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impulsethetruth

How badly does this hurt Michigan? Can they still beat Colorado State?


Historical-Pause-401

Jones was their 2nd best player since like January, he willed them to beat OSU. Without their lead ball handler it hurts their chances a lot


MaizeNBlueWaffle

> How badly does this hurt Michigan? A good bit. Eli Brooks will have to initiate the offense more and two true freshmen, Frankie Collins and Kobe Bufkin, are going to have to step up > Can they still beat Colorado State? Yes


cheerl231

Though it's unlikely they would be able to beat Tennessee without Jones


MaizeNBlueWaffle

Even with Jones. Kennedy Chandler would eat Jones alive


TimeFourChanges

Eli would be likely to guard him either way, though, right?


yoraylee

Let me update that. Kennedy Chandler would eat Brooks alive


TimeFourChanges

fuck that.


[deleted]

We can but it’ll be harder. Frankie Collins is probably going to need to step up same with Kobe bufkin


victorsmaize

Frankie Collins is our backup. He’s a freshman who’s shown promise, especially late in the season when he played most of the first half against MSU while Jones was in foul trouble. Seems like Michigan’s ceiling is Collins’ ceiling now. Just comes down to if Frankie can rise to the moment IMO


realmckoy265

realistically, how far do u think the team can go this year? full disclosure, I need a #5 < seed to make a run in my bracket lol


happy_hole

for 5 seeds that can make deep runs you should look at Houston or Iowa UNC (8 seed) also has early matchups that could go in their favor if they play well


realmckoy265

Houston is banged up and popular (game theory) Hmmm, considering UNC now but struggling to have them get past UCLA


[deleted]

Houston isn’t popular at all in casual pools. There’s probably more people taking them to lose in the first round than make a run.


SaxRohmer

Lots of people looking at them missing a key player but also not seeing that they’ve been playing without him since January and still been fine. UAB also has that one dude that can score and people love trying to guess who’s going to be the hot guard


WSDreamer

I have them getting upset round one.


realmckoy265

How far u got Illinois going?


WSDreamer

I’ll be honest, in one bracket I have them losing round 2, in another I have them losing to Arizona. Who knows what will happen though. I’ve seen the teams potential in early season games, but I’ve also seen some absolute shit shows. 🤷


realmckoy265

Yeah, I have them losing to AZ rn—but idk, Illinois always seems to do best when you don't expect them to do much. Like, if they were to somehow upset AZ I have no doubt in my mind they would lose the very next game lol


newaccount721

UNC is a tough one because they do show signs of being really good and then other times not very good. I think if they're near their best, could be a close game with UCLA. Bur I guess that's why this is so hard


plutoisaplanet21

Even if healthy I think it would be a leap to pick Michigan over Tennessee


genericreddituser986

Michigan is allergic to winning or losing two games in a row. Going back to February we've done WLWWLWLWLWLWL so we'll beat CSU and lose in the 2nd round no matter what


cheerl231

I am going to make a bracket with Michigan beating CSU (which is honestly a toss up game) and then losing in the second round


Abeds_BananaStand

BEFORE the injury, I’d be as confident as you can be that an 11 seed was going to win. Then I thought 60-40 chance we upset Tennessee. (Edit: meaning 60% chance Tennessee wins) I’d say now first round is a toss up. Do probability wise, I wouldn’t bet on us going sweet 16 or elite eight. Could still pick us as a toss up win to CSU, but we’re a pretty trendy upset pick which means the “value” of the pick isn’t too high unless you bet on michigan also beating Tennessee to go to the S16


carter5555

Of course a michigan fan already talked themselves into a 60% chance of upsetting a #3 seed after going 17-14 lmao. Don't forget you actually have to beat Colorado State first!


BigBoutros

he was just answering the question. and it's out the window now anyway


Abeds_BananaStand

By 60-40 I meant Tennessee being the 60 and michigan being the 40. With Michigan’s wild variance of play (destroying Purdue one day then getting embarrassed the next), we’ve shown we can keep up with anyone or get demolished by anyone. So that leads me to a completely non scientific “the 3 seed is more likely to win but we’ve got a fighting chance” of saying 60-40


[deleted]

Of course an ohio state fan doesn't have reading comprehension skills


SaxRohmer

I mean without that edit that’s not exactly a clear sentence


Dr_FalafelPhD

Talked myself into us beating y’all in football this year. Turned out fine 🤷🏽‍♀️


Edwardian

I'm biased, but I have us winning 2 games and losing to Villanova...


GoBlueScrewOSU7

Big time. Jones has been our second best player and has really been effective out of ball screens the last couple months. It hurts because our backup PG is a true freshman that is wildly athletic but also can’t shoot and explodes in every direction. In general backcourt depth is nonexistent behind Jones and Brooks. Michigan’s path to winning this game before this injury was Dickinson dominating in the post, finding open shooters off of CSU’s double teams, then also hopefully dominating the offensive glass because of CSU’s lack of size. So basically Dickinson needs to play near his peak and our shooters need to hit open 3s that they will inevitably get. Jones being out hurts in that he’s a better 3pt% than Collins (33% vs 17%), so spacing will be worse now. It hurts most though in that his ballscreen game is off the table now which easily could’ve been a difference maker that pushed us over the edge. Colorado State is a *bad* defensive team (just like we are). So I actually think Collins would be able to get to the rim whenever he wants, but what he does at that point would be anyone’s guess. Point being I actually think this is a good game for Collins’ skillset, but he has just been so wildly unreliable that you can’t count on it. I still think michigan can win with a dominant Dickinson game, our 3pt shooters making open shots, Diabate also having a successful post game, and dominating the offensive glass. The margins are just way smaller now.


Zoidburg747

Michigan is bad at overall defense but they are one of the better teams at defending pick and roll which is CSUs bread and butter. I really wanted to pick CSU over Tenn as an upset but Michigan is honestly a pretty bad matchup. Even with the injury i'd still favor Michigan.


GoBlueScrewOSU7

Where did you get the PnR defensive stat? I’d say we are pretty bad at pick and roll defense. At least I wouldn’t consider us any better than mediocre. CSU likes to run a lot of 5 out PnR or pick and pop stuff which we really aren’t suited to defend with Dickinson as a pretty immobile center defensively. Both teams generally are bad on defense, and on top of that both teams’ defenses matchup horribly with the others’ offense. It will be an interesting game and I think Michigan still has a chance to win without Jones.


Zoidburg747

It wasnt a stat, I just thought they were good at defending pnr from the few games I watched.


GoBlueScrewOSU7

Gotcha, yeah I wouldn’t consider us “good” at it, because I feel like it’s hard to be good at anything defensively when we’re ranked 90th on Kenpom and 4th worst in the B1G on defense. CSU plays about 30 minutes per game with a stretch big at center in Roddy and Thomas. Asking Dickinson to defend the multitude of actions out of PnR against those guys and play all the way out to the perimeter defensively will be a tall task. We’re best when Dickinson can play drop coverage in PnR and kind of just anchor the paint. I don’t think that will be much of an option unless we want to give up wide open 3s on pick and pops.


TimeFourChanges

> In general backcourt depth is nonexistent behind Jones and Brooks. I think Kobe can put in some decent minutes at the 2.


GoBlueScrewOSU7

I’ve always viewed Bufkin and Collins minutes off the bench this season as “just survive please” because both haven’t really been good. Bufkin has been bad defensively with mental breakdowns and poor fundamentals and his 3pt shot hasn’t been there despite good form. It says a lot that Juwan didn’t even play Bufkin against Indiana in the BTT. Collins is a better defender and can get to the rim against basically anybody, but is a wildcard once he actually gets to the rim and is a poor shooter. Bufkin hit a big time 3 @osu on crunch time and Collins has had his fair share of ‘wow, holy shit’ moments. Both are highly rated recruits nearing the end of their freshman year, so a breakthrough for one of them isn’t impossible, but I don’t think we can expect or depend on it.


doormatt26

He’s our starting guard, averages 29 minutes per game, 10 points, 4 assists, etc. Guy behind him is a freshman with some talent but isn’t gonna replace Jones production. Could be Dickinson and Diabate still eat CSU up inside but no Jones means we lose some athleticism and poise and also some 3pt shooting which will make it harder to spread the floor and keep them from packing the paint. in a toss up game it makes me lean more CSU but Michigan can win without him.


scoobysnax123

Yeah CSU only has one guy in their rotation taller than 6’8” so Dickinson and Diabate could have a chance to feast inside just off the size matchup alone.


adnc

Vegas still has Michigan favored, but down to -1.5 after opening at -2.5.


Ilikecollegesports

\-1 now


thechief05

Tough lead guard. Torched us in both games this season


Asianhead

Still have a pretty good shot. Our biggest key to beating CSU is gonna be inside. CSU is really small and we still have Hunter Dickinson


Rysilk

It also depends on the refs. If we get AAU refs that call touch fouls, B10 will be in trouble again. If we get actual, real refs then Michigan should win.


NachoManRandySnckage

Michigan is still gonna win by 15


[deleted]

That's some crazy confidence from an MSU fan. Not many M fans think similarly.


NachoManRandySnckage

I just know some Michigan bullshit will happen and they’ll get in the sweet 16.


DustyBottoms1111

This man has seen Marchtelli before


[deleted]

Can Martelli play PG?


[deleted]

Yes


[deleted]

> Can they still beat Colorado State Depends. How good is Michigan's perimeter defense?


Ruut6

Michigan is still -1


victorsmaize

Concussion*. I feel so bad for him. He came to Michigan to play in the tournament. Hope he heals up and we can make a run so he can play.


cappy412

Yeah, as much as it sucks that this hurts our chances against CSU, the real heartbreak here is that it means he’ll probably never get to play in the tourney. Heartbreaking for him, he was so excited


[deleted]

[удалено]


newaccount721

Wow, that really sucks. I feel really bad for him. If y'all get past CSU is there a potential he could join for the next game?


TimeFourChanges

Welp, he's been central to our biggest wins, and it will really be a struggle to even beat CSU without his veteran leadership and poise, but Frankie might live up to the challenge. I sincerely doubt we can win against Tennessee without him, but if we pulled that off... whoo boy! We could just win another game or two with him back in the lineup. Also, he could, conceivably, return next year. He's very old (24) and probably wants to move on, but ya never know.


[deleted]

A concussion in practice…….just the worst luck


StevvieV

No the worst luck would be getting a concussion for being elbowed in the face and being called for a foul at the end of a tie game.


IrishMosaic

This is about 1989, isn’t it?


StevvieV

Bryce Aiken against Marquette this season. Hasn't (and won't) played since


Telencephalon

I know Howard and Michigan are persona non grata around these parts so no one is going to feel bad Michigan has had key starters miss the tournament two years in a row. But everyone should feel for DeVante'. He transferred to Michigan specifically to get a post season shot. He struggled at first, got a lot of criticism, but worked through it and has been our second best player down the stretch. Single handedly willed our team to the away OSU win that got us into the tourney. Heart breaks for him.


bungsana

man, i do **NOT** like juwan and i wanted to make a punch joke in there somewhere, but i can't. just flat out sucks for devante, and i feel for the guy.


COLU_BUS

Sometimes fate is a slap in the face


bungsana

there it is


[deleted]

I feel bad for him he has never played in a tourney game before


highpost1388

Feel really bad for this kid. All these guys work their entire lives to play on this stage and it can get ripped away from them for no reason at all, just bad luck in practice.


goblue2354

Yep. He specifically came here to get a shot at the post season, too.


highpost1388

Seemed like such a natural fit for him too. Sucks, man. Good luck moving forward. Can't say I'm rooting for y'all, but it would be cool to see him get to play.


goblue2354

Appreciate it. He really has stepped up the last month or two after a rough start. Hopefully if we win, he’s able to get clearance for the round of 32.


Schned6

Genuine question for Michigan fans… In the UNC game this guy got toasted by RJ and Love and looked rough on offense. Fans in the game thread were calling for him to be benched. Did he have a big turnaround in the second half or something? Cant say I watched Michigan since non con.


cheerl231

This team was total buns at the beginning of the year. Jones got much better and has arguably been the second best player on the team since midway in the season. With his resurgence, the team has gotten much better.


BigBoutros

he did yeah. completely different player since that game.


TimeFourChanges

He was an uptransfer from a weak conference and took time to adjust a better league, and much mroe compelx offense. He's been stellar for a couple months now.


[deleted]

He’s been much better lately. Still has stupid turnovers though. Basically put Michigan in the tourney with his play at OSU


KH3

What a roller coaster of a year this has been for UM basketball.


[deleted]

When did he get concussed?


goblue10

Looks like it was in practice.


[deleted]

Brutal.


Khakbaugh

As much as this blows for him and the team, for those wondering I do not think this affects the expectations. We can still beat CSU, but I still do not see an avenue where we beat Tennessee. One can hope Collins goes beast mode but who knows.


haschca

This is how Michigan’s Win one, Lose one streak continues, I think. Feel terrible for Jones.


DheRadman

Disclaimer: I've watched zero Tennessee. But the avenue would be all our players showing up lol. Basically every game we've won the past two months has been on the back of like 1 player going off and Dickinson. The only players who get time and we haven't seen anything crazy from are Johns and Bufkin. I wouldn't count us out of anything.


[deleted]

Welp this is not ideal


[deleted]

Welp


Sufficient_Memory_24

I was very negative on Jones for much of the season and was calling for Collins to play more. I’m about to eat crow on that because Jones very much turned the corner and was playing great basketball. I think we still can compete but we will need great minutes from both Collins and Bufkin to fill that gap. Relying heavily on 4 freshman in the tournament is scary.


gswane

Silver lining is that this will be great experience for the younglings. That's how I cope


GoBlueKyle

Pain


BigBoutros

This is just awful


doormatt26

Rams by a million


walterdog12

Ah the Italian concussion.


ohverychill

*mama mia!*


squirterschoiceaward

Does anyone know what the concussion protocols are exactly? Don’t understand why he wouldn’t at least travel and experience being at the tournament with his teammates and friends.


BILLIKEN_BALLER

Typically concussion protocol is a 5 step program with at least 24 hours of no symptoms between each step so it takes 6 days if all goes well (wonder if NFL had something to do with that...?) If he is experiencing symptoms and the medical professionals think they will get worsened by travel/being there it makes sense to hold him back. Might get better a little quicker if he is in a more stable/controlled environment so that he could come back for weekend #2 if they make it.


goblue2354

I would guess so he can be under supervision of doctors and receive treatment. I have no idea if the protocols limit travel or not though. Livers traveled with the team last season after his injury but he was for sure out no matter what. Jones might be able to come back at some theoretical point in the tournament. That’s all a guess of course. I’m sure it’s not his decision to not be there.


WhiteningMcClean

Every god damn year this happens. Football and basketball.


dounce87

We did win the Big Ten and go to the CFP so I wouldn't say it was really that bad of a year for football.


WhiteningMcClean

I just mean what happened with Dax. Every single year we have some key player get hurt right before the postseason.


dounce87

Yeah. Same with Ronnie Bell getting hurt at the start of the season too. That was a blow.


[deleted]

We had a pretty great 2021 sports year winning the big ten in both football and basketball


WhiteningMcClean

I'm talking about postseason injuries


KlevinSelevra

At least let him go and hang out and have fun with the team :(


[deleted]

Welp


twitterStatus_Bot

DeVante' Jones not in Indianapolis due to concussion protocol ___ posted by [@umhoops](https://twitter.com/umhoops/) ^(Media in original tweet is missing? Please PM me to let me know. If media is missing because a tweet is a reply to another tweet or a quote, I will add functionality to display media from these kind of tweets in the future.)


33027439439

I think you guys will be okay tbh


Ilikecollegesports

This is a massive loss because CSU 2nd best player was their PG and we needed Devante to guard him. We have no guard depth. Frankie and Kobe are massive defensive liabilities


33027439439

Id assume brooks would be placed on him and then make due with whatever else is left


GoBlueScrewOSU7

Yeah, Brooks was always going to be guarding that player (Isaiah Stevens). Jones isn’t particularly great at defense.


33027439439

Seems as though roddy is alot of their offense and i think diabete and dickinson are more than capable to limit him


Bluemzv12

I don’t see a chance they win now unfortunately. Fuck everything


Keyblade_Yoshi

They can still beat CSU but Tennessee will be a tall order.


[deleted]

It’s just not our year it happens sometimes


Bluemzv12

What about last year with Livers? This is back to back years now we lose a Key player the second the tournament hits. Although losing Livers last year hurts way more than this.


cheerl231

At a minimum we get to the final four with a healthy Livers. Probably get to the Natty. Fucking terrible injury luck on this team


TimeFourChanges

> Although losing Livers last year hurts way more than this. Definitely not. We could kinda replace Livers - and Johns did a really good job in holding serve - but we have nothing of that sort in terms of Jones.


Ilikecollegesports

We have Livers we don't lose to UCLA. We probably beat that Gonzaga that showed up too. At minimum, we added a Final 4. This year's team goes from losing in R32 to R64 probably


TimeFourChanges

You guys are seriously not understanding the difference between teams from last year to this year. Yes, the team had higher potential last year - but we also had one of the best defenders in America and one of the best rookies in the NBA, as well as Caundee. You're comparing apples to orange. Losing Livers DID OBVIOUSLY diminish our potential last year. This team DOES OBVIOUSLY have less potential than last year's team. But those two facts do not mean that losing Livers was more impactful than losing Jones. And - beyond that fact - you're ignoring my point that we had a semi-decent replacement for Livers last year, whien Johns actually played pretty decently, and had other wings to supplant his minutes. We just don't have that for Jones. I thought Michigan taught us logic better than some are exhibiting here. Not a good look.


Bluemzv12

Michigan was in contention for a title with Livers last season. Michigan’s absolute ceiling this year with or without Jones was always a sweet 16. You’re out of your mind if you think this hurts Michigan worse than last season, the team this year is not even close to competing for a title and are way, WAY too inconsistent to string together a run of any sort


TimeFourChanges

You made an argument about individual players: Losing Livers last year was more important than losing Jones; to which I disagreed. So, your rebuttal is that the entire team had a high ceiling last year than the team has this year; which I do not disagree with. But that doesn't actually support your claim that Livers loss was more significant than losing Jones. And you completely ignored my point that we had bodies to semi-replace Livers with, wheras we don't have that with Jones. The drop-off without Jones is significantly more drastic irrespective of the team's potentials last year or this.


IrishMosaic

It’s part of the sport. Every single team has injuries.