26 replies to this topic

[RedOctober3829]

Michigan picked up a huge recruit for the 2012-13 season when forward Mitch McGary committed to the Wolverines. McGary is the #2 rated prospect in the country by ESPNU and rated #3 by Rivals150. The Indiana native is currently attending Brewster Academy. This guy is going to be loved by the Michigan fanbase. He's an unbelievably intense player who has arguably the best post game of any player in the 2012 class and also can step out and shoot the J. He is a left-handed shooter.

Mitch McGary’s decision to attend Michigan over Duke or Florida could have long-lasting implications for John Beilein’s team going forward.

“This is certainly the highest-recruited player he’s ever signed at West Virginia or Michigan, every place he’s been,” New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski said of the 6-foot-10 McGary, the No. 1-rated power forward in the Class of 2012.

Link

[sachmoney]

It's a huge pick up for us.

McGary and Glenn Robinson III are coming in next year. They've played AAU together and they're best friends. GR3 has been improving greatly since he first committed to Michigan a long time ago. I like the team this season, but certainly, the future is brighter. If we can keep Tim Hardaway Jr, who will be a Sophomore this year, I think we'll have one of the best teams in the country.

How can you not like McGary? His nickname is White Thunder. He's already done this too:


With the new PDC and renovations to Crisler, we should have the facilities to compete for the best recruits in the country. I'm very excited for the direction of the basketball program.

The first exhibition game is tomorrow against Wayne State. Regular season starts a week from tomorrow.

[Dick Pole Upside]

McGary is a huge get, both figuratively and literally.

Both Zak Irvin and Gary Harris go to my kids' high school. Irvin is a rising junior and Michigan '13. He's not quite as elite as GRIII and MM, but will be another nice complement.
Harris is another top recruit in the '12 class. Both kids have their heads on straight.

Harris is being recruited by most everyone. He's an all-conference football player (WR), and Crean, Izzo, and Painter have all been to multiple football games this season to drool over him. Calipari is also lurking for him. Don't know if the MM commit would make a difference, but if Beilein could land Harris as well, then look out.

Not to boast, but the Indiana HS players that have come through our gym/played in playoffs in the last 5-7 years or so include Greg Oden, Mike Conley, George Hill, Rodney Carney, Josh McRoberts, Gordon Heyward, and Eric Gordon. Massachusetts hasn't had elite quality like that in... ever, much less the last five years. Crazy.

Edited by Dick Pole Upside, 03 November 2011 - 07:49 PM.

[sachmoney]

I think we're out of scholarships, so I don't think we can get Harris. I just hope he doesn't go to State.

Lost in all the hype is Nick Stauskas, who is an excellent shooter, playing for St. Mark's.

[sachmoney]

Michigan wins its first two games of the season against some very shitty competition. With that said, there were also very encouraging just from changes in the team. The big question coming into the season is how true freshmen and Mr. Ohio, Trey Burke, is going to handle the point now that Darius Morris has gone to the NBA Locked Out League (LOL). From what I saw, Burke has the ability to step in as a playmaker and a scorer. Against Towson, he had 13 points on 5/8 shooting and 2 assists. While he might not fill Darius's shoes right away, he looks like he's further along in his development than Darius was as a Freshmen. The other notable thing was that the bigs were going to the bucket. All three of the bigs, Smotrycz, Morgan, and Horford, looked good. They were going to the bucket and following up shots, getting second chance opportunities. The one thing that can really take this team to the next level is if the bigs continue to improve on their rebounding. Hardaway Jr. looked good, but we didn't really need him to be The Guy yet.

Every Big Ten team is undefeated except for State. They've probably had the hardest start to the season of anyone though. Michigan's next game is Monday against Memphis in the Maui Invitational.

[WayBackVazquez]

Huge win for Michigan over Memphis in Maui. That's a very nice neutral court win to have in our pocket come selection and seeding time.

[Chemistry Schmemistry]

After the shaky performance a few days ago against the 336th-best team in Division I last season, I'm pleasantly surprised to see the result this afternoon. It's nice having a team that will probably be in the power discussions come March.

[sachmoney]

Uh beating the #8 team in the country, even on Neutral turf, I don't think the word I'd use is "pleasantly." Our basketball team has been in the doldrums for the better part of 15 years. We have a chance to be a national power and this was a step to assert these intentions.

Trey Burke, who I think will be a huge player for us, needs to mature. He's an extremely talented player and will be a star. At times, he put himself before the team. He had to know that Memphis liked to run. He ran. We needed to slow things down. As the point guard of this team, he needed to control the game, and at times, he showed his youth. John Beilein might be the most underrated coach in college basketball. He did a real good job of keeping his players in line and managing the game. I'm very happy about how we played.

Obviously, my #1 priority this week is for Michigan to beat Ohio, but if we beat Duke too, it'll be the icing on the cake (that hasn't been made). I hate Duke.

Edited by sachmoney, 22 November 2011 - 12:48 AM.

[sachmoney]

Tough loss to Duke. I didn't think we played that bad, but we definitely could have played better particularly in the first half. Duke shot lights out all game, and it was a killer. Michigan's big men had a lot of foul trouble and couldn't play the way Beilein wanted them to. We have some veteran players, but the budding stars are generally young. Hardaway was a ghost in the first half. Not only did he not take control, he barely took a shot, finishing with 0 first half points. Hardaway has to be the guy. He has to get in and draw fouls and create points. It seemed like he was the only one that could actually draw a foul on Duke. Burke was good. He still tries to force things when Michigan needs him to settle down the pace of the game. There were a lot of times in the first half where players made dumb decisions trying to do it all themselves.

Anyway, I'm encouraged. You're not going to have a seamless transition from last year, yet the team is still performing at a high level. The bigs do look notably improved, but they need to stay on the court. UCLA tonight, I think that's a winnable game.

[WayBackVazquez]

Good win for Michigan over a struggling UCLA team to take 3rd place in Maui yesterday.

[sachmoney]

That was Michigan's worst game of the season. THJ was in foul trouble early and spent the majority of the first half on the bench. He had trouble getting into a rhythm when he came back in the second half. The rest of the team seemed to try to do too much and it cost us. We can't have Stu Douglass trying to beat defenders off the dribble. He doesn't have the athleticism. The only two that can really create points of the dribble are Burke and Hardaway. Burke seemed to take a lot of the onus, but there wasn't really anything he could do. I thought Novak played well as did Smotrycz, when he wasn't fouling people. It should be a good teaching experience for this young squad.

Next game is Iowa State at Crisler on Saturday.

[DukeSox]

Judging by the crowd, this looks like the biggest non-football game ever at Columbus.

[WayBackVazquez]

Another win for the B1G in the challenge. 3 in a row.

[Chemistry Schmemistry]

Sadly, Michigan has yet to win a road game this season. Getting blown out at 10-8 Iowa. They've made great strides, but until they can win this type of game on the road, they're not a real NCAA threat.

[Zososoxfan]

Huge game tn - MSU v. UM @ UM. MSU is clearly not happy about getting swept last year and has been crazy good so far this year. UM has been uneven, beating good teams, but losing frustratingly @ IU, @ Iowa, and against Duke. Will be watching with 2 MSU alums....there will be a lot of mocking and someone's probably going to get [feelings] hurt.

[Chemistry Schmemistry]

Uneven in that they look like world-beaters at home, but can't play their way out of a paper bag on the road. That was an ugly loss today at Arkansas. Burke folded under the pressure after looking so good to this point. Hopefully, he'll gain that experience.

[bowiac]

I' still reasonably happy with where the team is - I expected a much bigger step backward than this from the squad. The road troubles aren't great, but they look like a team that's still going to comfortably make the tournament, which is all I really want until White Thunder (where do they get these nicknames?) and GRIII come in.

[sachmoney]

Uneven in that they look like world-beaters at home, but can't play their way out of a paper bag on the road. That was an ugly loss today at Arkansas. Burke folded under the pressure after looking so good to this point. Hopefully, he'll gain that experience.

Still world beaters at home. 15-0 with only Purdue left at the Crisler Center. If Michigan can get through the rest of the season without a hitch, they should put themselves in a solid position for the NCAA Tournament. State has a half game lead on both us and Ohio State, but they still have trips to Purdue and Indiana before closing out the season at home against the Buckeyes. It'll be interesting to see how the season ends.

I' still reasonably happy with where the team is - I expected a much bigger step backward than this from the squad. The road troubles aren't great, but they look like a team that's still going to comfortably make the tournament, which is all I really want until White Thunder (where do they get these nicknames?) and GRIII come in.

I'm guessing you're more than reasonably happy now. McGary's nickname comes from his penchant to breaking backboards.

I really didn't expect us to be this good this season. It's been a pleasant surprise. Really happy with what John Beilein has done with the program and where it is going.

[Chemistry Schmemistry]

I am happy with where the program is right now, and it was great the way they handled a very good team yesterday. I think they've played their way into a 4-seed. But they are 2-6 in true road games, and, even with a favorable schedule down the stretch, I wouldn't be surprised if they lose a couple more and drop to a 5-seed (6 with a bad conference tournament).

[sachmoney]

State has locked up the #1 seed for the Big Ten tournament and have earned at least a share of a Big Ten title. If Michigan wins, they lock in the #2 seed and can win a share of the conference title if Ohio State wins. If Ohio State wins, it's State #1, Michigan #2, and OSU #3 with those three sharing the Big Ten regular season title.

Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day.

Edited by sachmoney, 03 March 2012 - 04:29 PM.

[Zososoxfan]

So, how about it? A 3-way championship between UM, MSU, and Ohio. I only caught the second half of UM-PSU, but Tim Hardaway giveth and taketh away. He looked like a bona fide NBA prospect at times, showing a good inside/outside game, quickness, and body control, but also had a bit of the jitters with a couple of bad turnovers. Novak hit a monster shot before fouling out, which is actually quite fitting for his career. Trey Burke looked solid again and Evan Smotrycz (Sp?) had a pretty solid statline. Props to PSU for staying tenacious till the end. Although UM has shown that they can bring it consistently, I can't help but think that the wrong matchup for them could lead to a premature exit from the tourney.

As for MSU-Ohio, Buford was just a monster in this game. When MSU was close to pulling away in the 2nd half with Sullinger on the bench, he absolutely took over the game and couldn't miss. His shot at the end of the game was insane. I didn't think Ohio had it in them going into the second half - that was a really gritty comeback and MSU didn't let up either at any point. I found it quite easy to root against MSU this game and would even venture to say that when it comes to bball, I'd rather see MSU lose than Ohio. Football, now that's another story.

Obviously I'm very happy with UM earning a share of the title for the first time in 20 years, but it's really exciting to think that this team could make a deep run in the tourney if they get hot. With these 3 teams + Indiana, Wisco, and even Purdue looking frisky, the B1G should be well-represented in the coming weeks.

[mgoblue2]

Smotrycz is correct. Two really good games for him and THJ, if they can keep that up they're a tough out in Indy and the Dance.

[sachmoney]

Yeah, I was going to make an update, but I wanted to make sure I had the BT Tourney seedings first. Burke, Novak, Douglass, and even Morgan have been fairly consistent all season. Our sophomores, Hardaway Jr and Smotrycz have struggled. Those two are the keys IMO going forward. If those guys can contribute like they did yesterday, we're going to surprise some teams in the tournament. I ultimately think this team's lack of rebounding and inability to get to the free throw line will undo them, but I think the team's shooting ability can carry them aways. They came out shooting hot fire yesterday. I believe they were something ridiculous like 70% from the field in the first half. Penn State played tough and every Big Ten road game is tough (sans Nebraska?), so it was a solid win.

I too was really impressed with Buford. He hit clutch shot after clutch shot. There's also the question of whether Draymond Green continued to play after fouling out with 7:10 left. Ohio State ruined Michigan State's effort at a perfect home season and senior day I guess, but was it worth getting this upset over since they did get a share of the regular season title and #1 seed in the conference tournament:





These are the kind of expressions I expect to see during the NCAA tournament.

As far as the Big Ten tournament goes, Michigan State is still the #1 seed and they will face the winner of Iowa/Illinois. Michigan is the #2 seed and faces a possible third dog fight with Northwestern or a battle with Minnesota. Ohio State is the #3 seed and will face the Purdue/Nebraska winner. Wisconsin has the #4 seed and will face the winner of Indiana/Penn State.

Is anyone going to be in Indianapolis this weekend?

Edited by sachmoney, 05 March 2012 - 12:16 PM.

[RedOctober3829]

Evan Smotrycz, Carlton Brundidge and Colton Christian leave Michigan basketball program

https://twitter.com/#!/michigansports/status/182553036407836675

[Zososoxfan]

https://twitter.com/#!/michigansports/status/182553036407836675

What a weird turn of events. A lot of people had Smot as a starter and at the least a rotation player with lots of PT next year. The other guys make sense, but Smot is puzzling me.

[mgoblue2]

Burke also asked the NBA advisory draft board. The Detroit Free Press also threw the entire city into panic with its 'strongly considering' headline. Click whores.

[sachmoney]

Burke also asked the NBA advisory draft board. The Detroit Free Press also threw the entire city into panic with its 'strongly considering' headline. Click whores.

There's been a lot of speculation about Burke's decision, but he has chosen to stay at Michigan:

"Over the past few weeks, I have spent a lot of time thinking and praying about my future -- not just about next year but many years down the road," said Burke. "After gathering information, I am excited to be continuing my education at Michigan as we look to accomplish even more in our 2012-13 season.

"I have so much more to develop as both a student and athlete, and there is no better place to do that than here at Michigan. I love my Michigan family and am really excited about playing with my teammates and our incoming freshmen. I want to thank my parents, my teammates and my coaches for the patience and guidance they gave me since this process began a few weeks ago."

With McGary, GR3, and Stauskas coming as well as a reliable back up point guard, we should be a top 5 team in the pre-season rankings, right? Burke staying is huge news. I'm not as down on his size as many people are and I think he could be a good NBA player. I had more doubts about whether he'd be given the chance to play and prove himself if he did leave. This will give him a chance to feature and prove himself for one more year (at least) and develop as a player and a person. Bias aside, this seems like the right decision.