Are you old enough to remember when Michigan Basketball was good?

Submitted by M-Wolverine on

This is not a woe is us thread, wahhhh we suck. No, I'm trying to get kind of a demographic view on the MGoCommunity. I don't need or want your age or whatever, just your experience. Because I think there's kind of a divide between the younger, college age set, and those a bit older in two ways: One, the younger are more patient, having seen only bad, so a bit more bad is no big deal, and older are more reactionary; and Two, related, younger fans are more impressed with lesser accomplishments, thinking minor achievements are big deals, where older fans know not only the heights achieved, but how overall good Michigan basketball was, historically.

A positive for both sides, really, and the contrary negative for each. And I'm just trying to get an idea where people are coming from. Because those in college now were toddlers when we were great and kids when we were good. Forgetting that before the whole Fab Five mess, we won Big Ten titles in the 80's, and were in National Championship games in the 70's, and the Cassie days before that....before a bad decade and vacated wins, we were a top ten national team (borderline, but definitely up there). And those that can remember that may not see that the kids they're recruiting are in the same age bracket...and don't really remember any of that. I mean, man, Juwan Howard's kid is going to college next year!

So, if you have a viewpoint, or what era you fall into, and how you think that relates to your perception, I'd love to hear it.

ontarioblue

January 27th, 2010 at 1:50 PM ^

I know everyone thinks we should put the days of the Fab Five out of our memory, it was an embarassment, but truthfully I felt pretty damn good seeing Jalen courtside yesterday. I can only hope that it won't be long before the 5 of them are introduced before a game together.

Kurt Sloane

January 27th, 2010 at 2:33 PM ^

i am with you on that. it bothered me a little bit that the announcers kept acknowledging only Jalen, while Jimmy King was right next to him. I understand Jimmy didnt amount to the magnitude of Rose, but i still recognize him as a great collegiate athlete. being that they both came back to their former home.

03 Blue 07

January 27th, 2010 at 3:04 PM ^

The Fab Five was what got me to start liking Michigan. I was 12 years old when Webber called the time out. I still have a Jalen jersey from the year after. I was a Michigan basketball fan before a Michigan football fan (and then two-time alum). This may sound crazy, but if not for the Fab Five, I wonder if I'd have ended up going to Michigan for undergrad- I absolutely loved them, and, in turn, I loved Michigan, and Michigan was "cool." (I am/was from out-of-state). So yeah, I'm in the Fab Five demographic. And Michigan was the coolest fucking school on the planet during that time.

SFBlue

January 27th, 2010 at 2:29 PM ^

1989. I remember where I was, what I was doing, and who I was with. I was 11, at a hotel, watching it with my dad, who was going bananas. The best part was seeing Bo in the crowd and on the court.

My freshman year, the team beat Duke (thanks to Tractor-Traylor). Sophomore year as well, when Duke was #1. I was in school for the post-FAB5 highwater mark, which was my sophomore year, when the team blew a lead against UCLA in the second round of the tournament. The closest they've been to that level was last year. By my senior year, it was Maurice Seabright and Avery Queen, et al.--a giant leap backwards.

Blue in Yarmouth

January 27th, 2010 at 3:11 PM ^

'89 is where it all started for me (my love of American college sports). The first NCAA tourney game I watched was the championship game and I fell in love with UM.

That spilled over to football the following season and since, football has moved ahead in my personal fandom. Since the second coming of the fab-five (Taylor, Baston and the gang) I have lost interest in UM basketball.

Now that Coach B has taken over I have started to renew my interest, and hope we will see more teams like those of the fab five (only without the contraversey).

Regardless of how that whole thing turned out, I have never seen a more exciting basketball team to watch either before or since. They were indeed fabulous (and I don't mean fab in the way of the pic of Tate dancing either.....nttawwt).

3rdGenerationBlue

January 30th, 2010 at 4:20 PM ^

Griffin shot so few times that we would shout "SHOOT!" when he would get the ball. I sat with a group of rabid fans (pre-Maize Rage) in the second tier of seats. I ran into Griffin on campus one day and asked him if he could hear us and he just laughed. A few games later he drove down a wide open lane for a dunk. He turned and pointed to our group on the way up court - hilarious!

northmuskeGOnBLUE

January 27th, 2010 at 3:50 PM ^

I was a junior at U of M in 1989. In fact, while the championship game was amazing, as was the party on South U, I actually enjoyed the semifinal game with Illinois even more. It was just as dramatic and Illinois had beaten us twice during the regular season.

I was actually staying up north in the Pigeon River Country of the lower peninsula. My aquatic entomology class was on a weekend field study trip. The entire class stayed at my professor's parent's cabin. Before we went to the cabin we stopped at a party store and stocked up. We all got pretty wasted during the game and screamed out the fight song all night. My professor was pretty cool.

I am mostly a child of 80's Michigan hoops. I really got hooked with the Roy Tarpley/Richard Rellford team. The era culminated with that '89 championship. Still one of the best weekends of my life.

GustaveFerbert

January 27th, 2010 at 5:36 PM ^

The Illinois game was great...especially since we lost to them during the regular season. And on top of that, it was hash bash weekend....so the entire day was nothing but a party...The bars went wild when Higgins made that shot.

And perhaps even better than that game was the sweet sixteen round when Glen Rice was taking it to the Tar Heels, who had knocked out UM the past year...

Go Blue!

mvp

January 27th, 2010 at 5:03 PM ^

...I was a senior in high-school getting ready to head off to U-M in the fall. I remember the Duke-Michigan game at Crisler in the 89-90 season.

I remember in that season Sean Higgins being quoted as saying "Well, we're not getting the ball to Glen Rice enough" when asked why the team was struggling.

I remember Hank Gathers and the ensuing left handed free throws. *sigh*

I remember not traveling with my girlfriend (now wife) to Minneapolis for the final 4 because I would have missed scheduling my classes for my senior year on that Monday (and been killed by my father).

As for the time out, I remember where I sat in the Superdome looking down as Webber first traveled then tried to call timeout with the ref pretending to look away. I also remember four of us driving from AA to New Orleans in a Dodge Daytona. Ugh.

When the first image of Jalen came on the screen last night I was reminiscing with my wife about watching Jalen play. (JALEN! No, no, no, no......YES!)

I remember winning the first Big Ten Tournament.

And I remember [way more than I care to of] the lost decade of Michigan basketball.

As a counter to the OP's point though, I don't think I'm less patient -- if anything I think I'm more patient than the average fan. Beilein is the right man for the job.

mcfors

January 27th, 2010 at 1:52 PM ^

Yeah, I was 25 last year, I can remember it well.
But to answer it seriously, I remember falling asleep before the infamous timeout game. My Dad had to explain it to me why it was a technical foul to call a TO you didn't have.

Raback Omaba

January 27th, 2010 at 1:55 PM ^

I remember watching Michigan beat Duke at Cameron on a sleepy Sunday afternoon a long time ago. We were wearing our Blue Uniforms (my favorite Michigan Unis.) The game went down to the wire, but Tractor Traylor ended up driving the lane with a HUUUUGE dunk to put us ahead. Duke's interior defense fell asleep for some reason and Traylor literally walked down the key and slammed it in.

For some reason, that is one of my favorite M games of all time. Dont remember much of the Fab Five and National Championship era.

mvp

January 27th, 2010 at 5:08 PM ^

I think it was 12/12/97. I remember it because it was the day my daughter was born. We then went on to win the National Championship in the Rose Bowl. I thought (just maybe) she'd never in her life have to watch a Michigan team lose at anything ever.

SFBlue

January 27th, 2010 at 5:33 PM ^

Yes, 1996 we won at Cameron. We beat Duke again, in December of 1997, but that game was at Crisler. (Michigan students rushed the floor. I was at a party watching the game, and watching Woodson get the Heisman.)

From the Daily:

Exorcised Michigan comeback drowns Devils
Michigan 62, Duke 61

By Danielle Rumore
Daily Sports Editor

DURHAM, N.C. (Monday, December 9, 1996) - He didn't break the backboard this time, just Duke's pride. This dunk was even better, even more monumental. And while it didn't destroy the basket, it was certainly earth-shattering.

Robert Traylor took a pass from Travis Conlan, put the ball on the floor for one dribble and delivered a slam dunk with 6.2 seconds left that the Blue Devils won't likely forget, giving No. 7 Michigan a 62-61 victory over 10th-ranked Duke yesterday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The lane "parted like the Red Sea," Traylor said.

Despite struggling with Duke's stifling defense all afternoon, Traylor managed to win the game for the Wolverines and, in the process, destroy Duke's previous stellar 103-1 home record against non-conference opponents.

With the Devils up 61-60, sophomore guard Trajan Langdon tried to hit Roshown McLeod in the post ... but the pass fell right into Maceo Baston's hands.

After a 20-second timeout and with just 19 seconds on the clock, Conlan drove around a Duke defender and passed to Traylor in the paint.

jmblue

January 27th, 2010 at 5:33 PM ^

That was the game we won in Crisler when they were #1 (also the same day that Woodson won the Heisman). The game we won in Cameron happened in '96.

wigeon

January 27th, 2010 at 1:55 PM ^

Tom Slaton (Windex), Rickey Green, Phil Hubbard and Steve Grote. They were up on undefeated Indiana at halftime in the NCAA championship game.

My Dad let me stay up late.

krogoblue

January 27th, 2010 at 2:36 PM ^

Slappie - how about Johnny Robinson (Johnny Rob)? That was a great team and really fun to watch. Besides the NC game vs. undefeated Hoosiers they came within a last second tip-in by Kent Benson of beating Indiana in Bloomington earlier that year. I also remember being behind visitors benches when we beat Magic/Heathcote/MSU and Isaiah/Knight/Indiana a few years later. Incredible memories and more will be made sooner rather than later. I'm probably way off, but this years team could still go off on an unbelievable run (Big Ten Tourney?) if they start putting the ball in the hole. They're obviously talented enough and can hang with the best teams.

oldblue

January 27th, 2010 at 2:47 PM ^

the last second tip-in should not have been allowed. One ref acknowledged that it was a tip (rather than a controlled "shot") but said it went in before the buzzer (if the buzzer goes while a tip is in the air, it does NOT count), while the other ref correctly understood that it went in AFTER the buzzer but wrongfully called it a "shot," so it counted and they killed us in overtime. They were the better team, no doubt, but we should have won that game.

bringthewood

January 27th, 2010 at 2:55 PM ^

Started going as a kid to games when Crisler opened ('68 or '69). They we're pretty good up until a couple of year later when they played Indiana in the final and we were #1 for part of 1977 as I recall. They were generally better than MSU about 2/3 to 3/4 of the time. Purdue with Rick Mount, OSU and Indiana were the teams to beat as I remember. Minnesota was not bad and they had a big brawl with OSU with some serious injuries.

Up until the Ed Martin thing we only sucked a few years but were generally competitive. We generally won the recruiting battle in the state. Outside of Magic, MSU won with lesser regarded talent and often a short bench because Heathcote could only get a few top recruits - white guys out of Indiana like Scott Skiles and 1 or 2 key recruits. This pissed off Heathcoat and Izzo to no end and they felt Michigan used underhanded recruiting and killed them getting the top talent.

Blue boy johnson

January 27th, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^

Hate to nitpick but it was Tom Staton that you loved, Ferndale's own. He had some big HS battles against Berkley and Bruce Flowers IIRC.
How bout Jumpin Joel Thompson out of Flint I think, or Alan "shoot" Hardy out of the PSL, or even Dave Baxter from Lutheran West. I loved me some M hoops in the mid to late 70's and beyond

Tater

January 27th, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^

...to remember when Cazzie Russell and Oliver Darden were student teachers at Tappan.

This leads me to one of my pet peeves: the media constantly perpetuate the myth that MSU has always been superior to UM as a basketball program, when in reality it has only happened under Izzo and Magic. Magic was a transcendent player, and Izzo exploited the Ed Martin scandal to the max to get a disproportionate share of instate recruits.

So, basically, MSU has been the better program for about twelve years out of however many they have both had teams. I can't wait for their current cycle of dominance to end.

Steve Levy Sucks

January 27th, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^

going to be close to what it is you're asking on this, but just a fond memory. I was stationed in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War.

Hadn't watched TV in almost a year because there wasn't anything I could understand on TV in Saudi. But on the night of the championship game between Michigan and Duke, our base commandar set up a satalite dish in the cafeteria.

It was like 3 in the morning, and I was the only one there, sitting by myself watching the game. Hated the way it ended, but just to be able to watch TV, any TV, and especially Michigan basketball was a memory I'll never forget - no matter the outcome.

saveferris

January 27th, 2010 at 1:57 PM ^

I was a senior in HS when Michigan beat Seton Hall in '89. Three days after the game I went to Ann Arbor for an orientation tour, and the campus was a mess. 1993 was my senior year at U of M and the street party that erupted on South U after we beat Kentucky was a lot of fun.

The FannMan

January 27th, 2010 at 2:09 PM ^

Exactly the same. Freshman in fall of '89, finished undergrad in May of '93. Say what you want about the Fab Five, but I will always love them for the memories. That riot, err . . . "street party" on South U was incredible. I lived way down Washtenaw and we started running to South U as soon as the game was over. No way that chump with the mustache could guard Weber!

Lutha

January 27th, 2010 at 2:02 PM ^

I was a 4th grader during the '89 tournament run. I didn't grow up in Michigan, but when Rumeal hit those free throws, it pretty much sealed my fate as a future Wolverine.

Raback Omaba

January 27th, 2010 at 2:02 PM ^

The very short Jamal Crawford era was great too.

That was a great recruiting class. We beat Duke at Crisler (went to the game) and the fan base was energized by the youth and style on the team. The whole Jamal Crawford headband thing was cool too.

I can't help but wonder where we'd be right now if that class stuck together....I think they could've made for a few great years of Michigan basketball, maybe even rewriting the last few years as well.

03 Blue 07

January 27th, 2010 at 3:07 PM ^

I was a freshman that year. Kevin Gaines played out of his mind against Duke and outplayed Jason Williams. We also had Lavell in that class, and Groninger, along with the 6'8" kid from Massachusetts who was kind of a banger (white kid). Brandon Smith was also on the roster.

That team had a ton of talent. Too bad Gaines was a knucklehead and Ellerbe was god-awful. I can only imagine what JB could do with that talent.

KBLOW

January 27th, 2010 at 2:07 PM ^

Yes. The memories...

During the post Championship "celebration" in '89 as I was watching the crowd try to throw a dude up onto the traffic light at the corner of South U and Forest when I was caught in a cloud of pepper spray. It wasn't so bad but I'm glad I got out of there before the car was overturned and bank windows smashed. Anyway, that win was the culmination of one hell of a week that included the Hash Bash (before it got all gigantic), days of unseasonably warm and sunny weather and a few Grateful Dead shows in town.

Maize and Blue in OH

January 27th, 2010 at 2:25 PM ^

Some jackass pulled the fire alarm in South Quad with about 2 or 3 minutes to go in regulation. We had about 20 people in our dorm room and one of the girls almost punched the RD when he turned off our TV and forced us to get out. We ended up at some house in the neighborhood for the final minute and OT. Between the games, Hash Bash and the Dead shows, not a lot of class was attended or work done.

FuManBlue

January 27th, 2010 at 2:11 PM ^

I met Rumeal in 94. He played for a CBA team in Louisiana where I was stationed and I was very impressed by how nice he was. I took my old final four t-shirt to the folowing game and had him sign it...very cool.