Unverified Voracity Pleads Not Guilty To NBA Potato Mailing Comment Count

Brian

This is not me. I wish it was.

It turns out to be a wildly successful marketing stunt for a company that will send you image or message-emblazoned potatoes. This company is inexplicably not based in Ohio. The best thing to come out of this is the Wall Street Journal giving the headshot treatment to Dirk's tuber:

HC-GV055_Potato_G_20170319181518

Twitter did not find this nearly as amazing as I did, but rest assured this is incredibly entertaining.

Oregon: good matchup? The WaPo's Neil Greenberg seems to think so. He's using extremely small sample sizes, but given Chris Boucher's absence that's less unfortunate than it usually is. Transition is a major Oregon focus and Michigan's stepped up their stinginess:

In transition, Michigan has allowed opponents to score 39.1 percent of the time in the tournament, an improvement over their regular-season performance (46.3 percent) and a potential stumbling block for Oregon, who has scored almost two-thirds of the time in transition (63.6 percent) against their first two opponents. No other remaining tournament team has had better results on the break. Take that element away from Oregon, and it’s a big blow.

This item won't surprise you but will shock your January self:

The Ducks also won’t get as many open looks as they have through the first two rounds. Oregon has taken 24 of 32 (75 percent) catch-and-shoot opportunities unguarded, per Synergy Sports, scoring 1.08 points per shot. Michigan, however, has allowed just six of 22 (27 percent) catch-and-shoot attempts without a defender close by.

Oregon is was already a bit three-heavy with Boucher in the lineup and figure to be more so without him even if that hasn't shown up in the three games since his departure, and Michigan is very good at preventing threes from being launched.

They're 5'9" with big hair and one of them doesn't have a work visa. Welp, they've been found. Both DJ Wilson and Mo Wagner are major risers on Chad Ford's NBA draft board:

Moritz Wagner, F/C, So., Michigan

No one did more to help his draft stock over the weekend than Wagner. His career-best performance against Louisville -- 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting -- showed why he was been quickly moving up our Top 100 over the past month. Wagner is a fluid athlete at 6-foot-11 who can score off the bounce and on the block. He also has 3-point range.

When he's engaged and not in foul trouble, he can take over a game. The fact that he did it against a bunch of NBA-caliber athletes on Louisville impressed scouts. He sat at No. 40 on our Top 100 before the tournament and moves up to No. 21 in our latest rankings. That's a huge leap for any player, but if you watched his draft stock all month, it isn't just based on one game. It's just scouts getting more and more comfortable with the idea that he has all the skills he needs to be a good NBA player someday.

D.J. Wilson, F, Jr., Michigan

Wilson showed off all the strengths of his game against both Oklahoma State and Louisville. He's a terrific and versatile athlete who can stretch the floor, finish at the rim and block shots. He can even handle the ball and bring it up the floor.

However, his lack of toughness continues to bother some scouts who want to see him initiate and handle contact better. He grabbed only two boards against Louisville and at times seemed bothered by the physicality. Still, athletic 6-foot-10 guys who can shoot 3s and protect the rim don't come along every day and Wilson has made a strong case to be a first-round pick after hovering in the 30s in our Top 100 all season.

FWIW, I was talking to Sam Webb a month or two ago and at the time his impression was that the NBA was interested in both guys but that they were both likely a year away. Let's hope that's still the case, because I'm guessing Teske and Davis are going to need another year of grooming before they're ready. Also I really want to see weaponized versions of Wilson and Wagner.

If one or both does end up going this will be another situation where Beilein's astounding player development—despite almost no access to one-and-done types Michigan was 12th in NBA players produced entering the season—outpaces his recruiting. Nobody was expecting Trey Burke or Nik Stauskas to be two-and-out, and I don't think anyone thought Wilson or Wagner would have any chance of going to the league this year after the pair averaged two points a game in 2015-16.

Remember when Bernard Robinson sticking at the end of a roster for a year or two was notable to Michigan basketball fans? Slightly different situation these days.

Part of that development. Congrats to friend-of-blog Andrew Kahn for landing a WSJ byline. It's a look into some player development tools Michigan (and others) are using. Wagner has a bad day against Ohio State and Beilein set to work on his shot:

...Beilein set out to fix Wagner’s problems using one of basketball’s hottest new diagnostic tools: a machine that measures the arc of a shot as it reaches the hoop. ... [tool vendor] Noah’s data says the ideal shot comes in at about 45 degrees.

Wagner’s practice session showed that he was shooting the ball far too high, coming in at around 53 degrees. Beilein knew they had no chance of going in and pressed Wagner to adjust by flattening his shot.

“By the time we were done, he was draining threes all over the place at 45 (degrees), 46, 47,” Beilein said. Wagner, a 41 percent three-point shooter for the season, shook his slump and nailed 8 of 17 (47%) from deep the next four games.

Beilein is still adapting and taking advantage of new tools being created even though he's "no spring chicken," which not every coaching in his 60s does. You can safely assume that Michigan is on the cutting edge with this stuff. The results are proof enough.

Two points. The Big Ten did pretty well in the first weekend of the tournament, sending three teams to the Sweet 16 and Shutting Up All The Haters, except not really. Mark Titus:

As soon as the buzzer sounded on no. 7 seed Michigan’s 73–69 victory over no. 2 seed Louisville on Sunday afternoon, the talk of the internet became whether the Big Ten, which was complete trash from November through early March, had been underrated all season. ... [The Big Ten got three S16 teams and the ACC was bad.] ... Clearly this had to mean something, right?

Of course not. You know what Michigan beating Louisville and Wisconsin beating Villanova proved? That Michigan outplayed Louisville and that Wisconsin outplayed Villanova. How come everyone who gets so wrapped up in conference-pride bullshit always seems to move the goalposts with these arguments?

Neither side of any conference superiority argument generally marshals anything resembling a coherent argument. It is talk-radio fodder.

While a few tournament games don't establish that the Big Ten was at the level it was a few years ago, neither was it "trash." They entered the NCAA tourney fifth out of six power conferences on Kenpom, all of two points behind the second-place ACC. That's roughly the difference between #20 Michigan and #24 Butler, or #37 Northwestern and #44 Illinois State—ie, barely any difference at all. The first two rounds should at least be sufficient to demonstrate that the Big Ten is in the same range as any other power conference (with the possible exception of the Big 12).

This weekend did matter in the computer rankings, sliding the Big Ten up to fourth, and it should influence our perception of the league this year. The real answer, though, is that the Big Ten was just slightly down. Titus seems to be projecting his feelings about Ohio State, which was so trash that many Michigan fans gave up on their season after losing to the Buckeyes*, to the wider league.

*[guilty]

Nice. 2017 PF Isaiah Livers won Mr. Basketball. He's a 6'8" stretch four with game and hair fairly reminiscent of DJ Wilson.

Wilson has a couple of inches of both height and hair on Livers, but hopefully he's able to step into the rotation next year.

Star-crossed Ricky Doyle. Remember how he was ill or injured seemingly perpetually? This has not abated, at all.

Ricky Doyle, a Bishop Verot Catholic High School alum, was forced to sit out this season after transferring from the University of Michigan due to NCAA rules, as well as a tumor.

“I just kept having these stomach pains for a long time and I just kind of pushed them off,” he said. “One day, I just had to go to the hospital and it turns out that my appendix has been burst for two months…they found a tumor about the size of a softball and they had to cut 6 inches of my colon out.”

The tumor was non cancerous, Doyle said, and his body formed it naturally around the burst appendix to prevent poison from seeping out and killing him.

Doctors believe the medicine Doyle is on for his sleep apnea dulled the pain to the point where he didn’t realize how severe the tumor was.

Poor kid.

Writing on the wall. There's a ton of football stuff that we'll get to in a week or two as part of a spring preview, but one roster note: Sam Webb replies to people asking about a lack of Shelton Johnson coverage that "he is not a part of [Scout's] defensive line preview." I would not expect him on the roster this spring.

Etc.: A lot of people say the tournament saps the importance of the college season. I don't buy that, because I like Big Ten championship banners. For an example of a season that truly doesn't matter, I give you the NBA.

Every Michigan 3 against Oklahoma State. Holdin' The Rope on the Louisville game. Five key plays from said game. We are #3 in Will Leitch's rootability rankings, because of "cattywampus." Leitch on the Brad Underwood hire. TTB talks to Kevin Koger. Jim Harbaugh promotes colon awareness.

How Michigan acquired Wagner. Salaries for newly hired staffers. Nigel Hayes vs the NCAA.

Comments

Sam1863

March 21st, 2017 at 12:53 PM ^

That story on Ricky Doyle's ruptured appendix brought back some best-forgotten memories for me. Mine ruptured about a dozen years ago, and it was probably the worst physical pain I've ever had. I was doubled over for a couple of days, and repeatedly passed out from the pain before somebody's got me to the hospital.

So if Doyle was playing with that pain - hell, if he was just on his feet through the normal course of the days - then that kid's a hell of a lot tougher than me.

Best wishes on a full and complete recovery, Mr. Doyle.

I Bleed Maize N Blue

March 21st, 2017 at 2:31 PM ^

That's tough when a medical issue occurs and no insurance.

I actually know of a friend and a cousin who delayed going to the hospital. Both survived, but my cousin still has occasional intestinal issues (even resulting in more hospital time), which as I understand it, probably wouldn't have occurred if she'd gotten help sooner.

Sam1863

March 21st, 2017 at 3:33 PM ^

It's a rotten call to have to make. They told me later that if I had gone in when I first felt the pain, they could have removed it safely and I'd probably been home in two days. But after it ruptured, I had to stay in for six days while they fought the infection.

I had to roll the dice because of no insurance. Unfortunately, I lost. My health recovered, but my finances were another story. So I sympathize with anybody in that situation.

mrkid

March 21st, 2017 at 1:30 PM ^

The article mentioned sleep apnea meds dulled the pain. That is a helluva sleep apnea drug to dull the pain that much. I had my appendix removed last summer and that was some of the worst pain I've ever felt.

It's pretty scary that he was on some meds to dull the pain that much. God knows what else he can't feel.

Yo_Blue

March 21st, 2017 at 2:45 PM ^

I think he did a combination of CPAP, an oxygen tent and meds.  I remember how excited he was after the diagnosis and then had two of his best games.  He didn't look like a zombie at that point.  I guess as long as they keep finding and fixing his problems he's better off.

Speedy recovery, Ricky!

ST3

March 21st, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^

I'm pretty sure I saw those custom potato message people on Shark Tank. Makes sense they would send one to one of Cuban's players. It's basically the pet rock of this age, at least that's what they are hoping for.

TrueBlue2003

March 21st, 2017 at 2:23 PM ^

is projecing but somewhat correct about one thing: three teams and two upsets do not make a full conference, so he's right about that.  Minnesota and Maryland were woefully over seeded and just not that good.  NW was a nice story but not an elite team.  MSU was injured, young and flawed.  The league was down a little at the top but top to bottom pretty solid even if the lower middle wasn't tournament worthy.  The league was down a little, but certainly not trash..  

Purdue and Wisconsin spent most of the year inside the kenpom top 16 so their appearances in the sweet 16 aren't a surprise, tough seed for Wisconsin notwithstanding.  They just weren't as elite as the top two big ten teams usually are.

Michigan is very talented and experienced, spent some time in the top 20 in the early part of the season before threes started raining on them at an inexplicable rate and we seemed to go through some DC transition costs.  They're back playing at the elite level their talent, experience and coaching would suggest.

ST3

March 21st, 2017 at 2:40 PM ^

I wonder how much of the perception that the ACC was better than the Big 10 was influenced by the ACC-Big10 challenge in November. The ACC won that in seemingly dominant fashion, 9 games to 5, but if 2 two point games go the other way, it's a 7-7 tie. And if Michigan beats VT (we lost by 3,) the Big 10 would have won the challenge for the 8th year in a row. Which begs the question, which conference really is the better conference?

WindyCityBlue

March 21st, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^

Do you guys remember Bill Laimbeer shooting 3 pointers?  His shot had almost no trajectory - it was like he was throwing a fast ball at the rim.  But he still managed to be a pretty good 3-point shooter.

 

robpollard

March 21st, 2017 at 1:51 PM ^

Definitely a different era (e.g., Larry Bird shot 1.9 three-pointers a game; today he'd take about 4 times that), but Laimbeer is memorable as an outside shooter because he did it when it counted -- during the Pistons' peak years (late 1980s) he made more like 35-36% and attempted about 2 three-pointers a game (and even slightly more during the playoffs) -- it definitely stood out.

That's better than Blake Griffin and comparable to guys like Al Horoford, Karl-Anthony Towns and Marc Gasol -- Laimbeer definitely could have played in today's NBA (well...except for the flagarant fouls part, of course).

Muttley

March 21st, 2017 at 8:19 PM ^

and it was drilled into me in high school to sag and help whenever an opponent got a step on a teammate and was driving to the bucket.

Leaving a shooter only cost a potential 2, and since it was only 2, it wasn't a foregone conclusion that the shot would be taken.

With the three (or four point shot in pickup games scored by 1s and 2s), I had to change my reactions from "never give up the drive" to "is it worth stopping the drive", and it took a number of lessons learned (made threes) for the new calculus to sink in to the level of subconcious reactions. 

jmblue

March 21st, 2017 at 3:05 PM ^

Laimbeer - like a lot of NBA players - basically discovered the 3-pointer in the late '80s, after almost never shooting them before then.  From 1987-90, he went from 6 to 13 to 30 to 57 threes made.

It's odd to think about, but the players back didn't grow up with the 3.  It had been an ABA novelty until the NBA decided to adopt it in 1979.  College basketball didn't follow suit until the late '80s.

 

M-Dog

March 21st, 2017 at 3:24 PM ^

That was Pitino's claim to fame that launched his career: he was an early adapter and used the 3 ball to take Providence to the Final Four.  

He's a slime now, but that was a pretty big deal at the time.  The 3 wasn't part of his offense, it was his offense, which was novel at the time.

 

 

Chaz_Smash

March 21st, 2017 at 1:09 PM ^

Titus has been more useless post-OSU than Greg Oden.

Honestly thought he might have an interesting perspective on college hoops, but other than trashing Evan Turner, he's incredibly dull.

jimmyshi03

March 21st, 2017 at 1:13 PM ^

The one thing the Ringer U podcast he does illustrates is that he never really stopped being an IU fan either, and once IU's season went down and it became clear OSU wasn't reversing course either, I'd imagine there was a far greater reason to checkout.

wesq

March 21st, 2017 at 1:25 PM ^

Hypothetical question: One more year of Mo Wagner or one year of Mo Bamba? I take Wagner but if he does leave, the Bamba to UM makes more sense. Could slide right in and transform what's become a good defense into an elite one.

jmblue

March 21st, 2017 at 3:16 PM ^

Recruits are always a bit of an unknown.  Even if a guy is a sure-fire talent on the court, you never know how he'll adapt to his teammates, the staff and college life in general.  If you have to choose, think you've got to take the proven commodity.

Of course, both would be awesome.

DCGrad

March 21st, 2017 at 1:39 PM ^

You (or Ace) alluded to a player who wasn't going to be on the roster in the fall who was publicly undisclosed. Is Johnson that player meaning we have to shed one more scholarship or is this a new revelation putting us at 85?

spiff

March 21st, 2017 at 1:42 PM ^

I think Wright State should at least be challenging Maverick Morgan for team co-MVP.  The defense just looks better, and that is being backed up by the stats.

MGoStrength

March 21st, 2017 at 1:51 PM ^

Is it just me or are an abnormally high percentage of transfers and/or guys that break team rules and are no longer with the program seem to be very talented kids (Brian Cole, Amir Mitchell, Devin Asiasi, Shelton Johnson)?  Maybe I'm only remembering the ones that got recruiting publicity, but that seems like a bunch of talent I'd still like to have on the team.

J.

March 21st, 2017 at 1:53 PM ^

Asiasi is rumored to have transferred for family reasons; I wish that weren't so.  As for the others -- if you can't follow team rules, you don't deserve a spot on the team.  If Harbaugh were to promote an atmosphere where talent means you don't have to listen to the coach, he'd effectively abdicate the position.

The primary responsibility of the head football coach is to mold young men.  Winning football games is secondary.  Institutions that get that reversed have a bad habit of showing up in the news for the wrong reasons.

J.

March 21st, 2017 at 1:50 PM ^

If only Nigel Hayes were a Wolverine, I think he'd be my favorite basketball player of all time.  Cattywampus, indeed.

F-ckOhio

March 21st, 2017 at 2:17 PM ^

Brady Hoke, Brady was good at recruiting, his players played hard, for the most part they stayed out of trouble.  Brady is a good man and a good ambassador for the University.  Why did he get fired?  7-5  was not good enough at U-M.   You can be the best guy ever, 100% of the players can become great men, 0% can get into trouble, the Univeristy can be the most profitable ever, but if Michigan isnt 11-2 or Better on a regular basis, The fan base wont be happy and calling for heads!!!!

bronxblue

March 21st, 2017 at 2:58 PM ^

Man, Doyle can't catch a break.  Hopefully he recovers.

I never totally bought the narrative that the ACC was some dominant league; they are obviously good, but some of last year's success (6 teams to the Sweet 16) plus some nice OOC wins made people think that, like, Pitt was demonstrably better than Illinois or IU.  At the top of the ACC are 3-4 consistently good teams, then depending on how that next class plays the conference is rated on.  It's true in most leagues, and it's why I don't think the B1G is somehow "better" than the teams they got into the tournament.  It's just that teams like Michigan only got their feet under them later than expected.