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Ultimately that's what I

Ultimately that's what I meant... It's pretty obvious that he's not a candidate to play at a higher level, but I meant that I hope he is able to find a role in which he's comfortable and maybe is able to shine more than he had in AA. 

I really hope Mark can find

I really hope Mark can find success here... I am a Clemson student and can tell you firsthand that our hoops program is in a pretty bad state right now. Mark will be competing for very serious minutes on team that has little to no frontcourt talent and should see ~20 minutes a game even if he doesn't start. As much as I love Mark's determination and fight on the court, playing big minutes on an ACC team with marginally less talent might not be the greatest thing for him. Although I can't see this ending well, I still have a lot of hope that something clicks for him here and he finds success

That could be same about any

That could be same about any stat in baseball... The RBI, for instance, doesn't tell the whole picture because some players get tons more RBI opportunities than others (i.e. Miggy, VMart, Castellanos all get tons more RBI opportunites because of the guys hitting in front of them as opposed to Iglesias who has guys like McCann, Collins, and Aviles hitting in front of him)... batting average depends heavily on sample size.  OBP can be heavily skewed if a player walks a ton (i.e. Bryce Harper this season or Adam Dunn his entire career)

The fact of the matter is that a baseball player cannot be judged by one stat alone, and a lot of sabermetric statistics help to give a more rounded picture of a player.  All stats are flawed in their own way, but all are helpful in their own ways as well

Solid preview, but isn't it

Solid preview, but isn't it time that the phrase clemsoning just dies completely??? Their inexplicable losses largely came in the Tommy Bowden era, and Dabo has Clemson poised for their sixth straight season with over 10 wins.  Clemson is a national power now and is no more likely to lose headscratcher games than any team in the top 10

PSA: It's now available at

PSA: It's now available at Datpiff for those of you who want the download... I'm only a few tracks in but wow, it's really good

the true definition of a shit

the true definition of a shit post

It really isn't as big a deal

It really isn't as big a deal as people are making it out to be right now... Classes started fully on Wednesday, and the players leave tomorrow anyways.  In theory, the players were going to miss class on Friday already along with a large handful of students who plan on making the trip out there.  I don't even think it sends any message because it really only affects one day of practice (today).  

Much better hustle... Still

Much better hustle... Still making dumb mistakes and taking some ill-advised shots... I'd like to see them continue to wear them down in transition and find better shots in the half-court

MO!!!!!!!! Can he just get

MO!!!!!!!! Can he just get all the minutes at the five???

These refs are absolute

These refs are absolute shitheads

Can somebody put a sock in

Can somebody put a sock in Reynolds' mouth... Intensity is one thing, but damn this guy needs to cool it

Up by 10 and 1.22 PPP, but

Up by 10 and 1.22 PPP, but good lord... that felt far from a good half

oh my.... i really don't know

oh my.... i really don't know if I've seen a worse performance by a low post player than what I'm seeing tonight from Donnal

holy fuck that was some weak

holy fuck that was some weak shit, donnal

wow... i really hate this new

wow... i really hate this new "foul call" initiative.... Let the guys play fergodsakes

yikes... i'm not seeing any

yikes... i'm not seeing any progression in our bigs... Wilson looks a lot more comfortable, but Donnal and Doyle have been non-factors, and neither can seem to grab a rebound

I was high on Wilson after

I was high on Wilson after seeing that first practice video last week, but damn... he still looks lost out there

Offense having a rough start,

Offense having a rough start, and I've come to expect that out of JB's teams to start the first month or two of the season, but the encouraging part is that nobody is afraid to shoot.  It felt like only a few of these guys were consistently pulling the trigger to start the season last year, but there are SO many more potential weapons... Granted this is an undersized team we are playing, but I'm liking the defensive intensity so far

40-0 hype train is on the

40-0 hype train is on the move... In all seriousness, this team has soooooo much potential. Healthy Walton and healthy Caris are huge for the offense and Irvin and Spike will look to grow on ridiculously strong finishes to last season.  All in all, I think we'll look on last season as a blessing in disguise.  Last season gave us the ability to give Dawkins and MAAR serious experience and allow them to adapt to the game much quicker... not to mention that they showed some serious ability in a few of the games in which they got serious minutes.  Also last season ended up being a blessing for Wilson in many ways.  Having him sit out (for whatever reason it ended up being) allowed him to take in the game's speed and how it's played, and look how that's turned out so far.  In the small sample size we saw last year, he looked absolutely clueless and had no idea what to do and where to go on the court.  From this video, he looked soooo much more comfortable.  All in all, I think last year, as painful as it was, can be looked upon very favorably right now.

From the video, it looks like everybody can shoot. The young guys, the older guys... they can all do it... With how strong Wilson looked, I'm not sure how much of Wagner we see this year.  I can see him at the five giving spells to Doyle, but he doesn't have the body to play serious minutes there yet.  Not to mention that he looks more like a stretch four guy in JB's system.  It's going to be hard to keep Duncan off the court with how well he shoots the ball... He'll likely play his time between the 3 and 4 spots depending on what the rest of the court looks like.  

I'm not going to hesitate in saying that this is easily JB's deepest team since he's been here.  It really is going to be hard to give a lot of these guys minutes considering how good the guys in front of them are.  I guess that's a good problem to have especially considering how we had to give serious minutes to Dakich and Lonergan at times last season.  Right now here's my minutes distribution/depth chart

Walton-25 / Spike-10 / MAAR-5

Caris-30 / Dawkins-10

Irvin-25 / Chatman-10 / Robinson-5

Wilson-20 / Dawkins/Chatman-10 / Robinson-5 / Wagner-5

Doyle-20 / Donnal-5-10 / Wagner/Wilson 5-10

That four spot has the most options and is probably the most open for minutes at this point, but our biggest question is the five spot right now... Doyle looked iffy in the video (small sample size though) and Donnal still seemed timid... I guess we'll see, but without Max B to save us, that could be a problem area again.  Likely JB will gravitate around the best 8ish players and we'll start to see some guys phased out of minutes, especially if this team is going to be really competitive in the Big Ten... Right now, I think this team looks like a 6-7 seed in the Tourney, but if this team can find consistent production on offense (much more than last season) and be tough underneath the basket when needed, I have no reason to think that we can't get as high as a 2-3 seed and compete for a Big Ten title

UMHoops was able to get video

UMHoops was able to get video from the practice last season and posted it... hopefully something similar can happen tonight

Honestly, I think a 28-10

Honestly, I think a 28-10 scoreline is relatively fair for UM, so I don't think this line is far off... All I know is that I'm ready for Saturday

Maybe for this year, but it

Maybe for this year, but it is widely speculated that the Tennessee/Virginia Tech game in 2016 will break the record for most attended college football game.  It is being held in Bristol Motor Speedway, so we will keep the record for most attended game in a legitimate college football stadium for the time being

HELL YEAH BOYS BOWL GAME

HELL YEAH BOYS BOWL GAME

drinking anti-freeze

drinking anti-freeze

Age: 18
high school

Age: 18

high school senior

Location: Undisclosed

Alum: Will attend Clemson University this fall

Most Michigan thing: Continuing to be a hardcore Michigan fan even after moving deep into SEC country at the age of 8. 

More specific Michigan thing: Attended multiple SEC football conference matches decked out in Michigan clothes

My goal has always been to

My goal has always been to attend a very strong university while minimizing my personal amount of debt (for the longest time it was UM, but it basically blew up in my face this year).  Luckily I have parents who pushed me from a young age and then kind of just let me do my own thing beginning in seventh or eighth grade.  At that point I was a highly motivated student who took enormous solace in high academic marks.  

I guess what really has pushed me as well is a lot of peer pressure.  I know it sounds odd, but my graduating class is highly competitive (over 75/350 have above 4.0 weighted GPAs), and because I thought academics were my thing, I always felt as if I needed to continually push myself to high limits in an academic sense.  As strange as it sounds, I guess stress, both personal and environmental, has been my primary motivator.  I'll be graduating this year in a class that has two valedictorians, both with weighted GPAs above 4.65, whereas only a couple years ago, our valedictorian had a 4.5 weighted GPA.  Personally, I'll graduate with a 4.48 weighted GPA, and although I didn't finish as a serious competitor for valedictorian, I did accomplish my goal.  I'll be attending Clemson University in their honors program with a scholarship value that nearly cuts the cost of attendance in half. 

So I guess the major takeaway is that a lot of my motivation has come from me personally.  I've never been too much of a social butterfly, so I have always been inclined to take a high number of AP and honors classes. But a lot of my motivation has come from personally and environmentally induced stress.

LGRW #DOITFORKRONWALL

LGRW #DOITFORKRONWALL

oh god they have a panel of

oh god they have a panel of analysts, too................. why

LGRW!!!!!!!!

LGRW!!!!!!!!

is it that he's everywhere,

is it that he's everywhere, or do we just have a deranged obsession with him.... nah... definitely everywhere

so much damn hate in here...

so much damn hate in here... I'm happy to welcome in Mr. Dunaway.  I have complete faith in Harbaugh just from what he did at Stanford.  He never brought Stanford to a high caliber recruiting level yet made them a ten win school year in and year out.  

 ps... I read Pinky's first three or four responses and just decided to straight up negbang him on the rest.

People were very

People were very skeptical/critical about DD's moves about starting pitching this past offseason, but I was very sure that we would be fine without Max.  I remember watching Greene make us look silly at the plate last year in his two starts against us with the Yankees.  The only one I was skeptical about was Simon.  However, it looks as if the rotation will be solid once again.  While these guys will definitely come back down to earth, each of our starters look very promising.  At this point, I'm getting worried about JV.  It was announced earlier that Lobstein would start on Tuesday in place of Verlander, so I'm just not sure how worried we should be about his injury.

Either way, I think this season looks very promising so far.

 

I don't like the uni design,

I don't like the uni design, but I actually kinda like the logo if they were headed for a more retro look

We still produced one of the

We still produced one of the best title games to watch for what it's worth

Definitely watching at least

Definitely watching at least some tonight... Maybe it's just because I've recently renewed my love for baseball, but I am so excited for this season.  That most certainly felt like the longest offseason ever.  Anyways the Tigers look solid this season, minus the bullpen, and overall, I think it should be a seriously fun season.

I tend to agree, but there

I tend to agree, but there are multiple outlets reporting this right now.

UM was the only school that

UM was the only school that showed major interest in him... Those other schools mentioned never showed the level of interest UM showed him.

He REALLY wants to play in

He REALLY wants to play in the NBA... feels as if Michigan is going to get him there with their recent track record of getting guys to the next level

Justin Jackson at UNC...

Justin Jackson at UNC... Solid outside jumper and very adept at creating his own shot

Not necessarily... Max B is

Not necessarily... Max B is just about for sure leaving thus opening up a scholarship for Wagner.  In addition, there is a solid chance Hatch receives a medical hardship waiver thus opening up another scholarship.  I still think we are very much in contention for Brown, and I still think there is a solid chance Caris decides to stay one more season

I might be drinking too much

I might be drinking too much of the kool-aid and a tiny bit crazy, but I think this team is back and competing for a B1G title and quite possibly a national title next season.

I think he and Robinson are

I think he and Robinson are taking all the minutes at the four this season.  I personally think these are the guys JB has wanted at the four for years now, specifically guys who aren't overbearing presences underneath the basket, but guys who can stretch the floor with their outside shooting ability and grab some rebounds here and there.  GR3 was solid at this, but he definitely wasn't a 3 point specialist.  Robinson and Wagner look to be solid guys from beyond the arch and could definitely be huge difference makers.

On the other hand, this gives JB plenty of reason to bump Chatman and Irvin back to the three slots as guards, and depending on whether Caris returns, I think JB goes back to playing two PG's at once with Spike, MAAR, and Walton rotating between the one and two.  Doing this allows JB to spread his talent out all over the floor.  

My only concern at this point is the power forward position.  Donnal and Doyle really need to show some growth for me to feel confident about the position.  We aren't going to have Max to give us the scoring and rebounding bumps he gave us at some points this past season, so these two are going to need to grow tremendously in the offseason.  

As long as the power forward position continues to show growth, I think this team should be top four in the conference with OSU, MSU, and Maryland surrounding them.  I really think this season was flukey, and not to mention, we showed enormous growth without Caris and Walton for the majority of the season.  I am confident that we would have closed out games with those guys and snuck into the tourney as an 11 seed.  I think we have the full capability to surprise a bunch of people next season and be scary good.  Hell, we might even find ourselves in the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 again. 

Definitely... From what I've

Definitely... From what I've seen, he looks so much better than what we've seen from Wilson so far

NO HEADSETS!!!! PANIC

NO HEADSETS!!!! PANIC

May just be me, but I'm

May just be me, but I'm seeing a lot less highlighter yellow in the unis... especially the helmets

Does he plan on announcing

Does he plan on announcing his decision at the McDonald's All American game?

Low 90s in terms of win

Low 90s in terms of win total... Division is getting stronger, and the Indians look like the team to beat (other than the Tigers).  Royals got worse, and the White Sox look better although not strong enough to win the division just yet.

With the team, I believe this is a much stronger lineup.  Cespedes adds much more depth at the five spot in the lineup, and I believe JD will continue pace or put up an avg. in the .280s with 25+ home runs.  Miggy and VMart are still two of the best hitters in all of baseball even with their recent injuries, but I believe they will both be healthy and in it for the long haul this season.  I think Castellanos showed some serious potential in his swing last year, so I'm predicting some marginal improvement in his hitting statistics.  

In terms of defense, the Tigers upgraded significantly.  Cespedes was a solid addition in left and is a huge upgrade in the outfield over the aging Torii Hunter who was a huge liability in right field last season.  Not to mention, that they get Jose Iglesias back from shin splints, and he should be a huge upgrade at short (God I'm excited to watch Kinsler and Iggy fill the middle).  Castellanos apparently worked a lot of the off season with Omar Vizquel, so expect his defense to be much better at third compared to last season. 

I think the bullpen has upgraded, but expect Soria to claim the closer position by mid-May.  Nathan has looked awful in spring training.  In terms of the rest of the pen, Tigers got Tom Gorzellany who is a solid lefty, and re-signed Joba (low risk, high reward signing).  They also get Bruce Rondon back from Tommy John, and he has looked solid so far this spring.  It still remains one of their largest question marks, but I'm much more optimistic about it this season. 

With starters, Verlander has apparently looked solid this spring other than yesterday's outing.  Expect Price and Anibal to be top-notch as well.  So fart this spring, Greene and Simon look like solid signings to fill the other rotation spots.

Overall, I'd say somewhere in the range of 90-93 wins and an AL Central title becuase I think with a more experienced Ausmus and a bolstered lineup, there are more doors opened with this team.  And if you are still questionable about the rotation, just remember that last season's rotation didn't put up the greatest numbers either.  I think the rotation will be just fine.

 

Sad for UM but hype as

Sad for UM but hype as fuck... This time of year is just too awesome

Part of me is hoping he goes,

Part of me is hoping he goes, but before you start throwing pitchforks at me, hear me out.  I believe this is the second time Caris has injured that same foot and had surgery on it in the past two seasons.  If this is any sort of recurring injury, his window to the next level might be shrinking.  As much as I hate the NBA, I just want all of our guys to be successful at whatever they do, even if that means Caris forgoing his senior season.  Don't get me wrong... I'd love to watch him next season and lead this team back to the NCAA Tourney, but at the same time, I'd be very happy for him to pursue his future head on.  Caris has a good head on him, and I hope whatever he does will benefit him in the long run.

is it safe to say that

is it safe to say that Chatman doesn't look completely like a lost cause now??? He's had a couple strong showings in a row now