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Jake Diebler seems like an…

Jake Diebler seems like an all around decent human being. Used to run a mentoring program with junior high students and we did campus visits. Went to OSU and hoped to squeeze in some parts of the athletic campus just for fun (none of our kids were future college athletes from what I could tell). Jake Deibler was their video coordinator at the time. He gave our kids a tour of the basketball facilities and a good mini lecture on what it takes to succeed in general. Kids got to meet Marc Loving, who was working out in the facilities (this visit was in April after the season). Greg Oden was still trying to play and was there too (even though most kids didn’t really know who he was). Great experience and it wasn’t really part of Jake’s regular duties but he volunteered for it. So I will root for him as a person and coach as long as it’s not too much success considering it’s OSU. 
 

I don’t think it’s that bad of a choice for OSU. Probably keeps the recruiting class and roster together. Will be clear within a couple seasons if it’ll be successful and he’d have an OSU friendly buyout considering other power conference schools won’t be knocking on his door. 

Exactly my point. I would…

Exactly my point. I would say the same about Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniela. 

For me, JJ's success will be…

For me, JJ's success will be entirely situational. If he goes to a decrepit franchise that can't get out from under their own messes, he won't have that good of a career. If he can go somewhere and sit for a season or two and learn the playbook, focus on development and the franchise is fairly stable, he will be a top 1/3 starter in the league long term.

I think he would do pretty…

I think he would do pretty poorly in the transfer portal/NIL era. He was an amazing college coach in the old system. He had a system and sometimes that system took a few years to get down. Some athletes wouldn't have the patience for it. 

I also think that if he still wanted to coach, he'd be coaching right now. 

And that team was…

And that team was shorthanded as it was because we didn't have a ton of depth (due to early departures and injuries). Again, the roster construction is on Juwan.  Backcourt was a freshman and late developing sophomore last season. Had a senior PG transfer but he was hurt. And the backcourt situation isn't better this year. I think it's more a roster management problem than an in game coaching problem. 

I also remember JB losing a few last possession games (N'W, OSU etc) and fans were arguing back and forth about guarding or not guarding the inbounder. 

If you talk to basketball…

If you talk to basketball people around Michigan, there's ways he has conducted himself that would turn heads at a high and mighty place like Michigan. Maybe with NIL, it's not as big of a deal anymore. But there's obviously the incident with his players and how he publicly mishandled it last year. There's no doubt that there's some hypocrisy with how some at Michigan (and fans) look at these things. But acknowledging hypocrisy doesn't make it go away. 

There was a time when JB had…

There was a time when JB had a bad string of close game results. Those kind of things can be fairly random. But I'd be curiuos what his close game record was the first three seasons when we had veteran guards. I'm guessing it was better. We've had really bad guard depth the last two seasons (which is on Juwan). What I think is happening is that we have a limited roster (which is on Juwan) and that limits what you can do in a game. We've lost a ton of halftime leads this season. I think that's mostly due to having a good first pitch but not having a second pitch. So when other teams make adjustments, we don't really have much we can do. But in terms of our scheme, I don't have too many complaints. We run alot of NBA stuff. Juwan knows basketball. But he has been a disaster in roster management. 

I think recruiting…

I think recruiting/development is a far bigger problem than the in game coaching and scheme. We run good NBA style stuff and when we have a cohesive roster, it worked very well. The issue is that Juwan had the 2020-21 team with a very good block scorer (HD), veteran backcourt (Brooks, Smith, Brown) that could shoot and versatile wings that could also shoot and defend (Livers, Franz, Brown). He has not tried to replicate that other than at C. His other teams have featured more 4/5 hybrids than 3/4 hybrids like the 2020-21 team had. The rosters just don't fit together and I don't see him targeting the guys we need in the portal or HS recruiting. 

I have no real problem with his scheme and what we try to run. Until this year, the team didn't struggle with TOs and defense much. It was more spacing and depth that we struggled with. This year has gone off the rails in all aspects due to the lack of direction in the program and roster mismanagement. 

A very unrealistic list from…

A very unrealistic list from Ant. Oats is a non-starter. He's from Michigan, but with how he operates and the fact that he's at a big athletic school with fewer restrictions, it's not an option. Otzelberger is the intriguing name on this list. Not sure he'd leave ISU but he's be on my list. JB is 71 years old. If he wanted to keep coaching, he'd be coaching right now. 

Juwan doesn't have a decade…

Juwan doesn't have a decade plus track record like Harbaugh did. Harbaugh took over a talented but directionless program. Took us to the brink of the playoffs and just couldn't beat OSU. Had the obviously disastrous covid season. Juwan does have a conference title, but that was only his second season with a veteran roster that was half inherited from the greatest basketball coach in program history. 

The things that Juwan needs to do to turn things around - roster management and clear organizational structure with everyone moving in the same direction - are things that he has struggled with and have led to our current circumstances. There's also the fact that it is uncertain who we would have turned to for the football program. If Harbaugh couldn't do it, then who could? There are lots of potential options for basketball. 

I actually really like and respect Juwan's Xs and Os and most of his in game coaching. It's the other stuff that college coaches have to do that he's struggled with. And he's had a veteran HC at his right hand his entire tenure here, so I'm not sure what he could do to give me confidence he can turn it around. 

I love Juwan and if you put…

I love Juwan and if you put on his introductory press conference, I'd probably end up in tears again like I did when it happened. He's an alum with an important role in the history of the basketball program. I also like him as a basketball coach in terms of Xs and Os. We run good, NBA style offense and until this season, the defense usually improved throughout the season. But what we could try to dismiss in the past - tantrums, hitting an opposing coach, roster management - because the results were mostly there (conference title, E8 and S16 run) can't be dismissed now. The results are really bad. And the things that are needed to get us out of this rut - structure, consistency, a plan for roster management - don't seem to be there. If we are to succeed, it probably means alot of roster turnover again. And probably some assistant turnover. And I just don't think that is as likely to succeed under Juwan as it would under a new coach. So I think the bandaid has to be ripped off. 

Hard to say who I would want instead. And if there is a departure, I hope it can be done as amicably as possible because of his history with the program. 

I'm not sure that's true…

I'm not sure that's true. Elston and Clink are college football lifers. They're probably not getting NFL offers if it wasn't for Harbaugh. I guess an outside chance that Macdonald hires one of them, but I doubt it. This was their one chance for an NFL job and considering the quality of life between college and NFL coaches.....it's a no brainer for them to take their possibly one chance to jump to that level. JMO. If Harbaugh were still here, it's probably easier to massage egos with a veteran HC than first time one. 

I’ve always thought it was…

I’ve always thought it was unlikely that Juwan was fired after this season due to the health issues. Don’t like where the program is and I have a hard time seeing it get turned around unless some drastic things happen but when your coach has to step away completely a month before the season starts, it’s always going to be an uphill battle 

The three and out we forced…

The three and out we forced after halftime in the 2021 OSU game. We’d been up at half in that game before, just couldn’t close the deal. We looked like the team with the edge there. And proved true. Much like Brian, I wasn’t gonna believe a win over OSU til it happened. And that’s the moment when it looked like it would happen. 

I think our defense is…

I think our defense is absolutely better but that's not really a knock on Iowa's defense. Their offense put up 0 points in those three games and gave up the ball 10 times combined - it's not shocking and not really that big of an indictment on their defense to give up 26+ points in each of those games. If Iowa is able to move the ball at all, opposing points are probably lower in those games. 

They're going to have a very…

They're going to have a very good team next year. They have a 3 game schedule - @Oregon, @PSU, and Michigan. Will be interesting because their offense was behind the defense this past season. I expect it to be the same despite the incredible talent they have on the offensive side of the ball. They just don't have the OL and run scheme to really be elite on that side of the ball. 

If they had our schedule, I'd say they end up with at least two losses. But they have a schedule similar to ours this year. 

I think it's a very good…

I think it's a very good idea. My district currently has this same rule and the football program is actually doing very well considering our size (on the cusp of switching to 8 man). But the guy that runs the elementary rec sports in my district wants tackle football all the way down to first grade. Seems ridiculous to me. 

The die hards will be…

The die hards will be playing this on loop if we win the title game 

Star system is a good…

Star system is a good indicator of talent and for the most part the system works. However, there are always exceptions. For example, i would trust a Mark Dantonio eval of a DB recruit over the star system. Used to trust any Wisconsin OL or LB commit.

I think Michigan has earned the benefit of the doubt for just about any recruit on defense, OL and TE. 

Gattis to his bosses

Gattis to his bosses

As an upperclassman, I think…

As an upperclassman, I think he'll be a problem. Probably a lot of growing pains this next season with their OL and as Smith overturns some of the roster. 

But Smith is a good coach and Chiles should be a good Qb IMO. Very big transfer for them. 

My biggest issues with that…

My biggest issues with that fanbase is there is not a more spoiled group of people this century. Even Alabama had bad years before Saban. OSU has has 70 years of Hayes, Bruce, Cooper, Tressel, Meyer and Day. Of those seasons, only 15 times have they finished outside the top 3 of the conference. And it's only happened twice since Tressel was hired. They talk about the Fickell season as if it were 9/11 or Pearl Harbor. They do not know what actual hardship means as a fanbase. McCord is their worst Qb since Joe Bauserman and he's probably going to be second team all conference. 

Iowa's offensive and…

Iowa's offensive and defensive splits are a work of art 

OSU game was a race to 30. 

OSU game was a race to 30. 

This game against Iowa will be a race to 14.

If Michigan gets two TDs, I'm not sure how Iowa is scoring more than that without some JJ pick 6s or something crazy like that. 

They punished USC for…

They punished USC for playing an extra game last year. If the number of losses is equal, I don’t think they punish a team for the extra game. So Georgia and Washington might be ahead of them even if they lose like TCU was last season. Not so sure on FSU as their Qb is out for the year and they don’t have as high quality wins as any of the other potential one loss teams have. 

Most important thing was for…

Most important thing was for OSU to fall behind a 1 loss Oregon. That means that there might be a chance that a one loss Washington would stay ahead of OSU. 
 

I don’t think you can argue on merit that two loss Texas or Bama would deserve to be ahead of one loss OSU. So that’s a non starter. 

I imagine the CFP will look…

I imagine the CFP will look the same. And that’s good if you don’t want OSU getting in. Texas and Bama might be behind, but they have ways to improve their resume. OSU can’t. 

They need four things to…

They need four things to happen:

- FSU to lose

- Bama to lose

- Texas to lose

- Oregon to lose

Any of those don’t happen and I think OSU is in trouble. A close Washington loss, they might stay ahead of OSU because they’d still have a win against Oregon. Washington has wins against Oregon and @ Arizona, plus Utah, Wazzu, USC and @ Oregon St. That is collectively far superior to @ND, PSU and @Rutgers. 
Texas would be a conference champ with a win @ Bama. Georgia gets in over OSU if Bama wins. 

 

Have not been encouraged by…

Have not been encouraged by our performances under Moore. Too much juggling of duties for him IMO. If Harbaugh were on the sidelines, I think we win by multiple scores. Without him, I’m worried if we get behind at all. Have to win the first half IMO. 
 

OSU 31, Michigan 27

Balas and Hole following him…

Balas and Hole following him mean nothing. Their info has been off quite often from the start 

Phelia has gotta start being…

Phelia has gotta start being more efficient if she's going to be the engine of this team. Her True Shooting % is only 44.8%. But she's also got alot on her plate, so the most likely solution to improving her efficiency is for others to step up and take a little bit of the load off her. 

The Baylor coach did it one…

The Baylor coach did it one time. Stalions hired others to do it quite a bit. Still think it provides a minor advantage and not a massive one, but I don't think it's really comparable. If Partridge knew and helped, I don't think we should be surprised he's canned. 

Depending how it works out…

Depending how it works out with other teams, I could see the Pac 12 getting two teams in. If Washington goes undefeated in the regular season and loses close to a one loss Oregon in the conference title game.....That's worthy of being included over a 1 loss OSU (whose only good wins would be @ND and PSU) that didn't even make their title game (although they would if they were in a non-division format like the Pac 12). In that case, Washington would have wins over Oregon and Oregon State (better duo than OSU's), plus wins against Utah and USC (two teams that would be undefeated against Big 10 West opponents). 

Yeah, gets very defensive…

Yeah, gets very defensive when his conflict of interest is brought up in education articles. It’s ridiculous that NYM lets him write about the topic and silly for them to let him write about Michigan IMO. 

I think they’re trying to…

I think they’re trying to petition to be bowl eligible. Usually teams in their first year of moving to FBS aren’t eligible for bowl selection. 

Wow, huge coup 

Wow, huge coup 

Turnovers just seem to be…

Turnovers just seem to be inherent to KBA teams. Frustrating to watch at times but we typically win on the boards to create second chances, which helps make up for some of those turnovers. 
 

Really excited for Phelia this year. It’s get team this year and I think she’s going to take the next step. 

I think everybody is…

I think everybody is flipping out for no reason. You’re never going to sign a coach to an extension in the midst of an NCAA investigation, even if you think he’s innocent or telling the truth.

With Halloween upcoming, the…

With Halloween upcoming, the timing of the leaks might be advantageous as I’m sure there will be tons of fans dressed in Michigan gear with phones and cameras pointed at sidelines all across the country. Will show how silly and petty this “scandal” is to everyone outside of Columbus and East Lansing 

Still have 5 (3 home, 2 away…

Still have 5 (3 home, 2 away) games left against our awful division too. Barring a lot of significant injuries, the floor of this team looks like a home playoff game. 

You'd think this would have…

You'd think this would have happened at night. Surprised to watch the video and see it in broad daylight. You'd hope someone would publicly call them out on it, but I'm sure some just weren't paying attention to what they were spraypainting. But from personal experience of someone saying the n word at my parent's neighbor's house when we were over for a bonfire, sometimes you're just shell shocked by what you see/hear and freeze. 

His Ryder Cup record was not…

His Ryder Cup record was not good coming into this one. Played great the first half of the season. After he got his win, I believe his best finish was 16th at the Tour Championship (only 30 players in that event). I think it would have been a question mark if he’s left off, especially if JT or Burns still got in. 

US captain’s picks only got…

US captain’s picks only got 6 points from a possible 20. Morikawa, Spieth, and Koepka were shoo ins for selection. Nobody was questioning them before and none of them showed up this week (Koepka beat a rookie today, big whoop). JT, Burns and Fowler are the questionable ones. Burns played well and maybe gets a point or half today if he’s playing anybody but Rory. I would have left JT home and brought DJ. But nobody that the US left home is a clear upgrade. Nobody likes Bryson so it’s a non starter. Not like he is a match play titan or anything either. 

Players just didn’t show up. Europe only had one player struggle and that was a rookie captain’s pick, so no big deal. Rory, Rahm and Viktor (Europe’s three best) got 10.5 points between them. The guys that are supposed to be killers for the US didn’t come close to matching it. 

LIV results aren’t gonna…

LIV results aren’t gonna move a needle for anybody. Smaller fields, 54 holes, nothing really on the line other than money. 
 

Harman and Clark were auto qualifiers. The players in question would be JT, Burns and Rickie. The latter had a very good season, so I get it. Burns is a surprise, but has played well. JT is the one I’d have left home despite his Ryder Cup record. I’d take DJ over him or Burns. Nobody likes Bryson so he’d only be a distraction. 

Europe just seems to get the…

Europe just seems to get the team aspect of this down, which is interesting since they come from many different countries and cultures. Whereas the US consists of mostly country club kids and similar backgrounds. 
 

Up and down the roster, hard to argue that Europe has the better collection of 12 players. Have loved this course as it’s nice to see something other than driver-wedge every other hole like we are most of the PGA season. 

I don’t think you can argue…

I don’t think you can argue any of those guys earned it. DJ has played pretty poor this year and only showed up in one major. Bryson did nothing to set himself apart. Bradley had a good year but it was mostly front loaded. Faded as the season went on. 
 

Obviously Jt had a terrible year. Clark faded after the US Open win. Harman won the British. Other than JT or Burns, idk if anybody you named deserved to be there. Id take DJ over JT but it would be just as big of a risk considering both had crap seasons. 

Quick turnaround. Lions…

Quick turnaround. Lions finally have a mentally tough team 

Rough start. Hutch forcing a…

Rough start. Hutch forcing a 3rd and long though 

A lot of blue in the stands…

A lot of blue in the stands. Never thought I’d see that. 
 

Logic says this game is a toss up. My fandom is telling me to expect a frustrating loss with key controversial penalties costing us the game late. 

If you have them set to…

If you have them set to delete automatically, there’s no discrimination as to what does and does not get deleted. Tucker deleted his too (could be automatically as well).