It sure seemed that Walton and Irvin have a hard time deferring to MAAR. There’s some tension there. It’s almost as if Walton and Irvin cannot accept the fact that MAAR is the alpha on this team.
Did anyone else pick up on this?
There was a moment late in the 2nd half where Walton waved off MAAR as the shot clock was winding down and MAAR gave a look like “are you kidding me?”
I was just thinking during the game, “boy I’m glad MAAR is initiating the offense.”
Didn’t catch the look but you have to wonder when we’ll get an alpha dog/leader on this team.
The identity is just missing. Manny. DMo. Burke. Stauskas. Even Novak in there.
More MAAR. More Mo.
I didn’t see that at all. I saw a very ineffective MAAR and the upper class men wanting the ball. Yes he made layups but missed a lot of shots as well.
He shot 30%. It isn’t like he was on fire or anything.
…but he was also 6-8 FT.
And I’ll take him attacking the hoop and missing vs. Irvin’s early shotclock jumpers all day.
True. Although Irvin was 50% from the floor. I don’t know, I see your point but MAAR was very ineffective tonight despite his attacking. Irvin made the shot and free throws to seal it.
I think I know what you are talking about. When Walton took a 3?
A big part of being a good player is knowing your strengths and weaknesses. Being a good pg is knowing your teammates strengths and weaknesses. It is not One of Walton’s strengths to play the creator role with the clock ticking down.
Many of his misses led to put backs though
Sometimes it’s effective if you get them to fall. And there are benefits to both. But overall, I’ll take a guy that attacks the hoop.
a) jumpers that miss long turn into bad transition situations
b) there’s no opportunity for a foul, fall, or dish for open shot
c) consistency.
Just my preference.
Meh, think you’re reading too much into it. And let’s face it, Irvin has hit his fair share of big shots this year. Personally, I think MAAR is better attacking on the dribble after getting the pass rather than initiating the offense.
MAAR’s drives were crucial to us winning, in my opinion. Dylan named him mvp. Much deserved.
I love rahk (I love all Michigan players), but I don’t get this obsession. He is by far and away the best one on one player on the team and the guy I want to have the ball in most late clock situations. But not all. And certainly not the guy I want to run the entire offense through.
He made some big baskets and got to the line in the second half when Michigan had nothing going. He also missed a ton of tough shots including a big one late that led to transition for Tulsa. Michigan absolutely needs him for his scoring but right now he is a one trick pony for the most part. if he ever develops his passing game similar to the jump stauskas made or levert, then Michigan is in business. For now, they have to run the offense thru guys like Walton who can pass off the bounce and look to rahk for late clock stuff.
The good news about all of this is that rahk, Wagner, and Robinson all seem to be trending up late season. Combine that with the clutch plays by Walton and Irvin and there is some big promise there
I saw some of that tonight. After MAAR hit his miracle bank shot Irvin came right back and came way short on a long jumper that was really a terrible shot.
What was most interesting to me is how our offense seemed to click with MAAR running the point for that short stretch…
Team chemistry must be fixed if they plan on winning next year. I see some stubbornness out there . I see some displacing of blame onto others on the court.
On the court they seem to be very stubborn but what I hear and see via Twitter and Instagram they all seem to be great friends off the court. Interesting point though.
Yeah, MAAR hit that shot and then Irvin took one and missed. Then he hit the one that mattered and free throws to end it. MAAR was NOT on fire, I have no idea where all this talk is coming from. Irvin is a better player than MAAR and 2 of the last 3 games we’ve won are because of Irvin ending it late. Yes MAAR is better at driving. Other than that I’d give Irvin the edge in the rest of the offensive abilities. This talk is a little unwarranted.
I wasn’t comparing who was better or what did what in the game…I said simply that, to me, it was noticeable that Irvin seemed to want to get his shot in one instance where we were coming off of a MAAR make. Irvin seemed to constantly try to force it to the basket when the only one having any success doing so was MAAR.
My observation is we shot very poorly again. Our guys have shot <30% on 3’s four of the last five games. Also interesting that over those last five games, Dawkins has attempted at least one 3 in every game… hasn’t hit a single one.
There were a lot of open looks tonight. It’s a shame they couldn’t get it going. Good thing ND doesn’t appear to play much defense, so there is still a chance to get hot.
Is success 5 for 16? That’s my point. if he was 10 or 11 for 16 then of coarse he should have the ball but he wasn’t. I want the ball in Irvin or Waltons hands late, every time.
Hopefully we can hit done freaking shots. We don’t do a good job of setting each other up at all, got to work harder for each other instead of ourselves and we will get better looks.