... about Minnesota, but remains upbeat about what's ahead for Michigan. He touched on...
• Minnesota: "I don't want to be pessimistic, but if you want my opinion, I think Michigan loses at Minnesota, for a lot of reasons. First of all, if you look at their history, really exciting home win against Ohio State, letdown at Iowa. Really emotional home win against Wisconsin, letdown at Penn State.
"Minnesota is balanced. They've got some star power from Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy, they've got balance with four in double figures. If you look at them recently, you're going to say, no, that's not accurate. There's no way Michigan will lose that game, because Minnesota has lost four of their last five.
"Right now, Joe Lunardi has Minnesota at an 11 seed. What does that mean? Well, that means that if they lose to Michigan, they're probably going to be on the outside looking in … they're going to play with desperation. Just like Penn State and Iowa, if the Gophers beat the Wolverines, their fans are running on the court, they're making posters that they're putting up on the walls. It's the biggest game of their season.
"I still can't get over the last game Michigan played Minnesota. It was at Crisler Arena, and some of Michigan's key guys … [junior guard] Zavier Simpson struggled, and [redshirt junior guard] Charles Matthews didn't shoot well. Matthews made the toughest shot there is in basketball — that 12-foot baseline jump shot, contested, at the buzzer.
"Michigan is so fortunate to have won that game. There's a lot of key things Minnesota will take from that, that they could have done a little bit different. It sets up, for me, that it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Michigan struggle. And oh yeah, their biggest rival is coming up on Sunday. That is going to come into it as well."
• What Michigan can do to avoid a loss tonight: "I always believe the two most important positions in basketball are the point guard and the center. When Michigan plays their best game, both Zavier Simpson and [junior center] Jon Teske play well.
"I would like to see both of them highly involved in the pick-and-roll game, and then get the three wing players all moving and active. If Michigan is flying around, and the ball is moving … I do think they play their best ball when they're utilizing Teske and Simpson in the pick-and-roll situations. That's when Michigan is best."
• The affect of the hand injury to Michigan State big man Nick Ward: "Significant difference. I like Xavier Tillman, but he's not Nick Ward. He may become that someday. The other problem is, Xavier Tillman has given Michigan State such a significant lift off the bench.
"Yeah, he might step in and put up similar numbers in the short term, but you're not going to get that Xavier Tillman-type of bump off your bench anymore. Thomas Kithier and Marcus Bingham and some of their young bigs? They're going to be good someday, but they're not right now.
"That's a huge advantage for Michigan. I think the Spartans will go with a smaller lineup. They won't rebound as well. Their post game will not be as good. That's a big advantage moving forward, for Michigan.
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/mi...ball-podcast-tim-mccormick-with-john-borton-7
• Minnesota: "I don't want to be pessimistic, but if you want my opinion, I think Michigan loses at Minnesota, for a lot of reasons. First of all, if you look at their history, really exciting home win against Ohio State, letdown at Iowa. Really emotional home win against Wisconsin, letdown at Penn State.
"Minnesota is balanced. They've got some star power from Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy, they've got balance with four in double figures. If you look at them recently, you're going to say, no, that's not accurate. There's no way Michigan will lose that game, because Minnesota has lost four of their last five.
"Right now, Joe Lunardi has Minnesota at an 11 seed. What does that mean? Well, that means that if they lose to Michigan, they're probably going to be on the outside looking in … they're going to play with desperation. Just like Penn State and Iowa, if the Gophers beat the Wolverines, their fans are running on the court, they're making posters that they're putting up on the walls. It's the biggest game of their season.
"I still can't get over the last game Michigan played Minnesota. It was at Crisler Arena, and some of Michigan's key guys … [junior guard] Zavier Simpson struggled, and [redshirt junior guard] Charles Matthews didn't shoot well. Matthews made the toughest shot there is in basketball — that 12-foot baseline jump shot, contested, at the buzzer.
"Michigan is so fortunate to have won that game. There's a lot of key things Minnesota will take from that, that they could have done a little bit different. It sets up, for me, that it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Michigan struggle. And oh yeah, their biggest rival is coming up on Sunday. That is going to come into it as well."
• What Michigan can do to avoid a loss tonight: "I always believe the two most important positions in basketball are the point guard and the center. When Michigan plays their best game, both Zavier Simpson and [junior center] Jon Teske play well.
"I would like to see both of them highly involved in the pick-and-roll game, and then get the three wing players all moving and active. If Michigan is flying around, and the ball is moving … I do think they play their best ball when they're utilizing Teske and Simpson in the pick-and-roll situations. That's when Michigan is best."
• The affect of the hand injury to Michigan State big man Nick Ward: "Significant difference. I like Xavier Tillman, but he's not Nick Ward. He may become that someday. The other problem is, Xavier Tillman has given Michigan State such a significant lift off the bench.
"Yeah, he might step in and put up similar numbers in the short term, but you're not going to get that Xavier Tillman-type of bump off your bench anymore. Thomas Kithier and Marcus Bingham and some of their young bigs? They're going to be good someday, but they're not right now.
"That's a huge advantage for Michigan. I think the Spartans will go with a smaller lineup. They won't rebound as well. Their post game will not be as good. That's a big advantage moving forward, for Michigan.
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/mi...ball-podcast-tim-mccormick-with-john-borton-7
