“This is a big one.”

[freewillie07]

"There is no margin for error," Collins said. "We were able to get out of it without too much damage in the first half. We have a number of road games coming up. This is a big one and I know our guys sense the urgency of the game and to play a good team like Michigan."


Exactly right. As things stand now, this is probably the second-hardest game remaining on the regular season schedule. An opportunity for a really good win on the resume. A chance to keep the momentum going and get back to .500 in conference.

The guys have had a good long time to prepare. I’m looking forward to seeing how they perform. Many of the Michigan games have been classics over the past few years.

 

[Alan Smithee]

If I've heard that once, I've heard it a thousand times.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

Looking forward to how we play this defensively. Michigan is a good 3 point shooting team, which is an argument against playing a zone. But going to a zone has been a catalyst for our better recent play, so I can’t see us going away from it. Can’t give this Michigan team open look after open look from long range. They are a team that will make us pay.

 

[NURoseBowl]

Wondering how we'll try to contain Wagner; not sure I see a great answer there.

 

[backdoorpass]

Looking forward to how we play this defensively. Michigan is a good 3 point shooting team, which is an argument against playing a zone. But going to a zone has been a catalyst for our better recent play, so I can’t see us going away from it. Can’t give this Michigan team open look after open look from long range. They are a team that will make us pay.

I am guessing that Assistant Coach Donlon will have some thoughts on how best to defend Michigan.

 

[blockm2]

I am guessing that Assistant Coach Donlon will have some thoughts on how best to defend Michigan.

honestly the most effective defense against Michigan over the years is a passive pack line type D that gives up long shots but mostly contests them. Zones and pressure schemes usually lead to open shots either at the arc or on back cuts.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

Do or Die! Backs against the wall! Love it!

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

honestly the most effective defense against Michigan over the years is a passive pack line type D that gives up long shots but mostly contests them. Zones and pressure schemes usually lead to open shots either at the arc or on back cuts.

I agree!

 

[NJCat]

I am guessing that Assistant Coach Donlon will have some thoughts on how best to defend Michigan.

I suspect that in his fifth year coaching against Beilein CCC has a good idea about how to defend UM. Executing the plan will be a different story. It won't be about the X's and O's, more about the Jimmies and Joes.......

 

[Hungry Jack]

If I've heard that once, I've heard it a thousand times.

I hear that late at night behind closed doors.

 

[JournCat]

honestly the most effective defense against Michigan over the years is a passive pack line type D that gives up long shots but mostly contests them. Zones and pressure schemes usually lead to open shots either at the arc or on back cuts.

I think the coaches will have used the six-day layoff to review man-to-man, and we'll play a mix of defenses the whole way today.

 

[EagerFan]

This kind of quote always strikes me as interview filler. Every conference game is a big one. This is even more true in FB obv., but it isn't like the BB team plays 82 games...

 

[Catreporter]

Watching Duke-UVA on Saturday, I was surprised to see Coach K playing zone the entire second half. I wish Chris had gone to it earlier especially vs. Nebraska where Palmer repeatedly torched our man-to-man for dunks in what at the time was a close game.

 

[Fitz51]

The prospect of any game being a "big one" went out the window about 4 losses ago. That said, it's coachspeak, so I'm fine with the statement.

 

[NUThump]

Michigan has had to watch so many highlights of The Play that I am sure they are sick of it. I expect them to come out hyped for this one.

 

[NJCat]

Michigan has had to watch so many highlights of The Play that I am sure they are sick of it. I expect them to come out hyped for this one.

NU should keep running "The Play" on baseline out of bounds situations until Michigan shows they know how to stop it.

 

[blockm2]

Watching Duke-UVA on Saturday, I was surprised to see Coach K playing zone the entire second half. I wish Chris had gone to it earlier especially vs. Nebraska where Palmer repeatedly torched our man-to-man for dunks in what at the time was a close game.

Duke has one of the worst defensive teams of the Coach K era this season. Whether that is the reason he abandoned the man defense or the reason for being bad, neither seems promising in regards to Duke's ability to defend the rest of the season.

 

[Walker Fan]

Coach K has abandoned man-to-man defense awhile ago. The genius also used his starters for all 20 minutes of the second half which hurt them also. There are many high school all-americans and McDonald's All-American who rot on the bench for Coach K that could be playing elsewhere.

 

[ricko654321]

Duke has one of the worst defensive teams of the Coach K era this season. Whether that is the reason he abandoned the man defense or the reason for being bad, neither seems promising in regards to Duke's ability to defend the rest of the season.

Yeah it's a dangerous consequence of bringing in a fresh new crop of insanely athletic 5-star players every year. Outside of Grayson Allen, it's basically an entirely new team - Bagley, Carter, Duvall etc. When you have players that athletic and talented who have been the best player on the floor their entire lives, 1) they often don't care that much about defense, which is ridiculously obvious for Duke this year as they play lazy defense until the last 5-10 mins of the game if they are behind at that point; and 2) they never really had to learn team defense principles and subtleties like fighting through screens, hedging, helping, backside rotations, etc because individual athleticism was enough to get by and/or the focus of what they did in AAU.

This has been the case at times in past years for Duke, the problem just became much more acute this year for one reason or another. Eventually Coach K gave up on man, and instead went with the damage control / triage approach of just limiting losses and playing zone. It's helped some on the problem #2, but not entirely, and if you watch Duke play problem #1 still definitely exists. Will be interesting to see how they fare in the tournament.

For all the hype, these type of freshman dominated teams rarely win the title. Duke did it once in 2015 with Tyus Jones, Okafor et al, and UK did it once in 2012 with AD and John Wall. And funnily enough, Duke in 2015 wasn't even the most hyped of the 1-and-dones, that was the Kentucky team that season which was undefeated until losing to Wisconsin. So the track record is something like 1.5 out of 6 or 7, not as high a hit rate as you might expect.

 

[Fitz51]

When’s the next big one?

 

[NJCat]

When’s the next big one?

The team with the better players won. Credit to the Cats for fighting but UM were better at every single position. Move on.

 

[IGNORE2]

When’s the next big one?

It was all the refs. And the fans didn't travel well enough. And sometimes the shots just don't fall. And it is hard to play on the road. And, bless their little hearts, the kids played hard.

Did I miss anything? Well Walkee, since you did not take my offer, how is your buddy Brown doing and what's up with CCC simply ignoring your advice and running Ash out there repeatedly?

Oh wait, I missed one, they are all hurt and barely able to make it up and down the floor...

This team is so disappointing. At this point, I really hope it is a clubhouse cancer and that the cancer is gone after the season.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

It was all the refs. And the fans didn't travel well enough. And sometimes the shots just don't fall. And it is hard to play on the road. And, bless their little hearts, the kids played hard.

Did I miss anything? Well Walkee, since you did not take my offer, how is your buddy Brown doing and what's up with CCC simply ignoring your advice and running Ash out there repeatedly?

Boy do you get excited to post when we lose a game!

 

[NJCat]

This team is so disappointing. At this point, I really hope it is a clubhouse cancer and that the cancer is gone after the season.

Huh? They played hard but got beat by a much better team. The first half of the season was disappointing but the last 4 games not so much. Face it, Michigan wasn't going to lose to NU tonight even with their subpar 3 point shooting. Not 1 NU player would start for Michigan. Tough to win on the road when you are outmanned like that.

 

[IGNORE2]

Boy do you get excited to post when we lose a game!

Sure Va, good description. Shouldn't you be drinking koolaid somewhere?

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

It was all the refs. And the fans didn't travel well enough. And sometimes the shots just don't fall. And it is hard to play on the road. And, bless their little hearts, the kids played hard.

Did I miss anything? Well Walkee, since you did not take my offer, how is your buddy Brown doing and what's up with CCC simply ignoring your advice and running Ash out there repeatedly?

Oh wait, I missed one, they are all hurt and barely able to make it up and down the floor...

This team is so disappointing. At this point, I really hope it is a clubhouse cancer and that the cancer is gone after the season.

Yes it is disappointing, but at least we have shown some life the last couple of weeks. Face it, our offense was not that great last year, we have to shoot at least average to win because we aren’t as deep as most teams in the B1G and we have some challenges on D too. My expectation was for about 6-4 in conference at this point, and a couple of decent OOC wins.