We’re 6-3-1 ats in b1g play. That’s how we do vs expectations. We don’t beat everyone by 20. Sounds like you’re the one not living in the real world.
I guess if the argument is “we’re not an elite team because we’re not blowing people out like Purdue” I think we all agree there. But every advanced ranking has Michigan in the top 15-25 range so we must be beating teams by a sufficient margin to be pretty good. Indiana was definitely a comfortable win, Iowa and Rutgers as well. Illinois was relatively comfortable in that it never felt like we would lose.
But yeah we got killed by a “terrible” Nebraska team so no reason to expect much.
@umhoops a while ago I requested a B1G power rank because I think UMhoops has the best conference-wide persepctive, and you said you have been writing that for theAthletic (I ended up subscribing, to get your content and BF Quinn’s content). Was wondering if you’d consider doing a B1G mailbag, where people could ask specific questions about other B1G teams?
Got anything for tonight?
Yes, struggle. Again tonight. We’re playing at home against a very soft team with almost no weapons, and we’re still having a lot of trouble. This does not look at all like a team hitting their stride.
No, we’re not supposed to beat EVERYONE by 20+. What a silly straw man. The point is, we haven’t beaten anyone comfortably. And we’re struggling again tonight against a team that shouldn’t even be in the gym with us at home.
This game was ugly but I would count a game where the other team fouls with 1 minute left after Michigan led for the entire 2nd half a comfortable win. So we’re arguing semantics
A comfortable win is one where the other team doesn’t even bother to foul with a minute left because they know it can’t possibly do any good. In a game with the three point shot, a game where the other team is within single digits in the last two minutes isn’t “comfortable”.
That was a comfortable win. Especially after the first half. They squeaked in some shots, but we were in control, clearly the better side coming down the stretch.
Kenpom had us by 9, we won by 11. What the hell do you want? I have to assume you’re trolling at this point, in which case get a damn life, dude.
I hope and pray the “comfortable” win debate has a short shelf life.
OK, so we win by 11 when the kenpom spread is 9. I don’t know about y’all, but I was comfortable down the stretch.
This team always has a slow start. It is what it is, then they figure it out. In the post-game, Beilein mentioned that they have a play script that they follow for the first few possessions to see how they’re going to get played. It doesn’t bother me that they’re imperfect in the first 5 minutes (10 minutes is a bit unnerving). What’s impressive about this team is that despite the slow starts they almost always figure things out. It speaks to their versatility and talent if you ask me.
Wisconsin might do us a favor - they’re ahead of Nebraska so far.
I’m never comfortable! I was scared they were going to hit a 3 to make a 9 point lead into 6. But yes, the lead was generally manageable and well-managed.
Didn’t you predict we would lose on the road to that “very soft team with almost no weapons”?
Good grief Wisconsin, make your FTs. They’re worse than us at them.
Go Badgers. We need a Nebraska loss.
Man, if Wisconsin beats Nebraska at Kohl then surely we don’t have a chance there since Nebraska is playing so much better than us and we can’t beat anyone comfortably…
I was not comfortable either, but after falling behind by 9 early, we out scored them by 20.
lol… you spoke too soon. I’m curious… would you characterize tonight’s game as a “struggle?” If so, then I really don’t think you understand how basketball works.