MGoPodcast 11.24: Scrub City
1 hour and 41 minutes
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1. Hoops vs Maryland
starts at 1:00
Why is scrub city always so good against Michigan? Part of it of course is they needed to guard Jalen Smith at the arc and that creates space for the other guys. Nothing Michigan can do about Cowan hitting those shots: the guards contested but they're shorter. Michigan hasn't shot above 30% for six games: Eli and Livers are 0/8 from three, meanwhile the guys the scouting report says to let them shoot are 6/8. Maryland looks good: cut to the sideline and (former Michigan assistant) DeAndre Haynes is calling all the shots. Franz! D.J. Carstenson gets to litigate another ripped jersey, after X hits a free throw, which means he fouls out halfway through his free throws and Teske has to take the 2nd.
[The rest of the writeup and the player after The Jump]
2. Hoops vs Nebrasketball and Women's Hoops
starts at 23:23
Somehow their PG has had three difference suspensions in the last five games. Sloppyball: Nebraska had 22 turnovers. More good from Bajema. Women vs. Nebraska: KBA autobenches Naz after two fouls, and she gets no more fouls as Michigan comes back in the second half. Hayley Brown, Michigan's stretch five, hit a huge three-pointer at the end. Not a lot of upsets: Michigan's 7/2 win over Northwestern might move them up off the 8/9 line, which should get them out of playing a 1 seed on their home court.
3. Juwan's First Year: The Feels
starts at 41:33
There was a point in the season we were going to win the national title and an upset over Louisville away from being the #1 team in the country, and there was a point where we thought we were going to fall out of the playoffs. Went too far to making Jon Teske a paint guy and lost his pick and roll efficiency. Eli and Big Country earned roles on next year's team. DDJ became a much better defender and looks like a potential breakout guy next year. Livers slumped after his third (ankle) injury, trying to make things happen when he's the guy who needs to let the game come to him—going to be awesome as a complementary piece next year. Their two-point % despite not having a rim guy tells you how well they've been running stuff.
Next year: Todd is a 7-foot Franz Wagner, more sticks than Sticks, Hunter Dickinson is huge, and you know what you're getting from Austin Davis. Will Castleton develop? Long-term: program could be Villanova.
4. Hockey
starts at 1:20:53
Smack dab on the NCAA bubble after a pair of 3-0 wins over MSU in the BTT. Beating Ohio State basically locks up a bid, and losing makes them 40% or less to get an at-large. RPI margins are razor-thin: 11th to 17th are all basically tied. Wish we had another year of Hayhurst after he blew up in the 2nd half of the season. Mann > Hunwick? Brian: You guys might be right, but I'll never admit it.
By Seth
Gotta win in Columbus, we say in everything every year. Big if they can get into the Frozen Four because it's in Detroit this year.
MUSIC:
- "Groundhog Day"—Primus
- "Motion Sickness"—Phoebe Bridgers
- "The Mystery Zone"—Spoon
- “Across 110th Street”
THE USUAL LINKS:
"Nunez is killing us" –Mark Turgeon
Livers next year? I thought the mgoblog echo chamber says he’s “a prototype 3 and D player” that the NBA craves and is 100 percent gone? Sorry, it’s just strange that so many people on here keep saying it’s a foregone conclusion he is gone.
Livers leaving is not a foregone conclusion...it is however a distinct possibility. The chances are good that Isaiah will do well as a pro-will not be subject to defenses hedging toward him. His decision here will be whether he takes the money and runs or returns to see if he can lead the incoming talent to an NC. It would seem to be a "win-win" to me...no fault with either one.
The Tiny Goalie Magic card made my day.
Leave it to Turgeon to explain why Nunez got so many minutes this season. Little did we know, he and DDJ are identical twins.
On the ripped jersey flagrant: is that play even reviewable after Simpson shoots the first free throw? What about after a couple live action plays? Can the refs go back and review something that happened 10 min earlier? Just seems odd. Obviously Maryland’s bench was getting in the refs ear during the FTs.
I have to be honest. As irritating as the refs are at times, I think that maybe Xavier Simpson should just stop ripping jerseys at the end of plays. Quick and easy solution to the problem.
It is possible to think that both (1) grabbing jerseys isn’t good, bc of the risk of being called for a foul and/or the possibility of someone getting hurt, and (2) that the refs suck, screwed this call up again, and have introduced a huge inconsistency given that there are likely >50 uncalled Jersey tugs that occur per game.
So I’d ask is there any concrete rule on when such a play is reviewable (within a stopped whistle? Within 5 min? 10 min?)? And what the threshold is for a flagrant (Jersey has to rip? Random whim of the ref on duty?, etc)?
He's falling down and trying to break his fall. Only one referee has ever considered this a flagrant - but this same guy has called it on him twice.
The one thing I notice about officiating is that when you never hear of an official's name, that means they are probably doing a good job, because you never hear about them making a questionable call on the broadcast and they are not putting themselves into the game.
Most of the officials I have never heard of, but the past few years I keep hearing names like Terry Wymer, DJ Carstenson, and Ted Valentine pop up all the time with questionable calls. The reason these guys are so popular is because we always see their faces making questionable calls, constantly going to the monitor, and getting their names said over and over again by the TV crew.
That should be enough right there to tell you that those officials have some serious issues from all aspects of officiating. I think they enjoy the popularity even if it is negative.
Ace's hot take was that DDJ will average 15ppg next year. While hot, that's highly optimistic. I am encouraged that he's had some good he's this year and may be able to shoot enough to open aspects of the ball screen that X couldn't. But 15ppg??
He hase been invisible for long stretches this year. He will probably get 25 mpg (as will Eli and hopefully Josh). For context, that's the same as Soph Darius Morris, Freshman Trey Burke, and Senior Derrick Walton. I do think Walton is the comparable, but probably not the senior senior version.
I agree with the take that Center is the biggest wildcard next year. I strongly believe you will see Todd and/or Johns play minutes there. The other three guys all have holes in their game and we need a solution to stretch fives. Also, minutes at the four are going to be limited so getting your best five guys out there by using a small five is ideal if Juwan can be comfortable with that.
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