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GAME 27 Michigan: Rutgers is exactly the team their resume says they are.

Can’t pull even if most of your roster has no reliable shooters or scorers. Ours tend to be more of the streaky type.
It would be good that the streaky types showed up for road games.
 
If you didn’t see mental and physical fatigue from a few of our players you are missing it. It is understandable and predictable. Paul Mulcahy never behaves like that. That isn’t who he is.

These athletes are human. They have breaking points. there are mini walls. They get through them. Sunday/Wednesday road games in 2 cities with all kinds of air travel and sleeping in hotels.

We were a step slow all night defending the line. We have been very good at late and multiple players were bad here, not just the usual suspect.

Put this game in the toilet and flush it and get ready for Saturday.
Thank you for this post. I needed it.
 
I think the game summaries have kinda run its course.....it's the same tired and stale arguments that never gives credit for the talent level, players on the other side and still lacks just an overall bigger picture.

Michigan has 3 McDonald's All Americans in their 2021 class in Frankie Collins, Houston and Bufkin.....and that's without Diabite playing. Add in Hunter Dickinson who is very good and it's somehow this expectation that RU was going to walk in, play 5 vs 8, on the road and win.

Caleb Houstan was the preseason Frosh of the year in the B1G.....has he played like it all year?? Obviously not, he, like most freshman, take a LOT of time before they become what many expect. Going 5 for 7 from 3, isn't that surprising, but it is ultimately the difference between winning and losing, if you are Michigan. Their prized frosh are on the bubble and were preseason #1 in the B1G rankings, along with Illinois and Purdue. They started the season in the Top 5.

I just try to be somewhat neutral when it comes to basketball and commentary, but home court matters.....and the consistent whining about lack of road wins, lack of OOC schedules and other nonsense, are tiresome. When we got a gift call vs Iowa, when RHJ was fouled, it changed the outcome of the game. If a ref made his mind up before Caleb made the amazing block on Ohio State, he could've called a foul and assured a probable other defeat.

When Michigan or other teams are at home, these calls tend to go the way of the home team.....RU until the last couple of years, has always been on the wrong end of these calls....but to say the referees don't impact a game is insanity.

There are going to be letdown games over an extended 20 game conference season. Geo, RHJ aren't going to show up with 20 PTS every night and then complain about effort or focus....it's like we have never watched a B1G season of peaks and valleys before. I thought Michigan looked OK for a half at Wisconsin and then fell apart. You kinda had to figure they would play better at home.

NCAA caliber teams win 80% or more of their conference games at home and 20 to 40% of their road league games.

Purdue 12 point favorite at RAC
Michigan 4 point favorite at RAC
MSU 3 point favorite at RAC
Iowa 3 point favorite at RAC
OSU 3 point favorite at RAC
Illinois 4 point favorite at RAC
Wisconsin and PSU still remaining.

RU has been favored twice on the road this year, by 3 at Nebraska and at Minnesota, when they hit almost every shot. The road wins as underdogs at Maryland and at Wisconsin and even was a 5 point underdog at Northwestern.

I think some fans have become somewhat lost on how difficult the league is in terms of talent, coaching, home court advantage etc.

Everything can't be wrong with RU, when they don't win. If I said as successful season was one with 11 or 12 losses, most fanbases would understand that means you're in NCAA contention or in the NCAAs. It can't mean that 11 or 12 times, it's RUs fault, Pikes fault or the players fault. The opponents are usually pretty talented too. Might be time to give credit for the opponents when they hit shots and acknowledge home court and referee calls also matter. To say they don't is just bad in terms of being a fan of sports.

The goal remains the same 11-9 is a 50/50 split to dance or not.....12-8 and RU is in.....
 
TERRIBLE SHOTS. hero ball all night. Caleb should not be touching the ball on offense, EVER. He basically undoes everything he does on defense.
Wake up Pike and get a clue. This is the bullshit we saw at the beginning of the season. Too cocky and shit the bed. We shared the ball against Purdue in the loss. Where was that RU team?

Paul was terrible tonight but has built some history so we just have to live with it. Geo has basically faded away.

How many times did Michigan take it to the hole? Felt like a ton and felt like they somehow shot 137% when they drove. I didn't think you could shoot over 100%, but Michigan proved me wrong.

Back to being on the wrong side of the tourney. The team just doesn't like nice things.
McConnel was 4-9 for 9 points and 9 rebounds. Think you're picking on the wrong guy
 
I think the game summaries have kinda run its course.....it's the same tired and stale arguments that never gives credit for the talent level, players on the other side and still lacks just an overall bigger picture.

Michigan has 3 McDonald's All Americans in their 2021 class in Frankie Collins, Houston and Bufkin.....and that's without Diabite playing. Add in Hunter Dickinson who is very good and it's somehow this expectation that RU was going to walk in, play 5 vs 8, on the road and win.

Caleb Houstan was the preseason Frosh of the year in the B1G.....has he played like it all year?? Obviously not, he, like most freshman, take a LOT of time before they become what many expect. Going 5 for 7 from 3, isn't that surprising, but it is ultimately the difference between winning and losing, if you are Michigan. Their prized frosh are on the bubble and were preseason #1 in the B1G rankings, along with Illinois and Purdue. They started the season in the Top 5.

I just try to be somewhat neutral when it comes to basketball and commentary, but home court matters.....and the consistent whining about lack of road wins, lack of OOC schedules and other nonsense, are tiresome. When we got a gift call vs Iowa, when RHJ was fouled, it changed the outcome of the game. If a ref made his mind up before Caleb made the amazing block on Ohio State, he could've called a foul and assured a probable other defeat.

When Michigan or other teams are at home, these calls tend to go the way of the home team.....RU until the last couple of years, has always been on the wrong end of these calls....but to say the referees don't impact a game is insanity.

There are going to be letdown games over an extended 20 game conference season. Geo, RHJ aren't going to show up with 20 PTS every night and then complain about effort or focus....it's like we have never watched a B1G season of peaks and valleys before. I thought Michigan looked OK for a half at Wisconsin and then fell apart. You kinda had to figure they would play better at home.

NCAA caliber teams win 80% or more of their conference games at home and 20 to 40% of their road league games.

Purdue 12 point favorite at RAC
Michigan 4 point favorite at RAC
MSU 3 point favorite at RAC
Iowa 3 point favorite at RAC
OSU 3 point favorite at RAC
Illinois 4 point favorite at RAC
Wisconsin and PSU still remaining.

RU has been favored twice on the road this year, by 3 at Nebraska and at Minnesota, when they hit almost every shot. The road wins as underdogs at Maryland and at Wisconsin and even was a 5 point underdog at Northwestern.

I think some fans have become somewhat lost on how difficult the league is in terms of talent, coaching, home court advantage etc.

Everything can't be wrong with RU, when they don't win. If I said as successful season was one with 11 or 12 losses, most fanbases would understand that means you're in NCAA contention or in the NCAAs. It can't mean that 11 or 12 times, it's RUs fault, Pikes fault or the players fault. The opponents are usually pretty talented too. Might be time to give credit for the opponents when they hit shots and acknowledge home court and referee calls also matter. To say they don't is just bad in terms of being a fan of sports.

The goal remains the same 11-9 is a 50/50 split to dance or not.....12-8 and RU is in.....
We can play the individual fouls in a game, game. The RHJ foul at Minnesota et al. But it is a more serious and real problem then specific individual calls when RU players are taken out of the game because of bad fouls. Our run started with Paul controlling the game. The last two games Paul has been taken of play due to very questionable calls. Caleb too. We lost by 12 to Purdue. Purdue had 12 more foul shots.
You can not deny our opposition has been in the bonus long before us. We were screwed against Illinois, at Purdue and yesterday. I think in both Illinois and Purdue we were down 10-4 in fouls in both games. The announcers yesterday noted at one point the fouls were 5-1 against RU. It’s a huge factor. We are good now and deserve to have the game called fairly and no ridiculous advantage to the blue bloods. I know it’s not Pike’s style but he may have to amp it up a bit.
Did fouls lose us the game? Maybe not, but it certainly did not help and clearly made it a helluva lot more difficult.
 
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I think the game summaries have kinda run its course.....it's the same tired and stale arguments that never gives credit for the talent level, players on the other side and still lacks just an overall bigger picture.

Michigan has 3 McDonald's All Americans in their 2021 class in Frankie Collins, Houston and Bufkin.....and that's without Diabite playing. Add in Hunter Dickinson who is very good and it's somehow this expectation that RU was going to walk in, play 5 vs 8, on the road and win.

Caleb Houstan was the preseason Frosh of the year in the B1G.....has he played like it all year?? Obviously not, he, like most freshman, take a LOT of time before they become what many expect. Going 5 for 7 from 3, isn't that surprising, but it is ultimately the difference between winning and losing, if you are Michigan. Their prized frosh are on the bubble and were preseason #1 in the B1G rankings, along with Illinois and Purdue. They started the season in the Top 5.

I just try to be somewhat neutral when it comes to basketball and commentary, but home court matters.....and the consistent whining about lack of road wins, lack of OOC schedules and other nonsense, are tiresome. When we got a gift call vs Iowa, when RHJ was fouled, it changed the outcome of the game. If a ref made his mind up before Caleb made the amazing block on Ohio State, he could've called a foul and assured a probable other defeat.

When Michigan or other teams are at home, these calls tend to go the way of the home team.....RU until the last couple of years, has always been on the wrong end of these calls....but to say the referees don't impact a game is insanity.

There are going to be letdown games over an extended 20 game conference season. Geo, RHJ aren't going to show up with 20 PTS every night and then complain about effort or focus....it's like we have never watched a B1G season of peaks and valleys before. I thought Michigan looked OK for a half at Wisconsin and then fell apart. You kinda had to figure they would play better at home.

NCAA caliber teams win 80% or more of their conference games at home and 20 to 40% of their road league games.

Purdue 12 point favorite at RAC
Michigan 4 point favorite at RAC
MSU 3 point favorite at RAC
Iowa 3 point favorite at RAC
OSU 3 point favorite at RAC
Illinois 4 point favorite at RAC
Wisconsin and PSU still remaining.

RU has been favored twice on the road this year, by 3 at Nebraska and at Minnesota, when they hit almost every shot. The road wins as underdogs at Maryland and at Wisconsin and even was a 5 point underdog at Northwestern.

I think some fans have become somewhat lost on how difficult the league is in terms of talent, coaching, home court advantage etc.

Everything can't be wrong with RU, when they don't win. If I said as successful season was one with 11 or 12 losses, most fanbases would understand that means you're in NCAA contention or in the NCAAs. It can't mean that 11 or 12 times, it's RUs fault, Pikes fault or the players fault. The opponents are usually pretty talented too. Might be time to give credit for the opponents when they hit shots and acknowledge home court and referee calls also matter. To say they don't is just bad in terms of being a fan of sports.

The goal remains the same 11-9 is a 50/50 split to dance or not.....12-8 and RU is in.....


RU is 3-9 on the road this year, the worst of any school around the bubble

Rutgers did not play well last night and reverted back to earlier form. That was not a NCAA team type performance
 
McConnel was 4-9 for 9 points and 9 rebounds. Think you're picking on the wrong guy
No one picks on Caleb’s offense more than me but even I know that when he is on the floor with Jalen miller and geo is refusing to shoot or go 2 for 11 there’s no way to avoid Caleb getting up some shots as much as I’d like us to to funnel 30+ attempts to Ron and cliff every game just isn’t feasible and Caleb played well last night.
 
I think FIG and Hawk hit it on the head. Not sure why some insist on pushing certain narratives (lack of focus, toughness, leadership, etc.) after games like this. Sunday-Wednesday midwest road games at this point in the season are brutal. If you don't believe me, look at the spread on this game. My hope is PM learns from this game and builds off of it. He was on edge and needs to understand that bad body language can snowball.
 
I think they attacked the rim too much and it wasn't working as Michigan was ready for it. Didn't help that Mulcahy missed a bunch of close shots. Half of those mid range shots were in the paint it seemed. It's hard to win in today's game with only 12
3-point attempts
 
I think FIG and Hawk hit it on the head. Not sure why some insist on pushing certain narratives (lack of focus, toughness, leadership, etc.) after games like this. Sunday-Wednesday midwest road games at this point in the season are brutal. If you don't believe me, look at the spread on this game. My hope is PM learns from this game and builds off of it. He was on edge and needs to understand that bad body language can snowball.
I have no idea when it comes to RU. Have been wrong at almost every turn. Paul may or may not not play well on Saturday, but I know he will control his emotions. That was a one off.
 
I think they attacked the rim too much and it wasn't working as Michigan was ready for it. Didn't help that Mulcahy missed a bunch of close shots. Half of those mid range shots were in the paint it seemed. It's hard to win in today's game with only 12
3-point attempts
It actually worked in the first half. Problem was we didn’t have our legs on defense and they matched us in the first half. 32-30 with both teams scoring in the paint with both teams not scoring for last 3 minutes of the half . That type of half we normally are up 6-8 at halftime. I did not mind the paint touches by Ron and Cliff even into the second half. This is where I agree with you, as we did not have to go all in with Paul , without shooting some makeable 3’s . We made 1 three until Cliff made the late one. We didn’t set up any pin downs for either Ron or Geo or a double high screen . Michigan only made 7 but Houston hit 5 and they were timely . Normally if we hold teams to 7 or less 3’s we win but our ball screen defense and overall defense was just a step slow all night , which I think is a function of the being Game 6 of the Gauntlet. We were not our normal selves on defense and dead legs hurt our offense as well.

Michigan went on 1 spurt all night and we tried but couldn’t respond as Ron and Geo on almost back to back possessions couldn’t close out on Brooks and Houston who was deep and stretched the lead back to 13 from 10 twice. We cut it to 7-8 if they miss one. We cut it to 5-6 if they miss both. Although we have won games only hitting 4 threes in a game , when we are cooking and moving the ball like the first half of Purdue for about 15 minutes , getting 6-9 is ideal. To think that we lost by 9 and if hit 5 threes instead of 2 , the game goes to the wire. Frustrating but understandable.
 
I just watched the game. What jumped out was that we didn’t play any zone D and Mich killed us on the pick and roll. way too many 1 on 1 on O. This was the team that lost to Minny and NW. very disappointing
 
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