Author: Drew Montag

Drew Montag, Basketball Editor
Posted on

Nothing But ‘Net – Week #01 – 10/31/2011 – Season Preview

Hey, welcome back for another season of Nothing But ‘Net.  Let’s start things right off with a few questions/answers:

 

Q: What is this “Nothing But ‘Net” thing, and how is it different from the other 5000 University of Michigan men’s basketball sites?

 

A: Good question!  “Nothing But ‘Net” (NBN) is the longest running (since 1999) UM basketball site on the Web, with a special angle you won’t find anywhere else: the view from the cheap seats, specifically sections 209/210.  The motto for UMGoBlue.com is “By Fans … For Fans”, and NBN is a great example of that.  I’ve been a UM basketball fan since 1974, and I’ve been to almost every home game since then, win or lose, good or bad.  During the season, I write once a week (by noon Monday) about the games from the previous week, but I also look at season-long trends, all from the viewpoint of a fan.  Sure, there are plenty of other UM basketball sites out there, and I read several of them myself (MGoBlue.com, AnnArbor.com, UMHoops.com, and MGoBlog.com), but the viewpoint at those sites is “journalist”, with media access.  I write about what I see during the game, as a spectator, a fan, and an usher.  Yeah, I’m working as an usher again, for sections 209 and 210.  If you go to a game, drop by and say “hi”.

Continue reading “Nothing But ‘Net – Week #01 – 10/31/2011 – Season Preview”

Posted on

2011 University of Michigan Football Season Predictions

Yeah, it’s me, the “basketball guy”, back for more.  It’s time for my annual attempt to predict how the University of Michigan’s football season is going to go.

I’ve been quite good at it for the last 3 seasons, during the ill-fated Rodriguez Era.  I correctly predicted 11 of the 12 results last season, all except the opening UConn win.  Many people haven’t liked my predictions, but they’re just predictions, not what I want to happen.  I would love for UM to go 13-0 every season, but that’s not the way it looks, yet.  I’m expecting the offense to be slightly less productive than last season, and the defense to be significantly less embarrassing.  Special teams?  Who knows…

Here are my predictions for the 2011 season:

 

Date Opponent W/L Record Comments
09/03 Western Michigan Win 1-0 Other than that unfortunate Toledo game in 2008, Michigan has always beaten MAC teams.  This WMU team is nothing special.  A nice first win for Hoke.
09/10 Notre Dame Win 2-0 This is the first home night game in Michiganhistory, and the team will deliver a big win in a close game.
09/17 Eastern Michigan Win 3-0 Eastern isn’t even as good as WMU.  No contest.
09/24 San Diego State Win 4-0 An intriguing matchup, since Hoke coached SDSU last year.  It could be a tough game, but UM should prevail.
10/01 Minnesota Win 5-0 (1-0) Minnesota will be better than they were last season, but not good enough to beat Michiganin the Big House.
10/08 at Northwestern Win 6-0 (2-0) After 5 home games in a row, UM hits the road. This will be a tough, hard-fought win.
10/16 at Michigan State Loss 6-1 (2-1) Yikes! It’s going to be tough to lose to MSU for the 4th year in a row.  It’s hard to win on the road in the Big Ten.
10/22 Bye The bye week comes at a good time, after 2 tough road games in a row.
10/29 Purdue Win 7-1 (3-1) Purdue has been slipping the last couple seasons. UM beat them at their place last season, and they should beat them inAnn Arbor this season.
11/05 Iowa Loss 7-2 (3-2) Back to earth for UM. With a 7-1 record and a decent ranking in the polls, people will be talking about a Big Ten Divisional (Legends) Championship before this game.  I’m afraid thatIowa is just too tough.
11/12 at Illinois Win 8-2 (4-2) This will be an emotional game, after last season’s triple-overtime thriller. Illinois wants this one bad, but UM wants it even more.
11/19 Nebraska Loss 8-3 (4-3) Sure, Michigan has playedNebraska before, but this is their first Big Ten meeting.  It’s a huge game, but Nebraska is just too good.  Nebraskawill probably win this game, the Legends division, and maybe the Big Ten title game.
11/26 Ohio State Win 9-3 (5-3) Finally, after losing to the (cheating) Buckeyes way too many times recently,Michigan has the team and the attitude to win. It won’t be easy.

 

That should be good enough for 3rd place in the Legends division of the Big Ten, and a good New Year’s Day bowl game.

It’s possible that UM might beat MSU or Iowa, but I doubt it.

It’s also possible that UM could lose to Ohio State, but I think we’re due.  They could also lose the Notre Dame game, but that seems less likely.

Posted on

Big Ten Report – Week #03 (01/17/2011)

Big Ten Report ? Week #03 (01/17/2011)


 


Standings


Here are the current Big Ten standings, after Week #3 of league play:


 




































































 


Team

Big Ten

Overall


Wins

Losses

Percent

Wins

Losses

Percent


Ohio State

5

0

1.000

18

0

1.000


Purdue

4

1

0.800

15

3

0.833


Michigan State

4

1

0.800

12

5

0.706


Wisconsin

3

2

0.600

13

4

0.765


Illinois

3

2

0.600

13

5

0.722


Penn State

3

3

0.500

10

7

0.588


Minnesota

3

3
Posted on

Nothing But ?Net – Week #11 – 01/17/2011 – Remember When This Season Looked Promising?

Nothing But ?Net ? Week #11 ? 01/17/2011 ? Remember When This Season Looked Promising?

There?s still a lot of basketball left to play for the Michigan men?s basketball team, but if they don?t play a lot better than they did Saturday at Indiana, it?s going to be a long, sad season.They played two games last week, and they lost both of them, but one of them wasn?t a surprise.On Tuesday, they played very tough against (#2) Ohio State in Crisler Arena,, and they lost 68-64.That was the third of their three games in a row where they didn?t stand much chance, the other two being at Wisconsin, and home vs. (#3) Kansas.Well, they lost all three, but they played very well against the ranked teams.Then came the game at Indiana.What a disaster!They got down early, and couldn?t do a thing to get back into the game.They ended up losing 80-61.The two losses drop Michigan?s record to 11-7 (1-4 in the Big Ten).They have now lost 4 games in a row.It?s hard to remember that 3 weeks ago, Michigan was 10-2, and the season looked very promising.

The OSU game was very encouraging.Michigan controlled the tempo for most of the game, and managed to slow down (but not stop) OSU?s star freshman center, Jared Sullinger.If they could have done something (anything!) to stop Ohio State?s 12-0 run in the 2nd half, they would have been in position to win the game at the end, instead of just trying desperately to tie it up.

After UM had played so well in back-to-back games against Top-3 teams, they should have been able to dominate a weak IU team.Sure, it?s tough to win on the road, but UM made IU look like the LA Lakers.It was the most discouraging game since the UTEP game back in November.

Looking at the stats for the OSU game, they were pretty much even except for one key category: free throws.OSU shot 17-for-25, while UM shot 5-for-7.That?s 12 extra points.Sure, OSU had a couple more rebounds (26-23), and a couple less turnovers (12-10), but the real difference was at the free throw line.

In the Indiana game, the problem was rebounding.IU had more than twice as many rebounds as UM: 37-18.That?s embarrassing.Shooting percentage was also a problem: IU shot 29-43 (67.4%), while UM shot 20-55 (36.4%).That?s how you get blown out by almost 20 points by one of the worst teams in the Big Ten.

Individually, there were several players with good stats.Michigan had 4 players in double figures in both games: Darius Morris(18 points), Zack Novak(16), Evan Smotrycz(14), and Tim Hardaway, Jr. (11) in the OSU game, and Morris (22), Hardaway (10), Novak (10), and Jordan Morgan(10) in the IU game.That?s the good news.The bad news was Morgan with 0 points against Ohio State, Smotrycz with 3 points against Indiana, 5 bench points vs. OSU, and 6 bench points vs. IU.

So, is this season in the toilet?Not yet, but it?s teetering on the rim.Michigan sure doesn?t look like an NCAA Tournament team, so we should be thinking more in terms of the NIT, but it?s hard to see them staying above 0.500 at this point.At 11-7, with 13 games left in the regular season, they would need to go 5-8, then 1-1 in the Big Ten Tournament to stay above 0.500.It?s hard to see 5 more wins, the way they?ve been playing.They should beat Iowa at least once, maybe twice, and maybe Indiana in Crisler, but the rest of the games look pretty bleak.Even Penn State, who Michigan beat in Crisler, is looking much better, and so is Northwestern.

As you can imagine, the Nothing But ?Net Expectation-O-Meter (NBNEOM) will have to be reset down to ?Not Meeting Expectations?.

The Big Ten season grinds on.This week, Michigan plays at Northwestern on Tuesday (01/18, 9:00 EST), then at home vs. Minnesota on Saturday (01/22, 7:00).Both of these teams are improved over last season, and both games will be a tough test for Michigan.A win in either game would be a major boost.

Go Blue!