Nick Stauskus

I was watching pre-game coverage when a bout of inspiration hit me. I ignored all else so I could get this down before I forgot it. I hope you enjoy this. Now if you’ll excuse me, I hear there’s a pretty big game on right now.

The devil Pitino went down to Georgia, he was looking for a title to steal.

He was in a bind, his team was way behind because Burke was making steals.

He had run into some young men raining down threes and making some blocks.

And the devil Pitino jumped up onto the hardcourt and said “Boys, let me tell you what:

“I bet you didn’t know it, but my team’s  pretty damn good too

“And if you care to take a dare I’ll make a bet with you.

“Now you’ve playing good basketball, but give my Cardinals their due:

“I bet the national title against your game ‘cause I think we’re better than you.”

The boys said: “Well we’re the Fresh Five and this may not be wise,

“But we’ll take your bet, you’re gonna regret, cause we’re the best since the Fab Five.”

Wolverines take your practice shots and get ready to play hard.

‘Cause Louisville’s in Georgia and the devil Pitino deals the cards.

And if you win you gain respect from M fans young and old.

But if you lose, it just might crush my soul.

The devil Pitino chalked up many plays and said: “We’ll start this show.”

And threes rained from beyond the arc and put backs went down low.

And the Cardinals were the darlings, making Wolverine fans hiss.

Then the Cardinal sang a song to their glory and it sounded something like this:

When the Cardinals finished, the Fresh Five said: “Well you’re pretty good ‘ol chaps.

“But sit down on that bench, right there.” And Burke gave the court a slap.

Stauskas nailing three balls, one by one.

Burke showing all why we’re number one.

Robinson and Hardaway alley-oops, WHOA!

“Beilein does Big Puppy bite?”

Go, Mitch, go.”
 

The devil Pitino and the Cardinals sank low once they were beat.

And they laid the national title on the court at the Fresh Five’s feet.

Burke said: “Devil Pitino just come on back but I warn you that’s not wise.

“’Cause we told you once, you sorry old man, we’re the best since the Fab Five.”
 

And they sang “Stauskas nailed three balls, one by one.

“Burke showed all why we’re number one.

“Robinson and Hardaway alley-ooped, WHOA!

“And Mitch got a double-double.

“Go, Blue, Go!”

This is (the link to) a Michigan Basketball hype video a friend of mine, Luke D'Mello put together. He has done some other videos in the past about Michigan that received thousands of views. 

I apologize for my lack of knowledge on how to embedd (Haven't been on this site for a while)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WFfof2Jq4ik

According to Rothstein. Nick with a sore back. May be out tomorrow.

OH NO! How will we ever beat slippery rock now?!?

Michael Rothstein ‏@mikerothstein

Nik Stauskas has a sore back, questionable for tomorrow.

As far as basketball goes, this upcoming season brings a lot of excitement and, let's be honest, raised expectations stemming from a co-big ten championship team in 2011-12.

I'm pretty sure the Badgers and Ohio [edit: I should not have forgotten to include Indiana here] will be there in the end, but I'm more certain our team will have to go through Sparty (perhaps more than once) to reach its goals.

Since it's summer and I'm bored, I did some research to try and determine how the teams match up for the upcoming season.  I tried to state (within the parentheticals following a player's name) the position/s each player plays, with the earlier-stated position being the preference based on the player's history.  For example "TREY BURKE (1 or 2)" means that he is ideally playing at the point guard 1 position, but he could play the shooting guard 2 position if needed; small forward is position 3, power forward is position 4, and center is position 5. 

In general, I tried to group the guards into category A, the forwards into category B, and the "centers" (although bear in mind that there are few true centers playing in Big 10 basketball) into category C.  The true freshmen have traditional lettering, while returning players have names in CAPS LOCK lettering.  The bold lettering is for players expected to contribute meaningful minutes. 

The matchups are below:

(A) 

KEITH APPLING (1 or 2) and Garry Harris (2 or 1) and Denzel Valentine (1 or 2) and TRAVIS TRICE(1) (with DAN CHAPMAN (2) and KEENAN WETZEL (2) and JOE SWEENEY (1) in relief role)

v.

(A)

TIM HARDAWAY JR (2 or 1) and TREY BURKE (1 or 2) and Nick Stauskus (2 or 1) (with COREY PERSON (2 or 1) and JOSH BARTELSTEIN (1) and [edit: Carl LeVert (2 or 1) and]Spike Albrecht (1 or 2) and ESO AKUNNE (2 or 1) in relief roles)

(B)

BRANDEN DAWSON (recovering from knee injury) (3 or 4) and DERRICK NIX (4 or 5) and BRANDAN KEARNEY(2 or 3) (with RUSSELL BYRD (4 or 3) and COLBY WOLLENMAN (3) in relief role)

v.

(B)

Glenn Robinson III (3 or 4 or 2) and JORDAN MORGAN (4 or 5) and MATT VOGRICH (3) (with MAX BIELFELDT (4 or 3 or 5) in relief role)

(C)

ADREIAN PAYNE (5 or 4) and Matt Costello (5 or 4) and Kenny Kaminski(4 or 5) (with ALEX GAUNA (4) in relief role)

v.

(C)

Mitch McGary (4 or 5) and JON HORFORD (healed from injury) (4 or 5) (with BLAKE MCLIMANS (5 or 4) in relief role)

What I notice is Beilein has only 3-6 players that can demand or expect major playing time (at least 20 minutes per game) based on previous production and/or recruiting hype.  For Izzo, I think it's more like 7-9 players that could or will expect or demand that type of PT. 

I think because of this distinction, Beiliein will have more freedom to operate Xs and Os with regard to changing lineups throughout the season.  There's less pressure for him to spread a limited resource (minutes playing time) around.  For example, he only has to give Stauskus and Spike minutes if they earn them.  In contrast, the guards coming in for MSU are highly touted (by Izzo himself) and are competing against two proven guards in Appling and Trice.  That group will test Burke and THJ for sure, but I prefer our team's tandem (with our freshman and uppperclassmen supporting them).

Group B is a little more difficult for me to analyze, however with Dawson still recovering, I have to give the edge to Michigan.

Our Group C is unproven and Sparty has talent and experience there.  I have to give MSU the edge here.  Hopefully we can close the gap with regard to rebounding and defensive shot blocking with our infusion of talent. [edit: McLimans, fwiw, is a player with length and experience.]

Both teams have 10 players that (most likely) will be able to give productive minutes.  How many minutes does each player get?  That's up to the coaches obviously, but there are only 200 minutes to give out in each regulation game. 

Anyway, it looks like there will be some great games to anticipate.  I wouldn't trade our group A and group B players for Sparty's or any other teams'.  I think our group C has the most to prove though; I'll obviously be rooting for them.

I most look forward to seeing how Stauskus adjusts to the college game, and how well Horford bounces back after much time away.  I have to believe by now, Horford can provide rebounding and defense, and maybe even put-backs and shot blocking.

Anyway, as I stated earlier, I'm bored, so I welcome any and all feedback on this topic.  Thanks, all.