Not so bad that we lost to Ohio

I'm starting to think that it might not be a bad thing that we lost to Ohio last year in the first round of the tourney. This years team is scary good when they want to be and they have way more talent and cohesion than last year so I think that the talent combined with the bad taste in their mouth from last year will propel them far into the tourney this year.

I'm going to give them two weeks to assess how they play on the road (in some tough games by the way) and by then I should have a good idea in my mind how far I think they can go in the tourney but as it stands, from what I've seen so far (along with what I've seen from other teams) anything short of a Final Four is going to be failure IMHO.

Discuss

Now up by 30 against Iowa! Absolutely the most talent and cohesion I've seen by UM since I can remember. Final Four or bust, I agree. Once we get Horford back the depth will be there on the front line. Robinson is a man-child, Burke the best PG in the nation, Stauskas the best 3 pt shooter in the nation, McGary has great hands and a superb outlet passer, and let's not forget Timmy Jr. Simply so many weapons!

I love watching this team play. Key word being TEAM. I thought that today was one of Hardaway's best games. McGary was the spark plug that really helped turn the game around in the first half and Robinson was just plain awesome. Yes, Burke is the best PG in the nation. Fun team!!!! It's great that basketball is back at UM.

As far as Final Four, I would love it, but one never knows. Tournaments are so unpredictable. They are capable of being there, but I'm not going to say it's a failure if they don't. A disappointment, yes, not a failure.

Go Blue.

^^^^ this.

Not making the Final 4 does not make this season a failure. All it takes is one off night or one streaky night for another team to send a team home early in March. In the elite 8 Michigan would conceivably face teams like Syracuse, Kansas, etc. Losing to a team like that doesn't make the season a failure.

The NCAA tournament is great because it is exciting, not because it crowns the best team in college basketball. It crowns the hottest team at the time. That is why the goal is always:
1. Win the conference
2. Win the NC

Ohio was good last year. They were quicker than we were. I went to the game and knew we were in trouble after 5 minutes. I loved last year's team and the 13-5 tri championship was a great accomplishment.

This year's team is substantially more talented. Smotz took forever to load up to fire his 3 pointer and could not take it to the hoop, Stauskas gets his shot off much faster and can drive. Trey and Tim are both improved and Mcgary and GR3 are more talented than Stu and Zach. We'll see how they do in the upcoming tough stretch.

'shoes

Rebounding!!!! We actually have size and athleticism to rebound. This is a first in the Coach B era at Michigan.

Defense has also been great and players are not fouling very much.

Actually, my brother and I noticed that our third stringers are not as defensively strong as they could be....

Defensive is still an opportunity for improvement among the rotation guys too. I thought Stauskas' D was weak at the beginning of the year. He is still not an outstanding defender but he has improved. Mitch needs to work on defending without fouling as frequently. Spike is a defensive liability when he is in there. I do not think our defense (other than rebounding) is yet where it was last year, but it does seem to be improving. The return of Horford and development of Levert will help too.

'shoes

One thing you have to remember is that when this team needed stops, it got them. There were two 2nd half stretches of nearly 5 minutes Pittsburgh went without scoring a single point. I think defensive is directly related to their motivation, and hopefully in close games they don't need any extra motivation.