Moe knows they hate him.
And he embraces it. I love watching him play and his enthusiasm, but I'm sure if I were a fan of another team, I'd hate him too.
https://www.landof10.com/michigan/ncaa-tournament-2018-moe-wagner-hate-…
An aging Bill Laimbeer reads this article and a single tear of joy rolls down an old man's cheek.
I refuse to believe he cries
Yeah, he probably punched a wall with joy.
If/when we fire Stan Van, will people be clamoring for Bill to be the coach again? It was a fun fantasy about 10 years ago when the Pistons were hiring any old Joe off the street to unsuccessfully lead the team while Bill was chilling with a couple rings from the WNBA level. Would that even be a thing anymore?
March 15th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
I think this is an important difference between the two. I think Moe is driven mostly by passion and raw emotion -- raw joy and enthusiasm. He admits a part of it is calulated or at least he's self-aware. I'm not sure Laimbeer's passion and enthusiasm ever came from joy. I think it came from anger, defiance and competition, and he definitely calculated his opponents reactions to his antics. He honed his schtick.
March 15th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
Bill enjoyed it.
He loved to get under teams skins. In the clip of the article where he and Bird get thrown out, I thin khe talked about how as he was leaving he wasconfirming Bird was out too. I htink Bill enjoyed the mental aspect as much as the physical one.
March 15th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
I agree he took pleasure it, but in a mano a mano schadenfreude way. I loved him, and he loved winning the physical battles, but more so the psychological battles as you say. I never watched Laimbeer in college. Maybe he played with more unfiltered joy like Mo, but the two enjoyments seem quite different to me. Glad I rooted for the Pistons and UM bc both would be easy to hate otherwise.
March 15th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
It's been said that Bill Laimbeer's tears can cure cancer, it's just that he's never cried. Actually, now that I think about it, that might've been Chuck Norris, nevermind.
March 15th, 2018 at 12:41 PM ^
Chuck Norris caught an elbow from Bill Laimbeer once. His beard has never returned.
March 15th, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^
...and I think the correct spelling is BIIIIILLLLLLLLL LAAAAAAAIMBEEEEEEERRRR!!!--WITH the exclamation points, but I can honestly never remember whether there's 6 or 7 "E's" in "LAAAAAAAIMBEEEEEEERRRR"...I went with more out of reverence.
of an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
He could amp up the hate.
Glad he is Maize-n-Blue !
I'm conflicted about this.
On the one hand, Moe is easily one of the best players JB has ever had and its virtually impossible to replace all the things he did for us.
On the other hand, FREE JON TESKE.
If Moe wants to come back, you roll out the red carpet and throw a parade. Senior big men with his skill set are exceedingly rare. If he comes back this team is a top 5 team next year.
Moe Wagner comes back to school next year, Michigan will be one of the two or three favorites to win the national championship for the first time since 1993.
LeBron obviously, but Anderson Varejao would be exibit A. That guy hustled, rebounded, defended, and flopped his ass off for the Cavs for 10 years.
It took all of 40 seconds of playing against him in the finals for me to hate his fucking guts.
March 15th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
I wonder if Varejao would have seemed as annoying if he didn't have the Sideshow Bob hair.
Varejao isn't in the same league skill wise as either Bill Laimbeer or Moe. Laimbeer and Moe weren't/aren't hustle players, but skilled big men who also hustled.
Varejao would be more of a poor man's, less effective, version of Ben Wallace.
My favorite thing about Moe is how much he obviously loves playing the bad guy. Like, I think if it were up to Moe every game would be @MSU or @OSU.
being the bad guy is in his blood.
...nothing changes.
March 15th, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^
not since they bombed Pearl Harbor.
March 15th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
Forget it, you're on a roll.
laughingMoe.gif
Does Wagner come back next season?
On Spath's show they mentioned Wagner's current NBA prospect rating puts him firmly outside the 1st round and borderline top 50.
That's odd. I would've pegged him as a late first rounder, but maybe this is a deep draft class this year. Who knows.
But if he does come back, pegged along with the stacked recruiting class they have next season, Beilein and Co. would likely be the early favorites to win the conference.
Will probably depend quite a bit on how the tournament goes. If he puts the team on his back for a deep tourney run, I imagine his stock will rise substantially. Not necessarily because he'll have done something different than he's done all year, just a lot more eyes on him, a lot more hype around the event, and a lot of opportunity to create some buzz around his name.
March 15th, 2018 at 11:08 AM ^
that's odd to me. wasn't he projected as an early 2nd rounder last year? He has improved quite a bit IMO. maybe the class is deep as someone else said.
I did love to have upperclassmen Mo next year, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
If only he could stay on campus until his brother arrives?
You're nobody until somebody hates you.
can't think of one person that genuinely hates me. Bando is always really mean to me but I think he is mean to everybody so I don't think it is specific to me.
Nobody hates me. SMH. What have I done with my life?
You're accomplished... because, well.... I hate you. I hate you a lot.
but, thanks?
March 15th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
Wanna be best enemies?
March 15th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
that settles it. I hate you. Whenever I see Winchester Wolverine posts I am going to troll like crazy.
March 15th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
I've learned not to discuss prospects for collegiate hockey in the great state of Illinois with him. Stay away from that and you should be OK. Oh yeah, don't make band geek jokes either. I probably should have put that one first.
nobody likes Germans
but I don't think he has a position in the NBA. I'd be more than hqppy to be wrong in my assessment. He could have a great career in Europe.
I agree that UM would be a top 3 team going into next year if he returns.
March 15th, 2018 at 10:08 AM ^
like NBA all-star Kemba Walker? They said that about him several years ago.
March 15th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
I dont think Moe can guard NBA 4s and thats what he will be asked to do. His best position is center in a 5 out offense like the one Michigan runs now. Does any NBA team do that for more than a couple minutes at a time? And even at that position what does he do when he has to guard someone like Drummond in the post? College and the NBA are such different games. In the NBA everyone is athletic and everyone can shoot.
I dunno. I think he can carve out a career as a nice bench player but just dont see him as an NBA starter and as a GM of an NBA franchise Im not using my 1st round pick on a bench player. Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part because I want 1 more year please.
March 15th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
you never heard of dirk nowitzki or krystaps porzingis???
March 15th, 2018 at 10:28 AM ^
Yeah I'd probably hate him too if he wasn't on our team, but thankfully he is. This picture the team posted from practice yesterday cracked me up. Practice, we talkin bout practice
March 15th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
Because if he did put this team on his back (20+ PPG 10+ boards per game) it would show the rare occasion ntangible quality of raising his level of play during the “big” moments.
Teams know what he can physically do and that is plenty, but to have hard data showing that he stepped up his game under the brighter spot light would ‘earn’ a high draft grade.
March 15th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
Are we certain that the abbreviation should be spelled with a terminal 'e'?
My instinct is to spell it "Mo."
March 15th, 2018 at 12:35 PM ^
I've always seen it with the 'e'. When he was playing against Mo Bamba the graphic had him with the 'e'. The linked article has the 'e'. I always use the 'e'.
His twitter has the 'e'.
An they be hatin'...
Of playing through whatever the opposing fans dish out...