Nervous
Nellies…
E-mail
from SuperFan about tonight:
Well I am sad to say that I am not
looking forward to tonight. I have no doubt that our boys can win the
game, but I have equal confidence that they could be embarrassed. I hope
that Beilein has a game plan that nearly surrenders the paint on D and focusses
on denying them any 3s. A&M will dispose of Moe quickly if not.
So, as I have said for 4 years or more, Shoot the 3, deny the 3 and don’t
foul. I hope that we just come out launching 3s (everyone except Simpson
and Matthews) and keep it up even if we are missing. Just look at how
Nevada came back from a huge deficit. They were missing, and missing
badly, but they just kept shooting and looky what they found…..the bottom of
the net. This goes ESPECIALLY for MAAR, who has been a non-factor on the
O side.
I wish he would just turn them loose to
run and gun as I think that most of our guys shoot better with less time to
think about the shot (just ask Poole), and, aside from the C position, I think
that we have the conditioning and the depth to wear the other team out.
Again, I say so what if we get down by 20 in the first half (if our shots
aren’t falling), just keep running.
Or, if you really want to mess with
A&M’s heads, come out with Teske as C and Moe as a F, on the floor
together. That SHOULD reduce the likelihood of Moe getting into foul
trouble and yet keep him in the game for his O. He should be able to deny
the 3 without fouling, if he knows that Teske will be there to hinder the
penetration.
If we can just get back to playing and
shooting well we can win this game tonight; and if we win this, I think that M
can win it all! Tonight is the Championship for us! Not to say the
remaining games will be a cakewalk, but I like our chances beyond tonight; if
we can just get past tonight.
My Response:
I
have a feeling that it was better we played lousy over the weekend and barely
won by the skin of our teeth.
I
ALSO have a feeling that were going to get back to the stat line tonight, we’re
playing EARLIER (4:37 LOCAL TIME) and nobody is picking us (now) after seeing the bright
and shiny thing that demolished unc.
Basketball
is a funny and sometimes unpredictable sport, but generally speaking, the math
usually holds up.
However,
I do like the idea of Teske and Moe on the court at the same time. That
would be interesting and you’re right, it should keep moe out of foul trouble…
Duke
and Nova still scare me a little (Duke more than Nova) gut I agree, tonight is
a huuuuuuge game for the Maize and Blue.
Let’s GO BLUE!!!
It’s A BIG GAME!!!
Predicting
Thursday’s Sweet 16 Games
Thanks for the feedback from yesterday. Many of you agreed that you’d keep Poole’s
shot and that last season was sort of a great run, but the team wasn’t good
enough to win the whole thing. I
re-watched some of the 2017 clips and unc was a great team, plain and
simple. Kind of believe that Michigan
would have suffered the same fate as the Ducks.
On to this season and tonight, is
there any chance ANYONE, based upon what has transpired so far, can predict the
outcome of the games tonight? Can
anyone get 3 predictions correct? Two?
I’m gonna try…
Michigan vs. Texas A&M: I think everyone knows where I stand on this
game. All things being equal, Michigan
is the better team. I know, I know, so was UVA, unc, sparty, etc. But now everyone has had 4 DAYS TO THINK ABOUT WHAT COULD
HAPPEN IN the next 48 hours and the possibility of getting to the Final Four is
two wins away!!! This is where
really great coaching comes in to play and Beilein manages this very well. I’m sticking with Mr. March and what I have
in my bracket here.
I’ll take Michigan in a close one.
Loyola Chicago vs. Nevada: This is an incredibly tough pick. And I almost – ALMOST had this in my bracket,
but backed out on Nevada over Cinci on Thursday morning thinking
I had picked “Too many upsets!!!”
Anyway, I remember contemplating this game as a result and recall that
Massey had it as a pick-em. Both teams
had come from behind victories in both the first and second rounds. Both teams have coaches that have been
around and one REALLY, REALLY likes the F-word.
So who do I like? I like them both but I have to pick one. I’m going to lean towards Loyola here with
Sister Jean being the swing factor and not approving of Mussleman’s Language!!!
K-State vs. Kentucky (wildcats vs. wildcats): I’m glad I’m not an announcer as I would hate
to have to call this game. “Wildcats on
Wildcats”. Anyway, I wasn’t even close
on this particular Sweet 16 game, and I don’t think anyone was (I had UVA
playing Ariz). K-State played pretty
well in the Big iiX the entire season. Yeah,
they lost some games they were supposed to lose, but they’re big and tough
inside. Kentucky, OTOH, has been an up
and down team this entire season, only settling in to what I think is
the usual Kentucky mode of March Basketball, effective and efficient. Which scares the bejezus out of anyone that
has to go up against them. And we were
all wondering
if Kentucky would actually make the Tourney at one point. Massey has it as a 3-2 game in favor of the Kentucky
Wildcats. But K-State has had a tougher
road and is probably more mentally prepared to play this game than the freshmen
of Kentucky. As the lights get brighter,
it’s harder for the youngsters to stay focused.
Vegas says K-State is a 5-point dog.
Bigger dogs have won bigger games in this tourney already. Is betting on a dog a bad thing in March? At this point, it might be….
I’ll take Kentucky’s Kids in Katlanta over
the K-State Cats…. (of course, I could just say the wildcats will win and I’d
be right either way!)
FSU vs. Gonzaga: This is where people get in trouble. As with Texas A&M and Michigan above,
everyone is going to look at the last games of both of these teams and think, “Wow
– FSU had a GREAT VICTORY over unc and looked like giant killers! I wish I had taken them in my bracket.” THAT’S THE WRONG THINKING! Again,
4 days to think about what might actually happen and FSU is going to be a
little tight and not be playing the same game they played against unc. I’m sticking to my bracket here and going
with the Zags and Mark Few, who was in the same place last season. Sort of a case of been there, done that.
I’ll take the Zags in convincing fashion.
Poole On The Clutch Shot and Beilein’s Mantra
of “Why Not Us?”
Good article from the News about
Poole’s shot, his social media explosion and Beilein’s continuing mantra of “Why
Not Us?”
I’m thinking of making
a T-shirt with 2018 Sweet 16 and Why Not Us right below it!
Wagner Explains His Action After the Shot
Just Mo-Buckets being Mo-Buckets…
Spring Practice and Harbaugh’s Legacy
Is this a pivotal season for Harbaugh? I’ve been seeing a lot of stuff written about
Jimmy and how if he doesn’t get something done this season, his tenure at
Michigan might be in doubt.
Let me address everyone’s takes with one simple word:
Bullshit
Jimmy is the guy and he’s going to be at
Michigan as long as he wants to be. Putting
together a B1G Champion or even a National Champion in football takes time. I know what Urban Legend did. I also know what Satan did. Michigan is on the right track under Harbaugh
and it just not happening as fast for him as it did for those two. Harbaugh had a bigger mess to clean up, even
though I do believe Michigan squandered a great opportunity in 2016 with
losses to Iowa and the suckeyes that, in this Fan’s Opinion, were
both on Harbaugh and the coaching staff. Regardless, Michigan and Harbaugh are going
to find a way.
Patience is the key here…
EMU To Cut 4 Varsity Sports
Due to extreme costs associated
with athletics and not having a football or basketball team that can generate
any revenue, EMU is dumping women’s softball, Men’s diving and wrestling, and women’s
tennis. That’ll save the AD
approximately $2.4M annually. IS that the right idea? Or should Eastern, long time basement
dweller in the MAC in pretty much all of its athletics (ever since they dropped
the “Huron” name), simply step down from the D1 level and leave
the MAC for the GLIAC or similar conference? Good question. In any case, Eastern’s athletes got a raw
deal.
Either The Dumbest Move OR Absolutely
Brilliant
Question: If you were a D1 AD and had a National
Championship Coach coaching your basketball team for 2 years that won 46 games
in that time span, would you let him go and hire a guy that has only
coached at the high-school level (albeit he won three state titles during his
tenure)? I know what my answer
would be, but apparently Memphis thinks it knows more than everyone else. Memphis let Tubby Smith go and hired former alum/player
and NBA sensation Penny Hardaway.
I don’t know how this is going to work (Hardaway has ties to some local
kids that will now probably attend Memphis) but jumping up to the collegiate
level from high school seems like a big bet on the unknown. The domers did that with Gerry Faust in
Football and look how that turned out.
One More Comment On LNU - In Particular, Izzo
After the final hoops game for
LNU in 2018, Izzo stated during his presser that he wants to be part of the solution
at LNU. However, I just don’t see how
that can happen when there has been so much documented under his watch
regarding all of the sexual assault allegations. Izzo and D’Antoninni’s hubris reminds me of
the last days of Paterno when the Sandusky stuff was surfacing. While Paterno finally attempted to do the
right thing by retiring, he was subsequently canned and more or less
dragged down into the quagmire with Sandusky.
Unfortunately, the Nassar
Event is all encompassing, much like the Sandusky affair. The fact that the President and the AD went
down are indicative of what may need to happen in the future for both
the football and basketball programs. Too
much has gone on and it can’t be ignored and “fixed” by the guys that were
overseeing the programs when all the crap was going down!!! That’s not how scandals work. I was surprised that Izzo’s knee jerk
reaction was to say that he “Wasn’t going anywhere.” What he should have stated that he’ll need to
reflect on all of this and then prepare a statement after he had determined
what the best thing would be for LNU.
Izzo’s lack of awareness will only fuel more
fires at ESPN and other media centers to dig up more dirt.
The right thing is out there and the
path to getting LNU back to prominence doesn’t include Izzo or D’antuna. They both need to realize that at some point.
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