He also wasn’t shy in politely caling the four main guys out tonight:
1 Like
I get that Matthews hasn’t played much real ball in the last two years and I have full confidence in him as a concept. I hope he learned something tonight, because it’s inexcusable for a player of his talent to just accept futility the way he did tonight.
Matthew, Simpson, Moe, and Robinson all incredibly tentative out there down the stretch.
Moe, MAAR and Drob 0-15 in the second half and the team missed 9 layups in the second half by my count.
That’s the game.
Don’t forget the DAMN free throws and remember that missing the front end of a 1 and 1 should be counted as a turnover, but people are stupid.
If the journey this year depends on MAAR and Duncan becoming “the guys” that have to make the big plays down the stretch, this will be a long and frustrating year. They are high quality role players on a good team, as they have shown their entire careers.
Moe and Matthews have to make the plays down the stretch, but MAAR and Duncan need to make pivotal plays throughout the game.
To be completely fair, MAAR has done that his four years. He’s always made the quiet run killing plays we forget about afterwards. Just didn’t happen tonight. Duncan needs to hit one or two big 3s like he did against Indiana Saturday during their run, didn’t happen tonight.
We can talk all we want about Moe and Matthews but Seniors are important for a reason.
2 Likes
Could not have said it better.
1 Like
I’ve never seen Wagner fall apart quite like that. Just a total wreck, and I didn’t see OSU doing anything too different on defense after a solid first half.
1 Like
In my opinion the three point shot which they incorrectly counted occurred after the foul. The foul against Simmons probably never should have been called but it occurred before the shot, and I think the replay proved it. At least it did to me. That five point play was really the turning point, but it shouldn’t have mattered.
We didn’t match OSU’s physicality and aggressiveness in the second half. We really had no leadership. I think Z tried, but the seniors certainly didn’t lead. After JB put Mathews and Duncan back in for Poole and Livers, after the freshmen had done a pretty darn good job, I just had a feeling they’d cave. I don’t know, but I’m of the opinion that ALL of the freshmen deserve legitimate playing opportunities. I’m talking maybe a total of 50 minutes or so distributed among the three of them.
Leadership was the culprit in tonight’s game. The seniors and juniors were frazzled. I would have like for JB to use the bench more down the stretch. Duncan who when comes a zero when being pushed up on by superior athletes and Z defense be damn were liabilities to creating offense or making plays. We needed Poole and Brooks to get more run down the stretch as they have no fear even when making mistakes. Plus I think ultimately they will make more plays.
2 Likes
Demetrius Calip
2 Likes
The most frustrating part of it all is that the first half went exactly like I knew that game would go. I knew we were flat out more talented than them. To see the team just fold because they couldn’t match the will and intention of the other team is just depressing. They’ll learn from it, one hopes, but to do it against that team - again - just dammit.
1 Like
Im calling for a Duncan Robinson benching he needs it
1 Like
In past seasons Duncan would only shoot if it was a perfectly set up shot. The sun, moon , and stars needed to be aligned in order for him to shoot. His percentage was very good but it hurt the team when he would consistently pass up on pretty good, if not great, looks. Now Duncan is taking some shots that are not perfectly set up for him. Some of his shots seem to be a bit deeper too. I’ve got to wonder if Duncan is only an elite shooter when he has tons of time to shoot; and perhaps, when he is not overly tired from playing so many minutes.
Instead, Ohio State started switching every ball screen on defense, flummoxing the Wolverines. “We hadn’t seen that yet this year and that spooked us, and we didn’t execute very well,” Beilein said.
Hit on this in the recap… they switched everything and the first counter against switching everything is to drive on mismatches. Michigan obviously couldn’t finish whenever it drove.
1 Like
Happy to see Michigan play a bit of zone.
I believe we will need different defensive looks in our bag of tricks.
When Mich switched to the zone is when JB should have subbed in Brooks and Poole in my opinion to create more offense and have better finishers/play makers in the game.
2 Likes
What did everyone think about the team’s “fight” last night? I like our team a lot. I think they played “hard” in terms of effort, intensity and hustle. For me, it just came down to Mo, MAAR, Robinson and Matthews making a combined 1 of 20 shots in the second half, which is rarely ever going to happen. Not trying to be the ultimate glass half full guy but we almost won when those 4 guys shot a combined 5% for the second half…