First, thanks to everyone that texted about the
refereeing. How nice it was to have such
a tremendous
refereeing team in New York for such an important game!!!
I’m NOT a conspiracy theorist, but I believe
that the referees must have been told by SOMEONE to call fouls on Michigan
because they don’t want to see a repeat B1G Tourney Champion. I mean, come on, Michigan’s TWO BEST PLAYERS foul
out of the game when combined they haven’t fouled out more then 20 times…in
their entire careers at Michigan – COMBINED!!!
Officiating Stats:
46 combined fouls
1 Technical Foul
(Michigan)
Two Michigan stars
fouled out with lots of time left in the game
Two coaches were so
disgusted with the calls that they didn’t have anything left to scream about
I, on the other hand, was watching in a local
watering hole and was screaming that I wanted to know who these officials were, what conference
they were from and who hired them!!!
At one point, I was
actually told by a stranger that I needed to relax and settle down:
I wanted somebody’s butt and I wanted it right now!!!
“Well, that’ll just
about cover the officiating!”
Okay – Deep Breath. What was great about this game was that Michigan’s
bench, Teske, Simpson and “the 6th man” Robinson figured out a way
to pull this game out of the hopper, even after Simpson (and others)
couldn’t make THEIR DAMN FREE THROWS (18 of 32 attempts) and the 3’s weren’t going
(3-19) in till late.
Robinson’s made shots were HUGE and saved the day. This team is A TEAM playing like a team
and everyone picks up slack when they need to.
At one point, Teske had played so long that he looked like a lobster from the
amount of heat that his body was generating for playing almost three
quarters of the game (28 minutes). If
nothing else, this game showed us that life after “Mo Buckets” will
be fine with Teske in the middle.
I guess there’s a positive to ALL of this: Moe and MAAR should be more rested as they
spent over half the time on the bench of what was total game time (counting
OT). So, either this outcome or
a total blow-out where the bench would have seen a lot of minutes is a good
thing.
Nebraska today is going to be tough on 24
hours rest, but if Michigan can get a few more 3’s to drop, I still think they
can beat the Huskers.
14-Seed Rutgers upsets the Gophers and came back from 18
down to beat the Hoosiers in last night’s finale. The B1G has been exciting Hoops so far and I
really hope it continues today!!!
The NCAA’s –Update and Insight
Michigan moves up to the 5-Seed line per
Lunardi. Creating a very tricky 2nd round match-up with Texas Tech –
if his prediction holds. I know TT has
lost 4 in a row, but not everyone on TT’s team was playing in those games. Everyone will be back and healthy
for the NCAA’s, I’m sure. I’d rather
have Arizona’s 4-seed of Gonzaga in the 2nd game.
Palm still has Michigan on the 6-Seed Line…But
when I compare Lunardi and Palm, they both have some explaining to do regarding
their 5-Seed line teams, especially Gonzaga and their RPI (33) and SOS. Anyway, I don’t think anyone
really knows anything this season due to the discrepancy in RPI’s and
everything else going on.
Yahoo Sport’s has Michigan as the second
5-Seed and USAToday has them as a 6-Seed, FWIW. So, seeing as how SIX is the number, some
insight into 6 TEAMS in different categories that you may find helpful when
filling out the brackets.
6 Favorites I believe you’re going to have to
hold your nose and stick with the chalk for this Tourney:
1. Xavier – I know they got blown out by
Villanova. But they’re a really good
team…
2. north
carolina – As much as I hate to type this, they’re really coming together and
will be a force to be reckoned with…
3. Purdue –
I know they have that lousy three game stretch, but
this is still a very, VERY good Basketball team that can
beat you a lot of different ways.
4. Cincinnati
– Destroyed teams early in the season with defense and
dropped a few recently, but this team can also score. If you like Virginia, I think you have to
like Cinci – or not.
5. West
Virginia – Beats you up physically with their style of drive
it to the basket. Teams aren’t used to
defending that….
6. Witchy
State – underrated and pissed
6 Teams who you may want to look at (based on opponent/seeding)
for a Sweet 16 run in this Season’s NCAA Tourney:
1. Michigan – Obvious Reasons
2. Already
Mentioned – Texas Tech. When
everyone is healthy, these guys are really good.
3. Clemson –
Plays excellent D and their offensive production is
consistent…
4. Kentucky - Playing
better with Vanderbilt back…
5. Miami –
Can hang with anyone.
6. Tennessee
– tough and hungry team…
6 OVERATED Teams that you’ll want to think twice
about taking to the Sweet 16:
1. Virginia –
spotty offense but stellar defense.
Virginia’s scoring average plummeted in the ACC. Luckily, their defense kept them in a lot of
the games they won. Seeding will matter for Virginia and
if they get matched up with a shooting team, could be trouble…
2. Villanova
– Can shoot the lights out, but when they can’t, they’re
not that great. I watched them destroy Xavier, but
they made every 3. I also saw
highlights against Creighton and Seton Hall (Who almost upset them!!!), and they
were pretty average…because shots weren’t dropping.
3. LNU – (Sparty) Turnover
prone. If they get a defensive
team in 2nd round, could be a problem. Oh, and distractions. I expect ESPN or Yahoo Sports to drop another
sensationalized bombshell on Wednesday before the Tourney starts…
4. Duke –
Offense comes and goes.
VaTech isn’t a great Defensive team, but managed to shut the dookies
down. Based on talent alone, Duke should
be a favorite to win the whole thing but I just dunno…
5. The suckeyes
– I’m thinking a lot of what the suckeyes did was overachieve this season. They’ve dropped from the 4-Seed to the 5-Seed
line and teams have figured them out. And they
lost to PSU twice!!! The B1G
Tourney will give us a better look at how far to take ‘em in the Big Dance…
6. Kansas –
I’ve said it all year, this isn’t a classic Kansas team, making
me question the validity of the Big iiX altogether. Could be a 1 and done during the 1st
weekend.
FBI Probe – SM calls “BS!!!”
Sean Miller came out and more or less said he’s
100% and completely innocent of the allegations that were made by Schlabach were
completely baseless and totally untrue.
Here’s a link to the artice and his speech:
Schlabach came out on Twitter and
emphatically stated that the information HE received was accurate, but went on
to say that he never reported that the money was PAID, only that the discussion
about the $100K took place.
So, whatever. This is turning into a circus and I have a
feeling there will be a lot more coaches having to “Pull a Miller” before
its all said and done.
The thing that bothers me: If I had been accused of something I
absolutely DID NOT DO, I would have had that presser 20 minutes after the news
broke, and I probably wouldn’t have even checked with my bosses. Miller waits 6 DAYS before this presser in
which he declares he’s 100% innocent?
Why the delay?
Just wondering…
I’ll wait.
The B1G and the BTN More or Less
Screw Hockey
The BTN and Jim Delaney are really
starting to piss me off. I went
through the website to see when Michigan Hockey would be televised this weekend
and, guess what? NO MICHIGAN GAMES ARE GOING TO BE
TELEVISED!!! Actually, there’s
no Hockey televised at all (on the BTN).
Just BTN Plus, which, I don’t even know where to find that.
Play the games at different times
or delay them or SOMETHING. Unacceptable.
ETC…
Sent to me by a loyal reader. I don’t get teachers in our society. Teaching and coaching are meant to be noble
professions. Something you’d do even
if you weren’t getting paid. And this
stuff happens…
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