticipating a Final Four
Weekend and was looking forward to a Monday night against either Florida or
UConn.
Still, I have to give the team and coaching staff a lot
of credit. Everyone else had more or
less said Michigan was out of the national picture after McGary opted for back surgery. They pretty much proved all the critics wrong
and the Wolverines were within 3 points of REALLY proving them wrong…That’s
hoops - so close…and yet so far away.
The
Rest of the Mess
After Wiscy pulled off the miracle in OT against the
other wildcats, I was really thinking that 3 B1G teams were going to the Final
Four to face Florida, with Michigan being the iffy-est one to get in. Sparty however, as much as this pains me to
say it, reverted back to their mid-season ways with lousy shooting and too many
turnovers. Yes, as someone else pointed
out, how does UConn get a game in MSG that close to “home”? I’m not sure, but I had the same question
about Big Blue Nation (not Michigan…Kentucky) lucking out as an 8 seed at Lucas
Oil which is a short drive from the Blue-Grass state.
But I digress…Sparty also upset me in that I really
wanted them in the Final 4. I wanted
Michigan and Sparty there to shut everybody up about the strength of the
B1G. Sparty just couldn’t get out of its
own way and while they kept it close, I felt Sparty Nation’s pain when, down 5
with 0:30 left on the clock, Apple fouled Shabazz on a 3 point shot and fouled
out of the game…It kind of was a final punctuation on a very disappointing game
and season for Apple. If I am a Sparty…it’s
a little bitter sweet that he’s leaving.
I’m happy for what he was able to do for me over his career, but at the same time, I’m glad
he’s gone. (As a Michigan Slappy, I wish he had another year of eligibility!!!)
I wanted a B1G final that featured the State of Michigan and
I wanted to get revenge on Sparty and catch them napping.
But again, there were a couple of hurdles that needed to
be overcome first.
Was there any measure of success in either of these teams
or will they both be looked at as “seasons of failure?” I guess if you had to measure one team by
what was expected coming into the season, then Sparty’s failure surpasses
Michigan’s by leaps and bounds. Sparty
was a “Certain” Final 4 team, Championship Favorite, and sat at the number 1
rank in the early season after beating Kentucky in the non-con and before the injuries. When everyone came back, they returned to favor
among the talking heads after the B1G Tourney. THIS prognosticator questioned the
validity of it, however, predicting that Sparty might not make the Final 4 as
you just can’t get all the pieces working in sync again in that short time
period. There’s a reason you play
pre-season and conference schedules.
Even in basketball.
So, yes…Sparty’s failure was much greater when measured
against expectations, but Michigan’s pain is equally as bad if not more so, in
my opinion. Maybe more so for the followers
of Michigan who knew what this team was truly capable of and had seen it time
and time again. And Michigan didn’t have
a mid-season “slump” where the entire fan base figured it was over and had
written the team off. Sparty to a man
had more or less done that and the 3 wins in the NCAA’s could be considered
gravy when you look at what had to be overcome.
However you want to look at it, I guess. Green and Blue colored glasses,
anyone?
Moving forward, GRIII and Stauskas are probably gone,
even though I think it’s still way too early to make a prediction on either
player at this point. Morgan is gone
because he’s done but there will be a strong contingent of players that return
next season. Plus McGary and a strong freshmen
class and well….
Who knows???
Bracketology
ESPN stated that out of the 11 million brackets that were
received, there are currently around 600 that have the Final 4 correct. 600 people (which is kind of amazing) didn’t
take Arizona and Michigan State, two of the most popular championship
picks. Interesting….
If you had TOLD me that one of the teams between UConn
and Kentucky were going to make the Final 4, I would have shook my head and
said, no…I’ve watched way more basketball than that and I can tell you that
there’s no way either one of those teams can win 4 in a row against that competition….not
to mention that they BOTH made it. UConn lost 84-48 against Louiville 2 weeks prior to the NCAA's...And
Kentucky through the Midwest? Through
Wichita State? Through Louisville? And Michigan? Ha! You're crazy....
No way…
Which, so much for know anything when it comes to the
brackets.
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