Michigan's basketball team has exceeded any kind of expectations that any rational person who had been observing them in recent years could make. They were coming off of a 10-22 season in which they finished tenth in their conference and lost their starting center Ekpe Udoh transferred to Baylor. The Wolverines had two largely unheralded guards coming in as freshman from Indiana, the 2007 Michigan Mr. Basketball in Manny Harris, an undersized center in Deshawn Sims, two walk on point guards, and a coach who has over 30 years of experience who decided it was time to go to work.
Wins over UCLA and Duke began to peak some interest in the program as the Wolverines got out to a great non conference start with only two losses. Michigan needed to make an impressive showing in the conference schedule to get a NCAA tournament berth. It looked like the team would falter especially after consecutive 18 point losses to Purdue and Ohio State on the road. Michigan needed a spark, and they got it with late season home victories over Minnesota and Purdue at home, before finishing off the season with a dramatic come from behind victory against Minnesota on the road.
The Wolverines finished the regular season 19-13, on the bubble for the tournament, needing one more win to get that precious 20th win to get them over the hump for certain. They played Iowa, a team that had beaten them two weeks before. With that in mind Deshawn Sims stepped up to the plate and hit a home run in basketball terms. Scoring the first 14 points of the game, Sims would finish with 27 as the wolverines coasted to a 28 point victory.
Despite a loss in the next round of the Big Ten tournament to Illinois, Michigan was in the dance for the first time since 1998 (when i was 10 years old). WOLV TV went gaga for the Hoops team and there is video coming for it.
Michigan would face Clemson in the first round of the tournament. The Tigers had size and a stifling full court press that had frustrated most of their opponents. What the Wolverines had was heart, and when they saw a 16 point second half lead dwindle to one, Manny Harris drove to the lane got the lay in and the foul and converted it to put on ice with less than 40 seconds in the game.
They faced their end against Blake Griffin and the Oklahoma Sooners, and while the national media may focus on Griffin's great performance. I personally admire how the young and grossly undersized Wolverines went about trying to stop him and for some periods of the game managed to slow him down without having to resort to taking charges. It was a great effort by a young team that will be back in the tournament next year.
I believe in my heart that if John Beilein does not receive the National Coach of the Year award he should be given another one, the Lemonade Maker of the Year. Because he took the lemons that he was given by the previous tenure and he made tournament quality lemonade in two years, not many coaches can say that they turned around programs that quickly.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
c-ya
Showing posts with label NCAA tournament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCAA tournament. Show all posts
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Dance Preview of Michigan vs. Clemson
As everybody should know the Wolverines are in the NCAA tournament for the first time since i was a ten year old going on eleven. I recently got an internship for Bleacher Report and i have a link for my preview of the game that i had to write for them right here.
Just so you know, this might mean that i have to update this blog less often.
ahhhhhhhhhh
c-ya
Just so you know, this might mean that i have to update this blog less often.
ahhhhhhhhhh
c-ya
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Are we going dancing?
Michigan's basketball team is about as bubble-licious as they get right now. They have wins over three currently ranked teams in Illinois, Duke and UCLA. They are not ranked and sit at a 16-10 overall record with a 6-7 mark in the Big Ten. Something that could help the Wolverines make their first tournament appearance in over a decade is the fact that this year, the Big Ten is absolutely crazy as far as who's beating who. For example, today Penn State beat Illinois and Northwestern beat Ohio State. Michigan split with both Illinois and Penn State winning both games at Crisler and losing both road games, they swept Northwestern and got swept by the Buckeyes.
They face a test to their hopes at Crisler Arena tomorrow in the Minnesota (mini-pop) Golden Gophers coached by the legendary Tubby Smith, a man who i initially wanted to take the job at Michigan when it became open. The Gophers, like a healthy chunk of the conference has been in and out of the rankings for much of the year. They had their greatest start in school history in the non-conference schedule, going 12-0. Since then they have won 7 of their past 13 games and look like if they maintain their pace they're going to make it into the NCAA tournament. But like Michigan they have been streaky, they have lost three out of their last four games.
The Wolverines have split their last four games, but the two wins came against traditionally lowly opponents in Northwestern and Penn State. The Gophers only win came against Indiana, the traditional power in the Big Ten who's going through the same thing Michigan's football team went through this past season, more on that later.
Neither team can afford to lose this game and stand a chance at staying in the good graces of the tournament selection committee. They're both on thin ice and if they slip up on the hard wood they could fall through the cracks. Michigan has to be hungrier in order to win this game, they don't just have to play bigger than the guys they have. They have to be bigger then the guys they have. They have to play like their scared to lose. A former Green Bay Packer under Vince Lombardi once said it best,
The Packers weren't always as big as Jim Brown but they played bigger than him and they felt that they were bigger than him. To bring this football analogy to the point, Michigan has been getting outsized in big ten games so far this year, and when they've beaten teams it's because they didn't try to be bigger than their opponents, it's because they felt bigger than their opponents. It's because Zack Novack felt that he could stretch his 6'5" frame out just enough to get that rebound against Illinois, it's because 5'10" David Merritt made the extra effort to knock a ball away from an opponent against Duke. That's what it takes to win games, that's what it takes to make it to the big dance, hopefully that's what Michigan will do tomorrow night.
(preview of hockey series vs. OSU tomorrow)
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
c-ya
They face a test to their hopes at Crisler Arena tomorrow in the Minnesota (mini-pop) Golden Gophers coached by the legendary Tubby Smith, a man who i initially wanted to take the job at Michigan when it became open. The Gophers, like a healthy chunk of the conference has been in and out of the rankings for much of the year. They had their greatest start in school history in the non-conference schedule, going 12-0. Since then they have won 7 of their past 13 games and look like if they maintain their pace they're going to make it into the NCAA tournament. But like Michigan they have been streaky, they have lost three out of their last four games.
The Wolverines have split their last four games, but the two wins came against traditionally lowly opponents in Northwestern and Penn State. The Gophers only win came against Indiana, the traditional power in the Big Ten who's going through the same thing Michigan's football team went through this past season, more on that later.
Neither team can afford to lose this game and stand a chance at staying in the good graces of the tournament selection committee. They're both on thin ice and if they slip up on the hard wood they could fall through the cracks. Michigan has to be hungrier in order to win this game, they don't just have to play bigger than the guys they have. They have to be bigger then the guys they have. They have to play like their scared to lose. A former Green Bay Packer under Vince Lombardi once said it best,
whenever we played a great team like the Cleavland Browns with Jim Brown we played out of fear that we had to stop him because his performance would determine the outcome of the game, and he played his last game against us in the championship and lost, so that means he didn't have a good day.
The Packers weren't always as big as Jim Brown but they played bigger than him and they felt that they were bigger than him. To bring this football analogy to the point, Michigan has been getting outsized in big ten games so far this year, and when they've beaten teams it's because they didn't try to be bigger than their opponents, it's because they felt bigger than their opponents. It's because Zack Novack felt that he could stretch his 6'5" frame out just enough to get that rebound against Illinois, it's because 5'10" David Merritt made the extra effort to knock a ball away from an opponent against Duke. That's what it takes to win games, that's what it takes to make it to the big dance, hopefully that's what Michigan will do tomorrow night.
(preview of hockey series vs. OSU tomorrow)
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
c-ya
Friday, April 11, 2008
A Bitter End
I had two papers due this week and i thought i would cover two games, turns out i would have too many teardrops for one heart to be crying.
Losing that game was the worst feeling i could have at a time like this man. Everything was going cool, and then they give up three goals in the first period. I guess we've learned our lesson, never play Billy in an NCAA tournament game against a team with the initials ND. Sure we made it interesting and forced overtime, but in getting there our team expended so much energy we could not get past there backcheck whenever we got into the Notre Dame zone.
It was a good season, we just came up short. Kevin Porter won the Hobey Baker Award, but it's no consolation for me. I hate losing, and i especially hate losing to Notre Dame. Second to Ohio State, Notre Dame is the team i hate losing to the most. In my opinion they're a bigger rival than MSU because normally i root for MSU when they're not playing Michigan but i can't ever think of a time when i've rooted for the Fighting Irish. Well as an act of vengeance for the hockey team the football team should go into South Bend this upcoming season and blow the Irish out and make them cry 96 tears.
P.S. This is the second time Michigan has left the NCAA tournament at the hands of a Jeff Jackson led team. The Wolverines lost to Lake Superior St. in the second round of the 1994 tournament and the Lakers went onto win the title that year as a fourth seed, coincidence???
Losing that game was the worst feeling i could have at a time like this man. Everything was going cool, and then they give up three goals in the first period. I guess we've learned our lesson, never play Billy in an NCAA tournament game against a team with the initials ND. Sure we made it interesting and forced overtime, but in getting there our team expended so much energy we could not get past there backcheck whenever we got into the Notre Dame zone.
It was a good season, we just came up short. Kevin Porter won the Hobey Baker Award, but it's no consolation for me. I hate losing, and i especially hate losing to Notre Dame. Second to Ohio State, Notre Dame is the team i hate losing to the most. In my opinion they're a bigger rival than MSU because normally i root for MSU when they're not playing Michigan but i can't ever think of a time when i've rooted for the Fighting Irish. Well as an act of vengeance for the hockey team the football team should go into South Bend this upcoming season and blow the Irish out and make them cry 96 tears.
P.S. This is the second time Michigan has left the NCAA tournament at the hands of a Jeff Jackson led team. The Wolverines lost to Lake Superior St. in the second round of the 1994 tournament and the Lakers went onto win the title that year as a fourth seed, coincidence???
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Michigan is in the Frozen Four + preview.
Finally a Charles in Charge blog post about making the frozen four. What took me so long? Good question, the details of the answer are still being worked out, but if you email me or send me a message somehow you may receive an answer. But enough of that, let's hear it for the Maize and Blue for making it this far after the media picked them to end up on the bubble to make the tournament in the first place.
Frozen Four preview:
Michigan
How they got there:
After winning the regular season CCHA title and the conference tournament, the wolverines were seen as the team to beat coming in. They are considered the top team in the tournament as a whole, and faced competition that some would say was considerably less than what the other teams faced in the tournament. Nevertheless they won their games against Niagara and Clarkson, gave up one goal in them combined and was led offensively by Kevin Porter's five goals and one assist. The two catalysts for Michigan all year have been Porter, their captain and leading scorer, as well as Billy Sauer their goaltender who has made a remarkable comeback from last year's lackluster performance.
That being said it must be noted that in spite of having these two remarkable players, Michigan is arguably the most complete team in the NCAA this year, and that is remarkable considering they have over ten freshmen on the team this year. They've been able to get offensive production from just about everybody, they're fast, physical and when the going gets tough they get going.
Their Matchup:
Michigan will be playing Notre Dame in the semifinals, a team they swept in mid-January in a regular season CCHA series, in which Notre Dame didn't play at home. The hockey team has underwent numerous changes as well as various ups and downs since then, but at the form they are at right now, they are looking fairly similar to when they played them earlier in the year (albeit without Kevin Quick).
What they need to look out for:
Notre Dame just pulled off two huge upsets in the tournament without their leading scorer Erik Condra who went down with a knee injury before in the CCHA playoffs and will likely miss this game. When they played New Hampshire and Michigan State, the Irish just came out swinging desperately and they started hitting home runs, metaphorically speaking. The biggest problem for Michigan will be to find the right pitch to strike them out.
Notre Dame
How they got here: After finishing fourth in both the CCHA regular season and tournament, the Irish were in the same boat as the Wisconsin Badgers as well as several other teams. They were at the mercy of the tournament selection committee to give them an at large bid. As a four seed they took on the Hockey East regular season champs New Hampshire in Colorado Springs. The Notre Dame team that played in that game was unlike anything anybody could have expected, they played physical, offensively aggressive and it paid off, their fore check was tough and their back check (a traditional strength) didn't give the Wildcats any chances in the third period.
This combined with the strong play of Jordan Pierce in the Michigan State game really catapulted the Fighting Irish into their first Frozen Four appearance, and doing so on the highest note possible. Considering they were really struggling up to this point this is remarkable.
Their matchup:
While Michigan may be the most balanced team, Notre Dame is one of the most defensive minded teams in the CCHA and the NCAA as a whole. Normally their style is not as physical, they mostly depend on good shot blocking and goaltending than necessarily finishing their hits on the back check, but this has changed. Their offense has really been regenerated by Mark Van Guilder and Christian Hanson in the last two games. They filled the gap that Condra left open, and are filling it quite well. It will be interesting to see how Michigan matches up with these two if Condra does not return from the injury.
What they need to look out for:
Michigan's offense is so explosive it's scary, just ask Niagara, who held them scoreless in the first period only to see them break out for five goals in the next two. Needless to say it, Notre Dame will have to really step up their defensive efforts if they are going to beat Michigan.
North Dakota
How they got here: After winning the WCHA regular season title they finished third in the conference tournament and garnered a No. 1 seed in the tournament's Midwest regional. After a relatively easy game against Princeton, similar to Michigan's vs. Niagara, the Fighting Sioux had to beat Wisconsin in Madison in front of a hostile 10,000+ crowd. Not only did they do it, they came from behind a two goal deficit in the third period, and they won in overtime on a deflection. Considering that the Badgers weren't even supposed to be in the tournament, they really played their tails off.
North Dakota is going into their fourth straight Frozen Four, and they have never won in the NCAA tournament in that time frame. Along with Michigan they bring to the table one of the most balanced teams in the country, with scoring machines like T.J. Oshie, and last year's Hobey winner Ryan Duncan, who passed up a lucrative chance in the NHL to play his senior season. The Sioux also have JP Lamoureux who could be the only goalie that really gives Kevin Porter a run for the Hobey Baker award this year. Not only that, they're not too shabby defensively either.
Their matchup:
North Dakota will play Boston College in the semi-finals. They played once earlier this year at the beginning of the season to nil-nil draw in Boston that only lasted two periods because the ice surface was beginning to melt as a result of electrical problems in the arena. These two teams are so similar to each other, the only way to tell the difference between them is by their jerseys. They play the same style, they have high powered offenses with good goalies and have the ability to come back when down in a game. You are never sure when playing either of these two teams, which makes a matchup like this extremely hard to predict.
What they need to look out for:
Quick bursts of scoring, bad penalties, special teams in general, and road rage on ice.
Boston College
How they got here:
After a tight regular season in which the Eagles finished fourth in Hockey East in spite of having the best non-conference record in the conference, they really came out and handed it to the Hockey East conference sweeping right on through the Hockey East tournament to add to their hardware that they've won this year (i.e. the Beanpot). They took on the high flying ways of Minnesota in the first round and managed to repel them long enough to get a 5-2 victory. With about three minutes left in the second period against Miami in the second round the Eagles scored three goals in 1:58 against Jeff Zatkoff. They only got three shots off in overtime compared to Miami's seven, but they still won.
Nathan Gerbe was the only player in college hockey this year to overtake Kevin Porter's top spot in Inside College Hockey's Hobey Tracker. Freshman John Muse has played virtually the whole season in goal this year and has been really tough as of late, especially in the clutch.
Their matchup:
As i stated earlier BC and North Dakota are really similar. The only real difference in my opinion is the conference each of them plays in. NoDak plays in the competitive, extremely physical WCHA, where no team is ever counted out until the last week of the season. The Eagles on the other hand play in Hockey East which although just as competitive as the WCHA has more teams that play a more subtle soviet style of play, that emphasizes speed over physical play. Of course BC is one of the few exceptions to that idea and they play extremely hard.
What they need to look out for:
The same things i wrote for North Dakota, these teams are so similar they have the same weaknesses.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
c-ya
Frozen Four preview:
Michigan
How they got there:
After winning the regular season CCHA title and the conference tournament, the wolverines were seen as the team to beat coming in. They are considered the top team in the tournament as a whole, and faced competition that some would say was considerably less than what the other teams faced in the tournament. Nevertheless they won their games against Niagara and Clarkson, gave up one goal in them combined and was led offensively by Kevin Porter's five goals and one assist. The two catalysts for Michigan all year have been Porter, their captain and leading scorer, as well as Billy Sauer their goaltender who has made a remarkable comeback from last year's lackluster performance.
That being said it must be noted that in spite of having these two remarkable players, Michigan is arguably the most complete team in the NCAA this year, and that is remarkable considering they have over ten freshmen on the team this year. They've been able to get offensive production from just about everybody, they're fast, physical and when the going gets tough they get going.
Their Matchup:
Michigan will be playing Notre Dame in the semifinals, a team they swept in mid-January in a regular season CCHA series, in which Notre Dame didn't play at home. The hockey team has underwent numerous changes as well as various ups and downs since then, but at the form they are at right now, they are looking fairly similar to when they played them earlier in the year (albeit without Kevin Quick).
What they need to look out for:
Notre Dame just pulled off two huge upsets in the tournament without their leading scorer Erik Condra who went down with a knee injury before in the CCHA playoffs and will likely miss this game. When they played New Hampshire and Michigan State, the Irish just came out swinging desperately and they started hitting home runs, metaphorically speaking. The biggest problem for Michigan will be to find the right pitch to strike them out.
Notre Dame
How they got here: After finishing fourth in both the CCHA regular season and tournament, the Irish were in the same boat as the Wisconsin Badgers as well as several other teams. They were at the mercy of the tournament selection committee to give them an at large bid. As a four seed they took on the Hockey East regular season champs New Hampshire in Colorado Springs. The Notre Dame team that played in that game was unlike anything anybody could have expected, they played physical, offensively aggressive and it paid off, their fore check was tough and their back check (a traditional strength) didn't give the Wildcats any chances in the third period.
This combined with the strong play of Jordan Pierce in the Michigan State game really catapulted the Fighting Irish into their first Frozen Four appearance, and doing so on the highest note possible. Considering they were really struggling up to this point this is remarkable.
Their matchup:
While Michigan may be the most balanced team, Notre Dame is one of the most defensive minded teams in the CCHA and the NCAA as a whole. Normally their style is not as physical, they mostly depend on good shot blocking and goaltending than necessarily finishing their hits on the back check, but this has changed. Their offense has really been regenerated by Mark Van Guilder and Christian Hanson in the last two games. They filled the gap that Condra left open, and are filling it quite well. It will be interesting to see how Michigan matches up with these two if Condra does not return from the injury.
What they need to look out for:
Michigan's offense is so explosive it's scary, just ask Niagara, who held them scoreless in the first period only to see them break out for five goals in the next two. Needless to say it, Notre Dame will have to really step up their defensive efforts if they are going to beat Michigan.
North Dakota
How they got here: After winning the WCHA regular season title they finished third in the conference tournament and garnered a No. 1 seed in the tournament's Midwest regional. After a relatively easy game against Princeton, similar to Michigan's vs. Niagara, the Fighting Sioux had to beat Wisconsin in Madison in front of a hostile 10,000+ crowd. Not only did they do it, they came from behind a two goal deficit in the third period, and they won in overtime on a deflection. Considering that the Badgers weren't even supposed to be in the tournament, they really played their tails off.
North Dakota is going into their fourth straight Frozen Four, and they have never won in the NCAA tournament in that time frame. Along with Michigan they bring to the table one of the most balanced teams in the country, with scoring machines like T.J. Oshie, and last year's Hobey winner Ryan Duncan, who passed up a lucrative chance in the NHL to play his senior season. The Sioux also have JP Lamoureux who could be the only goalie that really gives Kevin Porter a run for the Hobey Baker award this year. Not only that, they're not too shabby defensively either.
Their matchup:
North Dakota will play Boston College in the semi-finals. They played once earlier this year at the beginning of the season to nil-nil draw in Boston that only lasted two periods because the ice surface was beginning to melt as a result of electrical problems in the arena. These two teams are so similar to each other, the only way to tell the difference between them is by their jerseys. They play the same style, they have high powered offenses with good goalies and have the ability to come back when down in a game. You are never sure when playing either of these two teams, which makes a matchup like this extremely hard to predict.
What they need to look out for:
Quick bursts of scoring, bad penalties, special teams in general, and road rage on ice.
Boston College
How they got here:
After a tight regular season in which the Eagles finished fourth in Hockey East in spite of having the best non-conference record in the conference, they really came out and handed it to the Hockey East conference sweeping right on through the Hockey East tournament to add to their hardware that they've won this year (i.e. the Beanpot). They took on the high flying ways of Minnesota in the first round and managed to repel them long enough to get a 5-2 victory. With about three minutes left in the second period against Miami in the second round the Eagles scored three goals in 1:58 against Jeff Zatkoff. They only got three shots off in overtime compared to Miami's seven, but they still won.
Nathan Gerbe was the only player in college hockey this year to overtake Kevin Porter's top spot in Inside College Hockey's Hobey Tracker. Freshman John Muse has played virtually the whole season in goal this year and has been really tough as of late, especially in the clutch.
Their matchup:
As i stated earlier BC and North Dakota are really similar. The only real difference in my opinion is the conference each of them plays in. NoDak plays in the competitive, extremely physical WCHA, where no team is ever counted out until the last week of the season. The Eagles on the other hand play in Hockey East which although just as competitive as the WCHA has more teams that play a more subtle soviet style of play, that emphasizes speed over physical play. Of course BC is one of the few exceptions to that idea and they play extremely hard.
What they need to look out for:
The same things i wrote for North Dakota, these teams are so similar they have the same weaknesses.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
c-ya
Friday, March 28, 2008
FINALLY!!! SECOND ROUND!!!!!!
Bring on the Golden Knights!
Michigan beat Niagara 5-1 in the first round in their first NCAA tournament win since 2005. The Wolverines got four goals from Kevin Porter and a rock solid performance from Billy Sauer who proved that he could perform under pressure by keeping the puck out of the net after not facing a shot for nearly 20 minutes.
If Kevin Porter doesn't get to the Hobey hat trick after tonight's performance, i will be personally offended. There was a post somewhere the other day saying that the leading Hobey candidate was RIT's Simon Lambert, while i have no idea if this is true or not, this is an outrage that Porter's not in first. Everybody who reads this blog needs to vote for Porter at the site right here. The Michigan hockey team wants you to vote for Porter at least 25 times by sunday.
I said on Overtime that Niagara ran a soviet style offense, and that they would play less physical than Northern Michigan. I guess i didn't think that the Eagles would play differently against Michigan compared to Bemidji State, i was clearly mistaken. Niagara played a very good game in the first period and put good pressure on Sauer preventing Michigan from getting a good rhythm going. It was clear that although they tried to use speed to compete with the Wolverines, they could not, Michigan was too fast and the Purple Eagles had to play quite physical in the end to try and stay in the game.
Seeing that Michigan is playing Clarkson there clearly can be no repeat of the skating cheerleaders incident. The Golden Knights won their first game in the NCAA tournament since 1996. They did so with the help of an amazing performance by goalie David Leggio an undrafted senior. The only goal he gave up came off of a deflection while Clarkson was trying to kill a penalty, nothing else had a chance of getting by him. The Wolverines will have their hands full vs. this second team all-ECAC goalie. Clarkson played a really physical game against the Huskies and i would expect them to do the same against the Wolverines. While they are not as big as Northern was, they will try to make up for their size somehow, which seems to be the theme for any team trying to beat Michigan the last couple of weeks. Play physical.
Michigan's strategy has to allow them not to get discouraged if they don't get the early goal or give up one. They have to be able to come back from mistakes and persevere, much like they did yesterday. They also have to be able to create traffic in front of Leggio before they try and create opportunities from the point. Play the box and they won't necessarily need to force it in. They also have to continue their great play on special teams that they've had lately. If they can do all that they should be able to punch a ticket to Denver, if they remember one more thing....
ONE GAME AT A TIME!!!
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