#5 Michigan vs #1 Auburn 9:39pm est CBS Betting line: Auburn -8.5
The obvious answer to both questions posted are: Auburn is very good. Yes we have a chance.
I imagine, if you are a college basketball fan, you've watched the best team in the country play at least once this year. This is the oldest starting 5 in the country, maybe ever (would need to be fact checked on that). For perspective they're collectively roughly the same average age as the starting 5 for the OKC Thunder. They're experienced and they're talented.
Their Key Player:
Johni Broome 6ft 10in 240lb The potential NPOY. After his first two seasons at Morehead State, he has spent the last 3, including this one at Auburn. Arguably the most important portal pick up that crook Bruce Pearl has ever landed. He's averaging 18.4 pts per game, 10.7 rebounds and 3 assists. He does it all. Interestingly, he's had a pretty quiet tournament so far. Creight held him to 8pts and just 30% from the floor shooting. Can Michigan replicate that defensive performance? Yes, Broome bullies smaller matchups. He's going to have his hands full with Vlad and Wolf. I've also been informed by a close friend who is an SEC assistant at Missouri, that there's rumors his nagging injuries are worse than they're leading on. Sprained shoulder and now a sprained ankle. We'll discuss how Pearly gets him open and how we need to defend it a little later. I'm not calling for Tschetter to play dirty, but he does have 5 fouls to give... and Broome is a 59% free throw shooter. Keep that in your back pocket.
I normally do 3 Key players but to be honest, there's no way I could pick the other 2. Auburn has 5 other players that have had multiple 20+ pt games this season. They're starting lineup consists of 6ft 11in, 6ft 10in, 6ft 7in, 6ft 6in and 6ft 4in. They Bring 6ft 7in and 6ft 1in off the bench. They are a versatile bunch to say the least. So how do we beat this team?
Defensively, we have a decision to make. Do we stay the course and switch 1-4? Auburn has been abusing teams that do this. They will run Flex sets until they get Broome on a guard where he immediately seals his man, gets it and works to his left shoulder for the baby hook. They are not afraid to do this possession after possession. My vote is still to switch 1-4 and dig hard with Vlad or Wolf. Auburn's center is by far the least effective offensive player on the floor. Make him beat us. Surprisingly Auburn isn't a strong offensive rebounding team, so mixing up zone in spots should also be apart of our game plan.
Offensively, they have no weak spots. We are not going to stop them. We simply need to pick our spots to slow them down and go on our own runs.
What are their weak spots defensively? They foul a lot. They foul more than any team left in the tournament and rank in the 300's throughout the year. Their transition defense is bad. They get lost, they get lazy, they rather give 100% offensively all game than risk that energy on defense. We have to attack. We cannot play scared. This is especially true if the rumors of Broome's ankle sprain and shoulder sprain are true. He's going to pick his spots to be physical, and my guess is transition defense is not one of those spots.
It's going to take 30+ minutes of the kind of play we displayed in the final 5 minutes of Texas AM to beat Auburn, and even then, that may not be enough. Auburn is beatable. If you're into advanced metrics, Michigan is currently playing better overall basketball the past 2 weeks than Auburn is... That's crazy.
Happy to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions. Looking forward to the discussion. It's fun to talk hoops the last week of March. We belong here.
The obvious answer to both questions posted are: Auburn is very good. Yes we have a chance.
I imagine, if you are a college basketball fan, you've watched the best team in the country play at least once this year. This is the oldest starting 5 in the country, maybe ever (would need to be fact checked on that). For perspective they're collectively roughly the same average age as the starting 5 for the OKC Thunder. They're experienced and they're talented.
Their Key Player:
Johni Broome 6ft 10in 240lb The potential NPOY. After his first two seasons at Morehead State, he has spent the last 3, including this one at Auburn. Arguably the most important portal pick up that crook Bruce Pearl has ever landed. He's averaging 18.4 pts per game, 10.7 rebounds and 3 assists. He does it all. Interestingly, he's had a pretty quiet tournament so far. Creight held him to 8pts and just 30% from the floor shooting. Can Michigan replicate that defensive performance? Yes, Broome bullies smaller matchups. He's going to have his hands full with Vlad and Wolf. I've also been informed by a close friend who is an SEC assistant at Missouri, that there's rumors his nagging injuries are worse than they're leading on. Sprained shoulder and now a sprained ankle. We'll discuss how Pearly gets him open and how we need to defend it a little later. I'm not calling for Tschetter to play dirty, but he does have 5 fouls to give... and Broome is a 59% free throw shooter. Keep that in your back pocket.
I normally do 3 Key players but to be honest, there's no way I could pick the other 2. Auburn has 5 other players that have had multiple 20+ pt games this season. They're starting lineup consists of 6ft 11in, 6ft 10in, 6ft 7in, 6ft 6in and 6ft 4in. They Bring 6ft 7in and 6ft 1in off the bench. They are a versatile bunch to say the least. So how do we beat this team?
Defensively, we have a decision to make. Do we stay the course and switch 1-4? Auburn has been abusing teams that do this. They will run Flex sets until they get Broome on a guard where he immediately seals his man, gets it and works to his left shoulder for the baby hook. They are not afraid to do this possession after possession. My vote is still to switch 1-4 and dig hard with Vlad or Wolf. Auburn's center is by far the least effective offensive player on the floor. Make him beat us. Surprisingly Auburn isn't a strong offensive rebounding team, so mixing up zone in spots should also be apart of our game plan.
Offensively, they have no weak spots. We are not going to stop them. We simply need to pick our spots to slow them down and go on our own runs.
What are their weak spots defensively? They foul a lot. They foul more than any team left in the tournament and rank in the 300's throughout the year. Their transition defense is bad. They get lost, they get lazy, they rather give 100% offensively all game than risk that energy on defense. We have to attack. We cannot play scared. This is especially true if the rumors of Broome's ankle sprain and shoulder sprain are true. He's going to pick his spots to be physical, and my guess is transition defense is not one of those spots.
It's going to take 30+ minutes of the kind of play we displayed in the final 5 minutes of Texas AM to beat Auburn, and even then, that may not be enough. Auburn is beatable. If you're into advanced metrics, Michigan is currently playing better overall basketball the past 2 weeks than Auburn is... That's crazy.
Happy to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions. Looking forward to the discussion. It's fun to talk hoops the last week of March. We belong here.
