zwem;2324241; said:
Teams just need to learn how to adjust. Teams have to recognize the flow of the game and play accordingly. Another thing to do is take advantage of it of the situation.
I was very curious about the Buckeye free throw attempts between the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes attempted 38 free throws in 3 games which is 12.67 attempts per game. In four games in the NCAA tournament the Buckeyes attempted 106 free throws which is 26.5 attempts a game. That is over 100% difference which is insane. The free throws was actually what got the Buckeyes back in the game. Thomas even got a few favorable calls when he was posting up. I told myself they just need to throw the ball into him every play, bump a guy, and go to the free throw line. Teams have to take advantage if the refs call a tight game. Stop shooting jumpers and take it to the hole.
Another thing that was interesting was the whole South region. Michigan's success really has nothing to do with the refs. They beat down 3 teams and got hot/lucky against Kansas. They didn't call Michigan's games tight at all.
2nd round fouls- Michigan -8 South Dakota St -10
3rd round fouls- Michigan -7 VCU- 14 (with the havoc defense)
Sweet 16- Michigan -12 Kansas-17
Elite 8- Michigan -13 Florida -11
A lot of those games they didn't call moving screens, McGary laying wood on people, calling cheap fouls for cuts under the basket,etc. Michigan was up 87-85 when McGary got the rebound on their last position and was slapped on the hand by Withey before the shot clock expired.. They didn't call it and I'm glad they didn't because it was a ticky tacky. Michigan only shot 50 free throws in their 4 games which is 12.5 a game. Michigan's opponents only shot 41 free throws. Kansas only had 10 free throw attempts against Michigan. In all 4 games nobody on both teams was ever really in foul trouble. Florida and Kansas are well known for their defense and play aggressively. The refs let Michigan and Kansas play. They were bumping each other and didn't call fouls for flops. That was one of the best officiated games I have seen. Neither team was really in foul trouble during the game.
You're actually proving my point in your post. Michigans foul totals are right at their average in the Big 10. MSU and OSU's fouls went up dramatically in the tournament. So, the question is why?
Well, Michigan averaged the fewest fouls in the Big 10 because they aren't physical at all and play more like an ACC or PAC 12 school. OSU and MSU play physical man defense, with bumps, grabs, and in your jock pressure from Craft and Shannon Scott on the primary ball-handler. As such, their foul totals increased almost 2-fold.
Again, Big 10 Tourney:
Nebraska, Craft had 3 fouls
Michigan State, Craft had 0 fouls
Wisconsin, Craft had 0 fouls
NCAA Tourney:
Iona, Craft had 1 foul
Iowa State, Craft had 4 fouls
Arizona, Craft had 4 fouls
Wichita State, Craft had 4 fouls
Team fouls were as bad....we averaged around 13 fouls a game in Big 10 play, while we averaged close to 20 in the tournament.
Ohio State is used to playing physical games that are allowed both ways. A free-throw contest doesn't work in the favor of the Buckeyes. They're not a great free-throw team, and as Izzo said against Duke, it's impossible to get any sort of a rhythm when the whistle is blown every possession.
And by the way, Florida plays a lot of zone and utilizes a full court press. Comparing Florida's defense and a school like MSU or OSU is apples to oranges. Teams that run zone play with a completely different type of aggressiveness. I'm not saying it is any more or less physical, but you aren't going to see Florida grab or bump a guy coming off a screen, because teams don't set baseline screens against a zone. Florida, like Louisville, may get tough calls once a trap is set, or trying to slap a ball out of a players hands in the press, but it isn't anything close to what the Buckeyes and MSU like to do in a half-court man-to-man game.
And the last thing I'd submit is Kansas's defense is not that good this year. They had an eraser in Jeff Withey that cleaned up a ton of mistakes. More power to them, but their perimeter defEnders looked more like Michigan's than an Ohio State or an MSU. But Kansas's wings gave up penetration all year, to be bailed out by 7'1'' defensive minded center.
