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Glad to hear he is holding his own in the summer league...

Second-year player Darius Morris started all five of the Lakers summer league games and averaged the following stats:

28.6 MPG, 15.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.2 APG, 37% FG, 27% 3PT, 80% FT

Morris led the Lakers in total points, total assists, and finished an impressive third in total rebounds, showcasing his all-around game.

 

In other news, 8 football recruits have chosen the good guys over OSU in the class of 2013, per my calculations.  Yet we still haven't won a head to head recruiting battle against OSU in the Rivals Era, as none of the OSU offers were actually committable.

CuppyCup makes some fantastic sports gifs, ala LSUFreek. Here's his take on Craig James's...problem.

I don't know how many of you remember my post about four months ago where I showed off my UM card collection (which led to my meeting a couple great fellow collectors, so thanks again to those guys!) but I wanted to give the board an update on that mainly because of something I received today:  the eighth and final card I needed from Cazzie Russell's 2011-12 SP Authentic By the Letter "Michigan" nameplate.  Every one of these cards is a manufactured letter autographed by Cazzie and serial #d to 50 (except for the "M" for some reason, that's to 25).  Today I finally got to see all eight together and I was pretty excited, so I hoped some of you might enjoy it as well:

and another look:

So what do you guys think?

Congrats to Zack Novak for signing a deal yesterday to play professionally in Europe for Landstede Basketball, based in Zwolle, Netherlands. He confirmed the news on Twitter:

Heading to Holland to play for @LandstedeBasket next year. Can't wait!

— Zack Novak (@novak3159) July 23, 2012

Landstede competes in the First Division of the Dutch Basketball League, the top pro league in the Netherlands. Patrick Beilein played for them in 2006.

For those who might have missed the earlier news, Stu Douglass signed a deal to play in Spain.

Darius finished with 11 points, 8 boards and 9 assists leading the Lakers less than stellar summer league team to their first victory over the Clippers.  Also notable: Adam Morrison(Gonzaga) could not miss for the Clippers, going 3/4 from downtown for 22pts.

http://www.nba.com/video/games/lakers/2012/07/19/15121200041_lac_lal_recap.nba 

For those that want to minimize accomplishments in the summer league(Darius is averaging 16 pts/game shooting 40% from the field) let me remind you that "first round value" Draymond Green is averaging 5 points/game shooting .227 from the floor and .200 from downtown against the same competition.

In news of other Michigan alumni likely to be invited to play in the nba next year, Deshawn SIms is averaging 11 points in 21 minutes shooting 45% from the field and 60%! from downtown for the Phoenix suns.  Rumor is that he, Charles Garcia(7pts, 21mins, 39% from the field) and Diante Garret(6pts, 18 mins, 53% from the field) could be fighting for that last spot on the bench.  

Unfortunately, the Rockets summer league games have concluded, and Manny Harris's knee has not allowed him to play.  If he starts the regular season on the roster is anyone's guess.

 To talk about something (other than PSU) on a slow day, there is a good article on the nearing completion of Crisler Center renovations.

Crisler Center improvements near completion

 Included are comments from Beilein, my favorite being:

 "Crisler is probably an 80-percent finished product right now. There's a completely new facade and the outside is all brick and it's beautiful," Beilein said. "There's a new entryway to Crisler that's going to knock you out. There's a big block 'M' and the escalators and big glass entry. All of the concourses are wide open with food courts, lighting and windows. It is going to be something really special."

To view photos of the latest Crisler Center renovations, visit:

http://www.mgoblue.com/view.gal?id=122324