After Selection Sunday and the Big Ten Tournament, here's a look at what's being said about the Wolverines.
Brendan Quinn, The Athletic: Michigan can make the Final Four if it finally gets the point
The lasting image of last year’s national championship game, to me, at least, was that of John Beilein, plunked down on the back seat of a golf cart, shoulders slumped in defeat. He glanced up, made eye contact and mouthed: “Man, they’re good.”
Villanova was indeed really good. Good enough to run Michigan off the floor in front of some 65,000 or so witnesses. Beilein knows how good a team has to be to reach that point. His current Michigan team, the 2018-19 version that’s entering the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West Region, sometimes looks that good.
And …
Sometimes it doesn’t.
Sunday, when it counted most, was one of those times, again. Michigan State, a nemesis of troubling proportions, outscored the Wolverines 10-0 in the final two minutes of the Big Ten Tournament championship game, wresting a win that looked firmly in Michigan’s control. Kind of like Michigan State did on Feb. 24 in Ann Arbor. And on March 4 in East Lansing. Beilein’s team came undone in a late-game situation, something that’s been seen before from a group that, when it wins, often wins big — ranking 20th nationally (11.6 points per game) and third in Big Ten games (7.3) in scoring margin.
Maybe Michigan can run past Montana in Thursday’s first-round NCAA Tournament matchup. It beat the same team 61-47 in last year’s first round, despite opening the game in a 10-0 hole. Anything beyond that, though? Michigan’s path to the Final Four will go through Nevada or Florida, then most likely either Buffalo or Texas Tech. Lurking on the top half of the West Region bracket is Gonzaga as the No. 1 seed and the likes of Florida State, Marquette, Syracuse and Baylor. Tough to plan on any routs there. If Michigan is to return to the Final Four — clearly an attainable goal goal for Zavier Simpson, Charles Matthews, Jordan Poole, Jon Teske, Isaiah Livers and everyone else who had anything to do with last year’s trip to San Antonio — it will need care for all 40 minutes and close out games.
That’s possible, as long as this team finally gets the point.
Losing to in-state rival Michigan State three times in the same season is a nightmare for Michigan fans.
Forget that the Wolverines won the previous three games, or that they swept the Spartans last year and hold the record for consecutive Big Ten Tournament games won (10). Half of their losses came to MSU, and Michigan State beat U-M at its own game in a 65-60 Big Ten Tournament title win Sunday.
The Spartans spread the floor with shooters, found the hot hand in Matt McQuaid — a guy who once shot 1-for-12 or so from three-point range in AAU ball in front of John Beilein when he was trying to earn an offer (he didn’t), but made six of seven in one stretch and 7-of-13 total on his way to 27 points Sunday — and executed well down the stretch.
Simply put, Michigan didn’t. For the third game in a row against the Spartans, the Wolverines had a significant second half lead slip away. They seemed prime to make a run up five at home before boneheaded plays changed the momentum, and they led by double digits in each of the last two games before frittering them away much the same way.
“I think it's really important every time down the court, you've got to get a good shot. Only in shot clock situations would be the time it would be questioned,” Beilein said. “We wasted some possessions on offense, and we can't do that.
“That’s been a problem in any of our losses, and we just have to learn from them. It's a problem in most teams' losses. You're playing a team like Michigan State who played so efficient … they are tough to beat if you waste any possessions.”
Especially against Michigan. There’s something to be said about hatred being a great motivator, and the Spartans have that part down in this rivalry. ESPN’s Dan Dakich said two years ago, “Michigan will never get a loose ball against Michigan State” … but that was early in a game in which the Wolverines won by 29.
They proved him wrong in that one, and they did it again the next two times they played in sweeping the Spartans.
This year?
Not so much.
Michigan played hard, but MSU had every guy playing their hearts out and making good decisions. The Wolverines seem to have the edge on paper going position by position, but as much as the Spartans are a bad matchup for Michigan this year (as Beilein admitted in the postgame), they’re also a player or two ahead of U-M when it comes to really feeling the rivalry.
Sometimes teams run into bad matchups.
A year ago, Michigan basketball had Michigan State's number twice. Both games played out the same way. If the two played again, the same thing may have happened.
On Sunday, Michigan-Michigan State Part III followed a similar path.
But, for U-M, things were a bit different this time around. Because while the Wolverines didn't get what they wanted this weekend in Chicago — a third straight Big Ten tournament title — they left the Windy City as a better team than they were when they arrived.
And that's absolutely something to build on.
"I definitely feel like we'll be prepared for the (NCAA) tournament. I feel like we’ve been through it all this season. We’ve just got to stay composed at all times and just give it our all, every second," said Michigan's Ignas Brazdeikis after the Wolverines' 65-60 loss to MSU on Sunday in the Big Ten tournament final. “Overall, I feel like we got better. We always get better from our losses and we take away something every single time.
"We’re just going to get better from it.”
Ethan Sears, Michigan Daily: For Poole, the same problems prove costly
So there stood Poole, unmoving, as reality set in. A 65-60 loss to Michigan State, one in which Michigan led by double-digits in the second half, the second week in a row the Wolverines have given the Spartans a Big Ten title in the same manner.
“You gotta get to the foul line,” Beilein said later. “They still have three fouls to give against a physical team. You just can’t settle. He tried to get fouled. I’m sure he doesn’t like that shot. We certainly didn’t.”
One shot doesn’t lose a game. Neither does one player. That was the refrain echoed in Michigan’s locker room afterward, and it’s true. But Poole did himself no favors, taking nine threes and making just two of them as Beilein stewed on the bench.
Back in December, when things seemed to be clicking into place for the sophomore guard, both he and Beilein talked about a growing ability to differentiate good shots from bad. On Sunday, as Poole took stepback three after stepback three with big men switched onto him, Beilein looked on with anguish, pulled Poole from the game and at one point, slapped the floor with both hands.
“Jordan’s a really good shooter,” said sophomore guard Eli Brooks. “He has a green light for most of the shots.”
In conference play, though, Poole is shooting just 32.7 percent from 3-point range. He shot well to start the month of March, but after Sunday, his monthly split is almost identical to February — and the NCAA Tournament looms.
Michigan needs Poole from here on out, and it needs the best version of him. So much of that comes down to a concept elementary in nature and labyrinthine in practice: taking good shots.
“If it goes in, it’s a good shot. If it doesn’t, it’s a bad shot,” Brooks said, seeing the simplicity.
For Beilein, it’s more complicated.
“They’re gonna get you in the long run,” he said of shots that look bad and happen to go in. “You’re not gonna win. You gotta value possession and turnovers. You gotta take good shots. And you can’t just put your head down and say, ‘I’ll make something happen.’ ”
Myron Medcalf, ESPN: NCAA tournament 2019: What to know about every team in the bracket
John Beilein's squad possesses a collection of big wings who can spread the floor with their shooting ability, while suppressing opposing offenses with top-five defense. Heard this before? It's the same formula (and largely the same personnel, with the swap of Mo Wagner for Ignas Brazdeikis) the Wolverines used to reach the national title game last season. Charles Matthews (12.5 PPG, 1.1 SPG) recently missed three games with an ankle injury, but he's back and ready to join Brazdeikis (15.0 PPG, 42 percent from the 3-point line) and Jordan Poole (12.9 PPG) for another shot at the title.
Pete Thamel, Yahoo Sports: 16 things to know about NCAA tournament's West region, plus who wins
Welcome March sight: That would be Michigan's balletic offense, as John Beilein has strung together another remarkable season for Big Blue. The unique wrinkle to this edition of Michigan under Beilein is that the Wolverines' defense is better than their offense. They are ranked No. 2 in KenPom in defense and No 18 on offense. Don't be surprised if last year's national runner-up has another deep run in them. Beilein is the best active coach to not win a national title. As a bonus, they don't have to play Michigan State. Tom Izzo has beaten Beilein three times this year.
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