Mich vs VCU

[Hilltopper]

Did everyone see that game today? Michigan would have beaten us by 71...

If the shoe fits, wear it!

[Dr Z]

I just think it's amusing that we just got blown out and I'm taking it much better than some folks here a couple of days after their team received a similar beatdown.

Said the fan that has been to the final four to the fan that hasn't sniffed a win in the tournament.

[GP1]

I bet if GP1 were a VCU alumnus, you would be calling Shaka a failure and complaining about how much money he makes.

$1.2 million for a guy who leads his team to an A10 runner up and second round loss seems a bit steep to me. It would be really funny if they paid him all of that money for going to the Final Four and he didn't make it past the round of 32 again at VCU in his career.

[GP1]

Well, look at how slowly Shaka has moved that program. Next thing you know, he's going to be asking for a practice gym.

He's getting one.

[ksu sucks]

He's getting one.

LOL. The nerve.

[RACER]

GP if Michigan would beat us by 71.explain how they lost to penn state. the same team we beat by almost 30.you can't because you have no facts to back it up.

if vcu has so much better athletes how did lose to them by one last year in OT.people overreact to one game, and have no facts to back it up.

[Dave in Green]

Nice analysis in the AP game story. Here are a few quotes:

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Michigan made Havoc look helpless. .....

..... VCU was relentless in a 46-point rout of Akron on Thursday night, but the Rams met their match against Michigan's backcourt. Burke and Hardaway rarely looked rattled, and Michigan (28-7) committed only 12 turnovers.

The 71-point swing by VCU -- from a 46-point win to a 25-point loss -- was the largest in NCAA tournament history. .....

..... "Certainly in retrospect it wasn't a very good matchup," Rams coach Shaka Smart said. "The credit for that goes to Michigan. I don't think that we, for whatever reason, had great bounce today and energy. Our guys tried. They always do, but I think what Michigan was able to do to us early on and us missing some easy shots around the basket and maybe some outside looks we'd normally make, that may have contributed to our spirit not being quite where it needed to be." .....

..... The Rams entered the day forcing an average of 19.9 turnovers per game, the most in the nation. Michigan was only committing 9.2 per game, the fewest in the nation.

In a matchup of strength against strength, the Wolverines won easily. They started by letting Hardaway bring the ball up while VCU denied Burke. Occasionally, Burke would have enough space to dribble up the court himself, and Michigan also picked the press apart at times with smart passing.

"There wasn't this scientific game plan to get things done. They reacted and played against pressure like they've worked so hard to be able to do," Beilein said. "Every day we are practicing ball possession. Don't turn the ball over, throw it to the outside hand -- boring stuff that would put you all to sleep. Catch it on two feet, pivot strong."

The Rams didn't help themselves by shooting 30 percent from the field in the first half. It's harder for VCU to set up its press when the Rams aren't scoring. .....

[Zipgrad01]

I guess you didn't see how awful we are when have to play half court offense and get points in those sets when we can't get in transition. Michigan forced us to do that all game long because we couldn't turn them over.

If we packed it in and shut it down that is exactly what would have happened. It happened to us all of last year in the conference tournament and the NCAAs. There's a reason we go all out when we can, because we're no good when we're not aggressive. We recruit to play a certain way. If we can't play that way, we're very ineffective.

Today underlines that reality even more.

You know, this comment has been bothering me all afternoon and if this post is true then Shaka Smart is too stupid to be a D1 basketball coach.

Smart had to know that there was no way that VCU would have success running their press against everyone. I am pretty damn sure that Smart knew that Michigan would be a bad matchup for his style of play. If I were VCU, I would have told my guys that it was the perfect time to work on their half court defense because they stink at it. I can understand him building the big lead, but when they got up 30 or so that was the perfect opportunity to work on something that is a weakness of theirs. If he is that stupid and stubborn then he deserved to get blown out by Michigan because he refuses to work on an obvious team weakness.

It makes it even more obvious that his whole point was to run the score up, which is classless. Maybe Shaka will spend the offseason working on some half court defense, but it sounds like he isn't bright enough to get his team out of their comfort zone.

[LZIp]

You know, this comment has been bothering me all afternoon and if this post is true then Shaka Smart is too stupid to be a D1 basketball coach.

Smart had to know that there was no way that VCU would have success running their press against everyone. I am pretty damn sure that Smart knew that Michigan would be a bad matchup for his style of play. If I were VCU, I would have told my guys that it was the perfect time to work on their half court defense because they stink at it. I can understand him building the big lead, but when they got up 30 or so that was the perfect opportunity to work on something that is a weakness of theirs. If he is that stupid and stubborn then he deserved to get blown out by Michigan because he refuses to work on an obvious team weakness.

It makes it even more obvious that his whole point was to run the score up, which is classless. Maybe Shaka will spend the offseason working on some half court defense, but it sounds like he isn't bright enough to get his team out of their comfort zone.

He is bright enough to take his team to the final four, and win tournament games every year.

[ZippyRulz]

$1.2 million for a guy who leads his team to an A10 runner up and second round loss seems a bit steep to me. It would be really funny if they paid him all of that money for going to the Final Four and he didn't make it past the round of 32 again at VCU in his career.

Then his nickname could be Huggins II

[GP1]

GP if Michigan would beat us by 71.explain how they lost to penn state. the same team we beat by almost 30.you can't because you have no facts to back it up.

if vcu has so much better athletes how did lose to them by one last year in OT.people overreact to one game, and have no facts to back it up.

To answer this would require Faustian logic and I'm not ready to go down that road on a Sunday morning.

[GP1]

Smart had to know that there was no way that VCU would have success running their press against everyone. I am pretty damn sure that Smart knew that Michigan would be a bad matchup for his style of play. If I were VCU, I would have told my guys that it was the perfect time to work on their half court defense because they stink at it. I can understand him building the big lead, but when they got up 30 or so that was the perfect opportunity to work on something that is a weakness of theirs. If he is that stupid and stubborn then he deserved to get blown out by Michigan because he refuses to work on an obvious team weakness.

These teams are playing in the NCAA Tournament, not an OOC game in December. Experimentation is over. Teams live and die with what they do best in big games and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. VCU would have gotten noting out of "working on their half court defense" for 10 minutes against Akron. That's a foolish idea. It was more important to continue with what they do best and stay sharp for the next game. That's why we got our asses beaten so bad Thursday, not because Smart is a poor sportsman.

Some see the beat down we took as negative. I see it as an opportunity for improvement.

[Dave in Green]

..... Some see the beat down we took as negative. I see it as an opportunity for improvement.

+1

[Zipgrad01]

He is bright enough to take his team to the final four, and win tournament games every year.

And he is also dumb enough to get his ass kicked by Michigan because he spends no time on his teams weaknesses.

[Zipgrad01]

These teams are playing in the NCAA Tournament, not an OOC game in December. Experimentation is over. Teams live and die with what they do best in big games and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. VCU would have gotten noting out of "working on their half court defense" for 10 minutes against Akron. That's a foolish idea. It was more important to continue with what they do best and stay sharp for the next game. That's why we got our asses beaten so bad Thursday, not because Smart is a poor sportsman.

Some see the beat down we took as negative. I see it as an opportunity for improvement.

BS..it is called a coach preparing his team for their next opponent. Smart said that he knew Michigan was a bad matchup for his team because their guards would be able to handle their press. He knew this would come down to a halfcourt game, yet he chose to not work on their halfcourt defense against Akron. I don't understand how this is "experimenting".

[LZIp]

And he is also dumb enough to get his ass kicked by Michigan because he spends no time on his teams weaknesses.

Flawless logic you have there (and ironic, I might add).

[Zipgrad01]

Flawless logic you have there (and ironic, I might add).

How?

[mivid12]

+1

you were unaware the team needed to improve prior to that humiliating thrashing?

[LZIp]

How?

Is KD dumb enough to get his ass kicked by VCU because he never developed more ball handlers on the team (our weakness)? Kd did the same thing against VCU as Shaka did against Michigan. That is, sticking with your strength and hoping it is good enough to win. Also, there is absolutely nobody "dumb" in either scenario. We could not match up with VCU. VCU could not match up with the star power of Michigan. Burke, Hardaway, and even Robinson may be first round picks this year.

[Zipgrad01]

Is KD dumb enough to get his ass kicked by VCU because he never developed more ball handlers on the team (our weakness)? Kd did the same thing against VCU as Shaka did against Michigan. That is, sticking with your strength and hoping it is good enough to win. Also, there is absolutely nobody "dumb" in either scenario. We could not match up with VCU. VCU could not match up with the star power of Michigan. Burke, Hardaway, and even Robinson may be first round picks this year.

Who was Dambrot supposed to develop as a ball handler? All of our ballhandlers were either suspended, sick or out with back spasms. You can't even remotely compare the two.

[LZIp]

Who was Dambrot supposed to develop as a ball handler? All of our ballhandlers were either suspended, sick or out with back spasms. You can't even remotely compare the two.

None of them would have made a difference. Maybe Abreu, but I might argue Betancourt is a better dribbler.

[GP1]

BS..it is called a coach preparing his team for their next opponent. Smart said that he knew Michigan was a bad matchup for his team because their guards would be able to handle their press. He knew this would come down to a halfcourt game, yet he chose to not work on their halfcourt defense against Akron. I don't understand how this is "experimenting".

So, you are saying Smart should have left his starters in the entire 40 minutes to practice a half court defense?

I call preparing for your next opponent by getting sharp at what you do best is how you win big games. Never play the other team's game. Play your game and play your best. If you lose, you lose. It's called putting your best foot forward.

VCU didn't lose to Michigan because they didn't practice their half court defense against Akron. They lost because Michigan has better players at just about every position and they play against better teams than VCU on a regular basis. They could have practiced their half court defense for a month and still lost that game. This whole idea that ten minutes against Akron had anything to do with what happened to them is just silly.

One of the things I like to do is put myself in another person's position. Smart was playing against his good friend who is completely secure in his job for...well, forever and he kicked the crap out of him. I would probably do the same thing in his position. Coaches at that level are competitive in a way that most people can't understand. Smart kicked Dambrot's ass because he could. Dambrot took it so well because he can. Who was harmed? UofA basketball will not be impacted long term by what happened. It might actually be a good thing for them.

[Big Zip]

Loved some of the tweets I saw yesterday:

• 1Michigan played this game like they were Akron's pissed off older brother. Shaka probably regrets pressing his kids legs off up 25 now.
  
• 2PILE IT ON and keep those starters in -- right Shaka?!?
  
• 3I hope Michigan starts pressing VCU when they get up by 30....#Karma
  1. 4#Shaka regretting running up the score on Akron? VCU dead legs.
     

[Dave in Green]

you were unaware the team needed to improve prior to that humiliating thrashing?

Sorry, I have no earthly idea what your response has to do with my post.

[GP1]

Loved some of the tweets I saw yesterday:

• 1Michigan played this game like they were Akron's pissed off older brother. Shaka probably regrets pressing his kids legs off up 25 now.
  
• 2PILE IT ON and keep those starters in -- right Shaka?!?
  
• 3I hope Michigan starts pressing VCU when they get up by 30....#Karma
  1. 4#Shaka regretting running up the score on Akron? VCU dead legs.
     

This isn't directed at you BZ, just Twitter.

This is what I learned from that great medium, Twitter. VCU lost because they had dead legs? Or, did they lose because Michigan is a national championship contender and they had better players than them at every position?

Box Score Michigan's starters played almost the entire game against SDSU, yet they didn't have "tired legs" against VCU.

VCU vs Akron Box Score VCU had a greater distribution of minutes against UofA than Michigan vs. SDSU, but they had dead legs? How can they play so few minutes that they have dead legs? Aren't kids between the ages of 18 and 23 supposed to be able to run all day without getting tired?

Thanks for giving me yet another reason not to read Twitter or even know how it works. That which I do see is absolute garbage. The idea that VCU's pressure of Akron late in the game caused "dead legs" against Michigan simply isn't supported by the facts.

VCU plays loads of players so players are always competing for playing time. I admire a back up player who, when given the opportunity, gives 100% to prove he deserves more minutes. It's called competition. When did trying hard become poor sportsmanship? Why weren't our back-ups, who were playing as starters, do more?

If I was any of the young Zips who were thrown into heavy minutes Thursday unexpectedly, I would take a long look at my performance and my current abilities. After some reflection and critical evaluation, I would get my ass of to the gym for some personal improvement because what I showed got my team blown out of the gym Thursday evening. That's the lesson from Thursday. If this program is to get to the next level, those kids have some work to do.