As a quick aside, anyone know what time UM’s open practice is?
Yeah, I’m much more concerned about shot-creation and shooting next year than I am defense. Although I could see a stepback depending on how good defensively Iggy and Johns are. It won’t be significant though if there is a stepback.
No open practices in the regionals this year.
I really think next year will be JB’s best team if Moe comes back. But I’m also expecting Poole and Iggy to be all-conference level offensive killers so we’ll see
Yeah, Iggy is going to be very interesting to watch. He’s not super athletic so we’ll see how his offensive “bully your way to the rim” style works in the Big Ten.
The narrative that Texas A&M is a “hot team” right now is so weird to me. They lost to a meh Bama team in the first round of the SEC tourney and then hit the KenPom line exactly (4 points) versus a meh Providence team. Crazy how much sports media guys can be like goldfish.
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One of their precious blue bloods went out early so the team that beat them must be unstoppable.
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“This is the team we always knew they could be, when healthy and eligible” everyone screams, following their best, and entirely uncharacteristic, shooting performance of the season.
Of course I’d rather their ceiling wasn’t so high, but the media seems convinced that Sunday’s A&M was hitting their stride, rather than having an out-of-body experience.
Their confidence grew with every Carolina miss. I think this was more of an anomaly than a righting of the ship. I expect our defense to frustrate them back to the level they were playing at last week.
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I really think we destroy A&M if we play well. But I also thought we wouldn’t struggle with Houston so what do I know.
The fact that we could go: Montana, Houston, Texas A&M, Florida State, Kentucky before making the title game is insane to me though
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TA&M’s ADJOE was somewhat better than their average in the last two games, but not by all that much. The three games before that were below their average. The ADJDE was slightly worse than their average against Providence, and basically their average or slightly better the three games before that - and then far better against NC, one of their best in the year and by far their best in the last 15 games.
It could be that they’re finding themselves, but the stats suggest a decent possibility that they had an aberration of good defense (or NC’s bad offense) in one game. Let’s hope it’s the latter.
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I know a few others were talking about this, how Michigan plays better as the underdog. Well, I’ve seen A LOT of people in the national media jump ship.
Maybe it’s a small sample size I’ve seen, but there’s been more picking Texas A&M to win, and then Gonzaga to win the West.
They’ll get to play the underdog role even as a 3 seed.
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Mo is due for a good game and we will need it !
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Maybe Teske puts up 35 and 15 
I really think these guys resemble (but are worse than) Michigan State, without the very functional PG.
Tyler Davis reminds me a ton of Nick Ward - I think he’s a bit better. He’s a little less efficient, but plays more, which balances it out.
Robert Williams, at least on the defensive side, is similar to Jackson - they main rim protector and best defensive player.
Like MSU, I think they’re going to have to think long and hard about whether Davis can play in this game, because Williams can mark Wagner ok, but you don’t want Davis chasing either Mo or Duncan around.
Hogg, like Bridges, is a jumbo SF who would probably be a 4 on most teams (he’s slighter, admittedly). Less usage than Bridges, obviously.
Admon Gilder is not that different from how Lankford plays - stand outside the 3-Point line and shoot the ball.
The Starks kid, their PG, is a disaster. Highest usage player, can’t shoot inside or outside the arc, and is a PG sporting a higher TO rate than AST rate.
Their bench is three deep and pretty bad - none have a true shooting over 50%. A big who shoots threes (2 a game) but not well (30%). A 6’7” guard and a 6’1” guard who don’t do much of anything.
If they did “go small” with Williams as a center, I guess this Flagg kid plays…nut sure that helps them.
Long story short - Davis is their best player but I think Williams worries me the most. We’ve coped with dominant shot blockers already (like Jackson), and he’s definitely one - but he’s a superb offensive rebounder, and much of his offense comes on slip off the glass. I just have shades of that Kentucky game from the Elite 8 a few years ago play through my head when I think of him.
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You know what, if JT could play about 12-15 minutes, score 10-12 points, grab 6-8 rebounds, block a couple of shots and be a WALL on defense, that would be great. THEN, let’s have Moe break out for the other 25-28 minutes, bomb from three, score a few baskets inside, rebound, AND stay out of foul trouble, wow! That would be great! 
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I can’t quite figure this matchup. So many things to like… but I keep getting this feeling we’re going to find ourselves in a similar game to our first weekend grinders. If they come out and play predominantly zone with a back line of all 6-9/6-10 dudes… 2 of whom can kinda move–then it may give us trouble. I mean, if I’m coaching A&M I’m not matching up with Michigan’s often 5 out offense. We’ve seen how well that has worked with teams with a similar roster.
Deleted! See my explanation below.
He’s battling Parkinson’s. FWIW.
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