Before we jump into looking back on the basketball game yesterday, I just want to say that yesterday was an amazing day for the B1G conference. Undefeated IU knocking off Kentucky, MSU knocking off a ranking Gonzaga, Ohio going into KU without their best player and playing them tough all day, Wisconsin and Purdue still rolling, and of course Big Blue wins again. The B1G should get 2 more teams into the top 25 after yesterday's events.
Ok, know lets look back on the 90-80 victory yesterday. Yes, you read that right, we scored 90 points. But it might be more concerning in giving up 80 (48 in the second half) to an average Oakland team.
I only was able to watch the 2nd half of the game, but listened to the 1st on the radio. The shortcomings of this basketball team are becoming more and more defined with every game. I was hoping they would get better with time, but it looks like these will be here for the season. While Trey Burke is replacing Morris really well so far, but this team really lacks any depth at the point guard position. The offensive efficiency halts when Burke is not on the floor, Stu is still not playing like a senior. Even with his deficiencies is almost everything but shooting, I could handle it a lot better if he was even trying to run some sort of offense. Most of the time when a standard 2 guard switches to point guard the biggest drop off is in ball handling. With Stu it is decision-making. He just is not able to play the point, so unless Carlton somehow improves 200% between now and the tourney this team will tire out quickly playing back-to-back games in the conference tourney or the real tourney.
The other large problem with the current team is the inability to defend the paint. Smot cannot defend a weak 8th grader down low without fouling out or giving up easy lay-ups. Now though it seems like Morgan has been paying too much attention to Smot's guy to help out on the low post feed, that he loses his own. Smot did a good job yesterday in not getting into foul trouble, but gave up low post position time and time again. So it is a trade off, we can keep Smot on the floor and hope he outscores the guy he is guarding or he can play tough down low and foul out in 15 minutes. Things dont get better when Horford comes on to the floor, he plays weak and just wants to block shots on defense. This area needs to improve before the physical B1G play.
Offensively Michigan shot the ball extremely well, and didnt seem to take many 3s that were forced or not open. Our team is full of good shooters that if they can consistently get good looks, averaging 50% from 3 can be a realistic expectation. But it all depends on the opportunities that are produced. Burke was able to get dribble penetration at will yesterday, which most likely will not continue in B1G. Anytime you score 90 points, you are doing something right on offense. Let's hope it continues for the rest of the non-conference season.
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