Weekend Roundup, Nobody's Perfect Edition 2/27/2012
/- A great article on some Michigan history in "When Ward, Ford Played Ball for UM," from John U. Bacon. Always a must read author from The Ann Arbor Chronicle.
- The Ducks cheated.
- The NCAA effectively removed kickoffs from games. Somewhere RichRod is laughing at how important you thought special teams were.
- Junior reminds you that Denard is not a quarterback.
- Make that 5 four-star lineman...and there's still 3 days left in February.
- I think political correctness has gone too far. Fortune cookies in a Lin-sanity ice cream is a problem? Start worrying about something important people.
- The icers had a disappointing split in Bowling Green over the weekend, YostBuilt recaps.
- Ohio lost to Wisconsin, one of three things out of Michigan's hands that had to happen to get a share of the Big Ten title. For the next step, you will be a Hoosier fan on Tuesday.
- UMHoops presents a senior night video roundup in case you got to the game late.
Not What We Expected: Purdue 75, Michigan 61
/
Not planning on dwelling on this, and I hope the fellas don't either.
With the student body out of town, and likely knee deep in tequilla, the crowd was dull and lifeless. Michigan's start, which had Purdue leading 12-2 before Godfather even got his popcorn, didn't help things much. Michigan didn't have it Saturday night, Purdue did. My un-basketball-educated perspective? In Michigan's delicate balancing act of choosing between trying to establish position through screen and rolls to the inside, and chucking it from three, they seemed to make the wrong move each time down court. When we went to the inside, three Purdue players were waiting to converge on the ball. When we rotated around the perimeter, there seemed to be a double team at every stop. Trey Burke had a lot of difficulty penetrating, to a level I haven't seen since the game at Ohio State. It felt like they shut him down, but that just goes to show you the expectations we have for our fab freshman...he still had 12 points and 4 assists. Tim Hardaway was 5-7 from the floor when inside the arc, but 0-6 from three. He and Trey both had 4 turnovers, but a couple of Tim's stood out to me as particularly frustrating during that dreadfully paced first half.
But it wasn't Michigan's offense that lost the game on Saturday night, it was the defense. Purdue scored 43 points in the second half, which I believe is above the Big Ten average for most full games. Purdue consistently beat Michigan's defenders to the hoop. Everything looked like a mismatch. Too many mistakes, too many open 3's, and the pair of late game daggers from Hummel...game over.
Michigan ends the home slate at 15-1. Not perfect, but still impressive. Unfortunately, this not-so-great-on-the-road Michigan team will be playing out the season and post-season in arenas not named Crisler. Michigan needs to concentrate on finishing off these remaining two road games in a proper fashion, grabbing some momentum heading into the Big Ten tournament. They've got a couple of extra days of rest this week before heading to Champaign on Thursday, where they will face a wounded Illini team...heavily wounded. Going into tonight's game against Iowa, Illinois has lost 9 of their last 10, including a 23 point loss to Nebraska. Then it's just two-days off before heading to Sandusky-ville for the regular season finale.
Michigan needs significant help to grab a share of the regular season Big Ten title. Ohio State needs to lose either vs. Wisconsin tonight, or at Northwestern on the 29th. They then need to beat Michigan Agricultural College in the season finale. MAC needs to lose at Indiana on the 28th, then obviously lose to OSU on March 4th. Longshot? Yep. Impossible? Nope.
Other Purdue reactions across the internets: Indianapolis Star gloats, USA Today has pretty colors, UMHoops breaks it down proper-like.
Go Blue!
Purdue Quick Hits
/My first Michigan basketball game was Michigan vs. Purdue...but it was Chris Webber vs. Glen Robinson. I remember that it was like an NBA game, and I remember that Johnny Cleveland was there, eating Zingerman's (and a sauerkraut and corned beef reuben) for the first time. I think this story makes me old, but I've got that little kid feeling today as a couple of would-be role players turned heroes will be taking the court at the "house they rebuilt" for the last time. Maybe ten years from now I will remember that today featured Trey Burke and Robbie Hummel...Michigan's amazing freshman...and a guy that was a freshman back when Gene Keady had a full head of hair.
Things to know before you go....
- Michigan beat Purdue by 2 in West Lafayette.
- Partying to hard? Purdue is short a guy, as Kelsey Barlow was removed from the program. Good bench scorer. You never can tell what kind of effect this will have....rallying cry for a desperate team, or another nail in the coffin in one of Purdue's less than remarkable seasons?
- DJ Byrd is back from his suspension, and is one of those guys that comes off of the bench and rains threes....which is something that we always seem to be susceptible to.
- Hummel has been hot in his last 4 games.
- Purdue needs this win for NCAA tourney posterity.
- Michigan needs this win to go undefeated at home for the first time in 35 years, and to stay within a win of the Big Ten championship.
Be there...6pm...BTN.
Go Blue!
What's Up This Weekend?
/2/24-2/26/12
Pretty quiet around here this weekend, as hoops is the only event on campus...
Friday:
- Bowling Green is hosting Michigan Hockey this weekend, and YostBuilt has a preview. Of note, BGSU has lost their last 4.
- Men's and Women's track are at the Big Ten Championships....which are in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Gopher's men's team is trying to make up for the MSU game by winning a 4th straight title. Who knew people from Minny could run?
Saturday:
- Bowling Green, round 2
- Michigan Basketball takes on Purdue in the final home game of the season, and the final home game for Stu and Zack.
Sunday:
- Recover from your hangover