jack lafontaine

Harbaugh in the wind update. The Athletic clears some things up about what's going on in Harbaugh's head:

…sources pushed back on the theory that Michigan’s handling of NIL will be a major factor in Harbaugh’s NFL decision.

“Everybody’s got this so unbelievably wrong,” one source said, pointing to Cade McNamara, Blake Corum, J.J. McCarthy, Aidan Hutchinson and other Michigan stars who landed lucrative NIL deals, along with an arrangement that allows players to profit from the sale of officially licensed jerseys.

However:

Whether it’s relaxing restrictions on the use of school trademarks or providing additional NIL infrastructure, there’s a sense that Michigan can do more to maximize its NIL potential.

Harbaugh is Harbaugh so he may indeed flit off to the NFL at a whim but it doesn't sound like it'll be because he feels like he can't compete at a high level. Michigan had the misfortune to run up against a generational Georgia team without the kind of flamethrower at QB you need to overcome that kind of opponent, but that's more an accident of timing than fate.

Settlement reached. The Dr. Anderson number:

Michigan has reached a $490 million settlement with more than 1,000 survivors of sexual abuse by former team doctor Robert Anderson. Parker Stinar, an attorney representing Anderson survivors, said the two sides reached an agreement at approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday.

I have no opinion on whether this is the correct number. So much of the sturm und drang around this was plaintiffs lawyers saying whatever to make the number go up and university officials saying nothing because they weren't allowed to. The number does not matter. What matters is how the university handled it once it was brought to light—pretty well, it seems, no John Englers—and how ruthlessly they ejected Mark Schlissel when his malfeasance came to light. I've seen a lot of questions about why they released the massively embarrassing emails, and I sincerely hope the answer was "fuck around and find out." No quarter for people high up in the university's governance who can't follow basic protocols about decency.

[After THE JUMP: PSU gets aggressive with ticket holders]

Getting more out of Livers. It's a project that is underway:

“It’s something we’ve been talking with him a lot," said Michigan coach John Beilein. "He leaves a lot on the table. He shoots 3s well, but there’s another element to his game that he’s still developing. We’ve got to encourage it."

Livers has been an excellent complementary player during his first two seasons at Michigan. He won a starting job as a freshman last season as the Wolverines made it to the national title game. This season, though, he has come off the bench. Teammates have referred to him as a "glue guy."

He's already bumped his usage from 12.9 to 15.4; if he's able to do that again next year he'll be at ~18, and at that point he's enough of a contributor that you're not worried that his presence is pushing someone up to usage levels they're not efficient at.

Rebounding is variable. I know this John Gasaway assertion is true after several years in which Michigan took a top-50 DREB rate into conference play only to finish 10th in that department:

Defensive rebound rates can translate a bit better from whole-season to conference (cf. Maryland, Colorado, and Michigan), but even here you can’t just assume you’re hitting statistical bedrock every time. Take Kansas State, No. 17 nationally in defensive rebound percentage, more than 100 spots higher than its nearest in-conference competitor (Oklahoma, No. 132). Actual Big 12 play, however, has swiftly devolved into a vicious egalitarian struggle where every team’s virtually identical on the defensive glass and the Wildcats nominally rank No. 4 in the league in that category.

These numbers are in motion, of course, but this isn’t primarily a sample-size thing. It’s more of a basketball thing, or, better still, one more peculiarity of a mass-audience sport wherein the teams themselves select a sizable portion of their own opponents. There are few bread-and-butter box score numbers that vary as much as rebound percentages due merely to non-conference scheduling philosophies and/or to how certain coaches choose to change their look for conference play.

Those were usually Zack-Novak-at-power-forward teams that suffered when larger people entered the equation. Michigan's maintained much better the last two years. They finished last year 2nd in B10 DREBs and are fourth this year.

Also in that post, a bizarre thing going on at MSU:

Inverse-Michigan Factor (IMF)
Standard deviations above/below conference means
Conference games only

                          OR%     DR%     IMF
Michigan State    2019   1.75   -1.20    2.95
Rutgers           2017   1.62   -0.90    2.52
West Virginia     2019   1.11   -1.35    2.46
Providence        2019   1.07   -1.33    2.40           

These are the largest IMF numbers we’ve seen in the past five years in major-conference play. Purdue 2019 is not far behind.

MSU is the best offensive rebounding team in the conference… and 13th on the other end. MSU's block rate probably has something to do with this. They're #1 in conference play, and that's without anyone particularly large-huge and leapy. Surmise: MSU's trying to block everything and giving up OREBs when those attempts go awry.

[After THE JUMP: Mike Leggin' it]

HOEG. Richard Hoeg does small business law. Need to incorporate? Need some contracts? Need to talk about Star Control? Richard will do all three, and only charge you for the first two.

Anyway, Star Control. Star Control was a mindblowing video game because stuff happened in it and if you took too long you could lose the game as your allies fell to the great galactic menace. Losing is fun.

Having a bad contract and either getting sued or having to settle on unfavorable terms is not fun, and Richard Hoeg can help craft contracts for you that will avoid this eventuality. Police horses!

Tiller-era in more ways than one. This twitter bomb(!) from one of Purdue's recruiting yokels is frankly baffling:

also pic.twitter.com/OG1ks7Pr24

— Due# (@JDue51) June 21, 2018

Why pick a fight with a program that held you to 15 yards in the second half last year? Why get mad about Michigan getting recruits? You're at Purdue! With limited exceptions for legacies and locals the number of bonafide recruiting battles you're winning against Michigan—against, hell, most of the Big Ten, is zero. Also Purdue's leading receiver averaged 3.6 catches a game.

I feel like this guy bought a Big Dogs shirt for the first time and was overwhelmed by it while near his phone, and he'll return to a mild-mannered citizen tomorrow when he puts his Ron Jon back on. It happens. It's good, really. It's fun when Purdue has a bunch of ornery passing maniacs who talk shit and bend rules.

[After THE JUMP: a bunch of stuff! And porpoises!]