There are no good loses in college football, every loss is a bad loss. Not so in college basketball, where rankings mean very little and everyone gets invited to the dance if you can play competitive basketball. Duke and Michigan faced off in DC and it was a hard fought game. Wasn't really played at a high level by either team but both teams competed and wanted to win. The officials were clearly paid by the whistle and both teams were in foul trouble. Michigan seemed to have the worst of the calls.
Michigan struggled in the 2nd half and couldn't hit an open jump shot, while Carlos Boozer's son played well. Duke ended up winning the battle. Michigan played one of it's worst games offensively all year and was in it until the last few minutes. It happens in basketball. Sometimes the shots spin out and sometimes you are going to lose a game.
Michigan had issues with guard play. Cadeau had another mystery game where he completely disappears, Burnett didn't score a point, Cason played ok but only added 7 points, Gayle had one bucket, and Mckinney added just 2. Michigan shot 6-25 from 3 and Mara got into early foul trouble. Yax kept Michigan in the game in the 1st half but couldn't muster much in the 2nd.
Michigan Basketball needed a reality reset. I never think its good for the players mindset to be ranked #1 in the nation. The only time that ranking matters is in the last ranking, every other ranking to quote Saban is "rat poison". I like that Michigan got out physicaled for most of the game and I like that the Wolverines had their worst offensive outing but was still competitive. That means the team was competing on defense and they now know you just can't roll the balls out and win. It was a great time for a reset and was the purpose of the game. Both teams could've taken the weekend off to heal and practice, instead they decided to let "iron sharpen iron". Great decision for fans and for college basketball. The next time these two teams meet, something special will be on the line.
Win the Big Ten regular season Championship and then reset for a run in two tournaments.
4 comments:
Yes the officiating was bad not to make any excuses but the officiating was bad
Refs called it way too close. Couldn't even fart without it being called a foul.
Dusty scheduled top teams during preseason and now with Duke because this team needs to be stretched during the regular season, and have their weaknesses exposed before they head into the NCAA tournament will help these Wolverines make the important adjustments so that they can make a solid run into the NCAA natty. You don't get better by playing the Little Sisters of the Poor. You get better by playing the best, and sometimes you experience a loss along the way.
It would have been nice for Michigan to have beaten Duke but (as crazy as it sounds) it would have been difficult for either team to sweep two games from the other, they are both that good. I believe that if Michigan plays Duke again in the tournament that Michigan would win and win big because of the adjustments that Dusty would make; plus, I'm thinking that Duke feels that they did everything right and there's no reason to change anything. Therefore, I'm not crushed by THIS loss.
I'm old enough to remember when UCLA had players like Lou Alcindor, etc. and they would win because they were so much better than other teams. It's not that way any longer, teams have equalized their talent and now it's unusual for any team to only have two losses at this point of the season. So, let's enjoy this team while we can. IMHO!!!
P.S., As we celebrate the USA's Gold Medal win over Canada this week, we remember 46 years ago America's "Miracle On Ice" win over the Soviets (the best hockey team in the world at that time). I bring this up because if you can remember, when the USA coach Herb Brooks put together his rag-tag group of college players to play in the Olympics, he scheduled an exhibition game with the Russians about a few days before the Olympics started. The Russians kicked the snot out of the US team in that exhibition game (about 10-3). The US team learned something from that game, won some other games after the Olympics started and then beat that same Russian team 4-3 in the game that we now call the "Miracle On Ice." By now I guess you guys know where I'm going with this. Our basketball team just lost (got beat) on the road to Duke, a game scheduled just before the NCAA tournament by Dusty. I'm betting that next time Michigan plays Duke, Michigan will be a far better team than Duke has ever seen before. IMHO!!!
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