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 6:16 PM ^
Did any of Jamal Crawford's 8 total games happen after the change in millenia?
January 11th, 2010 at 7:09 PM ^
Says here that he played in 17 games, so add him, I say.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/crawfja01.html
He's one of only three UM alums in the NBA:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/alumni-tracker/school/1839
That site needs an update (- Rose).
I can remember when UM had > 10 players in the NBA. Those were the days.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:37 PM ^
Interesting. Thanks for doing the research. For some reason, I had thought he played fewer than 10 for Michigan.
January 11th, 2010 at 6:28 PM ^
Air Georgia all the way!!!
January 11th, 2010 at 7:35 PM ^
the only inbounds play amaker ever called: sub in petway, and throw it towards the basket for an alley-oop attempt
January 11th, 2010 at 8:35 PM ^
i don't think Tommy called that one;
i think his players more or less said "coach's play sucks, let's just go for the oop"
January 11th, 2010 at 6:30 PM ^
is a personal fave.
January 11th, 2010 at 6:42 PM ^
for Best Cro-Magnon Jaw of the Decade goes to...
January 11th, 2010 at 7:06 PM ^
I always found this amusing:
If you go to the Wilson (sports equipment manufacturer) website, they have links at the bottom of the page for the different sports. Most of them have really great players: the football link has a picture of Tom Brady, the tennis link has a picture of Roger Federer, the volleyball link has Misty May-Traynor.
And if you look at the basketball link you get Graham Brown.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:50 PM ^
Ham Bone!
January 11th, 2010 at 6:30 PM ^
Bernard Robinson, Jr.
Lavell Blanchard
Manny Harris
Daniel Horton
Dion Harris
If only Hunter and Lester Abram had been able to stay healthy throughout their careers...
And even at that, the potential in those 5 players that was stifled by either bad teams or bad coaching (often both) is staggering.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:03 PM ^
good call on Lester Abram!!! I forgot about him. He was absolutely amazing before he got injured.
January 11th, 2010 at 6:34 PM ^
How do you start topics on mgoblog
January 11th, 2010 at 6:37 PM ^
Get to 20 points
January 11th, 2010 at 7:06 PM ^
When you have a topic worthy of posting, the blog will know, and automatically allow you to post.
(Em0's continued ability to post remains a mystery...)
January 12th, 2010 at 2:40 AM ^
That made me laugh, plus 1 for you
January 11th, 2010 at 6:39 PM ^
That list lost all credibility with the inclusion of Courtney Sims, although I also didn't understand why Horton wasn't on it.
January 11th, 2010 at 6:40 PM ^
This exercise got me thinking about various past M players, including Josh Moore, who got several shots at the NBA based on his 7'2" frame, despite doing absolutely nothing while at Michigan other than showing an uncanny ability to fumble every single interior pass he ever received.
Anyway, his wikipedia page reads like a sample persuasive writing essay: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_A._Moore
My favorite is the explanation of his lack of success at Michigan: "Amidst turmoil and scandal within the University's athletic department, Moore was never able to find his form at the collegiate level, consistently finding himself in foul trouble due to unfavorable match ups against undersized post players his freshman season. Perimeter focused offenses and the guard oriented coaching styles were also contributing factors to his ineffectiveness at the collegiate level."
I'm not trying to rag on him in particular, I just find it funny that he or his agent probably wrote the entirety of his wikipedia entry. I wish him the best of luck as a social commentator.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:11 PM ^
Dominic Ingerson?
January 12th, 2010 at 12:28 AM ^
Anyone can edit any wiki page, right? It may be fun to edit Moore's to more accurately reflect his "career" at UM and see how long it takes them to "correct" it.
January 11th, 2010 at 9:18 PM ^
Avery Queen found a stretch of highway with turnbuckles.
January 11th, 2010 at 6:51 PM ^
1. Daniel Horton
2. Daniel Horton
3. Daniel Horton
4. Daniel Horton
5. Manny Harris
January 11th, 2010 at 7:17 PM ^
Horton better than Manny? I don't know about that. He was a sub-40% shooter for his career. Granted, he had to operate in the Amaker "offense," but still.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:33 PM ^
Horton is the only guy over the last 10 years that hasn't caused me at least 5 facepalms a game. As good as Harris and Simms are they do 5-10 absolutely stupid things a game that make you think they havn't played basketball 5 hours a day for the last 20 years. Seriously. I love Manny but sometimes his game is just maddening. Chargers, turnovers, terrible D.
January 11th, 2010 at 6:53 PM ^
Air Georgia
Air Georgia
Air Georgia
Air Canada
Air Georgia
January 11th, 2010 at 6:59 PM ^
Needs to be on this list.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:02 PM ^
People seriously put Petway on this list?
Did you ever watch him on the defensive side of the floor?
January 11th, 2010 at 7:26 PM ^
The winged-helmet haircut was my favorite.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:30 PM ^
but came up empty. As a pale,short,skinny, white guy, I have often fantasized about getting that hairstyle.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:55 AM ^
(it wont let me paste it in here)
January 11th, 2010 at 9:29 PM ^
One of my favorite Michigan basketball TV moments was when he came out with the 23 shooting-star haircut, and the TV commentator noted that Petway told him his "top girlfriend" shaved it in his head.
Unbelievable stuff.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:22 PM ^
He didn't exactly tear it up on offense, either.
He'd actually be good for our 1-3-1 with his shotblocking ability. It sucks that Cronin is hurt. I miss having guys who could block shots.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:25 PM ^
umm are you forgetting Vogrich or are you being sarcastic?
January 11th, 2010 at 10:20 PM ^
TA would put hunter and sims in at the same time??? no one was ever able to get off a shot from in close....
January 11th, 2010 at 7:31 PM ^
Josh Asselin for the win...
January 11th, 2010 at 7:33 PM ^
what about dion harris... he was a = to a daniel horton recruit at the time and didn't have a terrible career, given the 'success' of the amaker era.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:40 PM ^
I liked watching Petway and his nice dunks. I remember he had a few nice ones at a game i went to in Columbus
January 11th, 2010 at 7:47 PM ^
Amadou Ba, of course.
I remember watching Michigan Basketball on TV during high school, and the Maize Rage would always chant for him to enter the game.
If Eso Akunne hadn't been ruled academically-ineligible, I imagine he would have filled that role at some point, if nothing more than for a cool name.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:14 PM ^
Harris
Harris
sims
sims
horton
sixth man: Danny wohl.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:38 PM ^
if i could pos-bang you for the Donny Wohl shout-out, I would. +1
January 12th, 2010 at 12:38 AM ^
Seconded. Donny Wohl never heard the word quit.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:14 PM ^
If there was a second team, I think I would try to find a spot on it for Chris Young.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:29 PM ^
Bernard Robinson, Jr. (so underrated)
Lavell Blanchard (could have gone anywhere, he went Blue)
Daniel Horton (brought them *so close*... great run in '02-'03)
Manny Harris (obviously)
DeShawn Sims (little competition at his position)
January 11th, 2010 at 9:01 PM ^
I can't find my favorite play on video, where Graham Brown set a pick at half court against some guy from Illinois and laid him out anyone remember that?
January 11th, 2010 at 9:28 PM ^
He did that against Wisconsin, and left the guy lying on the court for several minutes.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:33 PM ^
He was a great players
January 11th, 2010 at 10:42 PM ^
He reminded me of Cliff Kingsbury from Iowa. The minute he stepped across half court, he was in range. A man true to my heart...