Not going to be a long one. Seems like I keep saying that. At this point in the season with NCAA hopes over and no Dylan Harper, learning to watch the games with little expectation helps a little. Rutgers gets a A for effort today. They battled harder to me than they did in any other game this year. That was more like an old school Pikiell rock fight played at the pace that he loves. Unfortunately in reality it was more like a Kevin Bannon game from the late 90s. Keeping it close but never quite getting over the hope to seriously threaten to win. RU several times had it to one or two possessions yet kept coming up short. Pikiell just did not have the horses while Dusty May had a stable of stallions. Make no mistake, Michigan did not play well at all today. Some of that Rutgers tough D and scrappiness but alot of it just them careless at times and not working hard enough on the boards. The Wolverines are well coached and in the end they responded when it counted much like MSU did last weekend. They went to Goldin and Wolf who hit big time shots. Meanwhile RU lacked any shotmakers in the bakery.
Ace was not the Ace from the other night. Obviously May made the right choice double teaming Ace right from the get go and even Ace couldnt find the space to his some miracle NBA type shots. On the other hand it wasnt all the double team. There were shots Ace had that either he passed up when open or flat out missed when he had room. These were shots he made on some other nights. Frustrating overall but I think Ace could have worked harder and Pike could have perhaps tried to find other ways to get him easier shots. That is experience right there. You can be the most talented player out there but if you have never been in that spot where a double team frustrates you all night, its tough to find that in your memory bank on how to overcome it and I think thats what happened with Ace tonight. Dreadful numbers from 3....0-7 and just 3-15 overall for 10 points with 3 turnovers. For Rutgers to win today they needed much more than Ace. Cannot win with the supporting cast who played admirably but they simply are not good enough to carry this team.
First of all the start was awful by Rutgers. In fact Michigan was sloppy themselves but RU could not take advantage. Early on it appeared that RU was going to get blown out but the switch to J Mike and Acuff in the lineup provided a boost. J Mike on both ends provided energy and unexpected shooting prowess. Acuff hit back to back 3s and J Mike scored on 3 straight RU possessions. Unfortunately RU struggled in the last 5 minutes of the first half offensively and trailed by 7. Not insurmountable but considering they were outboarding Michigan and taking more shots, it was going to take a big effort in the 2nd half to comeback. It was a struggle to put the ball in the hoop. At one point in the 2nd half, RU had taken 17 more shots than Michigan yet both made the same at 16....16-34 vs 16-51. Tyson and J Mike battled valiantly to keep RU around and after back to back 3s by PJ and Zak hit 3s and RU trailed by just 2. For a brief moment I believe that the RAC hocus pocus was working and something good was going to happen. Ace Bailey would deliver some big shots and the frenzied RAC would take us home to victory. Alas that did not happen. Instead it become a similar movie that Rutgers fans have seen a hundred times over the years...nice try Rutgers but not good enough. With RU cutting the defecit to 48-46, from then on it was the Wolf/Goldin show and RU was powerless to stop it. The two combined for 15 points in a decisive 6 minute stretch and grabbed a couple of key offensive rebounds which resulted iin 2nd chance points. RU's D which had done a yeomens job all day allowed Michigan scores on 6 of 7 Wolverine possessions. That was just enough. RU very sporadic with buckets in that period. Lathan hit one and JD was tough as nails drawing fouls and hitting 3 of 4 free throws. Ace and Acuff missed 3s in big spots and that was it. Credit Pike for stretching things out a bit and having his team fight the very end chipping away to cut it to 3 at the buzzer with 3s by Acuff and J Mike. Its a spot during crunch time you want to lean on Ace but that did not happen
Some may quibble that Grant/Dortsch needed to play more and why did Zak play 27 minutes and Derkack 23 minutes. I thought both of them played so tough even if their shots were not always there. That level of toughness from Zak defending Goldin you were not going to see from Grant. Derkack had a key stretch getting to the line. Perhaps Acuff could have played a few minutes more but could be a case of Pike giving him a break conditioning wise and also his D not quite as good as Derkack or J Mikes. Experience over youth if you want to grind it out. Grant was 1-6 fg, I do not think him jacking shots would have been the answer nor Dortsch even as he was rebouding well. Thats literally throwing them to the wolves against Wolf and Vlad. J Will didnt have much early and then wasnt even on the bench..was he sick from the other night? Lathan frustrating at times but did play better in the 2nd half. Just cannot be taking 3s anymore and do not know why Pike gives him the green light to continue to do it. Unfortunately this is a game where another body in EO would make a big difference. Of course Dylan would hve made a difference but then again the whole game would have been played at a different pace.
J Mike finally put back to back performances together and this his best ever. Really confident in his shot 8-14 fg for 20 points....4-7 from 3 and 4 steals. Heroic effort on both ends of the court and here is a guy who answered the call "next man up" with Dylan out. Can we get this consistently from him...that is the big question but no doubt if J Mike didnt elevate his game today, this would have been a big loss. Tyson 5-10 fg, keeping RU in the game with timely shooting. 4-8 from 3 and 14 points another back to back game from him. Good thing to see from both because the two of them are filling the Harper spot. As I said I loved toughness from Zak who only hit 1-4 but it was a big 3 as was PJ who was 1-3 although he put a dreadful 3 before halftime. Jordan was 0-3 fg but 5-6 at the line with 3 assists, 3 steals and 4 rebounds. Lathan 3-8fg was up and down as usual but i was encouraged but his 2nd half play. Grant/Dortsch 1-8 fg combined not the best matchup for them tonight. J Will didnt have it and left the game and bench.
Take heart in the effort tonight. Pike hasnt lost the team and they are not getting blown out like some other schools. Good to battling yet do not think this rock fight type game will be applicable to Illinois. To me its game that could get ugly if Ace is not on his game scoring 25 plus. No one knows when Dylan comes back. Can the last holdouts accept the fact this team is not making the NCAA as an at large and will need to run the table in the Big 10 tournament to get there. Lets just focus on making the Big 10 tourney and take the winnable games left...3 at the RAC vs Iowa, USC, Minnesota and at Washington...get all of them and they make it, take 3 of 4 and pretty good shot but could depend on tiebreakers.
Oh and the amount of Michigan fans were nauseating..quiet for much of the game until late but really our fans are soft. In fact too many bandwagon rutgers fans actually leaving the RAC down 6 with RU shooting foul shots with 54 seconds left...dumbass fans that is an eternity and given RU hit a shot at the buzzer to cut it to 3 you see why a game is never over til its over. If there were maybe 2 seconds left who knows if RU causes a turnover and has one last shot. Again dumbass fans, why watch the whole game and then scurry to the exits before its over, makes me wonder how many REAL FANS as opposed to casual fans the program has.
Ace was not the Ace from the other night. Obviously May made the right choice double teaming Ace right from the get go and even Ace couldnt find the space to his some miracle NBA type shots. On the other hand it wasnt all the double team. There were shots Ace had that either he passed up when open or flat out missed when he had room. These were shots he made on some other nights. Frustrating overall but I think Ace could have worked harder and Pike could have perhaps tried to find other ways to get him easier shots. That is experience right there. You can be the most talented player out there but if you have never been in that spot where a double team frustrates you all night, its tough to find that in your memory bank on how to overcome it and I think thats what happened with Ace tonight. Dreadful numbers from 3....0-7 and just 3-15 overall for 10 points with 3 turnovers. For Rutgers to win today they needed much more than Ace. Cannot win with the supporting cast who played admirably but they simply are not good enough to carry this team.
First of all the start was awful by Rutgers. In fact Michigan was sloppy themselves but RU could not take advantage. Early on it appeared that RU was going to get blown out but the switch to J Mike and Acuff in the lineup provided a boost. J Mike on both ends provided energy and unexpected shooting prowess. Acuff hit back to back 3s and J Mike scored on 3 straight RU possessions. Unfortunately RU struggled in the last 5 minutes of the first half offensively and trailed by 7. Not insurmountable but considering they were outboarding Michigan and taking more shots, it was going to take a big effort in the 2nd half to comeback. It was a struggle to put the ball in the hoop. At one point in the 2nd half, RU had taken 17 more shots than Michigan yet both made the same at 16....16-34 vs 16-51. Tyson and J Mike battled valiantly to keep RU around and after back to back 3s by PJ and Zak hit 3s and RU trailed by just 2. For a brief moment I believe that the RAC hocus pocus was working and something good was going to happen. Ace Bailey would deliver some big shots and the frenzied RAC would take us home to victory. Alas that did not happen. Instead it become a similar movie that Rutgers fans have seen a hundred times over the years...nice try Rutgers but not good enough. With RU cutting the defecit to 48-46, from then on it was the Wolf/Goldin show and RU was powerless to stop it. The two combined for 15 points in a decisive 6 minute stretch and grabbed a couple of key offensive rebounds which resulted iin 2nd chance points. RU's D which had done a yeomens job all day allowed Michigan scores on 6 of 7 Wolverine possessions. That was just enough. RU very sporadic with buckets in that period. Lathan hit one and JD was tough as nails drawing fouls and hitting 3 of 4 free throws. Ace and Acuff missed 3s in big spots and that was it. Credit Pike for stretching things out a bit and having his team fight the very end chipping away to cut it to 3 at the buzzer with 3s by Acuff and J Mike. Its a spot during crunch time you want to lean on Ace but that did not happen
Some may quibble that Grant/Dortsch needed to play more and why did Zak play 27 minutes and Derkack 23 minutes. I thought both of them played so tough even if their shots were not always there. That level of toughness from Zak defending Goldin you were not going to see from Grant. Derkack had a key stretch getting to the line. Perhaps Acuff could have played a few minutes more but could be a case of Pike giving him a break conditioning wise and also his D not quite as good as Derkack or J Mikes. Experience over youth if you want to grind it out. Grant was 1-6 fg, I do not think him jacking shots would have been the answer nor Dortsch even as he was rebouding well. Thats literally throwing them to the wolves against Wolf and Vlad. J Will didnt have much early and then wasnt even on the bench..was he sick from the other night? Lathan frustrating at times but did play better in the 2nd half. Just cannot be taking 3s anymore and do not know why Pike gives him the green light to continue to do it. Unfortunately this is a game where another body in EO would make a big difference. Of course Dylan would hve made a difference but then again the whole game would have been played at a different pace.
J Mike finally put back to back performances together and this his best ever. Really confident in his shot 8-14 fg for 20 points....4-7 from 3 and 4 steals. Heroic effort on both ends of the court and here is a guy who answered the call "next man up" with Dylan out. Can we get this consistently from him...that is the big question but no doubt if J Mike didnt elevate his game today, this would have been a big loss. Tyson 5-10 fg, keeping RU in the game with timely shooting. 4-8 from 3 and 14 points another back to back game from him. Good thing to see from both because the two of them are filling the Harper spot. As I said I loved toughness from Zak who only hit 1-4 but it was a big 3 as was PJ who was 1-3 although he put a dreadful 3 before halftime. Jordan was 0-3 fg but 5-6 at the line with 3 assists, 3 steals and 4 rebounds. Lathan 3-8fg was up and down as usual but i was encouraged but his 2nd half play. Grant/Dortsch 1-8 fg combined not the best matchup for them tonight. J Will didnt have it and left the game and bench.
Take heart in the effort tonight. Pike hasnt lost the team and they are not getting blown out like some other schools. Good to battling yet do not think this rock fight type game will be applicable to Illinois. To me its game that could get ugly if Ace is not on his game scoring 25 plus. No one knows when Dylan comes back. Can the last holdouts accept the fact this team is not making the NCAA as an at large and will need to run the table in the Big 10 tournament to get there. Lets just focus on making the Big 10 tourney and take the winnable games left...3 at the RAC vs Iowa, USC, Minnesota and at Washington...get all of them and they make it, take 3 of 4 and pretty good shot but could depend on tiebreakers.
Oh and the amount of Michigan fans were nauseating..quiet for much of the game until late but really our fans are soft. In fact too many bandwagon rutgers fans actually leaving the RAC down 6 with RU shooting foul shots with 54 seconds left...dumbass fans that is an eternity and given RU hit a shot at the buzzer to cut it to 3 you see why a game is never over til its over. If there were maybe 2 seconds left who knows if RU causes a turnover and has one last shot. Again dumbass fans, why watch the whole game and then scurry to the exits before its over, makes me wonder how many REAL FANS as opposed to casual fans the program has.
