Here it is.

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I'm going to enjoy this one cuz I don't expect us to win. But would love it if we do.

I'm going to sit back and enjoy this one.

I'm with ya Tahoe. Oklahoma tailed off a bit at the end of the season. Griffin suffered a concussion, and now it appears he has a "sore back" and won't practice today.
Holy shit, if Griffin is out for this game, Oklahoma will win by 200. Whenever the opponent loses an integral part of their team, UM nuts up. Griffin, heal thyself!

In my brackets I picked Oklahoma to win this one. UM has had trouble with bigs all year long, and you don't get much bigger than Blake Griffin. Just ask Texas Tech. Griff only missed 6 shots while rolling up 40 pts and grabbing 23 rebounds. But they also aren't a one-headed monster. Willie Warren brings some size of his own to the guard spot at 6'4" and went off for 35 against Arkansas earlier in the year. Their remaining starters are 6'3", 6'6", and 6'7".

I just see this one potentially going badly. Against Illinois in the Big Ten tourney they were focused on keeping Tisdale out of it, only to see Mike Davis use his size and destroy UM in the first half.

A number of national people are picking UM here, but I don't see it. They would have to hit well over 50% to make it happen.

They kept Clemson to a much lower score than what Clemson is used to, but Oklahoma is so good in transition.

I'm calling it Oklahoma 68, Michigan 53.

right, because I would neeeeeeeeeeeever root for an injury, im definitly way above that....

if griffin is healthy ill just enjoy the game stress free. i cant expect them to beat that. at this point im satisfied with the season. of course, if we do beat ok, i would like our chances vs cuse...

right, because I would neeeeeeeeeeeever root for an injury, im definitly way above that....

if griffin is healthy ill just enjoy the game stress free. i cant expect them to beat that. at this point im satisfied with the season. of course, if we do beat ok, i would like our chances vs cuse...

I'm generally a "win a championship or else it was an unsuccessful season" kind of guy, but at the same time I at least get some enjoyment out of exceeding expectations. In football, I think the expectations should always be high. Hopefully we're on the verge of that with basketball.

For now, most national writers thought UM was still a year away from the tourney. Considering that, even with a loss, UM ended up no worse than 1 win away from the Sweet Sixteen - I can agree that I'm satisfied with the season.

I said before that I wasn't exactly sure how much of a difference just making the tourney would have in recruiting. I think, however, that winning the first round game and having national people talking about you having a good chance to beat a #2 seed and being the team nobody wants to play, now THAT makes a difference in recruiting. Beilein should have a much easier sales pitch now. Most improtantly, I think more instate kids will be considering UM, with all the publicity about how two Detroit kids recruited by someone else are excelling in Beilein's system.

I have ADD when it comes to listening to the talking heads. I just go blank on those guys, but they(CBS analysts up the dial a piece) said, There is no more frustrating team to play than BLines Wolverines.

WTF are they talking about there? That we hit the 3s? I'm not following

Defense.

People aren't used to the 1-3-1 defense. They (unlike Big Ten teams) don't have time to prepare for it and even if they do, Beilein know X's and O's well enough to throw them the occasional man-to-man or 2-3 to completely screw with the other teams' heads.
I'm sure the outside shooting that can make for a lot of points in a hurry (if the shots are falling) is a part of it, but mostly they're referring to the 1-3-1.

griffin is going to blow through the 1-3-1 like a freight train. i think hes the most impressive college recruit since carmello.

I think he's got a chance to be anywhere from A. Jamison to E. Brand as an NBA player.

griffin is going to blow through the 1-3-1 like a freight train. i think hes the most impressive college recruit since carmello.


Kevin Durant??

I wasn't that impressed with Melo in college. I only saw him in their tournament run, but he didn't play a lick of defense (and hasn't since). He could score for sure, but as Glenn said so could Durant. Was Melo any more impressive than Beasley or Rose?

I'm generally a "win a championship or else it was an unsuccessful season" kind of guy, but at the same time I at least get some enjoyment out of exceeding expectations. In football, I think the expectations should always be high. Hopefully we're on the verge of that with basketball.

For now, most national writers thought UM was still a year away from the tourney. Considering that, even with a loss, UM ended up no worse than 1 win away from the Sweet Sixteen - I can agree that I'm satisfied with the season.

I said before that I wasn't exactly sure how much of a difference just making the tourney would have in recruiting. I think, however, that winning the first round game and having national people talking about you having a good chance to beat a #2 seed and being the team nobody wants to play, now THAT makes a difference in recruiting. Beilein should have a much easier sales pitch now. Most improtantly, I think more instate kids will be considering UM, with all the publicity about how two Detroit kids recruited by someone else are excelling in Beilein's system.
This notion is so incredibly fucking stupid it belongs in the bowels, yes bowels, of an outhouse.

Demand excellence, Jethro. Its worked so well in your life. Fucking moron.

It's stupid to demand excellence? Is that why you took your two degrees and packed up for a shanty in the woods, running a 2,000 ft extension chord from Uncle Jim's cottage so you could power your tiny computer and lurk on message boards?

Never pretend you know anything about my life, and never criticize people who have high expectations simply because yours can't make it off the ground.

It's stupid to demand excellence? Is that why you took your two degrees and packed up for a shanty in the woods, running a 2,000 ft extension chord from Uncle Jim's cottage so you could power your tiny computer and lurk on message boards?

Never pretend you know anything about my life, and never criticize people who have high expectations simply because yours can't make it off the ground.
Shut the fuck up. If no championship has been then the season was a failure is nothing more than a failure attempting to come out of the closet. Save your Anthony Robbins shit for the guys down at the Admiral station.

You are a tier 4 fuckhead who now demands excellence. Go piss yourself again.

same deal as clemson game. if im betting, i think michigan wins outright or gets blown out (i like michigan in close games), so i'd pass on the points and taking the money line if im betting on michigan. however, i think the better bet is to give the points and take OK. grifin is a tough guy, a little spill isnt going to slow him down.

Close game.

Gibson boxscore doesn't show it, but he's having a good game.

Welp, looks like it's all over for the ol' Maize and Blue.

^ You just don't get analysis like that anywhere else. I know my stuff.

we made a better game of it than i expected, especially considering what happened.

this ok team isnt very good, which is why. outside of the griffin's not very impressive. of course, the griffins are off the charts.

not upset at all. already cant wait for next year.

I had to watch it on the laptop, but we looked ok. Like you said, diddy, looking forward to seeing 'my' team next year.

Griffin is the best college player I've seen in over a decade. It's crazy how good he is.

That said, I was not happy with the officiating. Oklahoma was the better team, but they didn't need those cheap calls they kept getting as well.

Good season, nonetheless.

You said, "That said" Motwon. That is an automatic deduction of 100 posting points for the day, and you are now holding onto your "Capo" (I love the mafia obsession with this board--all of us here would wet our pants out of fear if we ever really met a mafioso) position quite, tenuously.

Don't go "That being said" on me...it makes me mad.

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My bad, Zip. It also makes me angry.

That being said, I cannot promise it won't happen again when I'm in a bad mood.

If it happens again, it's just evidence that you don't have a penis.

Griffin is the best college player I've seen in over a decade. It's crazy how good he is.

That said, I was not happy with the officiating. Oklahoma was the better team, but they didn't need those cheap calls they kept getting as well.

Good season, nonetheless.

Yeah, like how it was a foul to box out Blake Griffin?

Yeah Michigan kept getting fouls when Griffin tried to jump over their backs. I just didn't get that. They were holding the box out. That was horseshit.

Oklahoma was the better team. They deserved to win. I wasn't happy with how it happened. When you're the best player in the NCAA, you don't need help.

And is it just me, or is Griffin's mom the ugliest thing ever? What was their dad thinking? And older brother needs to embrace baldness and let the sprouts go.

And is it just me, or is Griffin's mom the ugliest thing ever?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bE7JBpKDuts/SVqkP_q0ItI/AAAAAAAAANc/6d6omOx48bI/s400/sooners_cheerleaders_9.jpg

Anyone who surrounds himself with whores and flips off the camera is a bunch of punks. How appropriate for a young man leading a team in a quest to make it to Detroit.

Also, did anyone else realize Griffin was 2nd in the nation in Free Throw Attempts this season? Now there's a stat that's not surprising. He'll fit right in with Dwight Howard, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and anyone else who gets to the line for breathing.

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I didn't see the much of the 1st half, but did Ok make some adjustments at the half? Is that why they got the lead, or just started making shots.

Oklahoma came out in the second half and just took control. Manny Harris was in foul trouble throughout, and Douglas/Novak were simply outmatched. What UM managed to do in that game, though, is still pretty incredible. They forced Oklahoma to play at UM's pace. One more good body in there, to either bang on Griffin or a true PG to take the pressure off the rest of the guys (who simply should not be ball handlers), and the outcome might very well have been different.
At one point late in the game UM cut the lead from about a consistent 10-12 down to 58-53, but there was just no getting over "the hump". There was a pretty solid disparity in fouls called (23-13 overall in Oklahoma's favor--meaning they had the 13), but us Basketball Experts know that wehn you play aggressively and go inside and BANG, you get the benefit of the calls.
Griffin got his ass kicked. He had a plug up his nose and a big bandage on his left elbow for much of the game, but the talent gap was huge, and the way the two teams played exploited it more. Oklahoma is just good at the "inside-outside" game. UM, as we all know, better rain down three pointers or it's lights out. I'll tells ya, Anthony Wright scored 12 inexplicable points in the first half when Harris went out with two fouls five minutes in, and that kept UM close.
Douglas and Novak should be guys you bring off the bench, especially as freshmen. CJ Lee would make a nice backup as well. And again, please don't expect Sims to go in there and toss elbows with the big boyz, that's not his game (More and more I think his game might be chess).
A valiant effort, though, and Belein coached the shit out of this team. But they'd better have Darius Morris ready to go next year, Vogrich better live up to his billing as the top shooting guard in the nation, and Sims and Harris better pick it up. They won't sneak up on anybody, and the big Ten has a lot of young talent and good coaches that are coming back.

Check out Zip, breakin it down.

Good to know that Ok didn't make some adjustment that BLine couldn't adjust to...or wasn't even aware that they made a half-time adjustment.

Don't give me the boo hoo crap. I admitted that Griffin is probably the best player in college basketball this year. He hit some shots tripled teamed that I don't think 98% of NBA players could hit double teamed.

His elbow - wow. A scratch on your elbow means you've been assaulted? Hardly. He's all over the fllor consistently because of the way HE plays, not the way his opponent plays.
His nose, yep, as he barrled in for a rebound he ran into Zovak's arm - very little compared to the elder Griffin's off arm jack to Sims that put Sims on the bench seeing stars. But that didn't warrant a foul call.
I simply wish I knew the rules better. I wish I knew how Willie Warren could slide underneath someone at the last minute, or backpedal with his feet moving a million miles an hour, and draw the charge both times, yet Novak can stand straight up for several seconds and have Griffin barrel into him and get the blocking call.
I'm in no way saying it would have changed the outcome. The better team won. But the game would have been much better, closer, and more fair to have the whistles consistent. An Oklahoma die hard has to admit the difference.

I admit when UM gets the benefit of calls. Unfortunately Andy Katz is leading a dick-sucking campaign blaming the entire world for the fact that Griffin always finds himself around contact. But clearly it's never Griffin's fault, as he steps up to the line more than any other big man.

when man hair went out with fouls and simms was out with the headache, i kept thinking about how dr tre said msu wasnt supposed to beable to compete with osu, psu, or georgia since those teams are 4 or 5 star players.

b-line wasnt exactly using blue chippers in the first half, and he managed to make a game of it.

im incredibly impressed by him. and our guys showed a tough as nails approach that msu used to have during the flintstone era.

what this team needs is a pg (check) beef (check?) and more experience. it sounds like we are getting all three next year. if simms improves like he has under beiliene, this team should be competive for a NC.

when man hair went out with fouls and simms was out with the headache, i kept thinking about how dr tre said msu wasnt supposed to beable to compete with osu, psu, or georgia since those teams are 4 or 5 star players.

b-line wasnt exactly using blue chippers in the first half, and he managed to make a game of it.


Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't MSU up on Georgia at the half in the Capitol One Bowl? 6-3 I believe.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't MSU up on Georgia at the half in the Capitol One Bowl? 6-3 I believe.

And the pitcher winds up, has a point in his hand, delivers, batter swings and misses the point completely.

And the pitcher winds up, has a point in his hand, delivers, batter swings and misses the point completely.

Not exactly.

Diddy gave MSU shit for losing to the Top 10 teams they played.

My response was that they won big games against similar talent and you shouldn't give a team shit for losing to more talented foes.

Diddy then attempts to give Michigan props for hanging with a Top 10 team and basically says see, b-line is hangin with inferior talent.

My point, so did Dantonio against Georgia yet you bagged on them for losing. But when UM hangs, you give credit.

Stupid argument to be having regardless I guess. I took the bait. Very impressed with Michigan in the tourney FWIW.

Not exactly.

Diddy gave MSU shit for losing to the Top 10 teams they played.

My response was that they won big games against similar talent and you shouldn't give a team shit for losing to more talented foes.

Diddy then attempts to give Michigan props for hanging with a Top 10 team and basically says see, b-line is hangin with inferior talent.

My point, so did Dantonio against Georgia yet you bagged on them for losing. But when UM hangs, you give credit.

Stupid argument to be having regardless I guess. I took the bait. Very impressed with Michigan in the tourney FWIW.

point taken for georgia. now what about the two biggest games of the year, osu and psu?

Oklahoma came out in the second half and just took control. Manny Harris was in foul trouble throughout, and Douglas/Novak were simply outmatched. What UM managed to do in that game, though, is still pretty incredible. They forced Oklahoma to play at UM's pace. One more good body in there, to either bang on Griffin or a true PG to take the pressure off the rest of the guys (who simply should not be ball handlers), and the outcome might very well have been different.
At one point late in the game UM cut the lead from about a consistent 10-12 down to 58-53, but there was just no getting over "the hump". There was a pretty solid disparity in fouls called (23-13 overall in Oklahoma's favor--meaning they had the 13), but us Basketball Experts know that wehn you play aggressively and go inside and BANG, you get the benefit of the calls.
Griffin got his ass kicked. He had a plug up his nose and a big bandage on his left elbow for much of the game, but the talent gap was huge, and the way the two teams played exploited it more. Oklahoma is just good at the "inside-outside" game. UM, as we all know, better rain down three pointers or it's lights out. I'll tells ya, Anthony Wright scored 12 inexplicable points in the first half when Harris went out with two fouls five minutes in, and that kept UM close.

Detroit basketball fans are not familiar with basketball players who can actually dribble and attack the basket, instead of settling for jumpers. That's why on this board there is so much animosity towards Dwyane Wade and LeBron James; because Piston fans are stuck with generic, one-dimensional, jump-shooting, no defense guards such as Rip. Maybe when they get a guard who can actually dribble and attack the basket, then they may appreciate an occasional trip to the stripe.

Detroit basketball fans are not familiar with basketball players who can actually dribble and attack the basket, instead of settling for jumpers. That's why on this board there is so much animosity towards Dwyane Wade and LeBron James; because Piston fans are stuck with generic, one-dimensional, jump-shooting, no defense guards such as Rip. Maybe when they get a guard who can actually dribble and attack the basket, then they may appreciate an occasional trip to the stripe.

Yeah, it's like that pull-up jumper dude they had in the 80's. What was his name? You know, big smile number 11 I think....

That guy never attacked the basket either.

Not exactly.

Diddy gave MSU shit for losing to the Top 10 teams they played.

My response was that they won big games against similar talent and you shouldn't give a team shit for losing to more talented foes.

Diddy then attempts to give Michigan props for hanging with a Top 10 team and basically says see, b-line is hangin with inferior talent.

My point, so did Dantonio against Georgia yet you bagged on them for losing. But when UM hangs, you give credit.

Stupid argument to be having regardless I guess. I took the bait. Very impressed with Michigan in the tourney FWIW.

Tre:
UM not only hung (hung well?) with Oklahoma, but nearly caught them late at 58-53. Then the silly basketball fag rules took over, the ones where (unlike manly football where you lose yardage and get a replay of the down with a penalty), you get "free throws", a chance to get free gay points with nobody defending you, and the one where the basketball sissies have determined that after so many ticky tack fouly poos, you are kicked out like girls at the slumber party who wear the wrong color shoes. So, basketball-football comparison null and void because basketball is a fag sport.

Also, uh, UM DID beat two top-ten teams during the season, beat a better Clemson team in the tourney, beat a better Illinois and Purdue team during the season. In other words, they didn't get PANTSED by EVERY good team they played like DingDongtonio.

I'll be the first to admit that Oklahoma was the better team. I mean we had Novak who is 6'5" at the most playing as our PF and giving up 30 lbs and 2 or 3 inches easily. Sims was trying to guard Griffin who has 3 inches and 20 lbs on him as well as ridiculous athleticism for his size. Oklahoma was more aggressive and doubled our pts in the paint so they were bound to get more calls.

However, I'm not saying there were no questionable calls go against Michigan. 2 of Manny's offensive fouls were garbage. But the 3 foul calls I specifically remember being horse shit were 2 against CJ Lee and one on Sims.

Lee stood on the baseline twice near the rim and both times was stationary and there before Griffin was there. Both times Griffin went through his body and CJ Lee was called for blocking.

Now the worst call of the game/ probably the entire season was when Sims boxed out Griffin so far that Griffin was out of bounds. Sims didn't use his hands and used his ass and got lower than Griffin to box him out. Guess what they call a foul on Sims. How do you call a foul on that? They showed Beilein after that and you could read his lips when he told Sims "Do it again". Terrible calls, but hopefully next yr we can have some more size in the post.

BTW, Zach Gibson played 2 pretty good games for a backup Center/PF for us. He was hustling by getting rebounds, blocks and especially tipping rebounds he couldn't get to back to our guards. Wouldn't mind seeing him get 10-13 min./ game next yr next to Sims so that Sims can guard the PF.