I looked at Michigan's basketball messageboard and I think we may surprise their fanbase.  All they see from our schedule is our loss to Eastern Michigan, so a lot of them do not think Ohio will give them much of a problem.  What they fail to take into account is that we've won 8 out of 9 games against perhaps the hardest part of our schedule since then, so hopefully Michigan underestimates us.

Last Edited: 3/11/2012 8:24:29 PM by FearLeon

Last Edited: 3/11/2012 10:22:03 PM by Tyler

Last Edited: 3/12/2012 2:09:40 AM by JSF

I LOVE this matchup!  (Thankfully we didn't draw Indiana.  Would not have liked that at all.)  I've watched Michigan plays numerous times this season, and saw them live in Columbus.  They are a very well coached, solid team,  however, considering they won a co-share of arguably the best conference in basketball this season, they will not overmatch us with athleticism.

Cooper vs Burke will be a point guard matchup for the ages.  Burke is phenomenal.  He's probably their most athletic player, and is lightning quick.  He made Aaron Craft look slow in the Ann Arbor contest.  That said, Craft absolutely shut him down on Saturday in the B1G tourney.  I'm really curious to see if UM chooses to use Burke to guard Coop.  I could easily see Beilein go with Douglass on Coop to save Burke's energy.

Hardaway Jr. will be our biggest matchup issue.  He's fast, long, and athletic and can slash to the hoop, pull up off the dribble, and knock down the 3.  I have no idea how we'll game plan for him.  Offut gives 3 inches to him.  We can't afford to have Offut in foul trouble again, and I think Hardaway would pose problems for him.  I think our best option in covering Tim will be a combo of TJ and Ricardo.

Novak and Douglass are both smart players (both are seniors), but I don't see them overmatching any of the guys we choose to guard them with.  Athletically, I think we have the advantage here.  Limiting their 3 attempts is the primary goal.

Jordan Morgan is their 'big' man.  He's solid in the post, but I don't see him causing us fits like a few other of our potential opponents bigs.  Keely has the size and weight to bang with him.  Baltic will be much faster than he is.  Smith, well, let's hope he doesn't end up on him too many times defensively.  Morgan has 60 pounds on Jon and will use it.

Smotrycz is the other matchup that will give us issues.  I think Baltic will be able to be effective against him defensively, as Ivo is agile enough to take him inside and out.  He does pose a threat, though, and I'm sure Groce knows this.

Beilein is a master at slowing things down and forcing opponents into his tempo.  When/if you can force him into a faster pace game is where Michigan appears the most vulnerable.  Defensively, I would imagine we'll see some 1-3-1 which could cause us issues since we (and anyone else, for that matter) don't see much of it.  I honestly like our matchups in man-to-man and in zone D (pending our shots are falling).

IMO, the most important factor for Ohio in this matchup will be Offut on the offensive end.  If he can score 15 points, I like our chances a whole lot.

Actually, I don't think that's universally true.  I'm not an exception.  A lot of Big Ten fans are hardcore basketball people and want a strong, nationally competitive MAC.  Sure, they still think of the Big Ten as the big dog but I know plenty of fans from MSU, UM, Indiana, etc., who lament that the MAC appears to have dropped off in recent years.  

Last Edited: 3/12/2012 12:39:00 PM by bobcat28