Actually, that no-look pass was part of an amazing sequence for Michigan. Coming out of a TV timeout (there were a TON of those), McGary made that pass & the place started buzzing. I should mention it was a very pro-Michigan crowd, noticed that early on. Anyway, 'Cuse missed their shot, Michigan rebounded it and started pushing up the floor. Burke, always on the lookout, heaved a long alley-oop pass to Glenn Robinson III. At the time I thought it would've brought the house down while simultaneously sticking a knife in Syracuse. Instead it just challenged Oladipo for Best Missed Dunk of the College Season (it's a shame I can't find video of that missed GR3 'oop anywhere). Burke, probably pissed because that last play didn't work out, got a steal and again pushed it up court. That time Syracuse's D got back & had Burke hemmed in, but not McGary. Big flush and Boeheim was forced to call a timeout.
Jordan Morgan has been one of those players you just don't like, kind of how Ryan Raburn was for the Tigers. Morgan is an unskilled big man. He's out there for his D and rebounding, expect neither are that great, and his offense leave much to be desired. Well, he kind of had a couple "hero moments" last night.
This was doubly key, because the charging call on Triche was his 5th foul. Michael Carter-Williams had already fouled out, and after Triche there weren't any good ball-handlers on Syracuse's bench. Boeheim drew up a play that I was confused by (much as I was confused by Bill Self's final play in the Kansas game), Hardaway made a great play & Morgan got the last 2 points in the game.
On sort of a side note, I didn't like the studio crew's complaining about the officiating at the end of the game. I thought the refs were ok, not great. I thought MCW's 4th foul was a flop on his part. At the time, Clark Kellogg said it should've been charging. I thought probably a no-call, but didn't mind MCW getting penalized for flopping. His 5th foul was definitely a foul. Triche's 5th was DEFINITELY charging, no matter what Barkley says. I suspect the studio guys are advised in part to drum up controversy.
Anyway, I was understandably ecstatic about the final result of that game & can't wait for the Louisville game tonight. I was thinking about it & this game makes a set for Michigan. They faced VCU's "Havoc Defense", Kansas's defense, Florida's defense, Syracuse's 2-3 zone, and now Louisville's vaunted press defense. That's the 5 most talked about defenses in the tournament, 4 or which have fallen to Michigan's offense. One to go.
ESPN wrote an article about the McGary-Dieng match-up being key to whoever wins this game. I'm going to disagree a little. McGary's success is important for Michigan, obviously, but I think Beilein's strategy for this game will be to use more screens and for McGary to get his points mainly off of offensive rebounds. Rebounding and beating the press are key. Spike Albrecht has had a wonderful tournament (I kept yelling for Beilein to put him in when Michigan went cold in the 2nd half), he'll have to play big minutes. I'm hoping Burke's speed & ball-handling can put Russ Smith & Siva in foul trouble, and Michigan's D has to keep them out of the lane.
Moving on to hockey (because I rarely talk about the Wings unless it's the playoffs), I caught much of one of the most entertaining games this season. I was on my way to see a movie and caught a sequence where 3 goals were scored in less than 4 minutes. Saw my movie (Die Hard 5, not that good, even for $2.50), and came out to hear the end of the 3rd period. Colorado had tied the score, the clock was winding down, and this happened:
The Pistons beat Chicago last night and are now probably looking at the number 7 pick instead of the number 5 pick in the draft. On a lighter note, they're playing better... right when we don't need them to be. I hope they lose their next 2 before stomping Philly when we go to see them next week, that's all.
The Tigers won 2 out of 3 against the Yankees this weekend, oddly enough losing the Verlander game 7-0. So that's weird...
Jason Hanson retired. This kind of deserves its own post, but there's too much going on right now. Anyway, sad day for Lions fans. They're replacing him with David Akers, who's a solid kicker despite kind of stinking up the place last year. Akers is probably a little less accurate than Hanson (but close), but with a bit more distance on his kicks. He dinked in a 63-yarder off the crossbar last year vs. Green Bay, tying the NFL record. The Lions are hoping his accuracy improves back to the mean, and kicking in Ford Field should help.
It's looking more and more like the Lions could be targeting Dee Milliner with the #5 pick if both top OT's are off the board. I'm ok with this since I'm not crazy about the DE options that high in the draft. Ziggy Ansah is intriguing, but if I'm Martin Mayhew (funny Freudian slip - I accidentally typed "Mayhem" at first) and I'm going for a project at DE, I prefer Margus Hunt in the 2nd round.
Back to some Michigan news - Jalen Rose is kind of pleading with Chris Webber that he join the rest of the Fab Five at the game tonight. I'll add my voice (little as it means) to Rose's plea - "Please Chris Webber, come to the game & let the healing begin!"
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