I also don’t know that they have better options. On some teams, a challenged Rob Gray drive is the best shot your offense really has at scoring. They didn’t seem to have a lot of guys eager to put it up from 15 ft and out.
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Sure phrasing could be better. If he shot better than that game doesn’t come down to the wire. Point I’m making is his bad shooting kept Michigan in it. The narrative shouldn’t be Gray kept Houston in it.
You’re all crazy if you don’t think he was trying to be the man for them. He had over 20+ shots 6 times this year. 4 of those games were the last four.
Gray’s shooting did not “keep Michigan in it”… him and Devin Davis were the reason that they were in position to win.
Michigan’s game plan was very well executed, just like SDSU, to try to negate the wing options and take them away. Gray needed to try to make plays for them and he hit some really impressive shots.
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Can anyone recall the last time U of M made a buzzer beater that turned a loss into a win? Kam Chatman’s came in a tie game and I am having a heck of a time thinking of another one. Probably something obvious I am forgetting.
GR3 at Purdue?
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GR3 At Purdue.
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I disagree fully. All of a sudden, Wichita St, Cincy, SDSU and Michigan all decided that’s how to play Gray and Houston? Awful coincidence isn’t it?
There’s absolutely no way four separate teams all decided to play Houston this way the last four games of the year. The kid wanted to shoot more and he put up his shots. He shot poorly in 3 of the last 4, resulting in 2 losses. Albeit to great teams.
I think Houston’s defense is what kept them in it, not Gray.
Memorable win! Yeah–just to add a couple cents to this idea of Gray shooting them out of it: not only didn’t he shoot them out of it but he got them in the game in the first place. The announcers talked in the prior game about how Sampson tabbing him to carry Houston really made them a contending team.* In the end we had a lot more talent dotted around the floor, but they had a damned good game plan, and it included a lot more deferring from Gray than the previous game did.
I offered the thesis the other day that one reason the tourney foregrounds guards is that games are so choppy that teams find it harder to establish rhythm; I think I’m on to something. The commercials are longer during the tournament–longer than the games, apparently, and officials are desperate not to scr*w up and spend agonizing amounts of time reviewing calls. Not a good situation, in my view and mitigates against the real TEAMS getting ahead (if my thesis is correct).
*I kind of like Sampson despite myself.
Was Gray efficient offensively last night? like 21 points on 22 shots? Not really. You have a point there. compared to rest of his team though, those numbers make sense. Your take assumes that someone else on the squad could have gotten better opportunities/been more efficient and that’s where your argument falls apart. It appeared that our game plan was to take away their 3 ball (brooks and that other kid) and force Gray/inside play to beat us. I would argue that some of Gray’s forced misses were their best option. I don’t think the kid blew it for Houston or kept us in the game…hell, he pretty much did enough to win most nights.
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Pretty much every scouting report and preview of this game said that Gray was the only one to beat you off the dribble. I agree with your take here, it’s hard to blame someone for 21 points on 22 shots when the other options surely wouldn’t do better.
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Does anyone know where I can find a full replay of the game?
Not to threadjack, but I watched Get Out on Friday night; wow.
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Great movie! The twist got me. Very creative.
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Could someone calculate Gray’s PPP/ORating to determine how his production compared to the rest of his team’s?
Time for a Dakich v Gray cage match.