UCLA scored 51 points in 59 possessions. This loss had nothing to do with the defense, and not really anything to do with Juzang.
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It was a tough situation Jacquez had a great tournament up to this point. Franz canāt guard both guys. There are more things that hurt them egā¦ Tyger hitting huge shots, missing FTs, not getting outside open looks and Bernard getting a couple big buckets late.
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I mean it had a little to do with Juzangā¦the rest of the team was 10-35 and he was 11-19ā¦
I get our offense was the bigger problem and story but if we needed to win a rock fight, limiting Juzang would have helped
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Basically all 4 of our final shots are haunting. I thought Smithās was money, Sucks.
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Limiting Juzang might have meant letting Jaquez beat you.
If the game plan was to let Juzang get the shots he got, it worked, unequivocally. UCLA, which just put up 1.11 points per possession against Alabamaās excellent defense, scored 0.86.
If youād offered me a 0.86 ppp game, I would have taken it every time, and Iād have predicted an easy double-digit Michigan victory. UCLA gives up 0.95 ppp to an average offense, and Michiganās offense was elite.
I donāt care if Juzang scored 51 points by himself. Michigan lost because they scored 49 points in a tournament game against a mediocre defense. You donāt need to look any further than that.
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I agree with the entire second half of your post. Offense was terrible. I disagree with the suggestion that letting Juzang take 19 shots was any sort of good gameplan. If he doesnāt cook for the entire first half when Franz wasnāt guarding him, itās a different game.
I agree with this. Obviously weād have all been happy pre-game if we had been told that UCLA would only score 51 points. We had a chance to really take control of the game up 7 early though, and then Juzang started cooking. That totally changed the momentum and the game itself. Iād have loved to see Franz switched onto Juzang at that point.
I donāt know if it was the game plan or not, but if it was, it worked. Michigan held a team to about a quarter of a point per possession less than their average. Thatās a fantastic result.
All they needed to do to go to the Final Four was not score literally the fewest points they scored in a game all season. (Admittedly, the Illinois game was fewer point per possession).
The one critique Iād have of the defense is that I really thought Michigan should have put more pressure on UCLA as they were brining the ball up, because letting them dribble ten seconds off of the clock on each possession increased the likelihood of an upset. Another 8 possessions, maybe somebody hits a darned shot. Besides that, I thought the defense was outstanding.
so who, if anyone, comes back? smith, wagner, brown? is hunter a sure fire return?