I didn't see the game live, but if I had I would have been yelling at my television.  No, not at Thad Motta for being a douche after the game winner, and no, not for the game winner itself.  I would have been furious that nobody was guarding the inbounds passer OR the guy who received the inbounds pass, Even Turner.  You know, the guy who hit the game winner?  Utterly stupid.

It's just been one of those years for Michigan Wolverines (and the state of Michigan) sports.  Oh well.

[Video via MSF]

The overall outlook on the conference is not a very pretty one. It’s definitely not hit every branch on the way down ugly, but from where many said it would be at the beginning of the season (remember when those “experts” were saying it was the best conference?) it’s been majorly disappointing.

Then there’s Ohio State.

Without OSU the Big Ten’s chances of having a team reach the Final Four would be more minute than beautifying Charles Barkley’s golf swing. OSU’s sitting pretty with a 14-4 conference mark, already guaranteed a share of the conference title (MSU and Purdue need to win their last game and they’ll also have a share).

OSU might not have the depth of Purdue or MSU, but they sure the heck have five really dangerous starters who know their roles and perform them well.

Looking Back

Way back in late December I previewed the conference season and gave my picks for how I saw the standings shaking out.

I had Purdue #1, with Wiscy #2, MSU #3 and OSU #4. Not bad, all four will finish in the top four, just not in my order.

I had Illinois #5, and nailed it. Illinois is solidly in the #5 spot.

As for the lower six I didn’t do too badly either. I had Northwestern #6, Michigan #7 and Minnesota #8. It still could end up being that all three of these teams tie with 8-10 records. Though, I picked Northwestern to be the 6th and final team from the conference to make the Dance, but that won’t be likely unless they win BT tourney.

As for the likes of Penn State, Iowa and Indiana, who really gives two cents about 'em. But I will have to apologize a little to Iowa. I said good luck getting to the 10 win mark, but sure enough they got there and at least will stay out of a tie for last place unless both Indiana and Penn State win their last game.  So I guess, uh, congratulations Iowa?

*Nice thing about this team is virtually everybody is a freshman or sophomore and there’s actually some nice talent there with Cully Payne, Matt Gatens, Eric May and Aaron Fuller…

Oh boy, and I don’t even drink.

Now now, to the four of you who may still be reading, I haven’t gone through every player’s (rotational player) HOME shooting totals to see if somebody’s is worse, but I have a feeling LLP’s is the winner.

Get ready.

*For LLP’s sake and because I like him, I’ll give him this, he’s 11/26 in conference ROAD games

Never really was a huge fan of Chris Rock

Can’t really put my finger on why I like them now, but I guess I really admire any kid who would want to play for Bo Ryan.

Away from the intensity of gameday Bo Ryan’s probably an easy guy to like and get along with but I wouldn’t want to always have to bring a couple changes of britches with me to every game and practice. That’s just me though, I’m sort of a pussy. Bo would just look at me wrong and it’d be all over in my pants. Damn, I hope four clean pairs will be enough.

It's sort of refreshing to be a Michigan basketball fan right now. And no, there's no subtle sarcasm or cynicism in that statement.

Let me explain.

No more MUST WIN games for Michigan any more.   You see, UConn (Jan.17) at home was a MUST WIN.   Test passed. Morale on the upswing again.

Wisconsin (Jan.20) on the road almost a must win just based on the fact Badgers didn't have Jon Leuer and Michiga needed another quality win.  Test failed, miserably.

Manny Harris suspended prior to Purdue (Jan.23) game made it a lost cause even before tip off.  Sad fail.

Manny Harris reinstated prior to home game against MSU (Jan. 26), making the game a MUST WIN.   Test failed, though just barely.

Next on the slate was home against Iowa, and it may of well been against Novi High School because quite simply Iowa is no good. They basically hoist threes all game long, have very little size or athleticism, and the coaching is suspect.  Very similar traits to the Wolvies, only that Iowa doesn't have a Manny Harris or DeShawn Sims type player to bail them out from time to time. So anywhoodles, Michigan did take care of business like they needed to against Iowa. The W put Michigan at 4-5 in the conference with an away game versus Northwestern (Feb.2) as a sort of last ditch effort at turning the season around and making a run to the NCAA tourney.

The game, and you guessed it, was a MUST WIN.

Michigan came up predictably short, thus ending any more talk about must wins for the rest of the regular season.

Very refreshing.

Sure the MUST WIN psycho drama will crawl back onto the stage once the Big Ten tourney begins in March, but till then the Wolvies have little pressure to do anything really. Sure the NIT is still up for grabs, but as I said a few weeks ago, “It's so Tommy Amaker.”

Though on second thought, maybe a berth into the Not Invited Tournament wouldn't be all bad since it might not be around too much longer considering the rumor going around that the NCAA could expand the NCAA tournament field to 96 God Blessed teams.

Well I got news for ya.

The way Michigan is going right now a NIT berth ain't even looking too good. As of February 3rd Rush the Court did not have Michigan in its hypothetical 96 team field, basically meaning that Michigan isn't even in line for a NIT spot right now (because essentially the NIT teams would be the next 31 into the NCAA field if it does indeed expand).

My point is, all of the NCAA tourney aspirations this team had can finally be put to rest for at least a month. Just go out there and play basketball to improve, not only as a team but as individuals. And have some fun too. Maybe that's just what the Wolvies need--no expectations, no pressures.

Come Big Ten tourney time you can start to think about winning the tourney and punching your ticket into maybe what will be the last 65 team NCAA tournament ever. Heck, maybe by conference tournament time it won't matter if the pressure is too intense or the expectations too high. Maybe the team will have grown and improved to the point where they are capable of finally breaking through and going on that impressive run all the fans have been waiting for. However, that's only possible if the Michigan players and the coaches think it's possible. I guarantee you that's all that matters. Just ask the 2008 Georgia Bulldogs.

Not too many things more beautiful than the bracket

I'll say one thing about the NCAA tournament that I really enjoy... how hard it is to make it in the NCAA tournament field. It's a pretty stellar accomplishment and I compare it a little to making the MLB playoffs. You know you're getting the best of the best to do battle with each other, and I think that's neat. Sure there's maybe a dozen teams or so from small conferences that don't have a lick of a chance at winning even one game (or even coming within 30 points--I'm looking at you SWAC conference), but even they had to persevere and win three or four games straight in their conference tourneys just to make the field. They earned it just like big conference teams did by winning enough games throughout the season to impress the selection committee. Really, with the exception of maybe 15 to 20 in the nation the margin of error to make it to the Big Dance is very small. Just like the baseball playoffs, you really have to earn your spot in the field.

What could have gone wrong for the Wolverines in the past 80 or so hours did go wrong.

If the choke job at Wisconsin didn't send most of the fair weather duds jumping off the bandwagon, the mostly comatose showing against Purdue (69-59) certainly did--at least until the duds get wind of a good battle transpiring Tuesday evening when Michigan State plays at Crisler.

Though a good battle seems quite unlikely.

Manny Harris, who was suspended against Purdue because of what Beilein called “an unsportsmanlike act” during Friday's practice, might not suit up for the MSU game Tuesday (might not know for sure until Monday).

Talk about another buzzkill.

I mean it was horrible enough to see Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan so excited and carefree during the postgame interview with Charissa Thompson after his team scratched and clawed (hate that description, but it is the Kohl Center Badgers we're talking about) back from a double digit deficit in the second half against Michigan.  Maybe I haven't seen enough joyous Bo Ryan postgame interviews, but he was amped, and I thought he might even cop a feel. At that exact moment I kind of liked Bo Ryan a little bit.  His confidence and relief was inspiring. But then my attention shifted back on Charissa, and while she may not be Erin Andrews caliber, she's deffffinitely cop a feel worthy. Not that I condone that kind of stuff. But anyway, I quickly forgot about Bo Ryan and now dislike him again.

Boiler Lay-up Drill

Then Saturday just hours prior to the Purdue game I'm wandering the internets while I should have been reading scholarly articles for my classes, and find out that Manny Harris is suspended.  I talk myself into believing that the other guys will step up and give Purdue a tough game. Well, it started off nicely enough as DeShawn Sims was getting clean looks and just basically ballin' it up.  Then the lack of firepower caught up with the Wolvies, and the Boilermakers completely dominated.

After watching Michigan pretty much struggle to get clean looks the entire game while all Purdue had to do was move the ball around with very little dribbling and come away with super easy looks (lay-ups baby) for guys like JaJuan Johnson (majoring in organizational leadership and supervising) and E'Twaun Moore (same major as Johnson) I realized that more than ever that the Wolvies just don't have strength or height to consistently compete with most of the superior teams in college hoops. And Manny playing wouldn't have made a big difference today--teams (except UConn *oddly enough) now know how to attack Michigan's soft defense and for the most part guard them as well. Sure the offense would have looked better with Manny, but the interior defense (perimeter too) is just awful at times.  Too awful to win games against good teams.  Novak and Wright trying to guard faster, taller players just isn't going to work.  Pretty much hasn't worked all season.  Novak's a tough player but it's a shame he has to play out of position on defense so often.  Same for DeShawn... he can't even depend on any minutes along side 6'10 Zack Gibson because Gibson is only good enough to play when Sims is not in the game. 

*More after the jump -- click Read More.*

That's what John Beilein said (video here) in the locker room addressing the team after Michigan's five point 'upset' of UConn Sunday afternoon.

Upset?!?  You Talkin' About An Upset?!

It really wasn't an upset. Ok... it was a little bit of an upset, but not enough to warrant mass hysteria I've read on various Michigan threads on the interwebs. And it certainly wasn't the type of win where you rush the court. Of course it's been a trying season up to this point, but A) UConn came into the game losers of two in a row and not ranked in the top 10 and B) it's not like this Michigan team is downright dreadful or anything, rushing the court should be for special occasions. But hey, these are college kids were talking about. There's very little rationale in why they do what they do sometimes. Trust me, I'm in college, and half the time I wonder how I ever got in (I thought UofM admissions was tough, but then they let me in). On the other hand most of the students I've met I can understand why they're here, they're brilliant--just not at hoops knowledge kinda stuff. Oh well, I think they'll be alright in the grand scheme of things.  It's me I'm really worried about.

Look, It's The Bench

Props to Zack Gibson and Anthony “Michigan fan's whipping boy” Wright for their stellar performances (25 total minutes, 4 field goals, active defense). Both had been pretty much non-existent for the last several games, but both gave the team a much needed jolt in the arm. With the exception of the play when Anthony drove hard to the left and promptly tripped over his own feet and turned the ball over, there wasn't really anything cringe worthy about their time on the court. I'll let the airball Wright threw up towards the end of the half slide because he had already hit two of them in the half and, well, when Wright's feeling good you better savor the occasion and milk the hell out of it.  As for Gibson. he made a very graceful hook shot and was a pest on defense.  And no turnovers for Gibson, which, is something worth noting.

Momentum

For this victory to be considered truly impressive in the minds of the NCAA tourney committee Michigan not only has to seize this momentum and at worst win two! of the next three games (@Wiscy, @ Purdue, vs. MSU) but also hope UConn turns their season around, and soon, before it's too late in the wild Big East (still the best conference in America). The better UConn does this point forward the better this win looks for Michigan. I'm not exactly confident UConn has what it takes to turn their season around.  Sure they have lots of talent and some impressive specimen, but where exactly did they learn how to dribble and pass?

Badgers And That Bully Kohl Center Up Next

At Wisconsin on Wednesday--- No Jon Leuer (15ppg), no problem, right? Wrong. Wiscy doesn't lose at home. And the Wolvies aren't exactly world-beaters on the road or anything. Some way somehow even if the Badgers are playing poorly their crowd wills them to victory. Also I think the refs go easy on Wiscy because they just don't want to piss off Bo Ryan too much, and I really don't blame them for one second.

Limiting what trouble guard Trevon Hughes can get into will be key for the Wolvies, but they also must not allow the likes of Jason Bohannon (with his streaky 3 pt stroke) and Jordan Taylor (shot making ability) to go for big games either. Though, realistically, if Manny and DeShawn play like they're the two best players on the court (which they are) then Michigan will be in a great position for a victory. Yet, with Wisconsin's often stellar defensive schemes, I expect one of the two to be slowed, making it necessary for others guys to step up and make them buckets wet.

It'll be a typical low scoring Big Ten affair. I'm hoping Michigan doesn't come in with the mindset that without Leuer in the lineup it will be a lot easier. Because if that's their mindset, it's a guaranteed Wisconsin win.

This is when Beilein earns his salary.

This 68-63 win was great for Michigan's basketball program, no doubt.  Any time you beat a ranked opponent when your team is not, it's great.  It wasn't pretty (Michigan shot just 37%) and it took about 35 minutes to play the final minute because Michigan kept fouling UConn and UConn kept fouling Michigan, but all and all, it was a win worthy of freakishly sending out texts to your buddies about.

But was this the kind of win that called for a mosh pit in the middle of the court after the final buzzer?

I'll answer my own question with an emphatic, "No."

The win improves Michigan to 10-7, not good, but not far off from the team they just beat (11-6).  I realize UConn was ranked, 15th, and four of their losses were at the expense of ranked teams, but this wasn't a far superior team that Michigan played today.  Further, Michigan is playing very well right now, while UConn has now lost three straight.  You don't storm the court when you beat a team not far from being your equal unless it's your bitter rival or a championship game.  Michigan and UConn are not bitter rivals, like Michigan State or Ohio State,* and this was not a championship game.

Michigan students can enjoy the big win without rushing the floor. By storming the court, they admitted the team's inferiority and that's simply a false admission.  And you know what told me that it was the wrong decision?  The Michigan players were surprised.  They were leisurely walking off the floor when they were suddenly being pushed around by a flood of maize n' blue undergrads.  Michigan was not a team ready to overtly celebrate beating the Huskies.  They were a team walking off the court as if they just beat a team they fully expected, and should have, beaten.  Michigan fans at Crisler today cancelled out that swagger in my opinion.

* Michigan has only played UConn three times in the history of the two programs. NOT a rival.

Michigan's NCAA tourney aspirations took another blow again after losing to the Northwestern Wildcats in a highly entertaining affair at Crisler Arena on Sunday. Coming off a scintillating come from behind win at Penn State just a couple days prior, you'd have thought there would be somewhat of a let down playing a decent but not overly menacing Northwestern team at home. Well...

It wasn't like that most of the first half.

Michigan came out executing on all cylinders at both ends of the floor. Northwestern looked more deflated than a blow up doll Charles Barkley took a five iron to. But after a nice flurry of made baskets by highly touted freshman Drew Crawford, Michigan only had a 9 point half time lead to show for their solid first half.

Then the second half happened.

Michigan came out sleep walking. Northwestern came out getting shit done. They forced 12 second half Michigan turnovers, kept the ball out of DeShawn Sims' hands, and essentially toyed around with the Maizen Blue.

Michigan's lackluster perimeter defense didn't help matters either. I know Michael “Juice” Thompson is a quick little whippersnapper, but for Christsakes he's 5' 9 and he had wiiiide open looks from downtown time after time. And Michigan's porous rebounding and much to be desired interior defense made 6'11 sophomore center Luka Mirkovic look like Pau Gasol out there.

Oh well.

One thing that is a little easier to swallow about this loss is that these Northwestern Wildcats are not your father's Northwestern Wildcats. Prior to their two game Big Ten skid to open the season they were in the Top 25. Even with their two best players out for the season with injuries (Coble & Ryan) Northwestern is still considered NCAA tourney caliber.  And they sorta proved it on Sunday.

But still, Michigan had to take care of home court.  They had to.  NCAA tournament teams win that game.

I guess this all means that you can't just depend on two players for the bulk of the scoring, and for the most part nobody has stepped up as that third scoring option.

The 2010 NIT looks to be the destination for this team unless the support players start to step up more consistently.

And the NIT is not anything to look forward to.

It's so Tommy Amaker.