basketball

Top prospect in all the continent picks Kansas.  Speculation surrounded FSU and UK.  This is a bit of a shocker.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/basketball/mens/story/_/id/9274287/no-1-prospect-andrew-wiggins-chooses-kansas-jayhawks

Post says it all. Hopefully Stanford will be a better W on our schedule than West Virginia was last year.

http://www.barclayscenter.com/events/detail/holiday-invitational

Can't take credit for this one tho. Props goes to si_daddy for posting. 

 

I can't start my own thread, but this is basketball related. I came across this in an Mlive article:

Tickets for Michigan's matchup against Stanford will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, May 17. They can be purchased through Ticketmaster at www.barclayscenter.com or,www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 800-745-3000

Thought it would be of interest. I know I'm going.

Kim Barnes Arico today secured her first commit for 2014: Jillian Dunston, a 6-1 wing out the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, Maryland. On the women's hoops recruiting board, I had mentioned her as a new Michigan target last week. There isn't a great deal of info out there on her, but I did find this brief—but recent—scouting report from Next Sports Phenom:

Jillian played some of the best basketball I've seen her play since I've known her, I have seen her shoot the 3, seen her get rebounds, seen her drive, seen her post smaller defenders up, but never all at the same time.  Jillian put it all together this weekend then add to that she played the passing lanes well getting multiple steals leading to fast break layups.  She appears to have gotten quicker and added a few offensive tricks that I like.

This came out of an event last month at which she was considered one of the top performers, with her "stock" rising considerably. So while she's not to my knowledge currently listed in any national rankings, Dunston looks like a solid pickup and a player with some real upside.

There's also a page on her at ESPN dating back to late 2011, when they ranked her as a 3 star and said this:

Thick frame, good size. Right hand dominant. Hit a floater at 6 feet. Solid production, see her more as an undersized 4 player.

If I find anything else, I'll post it either here or on the recruiting board.

UPDATE: Bret McCormick has tweeted that ASGR has Dunston ranked #98 in the nation.

Also, here's an interview with Dunston from the fall of 2011 posted on 695Hoops.

Not really new news but still interesting. A new rivalry between OU and Detroit might be born.

http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/oakland-university-to-join-horizon-league-in-july.html

Not that we're Heat fans around here, but is anyone else savoring the irony from the Bulls/Heat series?

Articles like this one bring back 25 years ago when it was the Pistons trying to roughouse their way past the world's best player - MJ - in the playoffs.  As we watch the woefully undermanned Bulls brutalize the Heat, does anyone else enjoy watching the Bulls try the other shoe on for size?

The difference is the Pistons kept their mouths shut and just played rough, while Phil Jackson and Scotty Pippen cried to the league and the media to (successfully) get more favorable calls from the referees.

Even now, the Bulls are trying to complain and mock their way into favor with this horse manure Thibedeau is spewing.  My favorite was this gibberish spewed by Gibson:

"When it was over, the Bulls spoke longingly of a different time in the NBA, a different era, when they would've been allowed to get away with taking a run at LeBron James.

'M.J. would get fouled and he would just keep playing," Gibson told Y! Sports. "That's old-school basketball.'"

He can get a pass since he wasn't even born when the PIstons were deep at war with the Bulls, but even though MJ did keep his mouth shut, Phil Jackson and Scotty Pippen did all the whining to the refs, the league and the media that the Bulls needed, and soon enough MJ was well protected by the refs.  Old school basketball my ass.  If anything, the Bulls can thank themselves for setting the prima donna start treatment trend 25 years ago with MJ that LeBron is enjoying now.

Much respect to Jordan due to his greatness, but otherwise I've despised the Bulls ever since Jackson and Pippen's whining, and I'm glad to see my sentiment confirmed 25 years later.

Go Heat.