Welp!

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Sunday is a must win

So we're not making the tourney if we lose?

[Scoop Snoop]

So we're not making the tourney if we lose?

Depends upon which tourney. 

[PointWarrior]

Early entry for dumbest post of the year.  Let's see if you can go wire-to-wire with it. 

Sunday is a must win

[MuggsyB]

I think today could be a good wakeup call for us in playing better, but we are going to look small against Mizzou.

SLU looked small vs Mizzou and completely controlled that game start to finish. 

[GoldenEagles03]

SLU looked small vs Mizzou and completely controlled that game start to finish. 

Yup. Size presents matchup problems. Execution can eliminate them.

[MU82]

Actually a little concerned about James. Small sample size, obviously, so I'm not climbing on a ledge, but he hasn't looked good so far. He really played poorly today, and Shaka gave him extended bench time.

When Porter came out of the game after fouling out, Nigel was the first to praise his effort, and I loved seeing that team-first attitude.

But MU is going nowhere this season if NJ doesn't live up to his preseason accolades.

[Hards Alumni]

The elephant in the room is Fru's play.  He was dreadful, and didn't seem to really care either.

[WolfganghisKhan]

Yup. Size presents matchup problems. Execution can eliminate them.

We just need to shoot 54% from 3 like SLU

[tower912]

The elephant in the room is Fru's play.  He was dreadful, and didn't seem to really care either.

Fru, NJ, Parham.

[brewcity77]

Crowe might be the best PG in the country and their size is going to limit our space.

He might be the worst defensive PG in her country. Hopefully that helps NJ get off the mat.

Sunday isn't must win, but man last night sure felt like last year and it wasn't good. We hung in the game for 10 minutes just like Indiana then got dog walked by an opponent that frankly didn't look very good. We gave them so many points off turnovers, porous in transition, their bigs caught the ball repeatedly with no one between them and the basket, and I'm pretty sure Costello is still wide open on the wing.

Win Sunday and it'll all feel fine. Hell, be in a competitive game to the end and that might be okay because they're desperate for this one too. But if we get walked again, we will need to get something out of Atlantis to have any optimism.

[tower912]

The missed no-footers led to an unbalanced floor and contributed to the Michigan run outs.  Fru/Parham would miss the lay up, land under/behind the backboard off balance, and already be 15 feet behind the ball and behind a Michigan big sprinting to the front of the rim.   

And, MU let frustration with their offense seep into their defense.   

Porter showed that he had started 130 games before.    Last spring, when I had my 'one big, two guards' mantra, the concept of Porter was exactly what I wanted.  A low to mid major guard with lots of experience to come in and be able to give NJ rest, as well as run the team in case of fouls or injury.   Wasn't really thinking of 0-fer nights.

[Small Orange Soda]

Fru, NJ, Parham.

I can chalk Parham's performance up to a bad game. Missed a lot of bunnies.

I think people should temper their expectations for Fru. The guy lost his starting job in March last season. I still think he'll have a solid year, but offensively, he'll go as far as his point guard leads him.

Nigel was a turnover machine in the exhibitions, not much of a factor in the two cupcakes, and awful last night. He didn't even take it to the rim until the second half, and several passes were simply bad and/or lazy. Not sure what's going on with him, but he hasn't played anywhere near the level he did the second half of last year. This team won't make any noise even if he raises his game from bad to decent.

It's only one game, but so was Indiana last year. Michigan certainly didn't look like a powerhouse to me. I guess we'll see what happens Sunday.

[JTJ3]

Height doesn't determine difficulty in matching up or quality of team. Otherwise you'd just see someone pay to have all 7' and start 5 of them.

Crowe is talented but not even close to the best PG in the country. He was bad in the one game against a decent opponent they've had.

Their defense was awful against SLU. Michigan's defense is good.

They are also coached by Dennis Gates, which is good for us.

[wisblue]

The elephant in the room is Fru's play.  He was dreadful, and didn't seem to really care either.

Fru isnt going to be much of a contributor if he gets 2 fouls in his first 4 minutes of playing time every game against a halfway decent opponent.