basketball

First topic created, apologies if I'm not within the guidelines - but this is worth a listen.  

Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson gives a great post game recap of his teams loss against Murray State.  While I love the class and restraint that our coaching staff's show during pressers, it is sometimes entertaining to get good sound bites instead of the same ol same ol rabble rabble

"I've been telling my wife this for years, Size doesn't matter." 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/barry-hinson-rant-include...

FSU beat Charlotte tonight by 44 points.

Good news: the FSU win is looking better
Bad news: that Charlotte loss is going to be a killer

One of the most common blog posts during the football season is to document the performance of former Michigan players in the NFL.  You see this on Touch The Banner, Maize n Brew, and it is has been a prominent component in The Wolverine publication for years.  I thought I’d try to do the same for basketball now that we actually have a couple of recent players featured in the league.  

Now that Juwan Howard has moved on to coaching, there are only three former Michigan players in the NBA.  Here are their profiles:

• Trey Burke (Jazz) – As Brian pointed out, he’s been a significant help to the Jazz who were woeful without him.  He’s averaging 29 minutes per game with a slash line of 90/37/34.  The 2-point percentage isn’t great, but when matched with his 4.9 APG he’s having a good start to his rookie year.
• Tim Hardaway (Knicks) – Hardaway is off to a solid start considering the number of wing players he’s competing with on the Knicks.  He’s averaging 7.9 points and 1.1 rebounds with a slash line of 84/46/41 – pretty impressive outside shooting.
• Jamal Crawford (Clippers) – He’s been in the league for a long time now and really only played about a dozen games at Michigan, but we can still claim him as ours – right?  His solid career continues with his 16ppg average and percentages of 81/43/36. 

There actually is a fourth former player in the NBA that has often been forgotten as Beilein has built his program into a national power….Epke Udoh.  It would have been interesting to see him stick it out here at Michigan instead of transferring to Baylor. 

• Epke Udoh (Bucks) – Udoh has primarily been a role player but a solid one.  He averages 26 minutes per game and contributes 4.7 points and 3.9 rebounds on average. 

I’ll even use that Udoh mention as a segway to another feature I’ll steal from.  Over at TTB there is another favorite post of mine where Magnus highlights the performance of former Michigan players or recruits who ended up at other schools for one reason or another.  There have been three recent transfers that still maintain college eligibility. 

• Evan Smotrycz (Maryland) – He seems to have found a home on the future member of the conference, averaging a solid 12.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.  In a loss to OSU earlier this season he had 15 points and 7 boards.  He’s a solid player that fits Beilein’s offense really well – it is unfortunate that it didn’t work out for him at Michigan. 
• Carlton Brundidge (Detroit) – Brundidge was always a bit of an enigma since he was not a true point guard but was somewhat stuck in a point guard’s body.  He barely played at Michigan before being kicked off the team.  At Detroit this season he’s averaging 25 minutes a game and contributing 9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. 
• Colton Christian (Florida International?) – He supposedly transferred to FIU, but I can’t find any record of him ever showing up there. 

At this point I’m not going to bother researching all of the former recruits who didn’t sign with Michigan.  If you’re interested in that information, I suggest you browse the recruiting page over at UMHoops as there is a lot of interesting information there.

However, I will take a moment to highlight one recruit I really wish Beilein would have signed – Larry Nance Jr.  He was being recruited by Michigan for the same roster spot that ended up going to Max Beilfeldt.  Recruiting is a funny thing so it is hard to know what happened during the process, but I’ve often thought that he is perhaps the player I most wish had signed with this team.  I like Max and think he’s a great guy to have on the end of your bench, but it sure seems like Nance would have been an ideal fit.  Michigan has lacked a true power-forward for the past few years and that’s the position Nance plays at Wyoming.  Having the ability to use him two years ago when Horford got hurt and only Morgan and Smotrycz existed over 6’6” tall would have been nice.  Having him last year when Robinson was the only viable power forward would have been nice.  He’s currently averaging 13 points and 9 boards as an athletic power forward.  In case you suspect that has a lot to do with playing for Wyoming, I’ll mention his stat line from a game against Ohio (yes, THAT Ohio):  17 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks.  I also have an irrational fondness of signing the sons of former NBA players as it often brings more mature talent and positive media attention.  Building on the legacy program established with Hardaway, Robinson, Horford, and even Dumars seems like a good thing – doesn’t it?  

Finally, I decided to expand this piece into another area.  Last season I stumbled across a post at The Only Colors that discussed the performance of former MSU players who were playing in professional leagues overseas.  (Sorry, can't find the link.)  Since there are a surprising number of them still playing, I’ll wrap this up by using a chart instead of long-winded bullet points.  

There were several other former players I found in the database that have played recently, but none of them seem to be currently playing.  They are Maceo Baston (last played 2010-2011), Louis Bullock (2011-12), Daniel Horton (2011-12), Bernard Robinson (2012-13), Manny Harris (2012-13), and Zack Novak (2012-13).  

You have to wonder how comfortable of a living these players make - clearly some of them have made it work for a long time.  The name that jumps out from that table is Jevohn Shepherd.  He struggled to contribute at Michigan and now averages over 20 points per game in a solid Italian league. 

If you have other information about former players, share in the comments.  I'd also suggest anyone with an interest do this same type of piece for Hockey or Baseball.  

Beilein talked about the dissapointing loss to Arizona. It also includes some Hockey and some bowl practice highlights. 

As many know, Yost Ice Arena (then Yost Field House) was home to Michigan basketball from 1923-24 - 1966-67.

With teams like sparty and PSU going back to their old buildings recently for a "throwback game", I think it poses an interesting question.

Would you be in favor of Michigan Basketball playing a game in the old barn some day? 2013-14 is Yost's 90th season year in operation.

I realize Jenison and Rec Hall were much easier to configure for basketball than taking down an ice rink. Which is why I think this needs to be done (if it happens) in mid December when hockey has their break before the GLI. Plenty of time to put the rink back up for the new year.

As pointless as it is this early in the season, Lunardi's 1st Bracketology since the season started came out today.  In the preseason one, he projected us as a 3 seed, and clearly a lot of things have changed in college basketball since.  We are now sitting as a #8 seed in the East bracket going up against Dayton.   Seeing as the best win we have so far is against RPI (ESPN) #103 FSU, and our worst loss is RPI #153 Charlotte, 8th seed seems very valid and maybe even a bit generous.  Of course, while still interesting, this all means nothing, especially before conference play has begun.

Other interesting points:

• #1 seeds - Arizona, Syracuse, Louisville, OSU
• Big Ten teams (tied with ACC for the most teams with 7) - #1 OSU, #2 MSU, #2 Wisconsin, #6 Iowa, #8 U of M, #10 Indiana, #11 Minnesota
• FSU (#11) is the only team we beat projected to make it to the tourney.  Charlotte is our only loss not projected to make it. 

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology