Recent Comments

Just wow.   I'm having a hard time believing this really happened.   Pinch me.

Magnus:   The link goes directly to a Sam Webb write-up on the Detrot News, not your scouting report.

OMG:  Sam Webb is Magnus!  I knew it all along.

EDIT:  Beaten to the punch...twice.

Link?

I'm also admittedly saddened that my tenure as a UM student is now referred to as "those days".   Sigh.

Mars might have water

Donde esta el bano?

Crap, disqualified.

Dude hates the ball.   Might be the angriest swing I've ever seen.

Me thinks there is always a numbers crunch at IU!

Anyway, welcome aboard, Andrew.   Great decision to play with your AAU teammate and for JB.  

Must've been Denard or nothing for them.   If no Denard, then trade away for more picks.   I'm not saying I agree with the strategy, but maybe it's a plausible explanation.

Not sure if this is from Herm or not since he didn't sign it.   Proceed with caution.

I had to also chuckle at the OS comparison between these two laptops (Mac OS 10.5 - Vista).  I bought my first personal laptop with Windows Vista.  That experience alone drove me to buy nothing but Macs ever since.   Windows Vista was horrifying.   It took me 5 minutes for my computer to load - when it was brand new.  My work laptop at the time was a cheaper version of the MBP shown in the comparison, and it further convinced me to never go back to Windows.   I'm sure Windows 7 or 8 is a much better experience, but Vista sucked the life outta me.

1. Gardening.  

2.  Enjoying the sun's warmth on my face for the first time this spring in the upper midwest. 

3.  My dog's butt stinks, so maybe I'll have to search the MGoArchive on how to express his anal glands.  

All-in-all, a great weekend ahead.

I highly encourage everyone to check out UMHoops' Donnal interview.   My favorite quote:

Is there any NBA player out there that you try to emulate in your game?

 

“No, not really, I don’t think so.”

I love this. He's his own man, and seems downright level-headed.

Wisconsin has produced a ton of NFL-caliber TE talent in recent years, too, so this was an exceptionally good get against big-time schools.   I know nothing about how the new Badger HC utilizes TE's, though, so maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree.   But he would be silly not to keep that TE middle screen in the playbook.  That damn thing worked all the time.

I seriously broached this topic at dinner a few nights ago when our dog emitted a funky smell. 

My spouse:  "Where did you get this information"

Me:  "MGoBlog, I think"

I think this only becomes a valid option if we lose McGary and GRIII.   If we lose all 4 players, here's our roster:

PG:  Walton, Spike

SG/SF:  Stauskas, Levert, Irvin

PF/C:  Horford, Morgan, Bielfeldt, Donnal

That's still a roster full of viable B1G players, but man alive the depth is thin.  One injury ruins everything with only 9 scholarship players.  I would definitely comb the transfer wires for Luke Hancock or Brandon Wood-type players to fill some minutes and provide much-needed depth. 

How do you prepare for this type of NBA roster turnover?   I guess John Calipari - and maybe Tom Crean - knows.

I would love to be a potential walk-on next year...lots of opportunities.   Maybe Freddie Hunter has an age-appropriate son to bolster our roster?

Wisconsin's Jacob Pedersen is the cream of the U.P. crop over the past (insert large number) years and more than makes up for the lack of dots in the U.P.   Maybe Dean Altobelli, Spartan safety in the 80's, is the last significant B1G contributor from above the bridge?  

/Yooper

I think he did plenty of "cameos" on Scooby Doo cartoons back in the day.   That's how I first knew about him.   He was an upgrade over Don Knotts.

Hero of the day.   It never occurred to me that I could be in control.    Bye, bye Brent.   Bye, bye Pam Ward's replacement on ESPN-2.

On the flip side, I will use the reverse strategy to pump up the Gus Johnson during BTN basketball season.   "MMMMmmmmmmmmm".

....is contagious.  Sorry, but I guess I should've included the dreaded  "/S" tagline to my post. 

I hate it when people have these knee-jerk reactions claiming Dombrowski has completely sucked at every move, every year.   He negotiated one of the biggest trade heists of the century by getting Cabrera for what amounted to nothing.  Nothing.   Sure, we had to take on Dontrelle Willis for a few years, but we have Miguel Cabrera and gave up virtually nothing!   Genius move.    

Also, everyone in the bullpen has kinda stunk this year.   If they had a true closer in the fold right now, does that mean Villareal, Dotel, Coke, and Benoit are automatically lights-out through the first 8 games?   That's kinda illogical thinking, too.  

I didn't see the Freep Kickstarter for this one.  

I hope John Beilein at least considers some 1&Done players

Burke was almost a 1 & done, even though he was an under the radar type. D. Morris left after two years. McGary was talked about as a 1 & done before he swooned in the recruiting rankings, but now is again a possible 1 & done candidate. GR3 could be a 1 & done. Irvin and Walton are very high profile recruits coming in next year. JB's in on Devin Booker, a 5-star 2014 recruit. Not really sure what you're talking about here.

I'm sure this is homework assignment is prescribed every year.   Let's assume 30 days/month, 100 FT's per day.  That's 3,000 FT's per month.   From the May through September stretch, that's 15,000 FT's.   They have and will continue to shoot their FT's in the off-season.

EDIT:  We shot 72% from the FT line in the game.   The best FT shooting team in the NCAA this year (Davidson) shot  80%.   We shot 25 FT's, so 80% is only two more makes than 72%.  I don't think FT's alone decided this game. 

I don't know.   I rarely complain about officiating from start-to-finish, but that was an absolutely shoddy job of reffing.  We did indeed get a lot of calls our way in the 2nd half, but I think most were indeed fouls on Louisville.   There was one Hardaway drive to the hoop where he got fouled that I thought maybe was a soft foul (didn't see the replay, though, to verify).   Otherwise, Louisville was fouling.  A lot.   And a lot wasn't called.    Some of the scrum rebounding no-calls I can handle since there was plenty of contact both ways.  But blatant over-the-back, undercuts, etc. weren't called, and that's when the game gets dangerous.   So I completely disagree with the "refs weren't as bad as everyone's been saying".   

That dude would jack up nothing but 35 footers during pre-game warmups.  Very comical to watch.  

two guys dry humping him for 10 seconds

Dry humping should be a foul designation. No question about it. I really want to see Teddy Valentine make the dry humping motion in front of the scorer's table on national TV.

Great news.   Meow.

You are not alone in this sentiment.

This was clearly in response to the Bud Light couch-related commercial that plays ad nauseum during the NCAA tournament.  

Too nervous to do grocery shoppping?   Welcome to March Madness.   Isn't a great feeling?

I solved the grocery situation by suggesting we eat a late restaurant lunch yesterday, then dig into the chips, salsa, pretzels, etc. during game time.  Worked like a charm.   But, like you, the refrigerator and cupboards are bare, so a grocery run is on the to-do list today. 

Burke's all smiling and shit, then does a "YEAAAAHHHHHHH" post-McGary rant.

LET'S WORK!  

But they DO play a 2-3 zone.  Did you watch the 1st half Wichita St. game?   Luckily, it's not their specialty and they don't play it as well as Syracuse (who does?).  

To all the bandwagon jumpers who claimed they would not watch this team any longer after the IU game...YOU MISSED A GREAT TOURNEY RUN!!!

GO BLUE!

Spike Albrecht = Demetrius Calip from the '89 run.

3 Freshmen.   3 major catalysts in the 1st half.   We don't win this one without their contributions.    Great job, guys.   Can't believe we won this game with Trey's worst offensive output and Hardaway's cold shooting night.  

Game on.

But it was a glimmer of excitement that seemed - at the time - to indicate a postiive trajectory for Michigan basketball after enduring the late 90's & early 00's deep funk.  I was genuinely excited winning the NIT at the time.   Nowadays, no.   In those days, yes.

I was there, but don't remember wearing white.   And I don't remember any calls for "white out" crowd conditions.   But, then again, my memory isn't so hot from those years.

I am SO backing this one.    This is great news.

Q:  I really want the photobomb shirt, but I'm worried it will scare my children (no offense, Brian...you're sexy and all, but the soft pretzel-chewing face with wildly flowing hair is way intense).   Should I get it now and not wear it until my kids aren't afraid of make-believe things like Sasquatch?  Or do I just get the sweet Face Palm/Rapture T-shirt and live for the moment?  Decisions, decisions.

But the city doesn't crumble on Saturdays.   He's fine.

(If I were in his situation, I would definitely get outta town for the weekend just to forget about Detroit's problems for one splendid evening.)

This makes an already great-looking license plate look exponentially better.  

Glad to see Alan Branch still hanging around an NFL roster.   He was a man-beast in the B1G.  If memory serves correctly, he was a RB or QB in high school, so the dude had some skill.

I despise the NBA.  Can't watch more than a minute of it before switching channels.   I used to be an NBA junkie in the 80's and early 90's, but just grew so tired of it.   This is why I'm so depressed to see Trey Burke potentially leave for the greener NBA pastures after only 2 years in Ann Arbor...I will probably never watch him on the hardcourt again.

I like playing the "it's a different game if...." game.   We could do this until we're blue in the face, and we (the UM fanbase) frequently played this game throughout the season during some of our close losses.   But losing by 20?   I'm sorry, but you can't play the "its a different game if..." game under these circumstances. 

It's a different game if...

(1) Trey Burke is healthy.

(2) GR3 doesn't completely shut down a hapless Murphy (a matchup Donovan was totally trying to exploit early in the game...FAIL).

(3) Michigan lost to Kansas.

(4) Etc., etc.

Sorry, Billy.   You didn't show much class or grace hanging out this post-game dirty laundry.

Excellet defensive rotations today.  I can't believe this is the same team that struggled with defensive rotations a month ago. 

Mitch McGary has elevated his game quicker in-season than any UM player in recent memory.   He played great defensively today by altering a lot of shots.   And he runs the floor as well as any other big in the nation (reminds me of J. Morgan two years ago when D. Morris was the point guard...JMo got so many offensive looks by running the floor well).

Role players inevitably make big plays in long tourney runs.  Albrecht's steal and smooth layup might be the 1993 version of the James Voskuil late in the game floating jumper type of play that will forever resonate in UM fans' minds years from now.   That was the dagger that sealed any hope of a Florida comeback in the 2nd half.  It was effectively a 4-point play coming off of McGary's basket.   Smart, heady play.

Forgot about that angle.   That could have been eye-pleasing under different circumstances. 

I'm just bitter right now that I can't see any pre-game hype and am stuck watching tennis.

upholstery immmolation

Definitely t-shirt material.

Basketball was absolutely meant to be played here.   The sightlines are amazing from everywhere.  

In essence, you'll be paying hundreds of bucks to sit in the upper level seats and watch the game on the big screen since it's bigger than the actual freakin' court. 

Anyway, congrats to Jerry Jones for landing the NCAA hoops regional finals and the 2015 football championship game.  He surely needed to host these events to fill his depleted ego bucket.

Maybe this is in reference to Bill Martin's assurance that the facilities would get upgraded, but never did during Tommy's tenure?   I'm just guessing here.

This is the first time I've seen VCU this year.   Color me impressed.   #30 is a sniper, and VCU is very good at attacking the rim.   I think we'll get plenty of easy looks in transition, but VCU seems like a team that won't go away easily.

GR3 hitting mid-range and 3 pointers, plus an active transition game in the 2nd half, made this team look like its old self.    Remember how fun they can be to watch?   That 2nd half was fun.

Mike Jones?

Yes

I personally think GR3 and THJ should be back for another year, but if they both get hot in the tourney and increase their draft stock, it bodes well for our chances to may some noise and have a deep run.  

No, we can't do that.  An earlier poster in this thread wanted to hire him after we lost to SDSU.

Thought for sure his head bounced, but maybe you're right.   The way he recoiled, though, made it seem like he smashed it.

Burke crushed his head.   Wow.   That has concussion written all over it.

the nice D by Stauskus in the post?!  

Stick it in deep now, boys.   We need to put this game away NOW.  

Another great sign.

What?

Mitch has the best looking form for a 50% FT shooter.

Big hoop for GRIII.  He needed that.

No transition opportunities.   Sucks.   We thrived in transition earlier in the year, but that part of our game has suffered.   We should be able to run on these guys.

...was also having problems with the liveblog while traveling (and only mobile access).

I'm amazingly serene right now.   No nerves.  Just like Trey.

You're playing against pogo sticks, St. Mary's.   Pump fake down low and watch jockstraps fall down to the floor.

Otherwise, St. Mary's is displaying grit and an inability to make shots.

Now THAT'S how to rush the court.   Nicely done, Bob Morris.

...what are they going to do with all of those stadiums and bills they still owe on the stadiums?

Open gyms/rinks. City league/rec sports. Corporate shindigs. Birthday parties. Paintball. The possibilities for renting out Michigan Stadium, Crisler, and Yost are endless. We don't need no stinkin' university-sanctioned sports to make a mint off of UM's sporting infrastructure.

/S

Ryan Evans?

Is it ridiculous that they are winning so much with your astute observation of mostly white players?  Or is it ridiculous that Bo Ryan supposedly recruits more white than black players?

I can't quite read your mind, but I'm curious to know.   Or maybe I'm not.

Well-stated.  Team defense is team defense, and pressure "D" by the smalls certainly helps the bigs down low.   Wisconsin thrives on team defense, and they do it with an athletic deficit against most B1G teams.  

This, in theory, is a great idea - if only for a handful of minutes at a time to mix things up.   Two things to consider, though:

(1)  GRIII has completely lost his outside shot.   He was regularly knocking down 3-pointers and mid-range shots early in the year.   That hasn't happened in recent weeks.   Even when Stauskas isn't hitting, his mere presence on the perimenter makes opposing defenses react.

(2)  Can GRIII guard quicker wings?   I think so, but it's still an unknown commodity.   Stauskus has struggled against 2 guards and wings, too, so maybe this is a moot point.

I really like JB as a coach, and am not standing on the ledge like many other UM fans after the recent spate of losses.   But I have to admit that I didn't enjoy watching Evans manhandle GRIII on the block repeatedly in the 2nd half.  I think Horford or Morgan might have been a better matchup there.  If GRIII's offensive game is on, then I'm not complaining.  If his offensive game is not on, I would opt for the better defender against a guy who's killing you with his post game.

but our team is 100% reliant on Burke for everything

Got it. I won't argue much with that point. If Walton comes in and becomes Yogi Ferrell Part II, I will be very happy. And I really think Zak Irvin will arrive with much better defensive tools than other recent freshmen that have contributed heavily.

The cuts on the set aren't sharp enough to get anyone open, and we don't run it long enough to break the defennse down

I do agree that our cuts aren't sharp at times. Just take a glance at Princeton's vintage offense and you'll see exactly how to cut and set up your cuts.

The other thing that gets lost in the shuffle is that every now and then we do have someone off the ball slashing to the basket that is wide open, but we never seem to see it - or just don't attempt to get the ball in to the slasher. Those are easy offensive opportunities that we need to capitalize on, and capitalizing on those opportunities also sets up the outside game.

Devil's advocate...Trey average 7 assists per game.   He gets people involved.   His assist rate would be even higher if we could take care of finishing at the rim.   Not sure how removing 20 points and 7 assists will make us better.   You better hope we get exponential development from other players (which is completely possible), or the incoming freshmen are even better than this year's crop (also possible).

That team had two top 5 picks on its roster.   And look at Kentucky this year.  Fire Calipari.

EDIT:  I am also Erik_in_Dayton

Dakich preaches driving under control to the hoop and and jump-stopping on two feet when a defender is on top of you.   Good things happen when you do this, and most of our slashers just don't have it in them to do this basic, fundamental move.     YOu make shot blockers get off their feet with a nice pump fake.  You can see other players slashing the basket.  You have both pivot feet available for making further post moves.   We just don't finish around the basket, and it makes it difficult to consistently win tight games when you rely on mid-range to 3-point shots.    We make easy shots difficult, and I have no idea why. 

That being said, we had no excuse not being up by 15 at half when the opposition shoots 17% from the field.  Let me repeat...17%.  

There were a lot of players not guarding or making shots.  

The camo camouflaged the camo.  Sweet!

Does anyone know if the jumpshooting routine has worked for Evans? 

EDIT:   According to Madison newspapers, he started jumpshooting FT's in the late season Nebraska game, so that makes him 5/8 jumpshooting for a 62.5% FT rate.  Not a strong sample size, but he has improved his season FT % to 42% due to his jumpshot.  And he's shooting 8.7% from beyond the 3 point line.

Thx for the insight (between you and Seth).   Amazing commitment by a group of athletes who are obviously doing this for the love of the sport.   I was assuming weekend trips to the Traverse region would be a main practice venue, but even that is a long slog on a regular basis.

56-53 Blue.

I still think Wisconsin controls the pace in this one.   But I choose to be optimistic and predict a close win.   I'll change my mind if I see an all-red figure with horns and goatee sipping a hot drink behind the Wisconsin bench and whispering in Bo Ryan's ear during TV timeouts.

Backus was a tough SOB.   He had major surgery in maybe his RS freshman year @ Michigan - I think it was adbominal surgery - and came back strong after a major scare.   The dude may not have been an All Pro, but to start as many UM and NFL games for such a long stretch says something good about his skill set.   Sure, I wish the Lions could have drafted Hutchinson one spot ahead of Backus, but he was a legit 1st round caliber NFL tackle coming out of Michigan.   Backus was the least of our worries during the 2000's.   I don't understand the hate.

Welcome to the fluid world of tweeting!    That was a magical Adam Schefter trifecta.

Those were dark days if you were a Lions fan.  But the future is bright, right?

Burke put up monster stats, and he went head-to-head TWICE against two of the premiere on-the-ball defenders in all of college basketball (Craft and Victor O.).   In this case, Burke's stats don't lie, and it's not like he's the only person shouldering the scoring for UM.  We have 3 other players averaging double-digit points.  Victor's offensive numbers are hurt by Zeller's production, but UM also has significant offensive production for other players surrounding Burke. 

I guess there wasn't much of a market for trading him, even for low minor league scraps?   The cost benefit of releasing him now apparently outweighed any perceived trade value further down the line.

He had some great moments in a Tigers uniform -moments that usually lasted a few weeks at a time.   The weeks of absolute non-production that preceded or followed his manic mashing phases were so frustrating, though.    I thought this guy was destined to be a .270-.280 hitter with 25 HR 80 RBI potential.

The Crazy Legs Classic - a spring-time tradiational running event - is annually held every year in Madison as  U-Wisc Atheltics Dept. fundraiser.   Badger Nation loves itself some Crazy Legs and seems to claim him as "theirs". I always find it disconcerting that he's intimately related to both Wiscy and UM.   Oh well.  

Please do.   Consider yourself THE local source for Ricky Doyle game analyses and highlights.  Or I could ask my dad to do this since he lives in your neck of the woods, but video cameras and the interwebz scare him.

Agree.  It has been a thorn in our sides.   We shoot 70.6% as a team, though, so it's not like we're missing every free throw.   Maybe you should be counting a 2 shot foul automatically as 1.4 points for complete mathematical accuracy!

Also agree that missing front ends of 1-and-1's is hugely important.   I'm sure someone has a stat on this, but I would be curious to see our front end 1-and-1 miss rate versus other teams - especially other teams that shoot near the same FT as us.

Lost in all of the emotion is that IU shot 5-9 from the charity stripe. They weren't much better than us.  

I honestly don't think having UM players lined up affects the mental state of the FT shooter.   I blame late-game tension and /or fatigue as bigger factors.   It's a free shot with nobody guarding you that you practice countless times without anyone lining up.  

Another reason you keep everyone from lining up is to avoid silly over-the-back fouls while going for a rebound.   I personally would still put 2 UM players in rebound position, but I can see why some coaches wouldn't do it.  

Silver lining.   But a shitty silver lining.

OK...thx.   I would have died inside a little more if (a) that was a half-court shot and (b) PSU had fouls to give.  

This still sux.   Wisconsin will pay for these repeated transgressions at some point.   Maybe a first round NCAA loss while scoring only 37 points will be the ultimate penalty.

Umm....what?

Newbill and Marshall killed us with their penetration.    These guys *should* be able to penetrate against Brust and Jackson, right?   If not, then I will officially cede my soul to Bo Ryan's team defense philosophy.

Similar fate, except farmersonly.com for me.

At first glance, I thought the shorts were just very wrinkly.   Then I looked closer and remembered the camo-theme from a previous uniformz thread and ran to the bathroom to violently wretch.    Bullet dodged.   Thank goodness.

Impressive highlights.  Time will tell if he's as polished as Trey, but I'm excited about his potential.   I really like his ability to absorb contact and still finish at the rim...very reminscent of Trey.

Appling probably did foul first on this play, but you have to admit that Trey has mastered the art of absorbing contact while dribbling, lifting his shoulders as he "fights" his way through the contact, yet somehow is able to use his forearm to ward off the defender ever so subtly (sometimes not so subtly).   My eyes are always attracted to his upper body shrugging motion first, so I often don't catch the forearm action.   It's a subtle, yet smart, move.    And it usually is in response to initial contact by the defender.

This sentiment exactly.

I am treating this news as a bonus 2014 commitment and am celebrating accordingly.   From both an offensive continuity and QB development standpoint (allowing Morris and Speight to take their time developing, barring unfortunate injuries), the Gardner redshirt is a huge deal.  

I think that's a "Motion Beaver" (a la Wisconsin's "Motion W").  

Crisler seemed very energetic.   Thanks, old people, for filling in for some of the missing spring breakers.

UM: 0%  Ughhh.

MSU:  45%  Ughh.

I think State was at 34% 3 Pt FG% coming into the game.   Uncontested 3's continue to haunt us.

This person really likes cats.

Don't we have a medical professional (Heiko) on staff?   MGoSickness will not be accepted around these parts.

(Get well soon, Ace).