Poor Brandon Knight and Poor Big Ten

Greg Monroe owes Brandon Knight a dinner. And a car. And maybe set him up with his sister or something. 

Let me explain... No there is too much. Let me sum up: it's the 2nd quarter and the Pistons are already down by nearly 20 (they would go on to lose by 32). Greg Monroe was doing his usual on defense, which means he was watching the ball and completely lost his man, DeAndre Jordan. Naturally, Jordan rolled to the rim, Chris Paul threw a lob, and Brandon Knight switched over to try and break it up. Unfortunately, Knight is 6'3" and MAYBE 190 lbs, while Jordan is 6'11" and 265 lbs. That dunk was really a microcosm for the whole game, and both (game & dunk) reminded me of this scene:

Phoenix, Sacramento, New Orleans, and Minnesota are all a win away from letting the Pistons pass them on the way down to the top 5 picks in the lottery. Detroit is feeling some heat from Philly however, who looked like a playoff team only a month ago but have since pulled off an impressive 1-12 run. My wife & I are probably going to the April 15th meeting between Detroit & Philly. I'm hoping the Pistons will have their position locked up at that point, enabling me to root for a win without reservations. I'm also hoping Drummond will be back so there will be somebody on the floor worth watching.

Michigan had an opportunity to make several Big Ten teams (including themselves) very happy.  Whoops. Allow me to breeze over 39 minutes of exciting basketball to the last crucial minute. The score is 70-66 in favor of Michigan, and it's looking pretty good. Indiana only has 3 fouls, needing 7 to get Michigan into the bonus and begin that college basketball endgame that is extremely dull and extremely tense at the same time.
- They foul 3 times, the third being a shooting foul. GR3 hits 1 of 2 FT's, 71-66 U of M
- Zeller misses a layup but we can't rebound, so he gets his miss and puts it in, 71-68 Michigan
- Indy fouls Hardaway who misses the front end of the 1 & 1. Michigan INEXPLICABLY leaves no rebounders, so Indiana gets the ball back.
- Zeller gets fouled, hits both FT's. 71-70, Michigan.
- Burke gets instantly fouled, misses the front end of the 1 & 1, again Michigan provides no rebounders and Indiana has the ball with a chance to take the lead.
- Zeller gets blocked, makes the shot anyway, and Indiana has the lead, 72-71 with 14 seconds left in the game.
- Burke races into the lane, Indy's help D comes late, for some reason (ok, he was afraid Zeller was going to block it, except Zeller was out of position to get a block) he takes the most difficult version of the layup he can & misses. FOR ONCE Michigan gets the offensive rebound, but Jordan Morgan (who may never have made a lefty tip-in his entire life) tries to tip it in instead of grabbing it & dunking (he had PLENTY of time). He missed.

Michigan had an opportunity for 6 points in FT's that last minute. They got 1. And it was 3 of their 4 best offensive players missing the shots. Also puzzling was Beilein's decision to clear out the rebounders for the 1 & 1 foul shots. How often do players in that situation actually commit an accidental foul? Practically never! 

Anyway, Michigan got KILLED on the boards (as usual), missed key FT's down the stretch, and lost the game. Burke was mediocre for him, Hardaway... well, he hit some big shots but overall wasn't that good, and Glenn Robinson III doesn't look like an NBA player yet. I don't know where this buzz around him is coming from, but other than some fantastic dunks, he hasn't brought much.

With a couple of wins in the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan could've been a #1 seed. Now, even if they WIN the Big Ten Tournament (not something I'd advocate attempting) they're probably a #2 seed at best. Most likely they win 1, maybe 2 games on their way to a 3 or 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.