If you told me Livers would miss 6 games I would still would have easily had them making the tournament… I would bet the average projection on here from most people was 6-8 seed, which is enough leeway for Livers to miss some games.
I’m not making a definitive judgment on Juwan. I’m saying that this team should be better and that we’ve been this bad so far is surprising. Just go back and read your posts from 2 months ago to understand why it’s surprising.
I agree it will be tough but it depends. If livers comes back and the other guys hit a groove they have shown is possible they could win a lot of games still. Will it happen? Maybe not but it’s not impossible. We can only hope.
Are you referring to specific posts? I was relatively low on the team as a whole going into the season compared to most here? I think I said a 7-10 seed was my guess, but even wouldn’t have been surprised if they missed the tourney all together. When they got hot at the start of the year I got on the bandwagon, provided Brooks and DDJ’s jumps were real. Turns out they were not quite as real. But even then the team was good when Livers got hurt. And since he got hurt they’ve been, prior to this game, just decent. And today they were bad.
I don’t think how they’ve played without Livers is anything outside of completely expected.
Also, if you take a 6-8 seed and add 3 extra losses (ie Livers getting hurt), that’s a bubble team.
I don’t think the season is hopeless/worthless or that they all suck, but to be as confident as you are that they’re definitely going to make the tournament is a bridge too far for me at this point.
It’s funny that you’re saying it seems pretty common when two of the examples you’re using are teams who finished with records better than 19-14.
Bruh. You trashed him for saying a 19-14 team could make the tourney and he not only gave one that did with that record, but also another that had a worse record. Then two more that had records extraordinarily close to that. All from the previous season.
I didn’t trash him and he didn’t say a 19-14 Michigan team “could” make the tourney (he was much more confident than that). I think a 19-14 team could make the tournament too, I just think it’s unlikely and I doubt many Power Five teams have done it.
If Michigan gets to 18 regular season wins, it would win 7 more games.
Even if 5 of those were the easiest games left on the schedule (ILL, Indiana, @ NW , @NEB, NEB) there would still be two more Q1 wins in that mix. That would give U-M 4 Q1 wins and only one Q2 loss (and no bad losses).
They’d be in the tournament I would think.
Hmmmmm…
GoBlueScrewOSU7 justified the counterpoint. Diasagree with my enthusiasm (hopefully silently here on in because your point has been made) but please stop arguing something no one needs to win. You don’t think they’ll make the tourney. I do. Done.
We’re a wolf short of being a pretty good team.
Maybe after Thanksgiving?
If you thought that before the season, that’s expecting five guys who either never played or only made one three as a freshman to be elite 3-point shooters. That seems unrealistic at best.
Elite? 35% is about D1 average most years. I guess I didn’t really account for the 3 point line being moved back, so I guess the average is slightly lower now. But, I don’t think it’s crazy to expect a variety of guys who were recruited specifically as shooters to be average shooters.
I just think it is a bit presumptuous to take five guys who combined to make three 3-point shots in college and expect them to be good shooters.
And then add in that obviously Isaiah isn’t playing.
You hope that at least one or two break through to be that regular shotmaker from 3.
Fair enough. Here’s hoping you’re right.
Not my job to figure that out and I didn’t say all the problem were on offense. Nor did I say they we’re problems Juwan can fix.
Coaching is one of problems right now.
Dude, I looked at a single year out of however many tournaments there have been and found 4 extremely similar examples. One of which has a worse record that you didn’t point out. But if you insist. Here’s an incomplete list of teams that have made the tournament at 19-14
OSU 2019, Texas 2018, Michigan State 2017, Michigan State 2011, Penn State 2011, USC 2011, Tennessee 2011,
Arizona 2008.
This list doesn’t include teams with worse records getting at large bids either. Like 2001 Georgia who got an at large at 16-14.
The only one of our shooters shooting below reasonable expectations is Franz. And that comes with the massive caveat of he broke his shooting wrist in preseason. And he was climbing back on track until last night.
I guess you could hope that Bajema and Nunez would shoot better but they are and should be bit players so it ultimately doesn’t matter much. Johns was a massive wild card in that area. Don’t think someone could have thought he was a shoo in for 35%. He also hasn’t taken that many so if you give him 2 more makes over the course of the whole season he’s at 33%.