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Why anyone would want to…

Why anyone would want to relive an OSU loss by skimming through 10,000 words of analysis (let alone writing it) baffles the mind.

Absolutely love that the…

Absolutely love that the star of Blue Chips, a movie about dropping bags, is now dropping bags as the head coach of Memphis. The poetic symmetry is just... *chef's kiss*

They've still been awesome,…

They've still been awesome, even without Langford. (Purdue aside.) So I don't think this is even all that fortuitous for us. Just sucks for him. 

The Shot

Anyone notice how shockingly unenthusiastic Ibi was under the basket after Jordan hit the shot? He barely celebrated. Only jogged after Poole as the rest of the team sprinted.  Watch for Ibi next time you watch the clip. He almost seemed bummed that the season had to continue. I figured he was going to be the one to leave after watching that.

Poor guy. I hope he finds tons of playing time and some excitment at his next spot. 

"I mean, I was gonna leave

"I mean, I was gonna leave anyway, so, like... whatever." 

About as petty and self-agrandizing as any resignation letter could be. Unbelievable. 

It is kind of relative,

It is kind of relative, though, isn't it? 

Right now he's second in assists with 18 to Zavier's 19. 

3.6 AST/game to Zavier's 3.8.

He might not be Walton, but given what we got, he's nearly just as good a distributor as our number 1 assist guy and provides offense Zavier doesn't. 

Move em up

Teske looks like the real deal at the 5. 

I'm so curious about a lineup that looks like this:

1. Rahk

2. DRob

3. Matthews

4. Mo Weezy

5. Big Nasty

Huge. Athletic. Sieves on defense? Probably. But I bet that'd be a fun 5 minutes!

(Also realizing Matthews is in desperate need of a nickname.) 

As for PG... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

All three look in over their heads. I miss LaVall. Go Butler! 

 

 

BOO THIS MAN!

BOO THIS MAN!

It's Getting a Little Dusty in Here

Gotta say, Beilein getting choked up in the interview after the game made me all I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING.

And regarding what he said about how connected his players are, how much they love each other, it's so incredibly apparent watching them on the court. I can't get enough of Zak and Derrick's comaraderie and love.

Beilein's recruiting is definitely a little home-grown and he strikes out way more than any of us would like, but it has never been hard to cheer for the kids he puts in a Michigan uniform. 

35 years of cheering for Michigan basketball and the Beilein years have been, maybe, my proudest. (Don't tell my 9 year-old self. That kid's a Fab 5 diehard.)

I'm so happy he's our coach. He's earned the right to go out on his own terms, whenever that may be, regardless of any particular season's quality or lack thereof. The winningest coach in Michigan history should get at least that. 

Beilein über alles. 

Tyus Battle

I know we're all talking football here, but right now, in basketball season, Tyus Battle really hurts. 

Mercury Mistress by



Mercury Mistress by pooltables1

That suit, though. All

That suit, though. All class.

Love that kid.

They also have the advantage

They also have the advantage of not having an in-state competitor for Ohio kids, which remains a pretty large talent pool. If you're a top recruit from Ohio and you want to stay close to home, OSU's got the edge in a big way. MSU and UM are in a forever battle for Michigan kids, essentially splitting them. Imagine if we were the only high major school in Michigan; our classes would probably look a lot more like OSU's.

Expectations

I think this season's going to be a hell of a lot more fun than the one we were looking at when we had "expectations." 

Walton

Yeah, man. You can't rag on Walton right now. Dude can barely walk without limping and yet he's leading the team in minutes and put the team on his back for much of that second half. 

Walton's lack of burst is not intrinsic to him as a player. He had that burst just last year as a freshman. 

Dude's a warrior. 

A rather damaged one. But a warrior, just the same.

What a great loss!

I was at the game. It was a thrill ride and a half. I have felt pretty lousy about certain wins in the past, but this is one of the few times I feel genuinely great about a loss. 

Before the game, I watched VCU, which got pummelled by Nova last night, do some pummeling of their own against an Oregon team we squeaked by. I was expecting a brutal learning experience.

What we got instead was a game in November(!) where our incredibly young team learned that they could hang with one of the best, most experienced teams in the country. 

In fact, they were a ludicrous block away from beating that team!

But teams learn more from losses, and losses keep 'em hungry. We have so much to grow from, and so much already there. This team needs some of Stauskas' swag in their step. They've earned it. I would have loved a win, but man, what a great loss. 

If anything, I feel like

If anything, I feel like McGary's situation should be proof to everyone that they should get out when the gettin's good. Even though it sucks for UM bball. McGary's back injury would be a lot less devastating if he were on the books for a cool million. 

Don't forget Horford!

5th year senior. Great blocking ability. Leader on the court. Next year will be Horford's team. And Beilein will likely try running his two bigs lineup. 

I would be shocked if Chatman redshirted. Though the 2/3 is going to be crowded and no one's gonna be a good fit for the 4. 

What is this logic? When he

What is this logic? When he wins, it's thanks to his players, but when he loses, it's because he choked? 

Has anyone given serous

Has anyone given serous consideration to the idea that GRIII might play his way out of the draft, while Nick plays himself into it? 

ESPN's mock draft not long ago had Stauskas in the first round. But if GRIII doesn't show up, we could see this lineup next year:

Walton - so

Levert - jr

Irvin - so

GRIII - jr

Horford - sr

And Chatman...somewhere. 

That seems...good?

Mr. Yost, I'm not sure that

Mr. Yost, I'm not sure that was an insult. 

Oh no!

When did Borges start calling offense for our basketball team? 

59 - 6 Blue

59 - 6 Blue

Florida

Never forget.

http://mgoblog.com/content/death-above-florida

67-64 Blue

67-64 Blue

68 - 65 Blue

68 - 65 Blue

Michigan 79, Purdue

Michigan 79, Purdue 75

Michigan 72, Indiana 70

82-76 Blue. I'm probably not

82-76 Blue. I'm probably not going to enjoy watching this one. 

78-72 blue

78-72 blue

76 - 59 Blue

76 - 59 Blue

84-75 Blue

84-75 Blue

80 - 69 Michigan

80 - 69 Michigan

82 - 48 Blue

82 - 48 Blue

78-68 Blue

78-68 Blue

I hate when people I detest

I hate when people I detest say something I agree with. What am I supposed to do with that?

Michigan 77-68

Michigan 77-68

Michigan 69-62

Final 5 minutes of victory cigar squad yields some last minute points for Bradley making the score look deceptively close.

Where is the hope?

10 years ago, we hoped for better players, since it didn't seem like Carr was being outschemed, just outmatched, by better players at USC, Texas, or OSU. 7 years ago, we hoped Carr would soon retire, and with that retirement would see the end of DeBordian incompetence and risk-aversion induced face-palming. Under Rodriguez we hoped he'd find a sentient defensive coordinator capable of fielding even a mediocre devense. We hoped that the FreePress jihad would die out and that recruiting would pick up as a result. 

Now, as you've mentioned in writing and in your podcasts, we're coached by bafflingly stubborn dinosaurs who insist on drinking from a lake long after it's dried up simply because that's the lake they've always drunk from. With the state of college football changing all around them, where is the hope for the future? That they suddenly adapt? In what world does Urban Meyer not out-scheme them year in and year out? Even if our recruiting stays steadily awesome, we're still just keeping pace with OSU. So talent being equal, do we just have to wait for Mattison to produce insanely elite defenses? Should we give up on the hope that our offense will ever be remotely threatening? Should we expect that our ceiling is 11-2 from now until the end of the Borges era?

Living in the Shadows

I'm a little curious why an outstanding player would want to wear a number already dedicated to a previous legend. For instance, Ace, you wondered at the end of your article how Denard would feel about wearing 27, but by keeping the 16, who knows? Maybe his number might one day be honored as a "Michigan Football Legend" and wouldn't that be preferable? 

Don't players want to make their own mark on the program, rather than exist in the shadow of their predecessors? 

Novak

The idea isn't to reward good high school players who choose to go to Michigan. It's to award players for what they meant to the program while they were here.

Furthermore, the suggestion that Novak would be out of place on this or any list of Michigan greats is absurd. In collegiate athletics, talent alone doesn't define greatness. More often than not, such accolades are bestowed by the students and the fans and the teammates who rallied around and for that player, and followed that player to places beyond their own expectations. 

Greatness in college sports has to do with leadership and the ability to mold a program in one's own image. Not only is Novak the paragon of such criteria, none other than Cazzie Russel said he'd want Novak by his side in a foxhole. 

When was the last time a single player has meant as much to his program as Novak has meant to the MBB team these past four years?

I'd string that ZERO up next to Russell's in the rafters in a heartbeat if I could. 

Years at Michigan

I feel like the years a player spends in a Michigan uniform needs to be taken into consideration. I loved Morris last year, but he had a lousy to average Freshman season followed by a transcendent Sophomore season before bailing for the NBA. 

Is one great season in a basketball uniform worthy of the HoF? Similarly, if McGary averages 20 and 10 next season and helps us get to the Final Four, but leaves right away to the draft, should he get honors?

Players like that are great for the program, but ultimately flashes in the pan and don't carry with them the same history and legacy that a Novak, Molk, Martin, or Hunwick do.

I think there ought to be a minimum years in uniform threshold to be considered for the HoF. 3 years seems good.

Quintuple!

Quintuple! 

Welcome Chris Fox! Go Blue! What a day!

Even love. Just ask Robert

Even love. Just ask Robert Palmer. Dude knows.

umhoops

5 key plays on umhoops.com

Thoughts

Examining free throws made and missed as a quotient of a player's contribution seems like it would be useful. Driving to the lane and getting fouled is great, but if you can't make a free throw, it's tantamount to a turnover. And this team is obviously going to have trouble making free throws.

Also, it would be good to account for "hustle plays" like diving for loose balls, tipping out rebounds, taking charges, and general harassment, especially on the defensive end. Someone needs to keep track of all the charges Novak takes.

I feel like the most useful thing you can work on is devising a concise and vivid way to account for individual defensive contribution beyond blocks and steals. I know Stu is our best defender, in part because he's tasked with defending the opposing team's best player every night, but I don't really know why he's so good, what makes him good. If you can somehow put numbers on that, I would really appreciate it.

Ideas for UFR Titles:

Basketball 20/20 (as in "hindsight is ____")

Notes From The Block

The Intangibles Inquiry

The Back Screen

The Backdoor Cut

The Posterization of Zack Novak

Distributing the Rock

McGary's likely a one and

McGary's likely a one and done in the 2012 class.

And not many people see THJ sticking around past his Junior year. Though his dad did four at UTEP and it's not like THJ needs the money, so maybe we cross our fingers and hope for an awkward 2013!

Broken Watch

Hey, even my broken watch is right twice a day. Amirite? Amirite?

Thank you.

HAIL

http://goo.gl/doodle/3IFq

If this were in play last

If this were in play last year, Michigan's offense never would have seen the field.

The Toledo War 1835

The Michigan/Ohio rivalry started truly in 1835 over Toledo when Ohio was a state and Michigan was still a Territory. 

Based on the NorthWest Ordinance of 1787 that outlined the protocol for dividing and eventually creating states from the territory East of the Mississippi and North of the Ohio River, Michigan's border should be about 8 miles South of where it is. Ohio, having the power of state hood and congressional representation in the early 1800s, decided that it wanted to annex Toledo and the mouth of the Maumee River in order to build a canal there and reap the rewards. So they just moved the border north into Michigan territory and claimed that stretch of land as its own.

Michigan and Ohio then went to war - really! - though both sides were so incompetent that no one was killed. In fact the only recorded injury was when Two Stickney, not to be confused with his older brother One, stabbed a sheriff in the leg.

In the end, congress gave Ohio Toledo just like the Big Ten sent OSU to the Rose Bowl in 1973 because injustice is Michigan.

Of course, a few years after the war, the railroad business took off and everybody stopped using canals! Ha! Suck it Ohio!

Also, we got the Upper Peninsula from Wisconsin out of the deal (sucks to be you, Wisconsin), which proved immensely more lucrative than Toledo.

So in the end, as always, Ohio's a bunch of jerks and we came out better off anyway.

You can also read all about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War