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March 25, 2012March 26, 2012

Big Ten Report – Week #13 – Post-Season (03/26/2012)

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (NCAA Tournament and National Invitation Tournament):

Monday (03/19/2012)

NIT: (#6) Minnesota beat (#2) Miami (FL), 78-60

Wednesday (03/21/2012)

NIT: (#6) Minnesota beat (#4) Middle Tennessee State, 78-72

Thursday (03/22/2012)

NCAA (West): (#1) Michigan State lost to (#4) Louisville, 57-44

NCAA (East): (#4) Wisconsin lost to (#1) Syracuse, 64-63

NCAA (East): (#2) Ohio State beat (#6) Cincinnati, 81-66

Friday (03/23/2012)

NCAA (South): (#4) Indiana lost to (#1) Kentucky, 102-90

Saturday (03/24/2012)

NCAA (East): (#2) Ohio State beat (#1) Syracuse, 77-70

The Big Ten did OK this week, going 2-0 in the NIT and 2-3 in the Big Dance. There are currently 2 Big Ten teams left, 1 in the NIT (Minnesota) and 1 in the NCAA Tournament (Ohio State).

The Upcoming Week

Here’s the schedule for the upcoming week:

Tuesday (03/27/2012) – NIT Semifinals – Madison Square Garden

NIT: (#6) Minnesota vs. (#1) Washington

Saturday (03/31/2012)

NCAA (East): (#2) Ohio State vs. (#2) Kansas

If Minnesota wins on Tuesday, they’ll play in the NIT Championship game on Thursday (03/29/2012), against the winner of the Massachusetts/Stanford game.

If Ohio State wins on Saturday, they’ll play in the NCAA Championship game on Monday (04/02/2012), against the winner of the (#1) Kentucky/(#4) Louisville game.

March 19, 2012March 20, 2012

Nothing But ‘Net – Week #21 – 03/19/2012 – One And Done In The Big Dance

The (#10) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one games in the NCAA Tournament in Nashville last week, and they lost it. On Friday (03/16/2012) they lost to Ohio University 65-60. The loss leaves Michigan with a final record of 24-10 (13-5 in the Big Ten). It also marks the only time this season that Michigan lost 2 games in a row.

The loss to Ohio was a major disappointment. It was easily the worst loss of the season, and one of the worst losses in the last 10 years. UM was the #4 seed, and Ohio was the #13 seed. Michigan won a share of the Big Ten title, and Ohio is a MAC team, fergodsakes. It’s not that Ohio is a weak team, they’re pretty darn good, but Michigan is much better, and they picked the absolute worst time to play the worst game of the season. They were cold and they were flat, and for the first time this season, they were flustered in the last 4 minutes of the game. Michigan has won several games this season with a strong finish, and even a decent finish would have won this one, but they were terrible down the stretch. Just awful. They trailed for most of the game, and the deficit got pretty scary several times, but UM fought back to within 3 points (63-60) with 4:12 left. Compare that to the final score (65-60). That’s right: Michigan didn’t score a single point in the last 4:12 of the game. They missed their last 6 shots, including a layup. That is just plain embarrassing.

The stats aren’t as bad as you might expect, but they weren’t good enough to beat Ohio. Michigan shot decently overall (22-for-54 = 40.7%), they shot decently from 3-point range (7-for-23 = 30.4%), and they shot fairly well from the free-throw line (9-for-11 = 81.8%). They actually won the rebounding battle (29-26), but they lost the turnover battle (10-9). The big difference was free throws. Ohio was 15-for-17 (88.2%), and those extra 6 points were more than the difference in the game.

Individually, Trey Burke (16 points) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (14 points) were the only starters to hit double figures, although Jordan Morgan (8 points) came close. The other two starters, the senior co-captains playing in their last games, played terribly. Stu Douglass shot 2-for-7 (5 points) and Zack Novak shot 1-for-6 (2 points). It was a miserable way for both of them to end their careers. They deserved a lot better, since they did so much for this program over the last 4 years.

The bench came through with 15 points, all from Evan Smotrycz, who played a great game (6-for-7 shooting, 2-for-2 from 3-point range, and 7 rebounds). Unfortunately, his one miss was the above-mentioned layup in the last 4 minutes of the game, and he had the crucial turnover in the last 10 seconds that kept Michigan from getting one final shot to tie the game. Still the loss wasn’t his fault, it was a team effort, he was just the player to make the last in a long line of mistakes.

The Nothing But ‘Net Expectation-O-Meter (NBNEOM) has to be reset to point to “Meets Expectations”. Michigan did much better than expected in the regular season, but they were terrible in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament. It all balances out to “Meets Expectations”. It could have been so much more. Sigh.

Well, the season’s over, and there’s no use crying over how it ended. Check back next week for the final article of the season, with the season wrap-up, final grades, and a look at next season.

Go Blue!

March 19, 2012March 20, 2012

Big Ten Report – Week #12 – Post-Season (03/19/2012)

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (NCAA Tournament and National Invitation Tournament):

Tuesday (03/13/2012)

NIT: (#4) Northwestern beat (#5) Akron, 76-74

NIT: (#7) Iowa beat (#2) Dayton, 84-75

Wednesday (03/14/2012)

NIT: (#6) Minnesota beat (#3) La Salle, 70-61

Thursday (03/15/2012)

NCAA (South): (#4) Indiana beat (#13) New Mexico State, 79-66

NCAA (East): (#4) Wisconsin beat (#13) Montana, 73-49

NCAA (East): (#2) Ohio State beat (#15) Loyola (MD), 78-59

Friday (03/16/2012)

NIT: (#4) Northwestern lost to (#1) Washington, 76-55

NCAA (West): (#1) Michigan State beat (#16) Long Island, 89-67

NCAA (Midwest): (#4) Michigan lost to (#13) Ohio, 65-60

NCAA (Midwest): (#10) Purdue beat (#7) St. Mary’s, 72-69

Saturday (03/17/2012)

NCAA (South): (#4) Indiana beat (#12) VCU, 63-61

NCAA (East): (#4) Wisconsin beat (#5) Vanderbilt, 60-57

NCAA (East): (#2) Ohio State beat (#7) Gonzaga, 73-66

Sunday (03/18/2012)

NIT: (#7) Iowa lost to (#3) Oregon, 108-97

NCAA (West): (#1) Michigan State beat (#9) Saint Louis, 65-61

NCAA (Midwest): (#10) Purdue lost to (#2) Kansas, 63-60

The Big Ten did pretty well this week, going 3-2 in the NIT and 9-2 in the Big Dance. There are currently 5 Big Ten teams left, 1 in the NIT (Minnesota) and 4 in the NCAA Tournament (Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan State).

The Upcoming Week

Here’s the schedule for the upcoming week:

Monday (03/19/2012)

NIT: (#6) Minnesota at (#2) Miami (FL)

Thursday (03/22/2012)

NCAA (West): (#1) Michigan State vs. (#4) Louisville

NCAA (East): (#4) Wisconsin vs. (#1) Syracuse

NCAA (East): (#2) Ohio State vs. (#6) Cincinnati

Friday (03/23/2012)

NCAA (South): (#4) Indiana vs. (#1) Kentucky

March 19, 2012March 19, 2012

Michigan Wolverine Football- Team 133 on the Clock- Who will get Denard Robinson the ball?

The wait is over. Michigan football is back. And none too soon. After the early exit of the Wolverine basketball team from the NCAA tournament, the Wolverine football team returns to the gridiron for spring workouts. After a surprising inaugural season capped by a victory in the Sugar Bowl, the Wolverines need to find replacements on the both the offensive and defensive lines and firm up the linebacker and defensive backfield. In short, there’s a lot of work to do.

Finding replacements for offensive center David Molk and defensive lineman Mike Martin need to be top priorities. The reliability, agility, and overall nastiness of David Molk cannot be overstated. The Wolverine offense suffered greatly over the years when Molk wasn’t on the field and you only need to go back and watch the first series of the Sugar Bowl that he missed due to an injury in warm ups to see challenge for whomever takes his place. Hoke has indicated that red shirt senior Ricky Barnum is currently being evaluated at center, but repeated during his opening press conference that, “…the expectation is for the position,” and every there is competition for every position every day. If Barnum struggles don’t be surprised to see others given an opportunity.

Why is center so important? Every play starts with the center and quarterback exchanging the football either by direct snap or shotgun.

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If all-world quarterback Denard Robinson doesn’t get the ball reliably it will be a long season.

Continue reading “Michigan Wolverine Football- Team 133 on the Clock- Who will get Denard Robinson the ball?”

March 11, 2012March 12, 2012