NCAA Tournament: Michigan vs. Houston Discussion Thread

Yeah, the complaining made me have more than just the normal man bun dislike.

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Announcers said he was jawing at his coach after he made a three in the first half. He also clearly blew up at teammates for mistakes a couple times.

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Z’s defense on him was unreal. Gray was still every bit the problem I thought he’d be whenever he got loose, but Z is INDEED an elite defender.

Did Z have any fouls?

I think zero fouls? WOW

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Definitely looked like the play - almost seemed like Ibi gave Poole’s man a rub.

Was Poole fouled there?

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I’ll be interested to see the stats on just how many of Gray’s points were while not being defended by Zavier. The 3 where Simmons or someone lost track of him coming off the dead ball was brutal.

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Yeah surprised how much he kept complaining. It might’ve been on EVERY miss on his drives. Think he even complained on the ground after Z stripped him

I saw that “jawing at his teammates” - to my eye, it looked more like leadership. He’s the leader on that team. It seemed like it always ended with encouragement. I get the sense the team wants and needs him to tell them what to do throughout the game.

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I remember hearing that. The dude is one heck of a competitor, that’s for sure. I’m sure he crosses the line, sometimes in a good way and sometimes bad. I just think he’s our Wagner. I wouldn’t feel bad for Wagner other way around if I was an opposing fan.

Fair enough. The man bun predisposed me to thinking he was a jerk, but maybe you guys are right :slight_smile:

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Speaking of Wagner being unlikeable by opposing fans…how about this show of class:

https://twitter.com/JeffreyParson/status/975228138266521602

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Ha I hear you! I think he’s arrogant on the court, that’s for sure. If you play like that then I don’t feel for you. Reap what you sow there (coming from a fan obviously haha)

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Great vid. I think there’s another photo of him consoling another player hunched down too

Anyone else can’t believe they’re still breathing?

I’m just trying to get it back under control. I was literally face down on the ground when Charles missed that tip in.

Btw, my dog, who is the best, gets terrified being in the apartment when I’m watching UM play. In the second half, she just decided to lean into the wave and clambered up on to the couch. She was right next to me when that three went in. I just started hugging her and screaming.

Also, I don’t know what everyone else was thinking, but that left his hand and I was like, “wait, hold on a sec, that looks on line, no way, oh my God, it’s happening, splash!” That’s about the craziest 4 seconds I’ve ever seen. I also figured we’d be going to him and just watching the pay develop and realizing it was on, wow, just wow.

#1 play on SC, btw

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Livers gives him props.

I saw the shushing thing, but that doesn’t bother me. True, he was high-volume this tournament, but he also sports a 29% assist rate. Can’t judge on a 2-game tournament sample. They needed him to score.

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He’s 1 for 1 now!

The weird thing is how that game played out exactly as expected in so many ways. We got a ton more 3s than they did, including a bunch of open looks. We didn’t turn the ball over. Gray got his but fairly inefficiently. Brooks and Davis only hit 2 3s. But the one predictable thing that could go wrong did - cold shoot night from the 1-3 spots - 1-14 from 3 and some missed bunnies to boot.

But – the defense held strong; we got a crazy 5 point possession (and 6 big FTs from Teske); and we made the right play and got one huge, unlikely shot. On to the sweet 16 (for the 4th time 6 years). Now that we’re there, might as well keep going.

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Well to play devil’s advocate, assist rate can be more telling of your teammates than a specific player given that it’s percentage of your team’s assists you get while on the court.

What’s sad and hits you hard, is hearing/seeing Davis alone on the court, at the free throw line, 45 minutes after the game. I really feel for him.

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It’s weird, I feel awful for Houston and they seem like great guys. At the same time, their coach is slimy scum and I couldn’t ask for a better thing to happen to him.

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