U of M thread (in the Lions Forum) :)

[chemiclord]

FSU is a good team. Howard has Michigan playing out of its mind after they haven't been the best at the end of the season.

Yeah, they were. But anyone not in handwringing mode could see the Seminoles had trouble with teams that could move the ball and get them chasing on defense. And that's exactly what the Wolverines do so very well. Defensively, FSU hadn't faced the sort of rotating team defense U-M brought to the table. And the things that FSU did have, length and depth, weren't things the Wolverines were exactly lacking themselves.

And Wolvy let themselves get way too down about the end of the season. That was a burned out team playing a compressed schedule for the last three weeks. Now, we're seeing a return to normal, and time between rounds to recuperate... and *gasp* we're seeing the Wolverines team from the start of the year! Whoda thunk it?

This makes feel dirty, saying this, I'll have you know.

[froot loops]

They were still playing hero ball the whole game, there is no rule saying you can't pass it around the perimeter, in fact if the other team is playing good defense you have to pass it around. You need to make them play defense longer. Michigan was just the better team, not even a contest. They have to be cofavorotes to win it all.

Barkley had it right at halftime, if you can't take care of the ball, you can't win.

[jaadam4]

This makes feel dirty, saying this, I'll have you know.

I'm aware of that bro.

[chemiclord]

They were still playing hero ball the whole game, there is no rule saying you can't pass it around the perimeter, in fact if the other team is playing good defense you have to pass it around. You need to make them play defense longer. Michigan was just the better team, not even a contest. They have to be cofavorotes to win it all.

Barkley had it right at halftime, if you can't take care of the ball, you can't win.

Well, that is FSU's game. They didn't particularly do anything different this game that they didn't in previous ones. That's what they do. They want to bully you around, wear you down, and use their depth in a war of attrition. Against 90% of the NCAA, that's going to be an effective gameplan. They ran into a team that weren't able to bully, and was able to rotate and stay just as rested. Once that happened, the difference in skill level and team cohesion showed itself. Couple in a bad shooting night, and you have a 18-point loss.

Brooks is the Wolverine's 6th man... and would arguably be the most dangerous scorer if he had been on the Seminoles.

[Mainevent]

It’s the same issue with Hamilton’s squads every year, a collection of long athletes but never really a cohesive team. They can run you over with it if you let them, but M had a perfect game plan and executed the shit out of it. Very impressive. I loved how agressive Wagner was attacking the basket in the second half.

[froot loops]

It is just so weird to see how a team can be so disjointed offensively. But then again I watch a lot of NBA ball and the college game is so much worse passing wise. I'm used to seeing the ball getting whipped around the perimeter in search of an open 3 or to set up then pick and roll. I couldn't even tell you WTF FSU was trying to out there.

[WingsFan]

Well kind of a great day I mean I never expected UCLA could beat Alabama and FSU was just off today. I don't care what anybody says but I'll take it

[The King]

Great win. Impressed. Never been a huge Barnes guy. I just don’t see it.

College game is about making shots. FSU didn’t hit them. We did. I keep thinking losing Livers will hurt us, but it hasn’t happened yet. It will, though.

[jaadam4]

Great win. Impressed. Never been a huge Barnes guy. I just don’t see it.

College game is about making shots. FSU didn’t hit them. We did. I keep thinking losing Livers will hurt us, but it hasn’t happened yet. It will, though.

Losing Livers was terrible but Johns is stepping up in a big way.

[jaadam4]

It’s the same issue with Hamilton’s squads every year, a collection of long athletes but never really a cohesive team. They can run you over with it if you let them, but M had a perfect game plan and executed the shit out of it. Very impressive. I loved how agressive Wagner was attacking the basket in the second half.

Wagner was great but he’s still polarizing. I keep waiting for him to take over games like his brother offensively but sometimes he defers too often when he should take the shot

[jaadam4]

It is just so weird to see how a team can be so disjointed offensively. But then again I watch a lot of NBA ball and the college game is so much worse passing wise. I'm used to seeing the ball getting whipped around the perimeter in search of an open 3 or to set up then pick and roll. I couldn't even tell you WTF FSU was trying to out there.

They were just off their game because they couldn’t play to their strengths. It’s just weird that they rarely added that extra pass. The announcer at one point said “it’s 1 pass and Jack” which I thought was hilarious.

I still dislike the Michigan PG situation. Smith was on but besides having side show Bob hair i don’t think he’s great as a starter. He’s a reserve but here we are

[WingsFan]

Never been a huge Barnes guy. I just don’t see it.

I though Bama was going to truck them, but they couldn't make their FTs 11-of-25

[jaadam4]

I couldn’t believe it when I woke up this morning to see Bama had lost. That’s crazy

[WingsFan]

Our big men (including Franz) could - should be a real problem for UCLA and Riley blows on the offense side. If our 3 point shooting is average (by Michigan standards), we should be fine. One thing since Livers has went down that we have really looked for the most part of getting ball movement, looking for the easier shot, making that extra pass, etc... that included against a team like LSU that was very pesky on defense. UCLA has been playing well obviously coming from the play-in game, but think they also got a pretty good draw or outcome with some teams losing early as well.

[chemiclord]

Great win. Impressed. Never been a huge Barnes guy. I just don’t see it.

College game is about making shots. FSU didn’t hit them. We did. I keep thinking losing Livers will hurt us, but it hasn’t happened yet. It will, though.

Eh, I think the only point where losing Livers will actually hurt them will be the time where I don't think having him would actually matter.

By that I mean, the Final Four against the Zags. With or without Livers, they'd be a pretty heavy dog.