Luckily, basketball is a very highly nuanced game and all the hot takes in the world will not define how a specific team will perform in an upcoming season. It is fair to say that any predictions about this year's Michigan, at this time, are pure conjecture. To me, it seems safe to say that they will likely perform above expectations-it will be difficult not to. (It would have been nice to have Bufkin back.)

Looking forward to listening to this.  Thanks guys!

It's telling that the first program likely to get hit with the NCAA's "buck stops at the top" rule is getting witch-hunted over signs.  Not an abuse scandal, not a hazing scandal, not an academic fraud scandal. . . it's fucking signs.

What happened to Matt?  Wasn't he the sites basketball guy?

Also, i disagree in regards to the Big Man.  He is not Hunter Dick, thank goodness.  You use 'trajectory for his sophomore year' for Dug but not Tarris? If Tarris was better defensively, as a freshmen, than Junior year Hunter, then with an average sophomore leap, we should get a guy who overall is as good as Hunter was as a junior.  Hunter was horrible defensively last year and no stat you pull out will change what my eyes know.  Is there a stat to show how many times he jogged to loose ball only to be out-hustled by 4 of the other teams players who should have had no chance and getting it over him? His switching was lazy, and his effort on blocks was equally.

My bet is that yes, we will still miss Hunter on offense.  But Tarris will make up for that discrepancy on the defensive side of the ball, and intangibles.

Please no Seth...TWill needs to come off of the bench!

Don’t look now but Thamel has another inflammatory article out with “sources” saying B1G coaches are calling on the B1G commissioner to do something this season against UM based on all of the “evidence”. Have to wonder if by “sources” he really means Day and maybe, possibly, Franklin or Lockesly. 

Oh yeah...what did they do wrong? That's why we report these days isn't it?

Seriously, hope Coach is OK and the team features pleasant surprises.

Nice hip-hop tunes. Gearing up for KOOL KEITH at the Blind Pig later this month?

The claims that "literally everybody knew" of Michigan's sign stealing and that the sign stealing gave Michigan an unfair advantage and is the reason for its success over the past two years (especially against OSU) are only reconcilable if you conclude that the other big 10 teams were too dumb to change their signs before playing Michigan. 

Meh, I'm not as pessimistic on the whole idea that UM is exposed on the policies and procedures front simply due to the assumption that <paraphrasing> "Harbaugh isn't adept that the more bureaucratic aspects of coaching."

This is a lazy take, frankly.  I'm guessing that this description fits a lot of coaches, which is why  there are people on the AD's staff to keep this kind of stuff organized and documented.  I'm not referring to Warde, directly, but his staff.  Based on anecdotal evidence in the recruiting operations, UM is quite adherent to policies and procedures.  All they have to do is show that they checked the box w.r.t. educating the staff on the rules of improper scouting and there is the cover that Harbaugh needs to avoid a show cause.

That's so hard to get on Manuel because Harbaugh's "nature" doesn't allow him to do his own job correctly.

Harbaugh must engage in compliance whether that's the part of his job he likes or is good at or not.

And Stalions may well have been a great hire. But he was not monitored in the performance of his duties and possibly not educated in rules compliance. However, dressing like a CMU coach and showing up on their sidelines sure seems like he understood enough to know he was breaking rules and wanted to do so. Hence, monitoring your staff is important and dollars to donuts Harbs cares not for that part of his job.

I hope there's no new revelations here. And I hope new processes can be implemented to ensure more effective compliance going forward. But I'd be fired if I did only the parts of the job I enjoyed. And hiring Shemy without vetting and not monitoring your underlings sure seems like that's what Harbs has been doing.

I am optimistic about this year's team.

I was in a very long text argument with one of my Michigan sports text groups.  My theory that Michigan was hamstrung by being such a young team.  I looked at the top 7 players on each of the Elite Eight teams, and pretty much all of them had 4-6 players who were in their 3rd/4th/5th years.  Typically any of the younger players were top-50 types.

Conversely, Michigan had one experienced major contributor, and he was a defensive liability and mostly one-dimensional on offense.  I was a fan of Hunter, but I think he really limited how the team could play and the type of offensive sets they could run.

The analysis of Jett has been done ad nauseum, so I won't repeat it here.

Really the only "balanced" player on last year's team was Kobe Bufkin...and he still was only a sophomore.

Now, we have two promising sophomores surrounded by a bunch of 4th and 5th year players.  Knowing how to play and knowing where to be, and knowing what to do is just as important as raw talent at the college level.  

Too bad we couldn't get Caleb Love or Terrence Shannon.  Last year's team looks much different with Shannon.  Adds experience and probably pushes Jett to the bench.  And this year's team would be a top 10 team with both of them.  

Never thought we'd get a Sailing Uma reference on the podcast.
Now I'm wondering how many cruising channels Seth is subscribed to.

From what I've read, the downside of wristbands is that they slow down tempo by a second or two while the QB looks up the play, so most teams prefer not to use them.  Is that fair?

The basketball breakdown is about where I come down.  I don't think this is a sweet 16 team unless just insanity breaks out but the floor is high enough that they could look like MSU for a number of years where they fart into the play in game.

Also, I find it validating that my feelings last year about Jett were seen by others.  He was by far the worst, most disinterested defender I've seen at Michigan and he wasn't good offensively basically as soon as conference play started and he only shot from outside.  I'm not remotely surprised the team was better with him on the bench.  I harbor no ill will toward him but sometimes it's a bad idea to play for your dad if you aren't able to hold yourself accountable internally.

Hopefully this is finally the year that we let TWill cook. 

I didn't want to add another topic about signgate when we have a new Hot Take being posted every five minutes, but did want to encourage people to peep this podcast ep that I'm currently listening to, and to also just signal boost the podcast in general:

Forever Saturday: Our Very Own Pole Assassin

While IANAL, the hosts are (they're married and he proposed to her on the field after THE 2021 game).  Serena made some very interesting points that I'll (badly) sum up:  the oft-cited NCAA 11.6.1 by-law is about the presumption of a coach's responsibility, in other words, responsible unless proven otherwise. Which means Michigan gets to present its case that they took reasonable steps to promote compliance amongst its staff.  Right now it looks like they're pursuing this defense instead of the "scouting gray area", which makes sense.  Notwithstanding Brian's observation that Harbaugh doesn't seem like a guy who focuses on that stuff, you can make a pretty good case that Michigan took reasonable steps to ensure staffer compliance and didn't count on Stalions being a total wingbat who literally went rogue, especially because the more we hear about him that more plausible that sounds.  If that defense doesn't work with the NCAA then at that point Michigan lawyers up and faces off vs them sometime in 2025-26 and throws everything but the kitchen sink at them.

Interesting to hear the conversation about hiring malpractices prior to the days news about the other staffer. Gotta think these guys are gonna be even hotter with Warde after hearing that break.

Comments on the basketball part....

• Llewellyn is still not cleared for full contact.  He will likely not be ready by the first game and missed the Marquette scrimmage.  His surgery was about 9 months ago, which is typical for ACL.  (Disagree with Brian calling it a 6mon injury... especially basketball.)
• I think Burnett was always going to start even if the Caleb Love fiasco doesn't happen....but I say that because I think ideally he's a 3, not a 2.  He will have to play the 2 now and should defend well with his crazy long arms, but dribbling and creation are a total unknown.  
• Seth.....come on.....Jace isn't better than anyone on this roster.  He isn't a good defender and he's a horrible offensive player.  His best defensive moments are defending bigs, not guards.  He's the spiritual leader as a senior....he should only play in an emergency.  Please don't defend his shooting on a sample size of 17 shots either.  Love Jace as a bench leader....not as an on court player.