Top 5 UM Basketball Players of the Decade
When I was watching the Indiana v Michigan basketball game a few weeks back they had a poll that gave viewers the opportunity to vote for UM & IU's best basketball player of the decade. For U-M, I believe the list contained Manny Harris, Deon Harris, Chris Hunter, LaVell Blanchard, and Bernard Robinson Jr.
Maybe it's just me, but when I think of Michigan basketball from 2000-2009 the first name that I think of is Daniel Horton. Horton may not have had the best professional career, but I believe he personified U-M basketball better than any other player this past decade. Any Thoughts?
January 11th, 2010 at 10:43 PM ^
To me the list goes in order like this:
1. Manny Harris
2. Daniel Horton
3. LaVell Blanchard
4. DeShawn Sims
5. Bernard Robinson
6. Dion Harris
7. Courtney Sims (pathetic, but had stats)
8. Graham Brown (consistently mediocre)
9. Lester Abram
10. Brett Petway (never reached potential)
11. Chris Young
12. Chris Hunter
..
74. Ron Coleman
..
85. Kendrick Price
..
99. (tie)Maurice Searight
99. (tie)Avery Queen
99. (tie)Josh Moore
99. (tie)Dominic Ingerson
99. (tie)Gavin Groninger
(99 = Brian Ellerbe era)
January 11th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^
Was the '00 to '09 M hoops decade the worst since....when?
'90s had Fab Fivers
'80s had NCAA champs plus McGee/the Judge!/Tarpley/Vaught/ET/etc
'70s had Johnny Orr's '76 runners-up plus Campy plus Rudy T
'60s had Cazzie. Bill Buntin, plus....
...worst since the fifties? (and I'm not saying the fifties were bad, but my M hoops knowledge doesn't recall that far back)
January 11th, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^
UM hoops has been my #1 team to follow since the Fab Five era and I've had season tickets ever since. I've seen it all from Leon Jones to Mike Gotfredson to Ron Coleman... I think the shining stars are pretty obvious.
1. Blanchard - led the team in points and rebounds all four years.
2. Horton - clutch shooter and obvious talent.
3. M Harris - finally took them to the tournament
4. Robinson Jr. - never quite seemed all there, but had the talent
5. Abram - pre-injury, was usually best player on the floor
January 12th, 2010 at 2:09 AM ^
LA personifies the Amaker Era to me. "Born under a bad sign," I'm afraid. Michigan deserved a bid after the '02-'03 season, and that remains my favorite Michigan BBALL team. They were every bit as good as the '08-'09 team (as was the '03-'04 team for that matter, but they didn't have Lavell B.).
January 11th, 2010 at 11:01 PM ^
Jamal Crawford IMHO, is far and away the best player of Decade and would have been one of M's all time greats if given the opportunity
January 12th, 2010 at 2:15 AM ^
JC got screwed by the NCAA. He was ordered to pay something like $15K to the NCAA. (Mind you, he came from a messed up situation in Seattle, and it may as well have been $15 million.) Martin Krislov, former GC of Michigan, called it the saddest situation he had ever seen when he spoke to a class that I took when I was a student.
January 11th, 2010 at 11:10 PM ^
Jamal Crawford is probably the most talented player in the past decade along with Manny. But with only 17 games and essentially the final nail in the era of scandal (which wasn't really his fault) I couldn't put him on my top list.
I really liked Lester Abram and thought he was the perfect #3 player on any team. He could defend multiple positions, could handle, could drive, and could shoot. But he just never put it together (much like all of Amaker's players). He was hurt a lot and he never seemed to be aggressive at all. You could never count on him. To me that puts him in the top 15, but not the top five. I'd rather rank a guy like Chris Young or Graham Brown who worked their tail off, played tons of minutes, and were incredibly consistent even if their output wasn't all that great....if that makes any sense.
If I could have any player from the decade on this current team it would probably be Blanchard (to take Novak's spot). Horton would be nice but might not be enough shots to go around. Brown would be great in the post - the rich man's Zach Gibson (defense, rebounding, hustle).
January 11th, 2010 at 11:12 PM ^
Maybe that's a better way to solve this debate: Team of the decade by position:
PG - Horton
SG - D. Harris? Robinson? Crawford?
SF - M. Harris
PF - Blanchard
C - DeShawn Sims
January 12th, 2010 at 12:43 AM ^
This is the best list if you keep Crawford. Harris was a massive recruit who ended up being relatively mediocre and the streakiest player I've ever seen. Robinson made the league, but never really impressed me that much. Crawford was lights out before he was denied by the NCAA. A huge waste and a terrible decision by the powers that be.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:07 AM ^
I was a fan as well