In a one point game settled in OT, you can choose any of a dozen plays or more as difference makers, no?
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This game thread isâŚsomething. Oregonâs good. So is Michigan. The good guys blew plenty of chances to win this one and that stings.
At the root of this is that this team will always come down to Zavier Simpson being brilliant surrounded by shooters. When heâs not brilliant, sometimes you get results that arenât fun. I doubt Juwan will ever draw something else up besides the ball in his best playmakerâs hands with 4 shooters around him late. It worked at the end of regulation, it didnât in overtime.
Weâve got a ton of guys in this rotation who arenât used to playing at a high rate consistently game in and game out. Thatâs gotta be an adjustment for guys like Brooks, DDJ, Johns, Franz. Weâve seen signs from all of them at times, and weâve seen very bad negatives at times.
The one thing I donât agree with is just entirely going away from Teske. Johns played very well IMO but Teske has arguably been the best center in the big ten to this point and to let Oregon completely neutralize that seems like a loss.
Oh well - the ship isnât sunk. That felt like a sweet 16/elite 8 type game with high level players everywhere and a little bit of chaos. Tis the season.
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I donât think anybodyâs pretending that he is. What the coach needs to do is to find a plan b when teams force him to be the primary scoring option.
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When your defense is largely built around your elite pg not getting beat off the dribble one on one, its kind of hard to suddenly change all your tendencies and start sending help.
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The numbers said that Michigan was likely a 9 or 10 loss team and these were two of 9 or 10 likeliest losses. Illinois was a slight favorite and this was basically a toss-up.
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Howard needs to stop pretending that Z is the go-to guy. He canât shoot. He will never be useful in these spots. Full stop. DDJ should have gotten that ball. Z got punked over and over again by Pritchard. Itâs insane to think there would be a different result.
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If teams can take away four other players weâre not very good. Simpson needs to make layups and pass the ball. Right now he can do one of those things.
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If Johns and Franz keep up their confidence, this team will get back to Bahamas level. Unfortunately, this week Teske and Zavier had some of their poorer games. Itâs not a trend or what will happen moving forward with those two. Donât see how people think theyâre figured out when theyâre Seniors. Wouldâve been figured out a while ago if that were the case.
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My favorite aspect is when Z thinks he can just take someone off a dribble and gets swatted. Like STOP. JUST STOP. Give up the ball and keep the offense going with Brooks or DDJ.
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Simpson gets a lot of blame, deservedly so sometimes but itâs very true there needs to be another offensive playmaker to go to especially in tight games
I also love the hot takes on Zaviers defense. Yes he played poorly but Pritchard going off coincided with Teske on the bench. As good as Johns played, Pritchard didnât have to deal with any length.
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That would require someone else to get the ball.
Did the numbers say this was a 9-10 loss team after Atlantis?
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Seriously for those that want someone else creating at the end of games, what exactly is the go to other than simpson creating a good look for someone or himself? This roster is devoid of iso players.
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His defense isnât anywhere close to what it was the last two years. Thatâs been true since the season started.
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You play it by ear. The way he was playing today DDJ shouldâve gotten the last shot if they wanted iso and not a set play.
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There were some crazy bounces with the ball in this game. Plays that I remember that hurt Michigan were Johnâs getting fouled and you can tell he was tired and hah not faced that situation late in the game and he missed both free throws. Xavierâs step back three where he walked. Mich. is going to have to get one of the wings in crunch time to be able to create a shot I wouldâve been more comfortable if Livers wouldâve tried to make a play or even Wagner.
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DDJ is fully capable of getting penetration. He needs more opportunities. But putting that aside, Simpson didnât get a good look for himself. He was taking that shot come hell or high water.
Would have liked to have seen Wagner get the last shot.
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Who else was open though?
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