Michigan @ #1 UConn
Dear diary,
I don't think Michigan stands a chance today. Based on the last few games I have seen, Michigan still takes too many bad three's. It just seems as though they settle too often. Michigan can get a three point shot anytime they want. That's the nature of basketball, the further you are from the basket, the easier it is to shoot. The whole risk/reward theory at it's finest. UConn is too talented to not punish Michigan for their poor shots, UConn's guards will pounce on the long rebounds and get some easy transition buckets.
Prediction: UConn 75 Michigan 62
All times are Mountain
4:11 PM About to tip in Storrs, but the MSU-Indiana game has to finish first. Why? I’m not really sure, it’s a 27 point game with 2 minutes to play. Remember the good ol days when they would just leave the bad game and go to the good one
4:12 PM update in the corner of the screen says Uconn 3 Michigan 0. This may be the closest we get all day.
4:13 PM 6-1 uh oh. Is it bad to be this pessimistic one minute into the game?
4:14 PM 8-1 according to the corner of the screen. How about a picture in picture ESPN? Just a small one in the corner? For those of us who aren’t super interested in watching walk-ons vs. walk-ons in a 30 point blow out.
4:16 PM 75-47 MSU wins. What a thriller.
4:17 PM First Impression: Uconn center Hasheem Thabeet is enormous. I have seen UConn a few times this year, but golly. He is gigantic. He reminds me of me in 6th grade. Just uncomfortably bigger than everyone else on the court.
4:18 PM great pick and roll type deal, Harris with a great pass to Sims for the bucket. 12-10 UConn.
4:21 PM the color guy just said “Michigan has been really patient on offense” I have seen a lot of Michigan games this year, and patience has never crossed my mind.
4:21 PM yikes UConn visitors locker room…looks like a high school locker room, only smaller.
4:22 PM holy blocked shot batman!
4:24 PM Sims aggressively to the basket right at Thabeet, gets the foul and misses both free throws. Sigh
4:25 PM Harris great wrap around pass to Sims for the layup. Harris and Sims are the only decisive players out there so far. They aren’t thinking, just reacting properly, Douglass and Shepard look lost early.
4:27 PM SIMS! Great skill move down low! Gets Thabeet up in the air and sneaks under for another layup!!! 14-14!
4:27 PM Michigan isn’t hoisting as many forced 3 pointers, and Sims and Harris are both being very aggressive. Gotta love when Michigan plays this way!
4:33 PM Stu Douglass…for thuuuuureeeee! Timeout UCONN!
4:34 PM LeBron commercial. Could LeBron play in the NFL now? Is it really that far-fetched that he could play for the Cleveland Browns tomorrow? I for one, think it is entirely possible. 6’8” 265!!! What position couldn’t he play? Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Brian Jordan all played baseball and football successfully. I submit LeBron could play in the NFL if he wanted to.
4:36 PM 2 fouls on Sims…can Michigan keep it up without him?
4:38 PM Douglass again for thuuuurrrrreeeee. The replay shows textbook form. It makes me want to go work on my jumper…maybe later
4:45 PM Just saw Ray Allen and Donny Marshall. Then the color guy put up his 5 best UConn greats and that had Donyell Marshall on it. As I recall these are not the same person. Color guy is confused…I’m gonna look it up.
4:46 PM Stu Douglass with another jumper! Dare I say…en fuego?
4:47 PM Michigan up 26-21
4:47 PM Anthony Wright for THUUUURRRREEEE! 29-21. Should Michigan stop the game and take a picture next to the scoreboard? A la Lee Corso and Indiana football against Michigan in 1976.
4:49 PM I was right, color guy was wrong. Donny Marshall and Donyell Marshall are two different people. On the wikipedia page it even says, “not to be confused with Donny Marshall”
4:52 PM I jinxed Douglass, he missed a layup. His fuego is out.
4:53 PM Update: Color guy is Stephen Bardo. He played at Illinois, graduated in 1989. Played a couple years in the NBA.
4:56 PM 31-31 UConn’s guards are really good. Price, Dyson, and Walker are all well-rounded. They can shoot, pass, drive, finish in the lane and defend.
4:57 PM Douglass airball, followed by Douglass thuuurrrreee from “Hartford.”
4:57 PM Thabeet put back slam. This first half has been incredibly entertaining!
4:58 PM HALFTIME
5:16 PM Second half underway!
5:19 PM Novak fouled shooting a three and makes all three free throws. If only he was born earlier, he could have been on Saved by the Bell or something. I could see him being the college kid who comes in for an episode and sweeps Kelly Kepowsky off her feet. Zach Morris would then see Novak kissing some other girl at a party. He would tell Kelly and she would accuse of him of being jealous, and then find out the hard way that Zach was right. Wow sitcom writing is not as hard as I thought.
5:22 PM Thabeet another dunk, 39-39.
5:23 PM I desperately want to talk about the potential tournament hopes of Michigan if they win the game. But I don’t want to jinx it…so I’ll hold back…for now.
5:29 PM Harris finds Sims under the basket for another easy bucket. Michigan up 4, timeout UConn.
5:34 PM Danger zone…Thabeet puts down a huge slam on a great pass from Price. 43-43. The crowd is into it, UConn is feeling superior again. This is make or break time for Michigan. Time to throw a punch, a clutch shot. Who’s it gonna be?
5:37 PM Dyson to rack for 2, Dyson to the rack for 2 more plus the foul. Michigan in jeopardy of going down 5.
5:41 PM Harris gets the bucket and the foul on Thabeet. Explosive to the basket!! Just what Michigan needed. Though making the free throw would have been helpful.
5:43 PM Michigan needs to go on a run while Thabeet is on the bench.
5:44 PM Dyson for 3, UConn up 6. Thabeet checks back in. My hope is slowly turning to despair…
5:49 PM Goodness, another couple blocks for Thabeet.
5:50 PM Michigan down 10
5:51 PM Harris throws up a silly 3 pointer, it goes in.
5:51 PM A stop on the defensive end, and another quick score would give Michigan a shot of momentum.
5:52 PM Douglass from deep!! 57-53
5:58 PM Michigan settling for some poor shots. A couple quick 3’s at a time when Michigan needs a good look at some points.
6:03 PM Another ill-advised 3 point shot followed by an airball 3 pointer. Really poor offense for the last 4 or 5 minutes.
6:04 PM Douglass hits another deep 3. He has 17 points, with 5 three pointers. Besides Douglass, Michigan is 3-19 on 3 pointers…YET, everyone continues to huck!
6:06 PM 1:00 to go, Austrie hits the dagger. 64-56.
6:06 PM Douglass hits ANOTHER 3. 64-59, too little too late I’m afraid.
6:08 PM Harris tries to dunk on Thabeet, Thabeet will allow no such thing. Foul.
6:09 PM 66-61 UConn. 31 seconds left. UConn on the stripe.
6:10 PM Harris misses a 3. That will do it. 69-61 UConn wins.
Great effort by Michigan. But great efforts with an L next to them don’t count when it comes down to tourney time. Hopefully Michigan can pull it together and finish the Big Ten season strong, including a good showing in the Big Ten Tournament.
All times are Mountain
4:11 PM About to tip in Storrs, but the MSU-Indiana game has to finish first. Why? I’m not really sure, it’s a 27 point game with 2 minutes to play. Remember the good ol days when they would just leave the bad game and go to the good one
4:12 PM update in the corner of the screen says Uconn 3 Michigan 0. This may be the closest we get all day.
4:13 PM 6-1 uh oh. Is it bad to be this pessimistic one minute into the game?
4:14 PM 8-1 according to the corner of the screen. How about a picture in picture ESPN? Just a small one in the corner? For those of us who aren’t super interested in watching walk-ons vs. walk-ons in a 30 point blow out.
4:16 PM 75-47 MSU wins. What a thriller.
4:17 PM First Impression: Uconn center Hasheem Thabeet is enormous. I have seen UConn a few times this year, but golly. He is gigantic. He reminds me of me in 6th grade. Just uncomfortably bigger than everyone else on the court.
4:18 PM great pick and roll type deal, Harris with a great pass to Sims for the bucket. 12-10 UConn.
4:21 PM the color guy just said “Michigan has been really patient on offense” I have seen a lot of Michigan games this year, and patience has never crossed my mind.
4:21 PM yikes UConn visitors locker room…looks like a high school locker room, only smaller.
4:22 PM holy blocked shot batman!
4:24 PM Sims aggressively to the basket right at Thabeet, gets the foul and misses both free throws. Sigh
4:25 PM Harris great wrap around pass to Sims for the layup. Harris and Sims are the only decisive players out there so far. They aren’t thinking, just reacting properly, Douglass and Shepard look lost early.
4:27 PM SIMS! Great skill move down low! Gets Thabeet up in the air and sneaks under for another layup!!! 14-14!
4:27 PM Michigan isn’t hoisting as many forced 3 pointers, and Sims and Harris are both being very aggressive. Gotta love when Michigan plays this way!
4:33 PM Stu Douglass…for thuuuuureeeee! Timeout UCONN!
4:34 PM LeBron commercial. Could LeBron play in the NFL now? Is it really that far-fetched that he could play for the Cleveland Browns tomorrow? I for one, think it is entirely possible. 6’8” 265!!! What position couldn’t he play? Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Brian Jordan all played baseball and football successfully. I submit LeBron could play in the NFL if he wanted to.
4:36 PM 2 fouls on Sims…can Michigan keep it up without him?
4:38 PM Douglass again for thuuuurrrrreeeee. The replay shows textbook form. It makes me want to go work on my jumper…maybe later
4:45 PM Just saw Ray Allen and Donny Marshall. Then the color guy put up his 5 best UConn greats and that had Donyell Marshall on it. As I recall these are not the same person. Color guy is confused…I’m gonna look it up.
4:46 PM Stu Douglass with another jumper! Dare I say…en fuego?
4:47 PM Michigan up 26-21
4:47 PM Anthony Wright for THUUUURRRREEEE! 29-21. Should Michigan stop the game and take a picture next to the scoreboard? A la Lee Corso and Indiana football against Michigan in 1976.
4:49 PM I was right, color guy was wrong. Donny Marshall and Donyell Marshall are two different people. On the wikipedia page it even says, “not to be confused with Donny Marshall”
4:52 PM I jinxed Douglass, he missed a layup. His fuego is out.
4:53 PM Update: Color guy is Stephen Bardo. He played at Illinois, graduated in 1989. Played a couple years in the NBA.
4:56 PM 31-31 UConn’s guards are really good. Price, Dyson, and Walker are all well-rounded. They can shoot, pass, drive, finish in the lane and defend.
4:57 PM Douglass airball, followed by Douglass thuuurrrreee from “Hartford.”
4:57 PM Thabeet put back slam. This first half has been incredibly entertaining!
4:58 PM HALFTIME
5:16 PM Second half underway!
5:19 PM Novak fouled shooting a three and makes all three free throws. If only he was born earlier, he could have been on Saved by the Bell or something. I could see him being the college kid who comes in for an episode and sweeps Kelly Kepowsky off her feet. Zach Morris would then see Novak kissing some other girl at a party. He would tell Kelly and she would accuse of him of being jealous, and then find out the hard way that Zach was right. Wow sitcom writing is not as hard as I thought.
5:22 PM Thabeet another dunk, 39-39.
5:23 PM I desperately want to talk about the potential tournament hopes of Michigan if they win the game. But I don’t want to jinx it…so I’ll hold back…for now.
5:29 PM Harris finds Sims under the basket for another easy bucket. Michigan up 4, timeout UConn.
5:34 PM Danger zone…Thabeet puts down a huge slam on a great pass from Price. 43-43. The crowd is into it, UConn is feeling superior again. This is make or break time for Michigan. Time to throw a punch, a clutch shot. Who’s it gonna be?
5:37 PM Dyson to rack for 2, Dyson to the rack for 2 more plus the foul. Michigan in jeopardy of going down 5.
5:41 PM Harris gets the bucket and the foul on Thabeet. Explosive to the basket!! Just what Michigan needed. Though making the free throw would have been helpful.
5:43 PM Michigan needs to go on a run while Thabeet is on the bench.
5:44 PM Dyson for 3, UConn up 6. Thabeet checks back in. My hope is slowly turning to despair…
5:49 PM Goodness, another couple blocks for Thabeet.
5:50 PM Michigan down 10
5:51 PM Harris throws up a silly 3 pointer, it goes in.
5:51 PM A stop on the defensive end, and another quick score would give Michigan a shot of momentum.
5:52 PM Douglass from deep!! 57-53
5:58 PM Michigan settling for some poor shots. A couple quick 3’s at a time when Michigan needs a good look at some points.
6:03 PM Another ill-advised 3 point shot followed by an airball 3 pointer. Really poor offense for the last 4 or 5 minutes.
6:04 PM Douglass hits another deep 3. He has 17 points, with 5 three pointers. Besides Douglass, Michigan is 3-19 on 3 pointers…YET, everyone continues to huck!
6:06 PM 1:00 to go, Austrie hits the dagger. 64-56.
6:06 PM Douglass hits ANOTHER 3. 64-59, too little too late I’m afraid.
6:08 PM Harris tries to dunk on Thabeet, Thabeet will allow no such thing. Foul.
6:09 PM 66-61 UConn. 31 seconds left. UConn on the stripe.
6:10 PM Harris misses a 3. That will do it. 69-61 UConn wins.
Great effort by Michigan. But great efforts with an L next to them don’t count when it comes down to tourney time. Hopefully Michigan can pull it together and finish the Big Ten season strong, including a good showing in the Big Ten Tournament.
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