1. That was a great basketball game between two great basketball teams. Both teams have a weakness--OSU does not have size inside and Michigan doesn't have a guy to guard stretch 5s on the perimeter--and both teams exploited the other team's weakness beautifully. Michigan and OSU both got open 3s and connected on drives to the hoop precisely because, in OSU's case, Michigan could not use Hunter Dickinson to help in the lane on drivers and in Michigan's case, OSU had to help on Hunter. It reminded me a bit of the '89 semi-final game against Illinois. Just terrific basketball. Those are absolutely both number 1 worthy seeds.
2. For the first time all season, Eli Brooks got put the turnstile defensively. To be fair, Eli got no help defense from Hunter when he funneled guys to the basket, Dwayne Washington was completely unconscious, and I'm sorry, he clears out with his left hand every freaking time he drives and/or steps back without ever getting a call. Still, it was Eli's worst defensive performance by far this year. True to form for this team though, when one thing isn't going well for guys, another is--Eli had 17 of his own, and was absolute money on free throws down the stretch. A great thing about this team is that guys step up on different days (hello, Chaundee Brown!), and guys don't take struggles on one end to the other. In that regard, neither Franz Wagner nor Isaiah Livers had anything approaching great games offensively, but they completely shut down OSU's forwards on the defensive end throughout the entire game.
3. Again, I'll say the same thing I said after the Rutgers game--man, is Mike Smith tough, That's three straight games he has been whacked in the mouth or head and roared back. On offense, everyone was in the right spot on every possession--even our misses were on clean shots--and that was largely at Mike's direction. He struggled with Walker on defense, but again, there was no help because there couldn't be help. Walker made some tough shots--that wasn't anybody's "fault," it was just good play.
4. The assist totals tell a story about the differences between the two teams--Michigan had 19 on 31 makes, and OSU had 11 on 32 makes. OSU ran much of its offense out of dribble hand-offs followed by isolation and downhill driving by the recipient, and with 5 out and thus no help, they made it a one-on-one game. We moved the ball beautifully exploited getting them into scamble situations including feeds off of penetration.
5. I was a bit surprised that we didn't try Isaiah (or Brandon Johns when he was in there) on Liddell, and let Hunter (or Austin Davis when he was in) guard Kyle Young. If we play OSU again, I'd guess that will be in the package at least as a change of pace. Certainly, the zone didn't work.
6. As great as it was to watch Chaundee hit 3s, the two offensive rebounds and the eventual put-back mid second half were most indicative of what he brings to the table. When a guy plays that hard, it matters. I still cringe sometimes at his off-ball defense--two of OSU's late 3s were because Chaundee, with a lead which was insurmountable without 3s, chose those moments to help on drives leading to kickouts for clean corner looks--but his play in every other aspect today was spectacular.
7. I saw E.J. Liddell play in high school and loved him. He's a spectacular player--skilled, high motor, team oriented, you ip your cap to guys like that.
8. I think there were 10 block/charge calls in the game. They got 9 of them. Just another day in Columbus...except that we won anyway.
9. Raise your hand if you thought this was headed the wrong direction after our 90% free throw shooter (Livers) missed both ends of a 2 shot foul, followed immediately by our 85% free throw shooter (Wagner) missing the front end of a one and one. It worked out though, in part because our 73% free throw shooter (Dickinson) was money from the line.
10. Let me repeat--that was a spectacular basketball game.
11. My brother called a 5 point win on yesterday's podcast. I guess I owe him a lunch. Happy to pay, Greg. Go Blue!
2. For the first time all season, Eli Brooks got put the turnstile defensively. To be fair, Eli got no help defense from Hunter when he funneled guys to the basket, Dwayne Washington was completely unconscious, and I'm sorry, he clears out with his left hand every freaking time he drives and/or steps back without ever getting a call. Still, it was Eli's worst defensive performance by far this year. True to form for this team though, when one thing isn't going well for guys, another is--Eli had 17 of his own, and was absolute money on free throws down the stretch. A great thing about this team is that guys step up on different days (hello, Chaundee Brown!), and guys don't take struggles on one end to the other. In that regard, neither Franz Wagner nor Isaiah Livers had anything approaching great games offensively, but they completely shut down OSU's forwards on the defensive end throughout the entire game.
3. Again, I'll say the same thing I said after the Rutgers game--man, is Mike Smith tough, That's three straight games he has been whacked in the mouth or head and roared back. On offense, everyone was in the right spot on every possession--even our misses were on clean shots--and that was largely at Mike's direction. He struggled with Walker on defense, but again, there was no help because there couldn't be help. Walker made some tough shots--that wasn't anybody's "fault," it was just good play.
4. The assist totals tell a story about the differences between the two teams--Michigan had 19 on 31 makes, and OSU had 11 on 32 makes. OSU ran much of its offense out of dribble hand-offs followed by isolation and downhill driving by the recipient, and with 5 out and thus no help, they made it a one-on-one game. We moved the ball beautifully exploited getting them into scamble situations including feeds off of penetration.
5. I was a bit surprised that we didn't try Isaiah (or Brandon Johns when he was in there) on Liddell, and let Hunter (or Austin Davis when he was in) guard Kyle Young. If we play OSU again, I'd guess that will be in the package at least as a change of pace. Certainly, the zone didn't work.
6. As great as it was to watch Chaundee hit 3s, the two offensive rebounds and the eventual put-back mid second half were most indicative of what he brings to the table. When a guy plays that hard, it matters. I still cringe sometimes at his off-ball defense--two of OSU's late 3s were because Chaundee, with a lead which was insurmountable without 3s, chose those moments to help on drives leading to kickouts for clean corner looks--but his play in every other aspect today was spectacular.
7. I saw E.J. Liddell play in high school and loved him. He's a spectacular player--skilled, high motor, team oriented, you ip your cap to guys like that.
8. I think there were 10 block/charge calls in the game. They got 9 of them. Just another day in Columbus...except that we won anyway.
9. Raise your hand if you thought this was headed the wrong direction after our 90% free throw shooter (Livers) missed both ends of a 2 shot foul, followed immediately by our 85% free throw shooter (Wagner) missing the front end of a one and one. It worked out though, in part because our 73% free throw shooter (Dickinson) was money from the line.
10. Let me repeat--that was a spectacular basketball game.
11. My brother called a 5 point win on yesterday's podcast. I guess I owe him a lunch. Happy to pay, Greg. Go Blue!
