Tuesday night at Crisler. Not gonna have a better chance for a statement win all year IMO.
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One thing I’ll be watching: can Wagner neutralize Haas enough by making him uncomfortable depending the perimeter that we can get him off the floor?
In 6 career games against Michigan, Haas has played just 9, 10, 16, 9, 11 and 15 minutes. Obviously they had Swanigan and Hammons before, but most of those were still well below his season average each time and our offense seems like a very poor matchup for him.
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Not any more, no. If we want to finish 3-4 in the Big Ten, we probably need to win one of the games against the top 2. If we lose all three, it won’t be a disaster, and we’ll still have a reasonable chance to make the tournament, but our margin of error becomes a lot smaller. The way the Big Ten is looking, I wouldn’t bet on more than 6 teams getting in, and it’s not out of the question that only 5 will.
I would bet JB would have Wagner try to pull out Haas to render him ineffective on defense. He just need to make a couple of 3s. Once Moe gets going, Purdue is going to be forced to downshift on the lineup. Big key is Livers. If he can keep it up for the last two games, Michigan should be in good hands. Just need to rebound and defend.
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A few thoughts:
-Haas has only played 54% minutes up until now, though a little more in big games. Wagner likely has to play well for us to win and generally we’ve used the stretch 5 to get Haas out of the game. But playing Teske some minutes against Haas and then Wagner against the backup might also be a good strategy if Teske can hold up at all against Haas. A freshman might have trouble against Mo. And they’ll probably have some different ways of bringing doubles against Haas.
-Don’t let Cline and Thompson shoot open threes. Make those guys make the extra pass or put the ball on the floor.
-I’d like to see if they can make Carson Edwards play hero ball against Simpson. Go under screens if the put Duncan in those, let Edwards shoot over the top if he wants to.
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Doesn’t it make more sense for Painter to have Haas on the floor when Teske is in the game?
I am interested to see how Teske matches up with Haas. Would not be surprised if Teske gets in foul trouble and we see Austin Davis. Good test for young Teske.
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Keeping Haas off Wagner or DJ has been the typical approach. It’s going to be an interesting to watch. It’s one thing to pull Haas if you have Swanigan as the other option and are going to play small by putting Edwards at the 4. It’s another if you just pull him for the backup C. I haven’t seen enough of Haarms to have much of an opinion about whether he’d be able to keep up with Mo better. Looks like Haarms is Dutch and almost 21 though, so I guess he’s not the typical freshman. Haarms has a much lower usage rate than Haas which could allow Mo to hide on defense and still take advantage of a mismatch on the perimeter. Maybe Painter would rather try keeping Haas on Mo and punishing him on the defensive end, maybe get some fouls and beat him up.
Yeah, seeing how Teske holds up against Haas or even Haarms should be interesting.
Haarms is much better equipped to guard Mo. He’s quicker and more athletic than Haas. If Moe is getting the better of Haas, having Haarms to come in and lockdown on Moe is a luxury.
We have to hope that Livers can do an adequate job guarding V. Edwards. Or maybe we see the first game of CM guarding the opposing 4: Thompson, Matthias, and C. Edwards are all small enough to be guarded by our guards.
You’re spot on…I think Teske has great potential but he’ll need to bring out some DOG for this fight. If anything, use the fouls aggressively…if you’re going to foul…hammer him so he has to make the free throws. No time for finesse…make sure you foul hard and get the ball to avoid the 3 PT play. Big growth opportunity for him on Tuesday.
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Chatting with a buddy who is a big Purdue fan, he pointed out that Purdue has been 12-2 in their last 14 B1G games. That’s a pretty incredible record, but the two losses have been to Michigan. A testament to JB’s ability to have Painter’s number
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Great read on Duncan Robinson.
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Unfortunately I do not like this matchup as well as others we’ve had with Purdue. Mo has to play like he did in the 2H against Illinois. We need the driving and shooting version with his improved defensive rebounding. Also need Livers to keep up his play and Duncan hitting 3s would be huge.
I do like our chances on defense a little more. Keep driving them off the 3 point line. Haas will get his but we have to double and rotate.
Dylan, do you think we double the post at all on Haas? My opinion: we play straight up and hope that we can trade two’s for three’s on the other end with Moe. Purdue just has too much shooting to help down in the post. I am worried Haas will totally go off, but I think you take that risk and hope we capitalize on offense. I think it is super important that Moe doesn’t get into foul trouble – he is the key. Can’t play that same way with Teske (although John is a better defensive matchup against Haas).
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Some of both. I think they’ll be hesitant to double w/ all of Purdue’s shooters, but I think they’ll trap at other times.
Agree that Moe’s offense is key and Teske can’t play the same way.
I’ll make this prediction: Teske attempts a 3-pointer in the game.
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Wow, pretty bold! I can’t remember him having an attempt this season. This game doesn’t seem like a must-win because we have won 7 straight and are 3-1 in conference, but this is by far our best chance to win against a truly top opponent. The only two other opportunities are really @MSU and @Purdue, which all of us would agree are much less likely than winning today. All of that is to say that we need to find a way to pull out this win so we have a “signature,” top 25-RPI victory on our resume.
Although it wouldn’t seem like it, OSU is #25 in RPI right now. If they continue to play well, that’ll be at least a top 50 and possible top 25 win opportunity.
All of this with the caveat being we don’t want to have to worry about the bubble, ending up as a 8-10 seed entering the tournament.
@umhoops Any reason there’s no pre-game presser from JB on the site (or other player interviews)? I’ve always been a nerd and listened to each one even if some of it is basic coach speak. Thanks!
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Scheduling issue for the last couple. Our bad.
Here’s Beilein from yesterday though:
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