Big Ten Discussion

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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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I hope and pray the “comfortable” win debate has a short shelf life.

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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.

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Wisconsin might do us a favor - they’re ahead of Nebraska so far.

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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”?

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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…

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I was not comfortable either, but after falling behind by 9 early, we out scored them by 20.

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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.

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