Who wins in a hypothetical 7 game series?
0 voters
Reference:
2013 Michigan - #1 offense and #37 defense
2021 Michigan - #9 offense and #4 defense
Trey Burke vs Mike Smith
Nik Stauskas vs Eli Brooks
Tim Hardaway vs Franz Wagner
Glenn Robinson vs Isaiah Livers
Mitch McGary vs Hunter Dickinson
Man would that be a fun game…if only there was an EA Sports basketball game we could simulate it on. I do think Franz takes Stauskas on defense though while Eli shifts to THJ.
While their offensive efficiency rankings are similar and I don’t want to short-change the 2021 defense…I just think the 2013 team outscores them. Beilein probably uses McGary to pull Hunter out to the FT line area and sets up some open threes or back-door plays for GR3. Howard counters with lots of ball screens and Hunter post-ups. Fun to consider.
Trey and Final-Form-Frosh-Mitch would be the 2 best players on the court. But would be fun watching Franz and Eli trying to put the clamps on Trey.
Yes there would have to be a lot of Eli on Trey as Mike Smith would get roasted. Chaundee would get a lot of run against THJ and that would be a good battle.
I think the 2021 team would be able to funnel 2013 team into midrangers and probably would have lots of opportunities to create much more efficient shots on their end. So maybe Trey and Nik just make their tough twos all day but I think the 2021 team is underrated by this vote so far.
Interesting tidbit, the 2021 team actually had a better eFG% than the 2013 team. Offense in 2021 was very very good.
2021 Michigan was a better overall team but 2013 is also a bad matchup for them. Trey is the best offensive player on the court and would be guarded by Brooks, but the question is where you would hide Mike Smith on defense because everyone else on 2013 is athletic and 6’6"+.
2013 would win a knockout game against 2021, no doubt in my mind. BUT 2021 Michigan was a well oiled machine that was too polished and mature to not win a 7 game series.
Trey>>>Mike Smith
THJ>Eli Brooks
Freshman Stauskas<<<Livers
GRIII<<<Franz
Tournament McGary>>Dickinson
I’m here for the 5-8 minutes that Austin Davis and Jordan Morgan battle in the post…
I’m going to disagree on that last McGary >> Hunter rating. I think that would be an epic battle. While McGary was indeed awesome in the tournament, did you know he only averaged 9ppg in the last three games? He scored at will in the early rounds and had 6 assists against Syracuse. I think the fact that McGary did all his damage near the hoop (i.e. he’s not shooting threes or attacking much off the bounce) and thrived on OREB while Hunter is a great post player means that it would be more even than you implied.
Adding further intrigue to the matchup is when you think about Spike/Levert/Morgan versus Chaundee/Johns/Davis.
McGary with that all-around game though. Key steals against Kansas, breaking the zone against Cuse.
I voted for '21 tho.
McGary was a vastly superior athlete and a better defender than Hunter. McGary vs Dickinson would kind of be like McGary vs Jeff Withey redux (despite Withey being a better defender and worse offensive player than Dickinson).
Adding further intrigue to the matchup is when you think about Spike/Levert/Morgan versus Chaundee/Johns/Davis.
2021 takes this no problem, except Spike is a great back up PG. Davis was a much better offensive player than Morgan, and grad Chaundee is vastly superior to Frosh Lavert.
NCAAT 2013 Team > 2021 Team > 2013 Team
The 2013 team before the tournament just isn’t the same team… Mitch became like 4 times as good over night. Without Mitch being at his peak, the 2021 frontcourt would be too overwhelming for Tim and Trey
This is a good breakdown that articulates the dissonance between my gut reaction and the metrics better than I could in my own brain.
Mitch Pre-Tournament:
17.7 mpg, 6.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, .5 apg, .6 bpg, .9 spg, 57 FG%
Tournament:
30.7 mpg, 14.3 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.2 bpg, 2.0 spg, 67.8 FG%
I voted on the memory of the team as a whole, not the McGary-enabled tournament killer.
Yeah, there is nowhere to hide Mike Smith on defense against that team and Trey was just THAT good in college. Franz would have eliminated dealers choice of either Stauskas or Hardaway. But Smith would have been abused by whichever player Franz didn’t guard. Would be a great game and 2021 was a better defensive team, but 2013 had more top level talent and shot makers.
I’m trying to imagine Jordan Morgan and Jon Horford guarding Hunter Dickinson
Morgan was a smart defensive player and freshman Dickinson had no right hand or counter-post moves or 3 point shot so I think Morgan would have done a fine job forcing him to his weakness. Dickinson had the size to probably just shoot with his left hand over the top though
I voted for 2021 since it was a 7 game series. I just think that the experience and IQ of the 2021 team would tilt the scales in their favor over a 7 game series. I think the combination of Livers-Franz-Smith-Brooks-Hunter would drop the first game or two but would figure out how to get stops going forward and as we all know, the offense was pretty great. I just don’t see the 2013 defense being able to play consistently good enough defense to win a 7 game bout.
Freshman year HD wasn’t sophomore HD, though.
morgan was a really good defensive big and was especially at good pick and roll defense and getting under guys and pushing them off their spots