Elite 8 Day 2 Recap

Louisville recovers after gruesome injury to get past Duke

It was a simple play that turned into a horrific injury for Louisville guard Kevin Ware.  With 6:33 left in the first half, Ware jumped to contest a 3-pointer but when he landed his leg buckled and his tibia was fractured.  It's a play that happens hundreds of times in each game but I don't think anybody has ever seen anything like that injury in a basketball game.  I'm not going to post a link because it's seriously that bad, but If you don't have a weak stomach you can search for it yourself.  At that point Louisville was up 21-20 and took a 35-32 lead into halftime.  While on the stretcher about to be taken off the court, Ware kept repeating, "just go win the game," and after composing themselves in the locker room Louisville came out strong in the second half.  About four minutes in, the score was tied at 42, but the Cardinals went on a 20-4 and never looked back as they cruised to an 85-63 win.  Russ Smith continued his hot streak with 24 points and Peyton Siva contributed 16.  Gorgui Dieng, who missed the first meeting with Duke, added 14 points, 11 boards and four blocks.  The Blue Devils struggled all game from the outside going only 4-16 from 3.  Mason Plumlee was the lone bright spot with 17 points and 12 rebounds.  A big mention has to go to Louisville reserve Luke Hancock.  When Ware went down with his injury, it was right in front of the Louisville bench.  Once his teammates saw his leg they either ran away or instantly fell to the floor.  But, Hancock came to the side of his fallen teammate to give support while the doctors worked to stabilize Ware's leg.  After the initial shock to the team went away, Louisville seemed to be on a mission to win for Ware.  They get the surprising Wichita State team in the Final Four, but so far nobody has been able to compete with the Cardinals.

Michigan, Nik Stauskas, shoot Florida out of the gym

After a thrilling comeback against Kansas, everybody was wondering how Michigan would fare in a quick turnaround game with Florida.  From the opening tip the Wolverines showed they were ready while the Gators couldn't get anything going.  Michigan jumped out to an early 13-0 lead with Mitch McGary scoring eight of those points.  Then Nik Stauskas caught fire.  The freshman sharp-shooter connected on 6-6 shots and 5-5 3-pointers in the first half.  It seemed like every time Florida tried to get back in the game Stauskas would come through.  The Gators started to close the gap to end the first half but fouled Stauskas on a 3-point attempt right before the halftime buzzer.  Then in the second, Florida cut the lead to 11 with just over 16 minutes to play and again Stauskas buries a triple, he finished with 22.  In the end Michigan wrapped up a Final Four birth 79-59, their first since the Fab Five in 1993.  The Gators were never able to keep up offensively and learned nothing from watching Kansas dominate the paint as they were satisfied with taking jumpers all day.  Florida was a popular pick by many to win the South region, mainly because Ken Pomeroy had them ranked #1 overall after the regular season.  But I felt their offensive and defensive numbers were highly inflated (and deflated) due to playing in a very bad SEC.  The only other team to make the tournament was Ole Miss, who did win their first game, but if they didn't beat Florida in the SEC Championship game they would have been a bubble team.  After his late game heroics on Friday night, Trey Burke cooled off, only hitting 5-16 shots for 15 points.  The B1G POY still controlled the game with a season high eight rebounds, seven assists, and only one turnover.  Statistically Michigan is the best offensive but worst defensive team remaining.  They next matchup with Syracuse and their vaunted 2-3 defense.



Follow @JasonShusteric on Twitter

Need more basketball action?  Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk!  Then enter to win a Samsung 60" LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t

Michigan Basketball Needs To Shake Its Funk

It wasn't too long ago that I had a conversation with a friend about how this years Michigan team has a legit shot at winning a national title.  That was when they started the season 16-0 then moved their record to 20-1 during conference play.  Since then they are 3-4 and looking like the Final Four hopes were a mirage

Wednesday's loss at Penn State is in the running for upset of the season in college basketball along with TCU over Kansas.  Until then they didn't have a loss to a team outside of the top 25 in RPI ranking and all of them were on the road at Ohio State, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan State.  It's tough to call the Wisconsin game a loss because the Badgers needed a half court shot by Ben Brust to send it to overtime.  But the loss at Michigan State was so bad that it counts for one and a half so it all evens out.  Every team is going to lose throughout the year and those were all acceptable, but the loss at Penn State is inexcusable.

The fact that they had a 15 point lead with a little over 10 minutes left in the game then proceeded to be outscored 33-12 by a team that was winless in the Big Ten is a cause for concern.  Usually when major upsets like this happen it's because the better team just has an off night like in the case of Kansas who shot 29% from the field.  Michigan doesn't have that excuse because they shot 52% and hit their scoring average.  What they didn't do is play defense and that's beginning to be a problem.  Penn State averages 62 ppg and shoots 39% ranking 292nd and 329th respectively but managed to score 84 points on 49% shooting against the Wolverines.  It's games like this you don't see the top teams losing.  They will have tough road games against lesser opponents that are close but will never lose the game.  If they want to get into the same class as consistently good teams like Duke and Michigan State this can't happen

We all know Michigan can score with anybody, averaging 76 ppg and shooting 49.5% from the floor, good for 6th in the country.  But defensively they rank 262nd nationally in both steals (5.8) and blocks (2.6) per game.  According Ken Pomeroy's adjusted defense, Michigan is the only top ten team ranked outside of the top 24.  In the last 10 years no National champion has been ranked lower than 19 according to Ken Pom's defensive rankings and Michigan currently sits at 57.

Trey Burke is the best point guard in the country and Tim Hardaway Jr. is a great compliment but the lack of an inside presence on both sides of the ball is a glaring weakness.  Jordan Morgan, Mitch McGary, and Jon Horford are serviceable at best.  This is Morgan's third year and his numbers have gone down in each one.  He shows flashes every now and then as he's posted three double-doubles this year but he's too inconsistent and missing time due to injury has helped his cause.  I think McGary is the best out of the bunch and reminds me of a bigger Zack Novak as far as determination.  Coming in I wasn't sure about him as I saw him get torn up by Nerlens Noel in high school and watched his recruiting rank plummet.  He has grown on me though, I love his hustle and passion for the game but his athleticism kills me.  There's been too many times I've seen him not be able to finish around the rim with a dunk or get out rebounded by a smaller more athletic player.  Horford is decent, he gets the occasional block but often looks lost on the court.  Teams with good post players will always give them trouble and are hard to beat unless Michigan's guards are hitting their shots.

The starting freshmen, Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III, are key to the success of this team in the tournament.  Like I said, we know what to expect out of Burke and Hardaway, but they can't win big games by themselves and will need the scoring of the two young bucks.  Both average 11 points but seemed to have hit a wall of late, Robinson more-so than Stauskas.  In the murderers row of their schedule (at Indiana, vs Ohio State, at Wisconsin, at Michigan State) Robinson scored only 18 points on 7-24 shooting.  Stauskas started the year red hot from three point range ranking among the top five and hovering around 50%.  Since conference play started his numbers have dropped and he's had more than two 3's in a game only three times, whereas he had eight games out of conference.  It was a difficult pace to keep and defenses are tough in the Big Ten but his jumper doesn't seem as consistent as it once was.  Maybe it's because they are playing more games in college than a year ago in high school.  Either way UM needs to get these two back on track if they want to make a run in the tournament.

Their game against Michigan State is the biggest one so far and will tell us if they are ready to take down top notch opponents.  Not only is this a rivalry game but they were utterly embarrassed in East Lansing losing by 23 and trailing by as many as 31.  Every loss has came on the road and with this game being played at Crisler it's a must win for this team and needs to do it convincingly without the threat of losing it at the end.  I don't want to sound like I'm calling this team overrated or I've lost faith in my team because they are very solid and better than most in the country.  But if they want to be considered a serious contender for a National Championship they need to beat MSU and if not get a win against Indiana at least a game down to the last possession.  The good thing for Big Blue is that there are no road games in the NCAA tournament.  The bad thing is they are susceptible to an early upset.


Follow @JasonShusteric on Twitter

 

Michigan Basketball: 2013 vs 1993

     Right now the Michigan Wolverines basketball team is ranked #1 in the country for the first time since the 1992-93 season, when the Fab Five were on the court.  Before the season started I posted that this is Michigan's best since that Fab Five team and they are proving that.  This weekend Michigan plays at #3 Indiana, but how would this year's team fare against its counterpart from 20 years ago?

2013 PG Trey Burke 6'0, 190 lbs, 17.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 7.1 apg
1993 PG Jalen Rose 6'8, 210 lbs, 15.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.9 apg

     This is the best matchup of the five positions.  Right now Trey Burke is the best point guard in the country and a top three overall player.  The thing I love about Burke is his low turnover rate.  He is averaging 7.1 assists and only 1.9 turnover per game.  Burke's ability to create his own shot while still getting his teammates involved is what sets him apart from other players.  Jalen Rose was a small forward playing point guard.  Rose was placed in the position because he was the best ball handler on the team but he was definitely a scorer.  His 6'8 frame was something that posed a lot of problems for opponents because he was able to post up smaller players and was usually too fast for bigger defenders.  Which is what Burke would have trouble with.  But his speed and quickness would also cause problems for Rose.  It's really close but I have to give it to Jalen.  I know Rose was never a player of the year candidate but he has the athletic ability and length to challenge Burke and I don't think Burke can handle him in the post.

2013 SG Nik Stauskas 6'6, 190 lbs, 12.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 49% 3FG
1993 SG Jimmy King 6'5, 210 lbs, 10.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.1 apg

     The shooting guard spot puts a shooter against an athletic slasher.  Nik Stauskas was the third piece of this years recruiting class behind Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary but he is proving his worth.  Stauskas is among the nation's leaders in three point percentage and still has the ability to drive and finish at the rim.  He does have decent size but it would be tough for him to contain Jimmy King's athleticism.  King was the high flyer for the '93 team and ran the fast break great with Rose.  He was their biggest three-point threat in the starting lineup and was a solid defender but it's really hard to overlook Stauskas' shooting ability.  The fact that he's able to hit half the threes he takes is more important than any dunk King can throw down.  Gotta take Nik, eh.

2013 SF Tim Hardaway Jr. 6'6, 205 lbs, 15.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 48% FG
1993 SF Ray Jackson 6'6, 220 lbs, 9.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 49% FG

     Tim Hardaway Jr. has vastly improved his game between his sophomore and junior seasons because he's letting the offense come to him instead of forcing things.  It's evident in his shooting percentage as it's jumped from 42% to 48% from the field and 28% to 41% from three.  Hardaway is also the Jimmy King to Trey Burke as he runs the break exceptionally well.  Ray Jackson is the forgotten member of the Fab Five but he was the defensive stopper for the team.  He was also the last of the five to get into the starting rotation their freshman year.  Even though his D was solid, I still have to give the edge to Hardaway's superior offensive skills.

2013 PF Glenn Robinson III 6'6, 210 lbs, 12.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 60% FG
1993 PF Chris Webber 6'9, 245 lbs, 19.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.5 bpg

     Glenn Robinson III is a great athlete and isn't afraid to crash the boards as he is second on the team in rebounds.  He's a great fit for John Belein's offense because he doesn't mind playing down low and can be a math-up nightmare for the opposing team's power forward.  But, like Rose, he's playing out of position.  His natural spot is at small forward and unlike Rose, he can't make up for the sheer size and strength that Chris Webber brings to the table.  Webber was dominant in college averaging a double-double in both of his season at Michigan.  From the moment he stepped on the court he was a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the floor as he also averaged 1.5 steals and 2.5 blocks.  Robinson is a great prospect and will continue to improve, but he's fighting an uphill battle against a player that was drafted #1 overall.

2013 C Jordan Morgan 6'8, 250 lbs, 6.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 0.2 bpg
1993 C Juwan Howard 6'9, 240 lbs, 14.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 2.6 bpg

     This is the most lopsided matchup we have.  Jordan Morgan is able to finish above the rim, a decent rebounder, but a below average defender.  Morgan has a lot of trouble creating his own offense unless he's set up by Burke.   Juwan Howard was a very skilled big man offensively and defensively.  He put up good numbers in '93 but they improved even more when Webber left and he averaged 20 points and 9 boards.  Howard also averaged well over 2 blocks per game in his time at Michigan.  Howard would be too much for Morgan to handle and would control the paint on both side of the ball.

2013 Bench - Mitch McGary, Caris LeVert, Jon Horford
1993 Bench - Eric Riley, Rob Pelinka, James Voskuil

      The bench for Michigan this year doesn't give them much outside of a rotation between Morgan, Mitch McGary and Jon Horford.  One thing I love about McGary though is his intensity.  The guy doesn't care if he's starting or coming off the bench, he's always going to play hard and be the first guy cheering his teammates on.  He reminds me of Kevin Garnett, the way he puts his heart into every game.  For the '93 team, Eric Riley was a great backup big man to have.  Before Webber and Howard arrived he averaged 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks.  As for Rob Pelinka and James Voskuil, they provided the occasional three but that's about it.

     I have to be honest, I think the 1993 team would have its way with the 2013 team.  Not to say the 2013 team couldn't win, but it would be tough.  The fact that the Fab Five would dominate the boards would be hard to overcome.  Not only did Webber and Howard do work on the glass, the rest of the starters all averaged over four rebounds a game.  The best chance the 2013 team has is if they are hitting from beyond the arc.  They have four players that can hit from distance and get hot on any given night.  One thing you have to remember about the Fab Five is not only did they have great careers in college but Webber, Rose, and Howard all went on to be 20 point scorers and play 10-plus years in the NBA.  In a seven game series I've got the '93 team in five.