Present (W Basketball), potential (M Basketball), and future (Football). From the Detroit News.

Martin keeps and open mind.

Interesting tidbit for those who think Lloyd will hand-pick his successor (Debord):

Q . Would you like coach Carr involved in the process to find a successor?

A . I would say that I would seek Lloyd’s input, but I don’t think I would want a coach directly involved in the process. I think you need to be able to step back, take a long look at the program and decide what’s in the best long-term interest of Michigan football. There’s no question that that’s an absolute critical objective.

And more interesting-ness on playing App. State:

Q . A lot of fans have criticized the school’s decision to play Appalachian State in football next season. What’s your take on that and your philosophy about football scheduling?

A . We thought we had a Division I opponent up until the final moment. Now, we didn’t get it, but we had to get a game in place.

If you look at Appalachian State, they’re the two-time, I-AA champion. Ask yourself: Do you think they could beat half the teams in the MAC?

I anticipate that we will have one of the top five toughest schedules this year. Look at our home schedule. Everyone wants you to play the top teams every week, unless you’re a coach or athletic director. So you have to look at it from both sides.

Posted under Coaching

1:04 OSU inbounds the ball. They go right to Oden, who essentially walks right around Courtney.
1:06 Oden loves to block weak attempts at basket. Well, it’s his lucky day, becaue he’s playing against Courtney Sims.
1:08 Petway fouled before the shot, but the more foul trouble for OSU, the better. Turnover on the inbounds, of course.
1:09 Again, Michigan looks pretty lost on offense. Let’s see some (get this) “motion.”
1:10 Courtney blocks Oden WTF. Also, Dion airballs a WIDE open three. WTF again.
1:11 Petway needs to dunk in any tip opportunity he gets. TV Timeout. 42-32 OSU 15:54 2nd Half
1:14 C Sims with a curiously strong move, drawing the foul. Mike Conley’s dad was an olympian is the new Tom Zbikowski is a boxer is the new Jeff Samardzija also plays baseball is the new Matt Trannon plays two sports.
1:16 Hey guys, let’s give up wide open three.12 point lead for OSU. The game might be starting to slip away (for real this time).
1:17 Abram stems the flow, thankfully. Nice D by Dion.
1:18 More fouls on OSU. Muahaha. The more bigs they have in foul trouble, the better for us.
1:19 Lavin is inadvertently calling Conley Sr. a gangsta, as Jerret bombs a three, Lead is back down to 6.
1:20 Oden back in w/ 2 fouls, and a Udoh sighting for the first time in a while as well. He hits a shot. Hooray.
1:22 Scramble for the ball, Dave O’Brien decides it isn’t important to let us know what the call is before the commercial. I’m assuming timeout OSU. 46-41 OSU 11:33 2nd Half
1:28 I had other shit to do, and missed a 4-point barrage by OSU. They currently lead 50-41. Oden forces a jump ball, but it stays w/ Michigan.
1:29 Though I went out of my way to defend Jerret Smith at halftime, he takes a lot of really shitty layups in traffic. Now he turns it over, but Conley charges on the break.
1:30 Steve Lavin hilariously lauds the Big 10 officials, who are actually really bad (though they’re doing all right this game). Jerret hits a big 3 to bring it back within 6.
1:31 TERRIBLE foul call on Courtney, guarding Oden. There was almost literally no contact. Steve Lavin is still retarded. Sims with another block, and Matta picks up a T. Reminiscent of yesterday, when a UM fast break was stopped to T up Minny’s coach.
1:33 Dion hits both, now UM has the ball with a chance to get within one score. Prediction: turnover. Nope, foul on Jamar Butler. His 3rd.
1:34 Abram misses the front end of a one-and-one, proving that he actually can’t effectively contribute from anywhere. Another AWFUL ticky-tack foul on Sims (which they haven’t even come close to calling on the other end). Even Lavin is laying into the refs, whom he and O’Brien were recently sucking off verbally.
1:35 Oden with a chance for the old fashioned 3-point play, as Petway commits the foul, but the free throw isn’t close. Udoh takes an ill-advised jumper, then is mauled on the defensive glass, again with no call.
1:36 THEN COMES L.A. MR. CONSISTENCY. He is so hilariously inconsistent, but it’s been mostly good in this game.
1:37 TERRIBLE FOUL CALL ON UDOH. I am seriously going to assassinate a Big 10 ref. They are awful at their jobs, with stunning consistency that is lacked by Lester Abram. 54-49 OSU 7:14 2nd Half
1:40 Another missed offensive opportunity by UM. They’re going to have to start converting some of these if they want to have a chance at the end.
1:43 Dion Harris goes up strong and is fouled.
1:44 Petway makes the rare wise decision to not go for a crushing block, but the OSU player hits the 3 anyway.
1:45 Oh Jesus. Awesome OSU alley oop. Dion turns it over on a 5 second call.
1:47 Call me a homer, but this officiating isn’t even close to fair. There have been bad calls on both ends, but anything even remotely resembling an OSU player being approached by a defender draws a foul. Nice +1 by C Sims on the hard foul by Terwilliger.
1:49 GRRRRR Jerret makes a good pass to Dion on the break, and he can’t handle it for the easy deuce (and probably a foul as well, if he goes up with it). 66-56 OSU 3:47 2nd Half
1:51 Essentially uncontested hook shot by Oden. Time is starting to run out for Michigan. Execution must be at its peak, and now.
1:53 Hey guys, you’re down by 10 with 2.5 minutes left, let’s do something on offense. Michigan timeout. 68-60 OSU Hilariously, Oden whacked Petway on the dunk, and no call!
1:55 OSU gets the ball in, and O’Brien talks about Petway dunking in “multiple hairstyles.” Conley (I hear his dad was an Olympian?) hits both foul shots. Jerret Smith turns the ball over, effectively ending the game.
1:58 71-60 OSU, they have the ball, about a minute to go.
2:01 72-62 OSU Final Score.

HOORAY NIT

Posted under Basketball

(insert NBA Jam Scottie Pippen-Horace Grant hilarity). My apologies for going not-so-live for a while there; my internet connection played a hilarious prank on me.

Michigan has kept it close against a team that should be able to overmatch them, but they’re going to have to get a little more energy going on offense.

Positives: rebounding, Reed Baker has played some minutes, Jerret Smith is limiting his turnovers.

Negatives: other people have made up for Jerret’s turnovers, the offense is really stagnant.

I have also come to a few decisions. People hate Jerret Smith and Tommy Amaker. I have been one of those people. UNTIL NOW. No, Jerret Smith isn’t a great point guard. However, since he has been inserted into the starting lineup, he has definitely gotten the job done. If he would just work harder in the weight room (and on the treadmill), he could be a good PG, rather than a serviceable one.
Tommy Amaker is never going to be mistaken for a great coach. His offenses tend to look terrible. Part of this, however, is the desire of the players to work hard. In the game, he can only do so much. I have criticized him a lot for being emotionless on the sidelines, but sometimes you just have to come to terms with the fact that it’s his demeanor. The coach can only do so much, and it’s up to the players to execute (see: Courtney Sims bricked dunk, DH missed one-and-one last time against OSU).

The people who deserve a lot of the blame for the shittiness of this team are Lester Abram, who has gotten worse every year, and Courtney Sims, who is a decidedly low-ceiling guy.

Posted under Basketball

After letting the Buckeyes off the hook last Saturday, Michigan once again faces off against OState, this time in the Big 10 tournament.

12:00 Coverage begins. More Lavin. Dave O’Brien is his partner. Obligatory wrong soccer team reference.
12:03 First glimpse of hideous OSU uniforms. I thought I’d get used to them when I saw them in action, but it didn’t happen.
12:04 Petway controls the tip. Jerret Smith eventually turns it over. They let the clock run down far too low before getting anything going, but it could have just been the good OState D. Coming back down, Dion Harris feeds Smith on the break, drawing first blood.
12:06 Ohio State answers with a fast break of their own. Also, somebody please inform Dave O’Brien that Lester Abram IS left-handed. His finish with left hand is considerably less impressive when taking this into account.
12:07 Good entry pass by Jerret, fumbled by Courtney. Eventual shot clock violation as Abram passes up an open three. Seriously. Tommy. Bench Abram. Seriously.
12:08 I could have witnessed his birth 18 years ago, and still not believe that Oden is under 30. Lame Dave O’Brien Oden dicksuck.
12:10 Conley steal, fouled by Jerret. TV Timeout. 8-6 OSU 16:03 1st Half
12:11 5 Point lead bucks. That might be the game already. 2 Consecutive turnovers for Michigan, including an offensive foul on Dion.
12:12 11-6 OSU 15:04 1st Half
12:14 Dave O’Brien is talking about being high. what.
12:16 Missed Alley Oop by OSU that C Sims REALLY should have rebounded. Udoh enters the game. Good things will likely happen. Abram passes up another open 3.
12:17 Udoh forces a missed layup on the break. I love him. OH MY FUCKING GOD I DO NOT DISLIKE PETWAY EITHER. My god, he draws a charge, too. He will be missed by many (namely me).
12:18 Lavin and O’Brien are making fun of how stupid Coleman is. Why don’t they just talk about how bad he is at basketball? At least his wrist is OK to play. Lavin is talking about how much better UM is playing today over yesterday. Maybe he hasn’t noticed that they only have 8 points. Harris fouled going to the hoop. TV Timeout. 13-8 OSU 11:27 1st Half
12:23 Jerret Smith is beat up and his wallet is taken on the way to the hoop, but the foul is not called. REED COMING IN BITCHES! Tommy trying to stop the Bucks from playing zone, I assume.
12:24 Speaking of players I love, make it rain, Reed. I think announcers always call Oden “Mr. Oden,” likely because he’s as old as their parents. D Sims battles for an offensive rebound, earning a trip to the stripe, where he makes one.
12:27 Jerret Smith is actually doing a pretty good job driving and forcing the defense to react. He draws another OSU foul (though he did just commit one on the other end).
12:28 A visit from our good friend turnoverus. Also, Reed doesn’t do anything on defense. Abram passes up another wide open three. I seriously want to injure him.
12:29 D. Sims putback and a foul on Oden. It’s like Christmas! 20-14 OSU 7:40 1st Half
12:32 Analysis of UM tournament chances. It’s fairly obvious we must win today, and I think probably tomorrow (which will be a winnable game no matter who wins Iowa v. Purdue). Abram contributing the only place he can: the free throw line.
12:35 OMG he actually doesn’t pass up an open three, and lo and behold he hits it! Harris lob to Petway, with a beautiful finish. Can;t wait to see him in a dunk contest.
12:36 Jamar Butler misses another shit, UM with a chance to tie it. TERRIBLE offensive foul called on Jevohn Shepherd. Lavin thinks Shepherd is a freshman.
12:38 Jevohn Shepherd, offensive liability turns it over, but luckily the OSU player lands on the baseline. Holy christ, Oden missed a shot, hell must be freezing over, Lavin. Harris hits a 3 to bring the score within 1.
12:40 Lewis responds on the other end, to open the lead back to 4. Courtney Sims gets pounded by Oden on the way up, of course no foul called. I’m ready for Tommy to start throwing items of clothing (start with Courtney’s bra). 31-25 OSU 2:11 1st Half
12:43 Long jumper from D Sims with an expiring shot clock. Me likey the shot, not the situation.
12:45 Harris misses a rainbow three, Coleman gets the rebound, and Harris draws a shooting foul. Lavin and O’Brien are comparing coaching styles between Matta and Amaker. I don’t think they realize they just have to say “good vs. bad.”
12:47 D Sims misses the front end of a 1-and-1. Halftime 34-29 OSU

Posted under Basketball

Halftime: After discussing McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden, I ran back to my house and turned on the game. It was an impressive display of the “Motion” offense. I watched the last 5 minutes and saw a total of 8 points, four each. This is going to be tough to watch, but I’ll be here on the front lines.

19:26: I’ve become a fan of Jarret Smith lately. He makes a smart drive to the lane, draws the foul. Then he hits one of two, gets his own rebound, which he then summarily gives to Minnesota, but still… you like the hustle.

18:38: Could Harris be heating up? 2 straight threes. This one off of good penetration and kicks by Smith and Abram.

17:57: Courtney Sims gets the ball and doubled and finds an open Petway for an AG why you doin’ that? Dunk. Sims with court awareness? This could be a good thing, but I doubt that will keep up.

16:52: OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION! 14 points in 3:30 after only 36 in 20 minutes. Michigan has something that looks like offense. This could be encouraging. Michigan needs to play this game like they played against OSU. They can

15:46: Why can’t the Big Ten get good basketball officials. Michigan has an open man past the defense, good pass down, easy lay-up, BUT IT WHISTLED OFF. Why you ask? To call a technical foul on Minnesota’s coach. He’s not a puppy, you don’t have to T him up immediately for him to learn his lesson. Why would you penalize Michigan to penalize Minnesota? Damnit. At least Harris makes both to get it up to ten.

15:33: Karma. Petway makes a tough shot he normally wouldn’t off of the Technical foul.

15:05: With all due respect to Brian @ mgoblog, Minnesota’s PG just threw a post entry pass to Tacopant. Honestly, I think it might have gone over the back board.

13:43: Too bad it’s almost over, but I’m really started to dig this Smith, Petway pick and roll. If they had another year, I could imagine a TON of alley-oops coming off of that set. It just (good?) offense, which is always refreshing to see from Michigan.

11:57: Instead of the Jeff Bowden-esque 3pt shot, with the shot clock running down, Jarret Smith drives and gets a good look and gets fouled. He is really starting to make good decisions. He’s the most pure PG I’ve seen since Amaker has been here.

10:31: Minnesota can’t hit anything. 16pts in the first half, 7pts in 10 minutes in the second. Wow. I thought Michigan was bad.

10:06: What little rhythm there was in this game, the refs have completely removed.

8:34: FINALLY! After missing 9 straight field goals, DeShawn Simms gets a put back and Michigan equals it’s first half (which I thought they would about 3 minutes ago).

8:22: Courtney Sims needs to GO UP STRONG! He gets blocked from behind on a bunny.

7:08: Michigan is doing a good job crashing the offensive glass, but could do better converting, another turnover.

6:02: AGAIN. Michigan does a great job getting the offensive rebound just to turn it over. Michigan needs points, bad. It’s only a six point game.. Michigan hasn’t scored in almost 3 minutes.

5:12: Ronald Coleman (wtf?) nails a three from the corner off a sweet drive and dish by Smith. But Abu-Shamala answers right back.

4:15: Dion Harris shooting the head end of a one-and-one and hits it. Brent Musberger keeps and saying how Dion Harris “lowered the shoulder.” Having watched Harris for four years, I’ve noticed his shoulder on his ball handling side is always low. I think he does it to look gangsta’. But he did not

3:06: Coleman goes up for a rebound and a Minnesota player undercuts him (totally accidental, legal contact, just unfortunate) and he lands hard on his side. It looks like his wrist hit and then his body came on top. Ouch. I bet everyone in the United Center heard the thud. I don’t want to sound like a huge asshole, but at least it’s Ron Coleman.

2:11: Brent Musberger has a crush on Dion Harris? This is verbatim, I swear. “Dion Harris is a cutie.”

1:39: Abram fouls out. For some reason, I’m not immediately fearing for the win. Where has Udoh been this game? I missed the beginning, was there an announcement? I don’t remember him getting hurt in the OSU game.

1:12: Brent Petway is a rebounding machine. He skies up there and grabs the board over everyone else. I was really worried about Graham Brown leaving and who would fill his role. People mentioned Petway, but I was skeptical, but I was wrong. He does a lot of the little things, takes charges, makes blocks, just a good energy guy. But he also has the ability to do some of the most incredible dunks in college basketball.

54.1: Reed Baker SCORES! That’s all really, just thought that was worth noting.

6.1: So fitting. Michigan gets the offensive rebound with the shot clock off and then TURN IT OVER. I wonder what percentage of Michigan’s turnovers came after offensive rebounds.

Final: 49-40. Decent game by Michigan, but it really seemed that they weren’t playing their hardest. It could be understandable that Michigan was looking ahead to OSU, but luckily Minnesota is horrible. Jarret Smith needs to play out of his mind tomorrow, and I think he could do it.

Posted under Basketball

12:00 Cold Pizza ends, and there was much rejoicing. Brent Musburger is announcing, and there is moderately less rejoicing.
12:01 Per Steve Lavin, guard play is one of the key aspects of the Big Ten tournament. We’re fucked.
12:04 Le Tip. Courtney wins it, and an early foul is committed by Minnesota. Not a terrible start. Turnover by Abram. My surprise level is 0.
12:05 Holy shit. The ball gets stuck between the rim and the backboard and Jerret Smith can’t jump high enough to knock it loose. Petway fouled, can’t hit the shot. Jesus, this is just comedy hour. According to Musburger, Brent’s “main girlfriend” gave him the winged helmet cut. He missed both FTs.
12:06 Huge Petway block. Abram hits the shot and gets the foul. Scoring opens 1:46 into the game.
12:08 Neither team can hit anything. I guess I should be used to it for Michigan this late in the year.
12:09 Pick and roll with Smith and Petway, that inexplicably ends with Petway shooting (and missing) a 12-footer. Then, TURNOVERPALOOZA!
12:10 Udoh enters the game. Good, Minnesota needed to be shut down on offense a little more. TV Timeout 3-0 Mich 15:46 1st Half.
12:13 AWESOME GARRETT RIVAS JOKE, MUSBURGER!!!! Apparently the ball sucked, which was causing the scoring to be off. I think the announcers and refs just aren’t used to shitty basketball teams. Courtney Sims scores.
12:14 Minnesota draws a foul on Courtney, giving them an opportunity to finally score. They hit both.
12:15 Courtney is doubled every time he gets the ball, but has yet to turn it over. Dion charges, ball to Minn. They get an easy dunk.
12:17 Pretty weak foul called on Courtney, denying the entry pass.
12:18 A Minnesota player humps Smith as he sprawls out for the ball. You can hear boos from the crowd, which one can only assume are coming from State fans. Udoh inexplicably shoots with his feet on the 3-point line.
12:20 Blocking foul on Petway, which is two quick ones. Minnesota is building a good amount of momentum here.
12:21 Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Jevohn Shepherd, offensive liability.
12:22 Jesus, they’re really letting the kids play out there. Deshawn took a pretty good hit on the shot, no call. 9-7 Minnesota 10:47 2nd Half
12:25 Back to the game. Minnesota’s band is full of even bigger nerds than ours. threeball for Minnesota. Abram gets blocked in embarrassing fashion when he was triple-covered. Obligatory Musburger-Oden dicksuck.
12:27 Repeat dicksuck. Steve Lavin Joins dicksuck.
12:28 Jerret Smith tries to dribble with his right hand, with nearly disastrous results.
12:30 Nobody is moving on offense, which is a bad sign in an offense named “motion.” Deshawn gets foul on a shot, immediately resulting in a commercial. 12-11 Minnesota 7:39 1st Half
12:32 Georgetown is apparently really good, which makes me less angry about getting spanked by them earlier in the year. Deshawn hits one of the two FTs.
12:33 Tollackson takes approximately 4 changes of pivot foot before shooting, and the rebound is tied up.
12:34 Smith takes someone off the dribble(!) but promptly misses the wide open jumper.
12:35 My god this offense looks awful.
12:36 MacKenzie pokes Smith in the balls, and is entirely perplexed as to why this is a foul.
12:37 Tommy apparently shows emotion only by shoving his players as they head towards the scorer’s table. Harris easy deuce on the break. 16-12 Michigan 4:37 1st Half
12:39 Tollackson provides some evidence that Udoh really needs to hit the weight room. D. Sims looks to have been fouled, resulting in a turnover, and Minnesota scores an easy breakaway basket on the other end.
12:41 He is fouled again, and this time it gets called. 16-16 3:25 1st Half
12:43 Deshawn goes 1-2 again. Lavin and Musbirger are talking about getting wasted together last night. What. The. Fuck.
12:45 Udoh draws the offensive foul on Tollackson, his 2nd. MORE FOOTBALL JOKES LOL!!!
12:47 Abram travels. PLEASE sit him for the rest of his life, Tommy. Nice box out on the three, Jerret.
12:48 Offensive foul on Mr. Consistency. Seriously, Tommy, if you value your job, you will sit Abram.
12:49 Smith is guarding a post player, but Udoh managees to hop over and get the block for him. Dion hits a 3.
12:50 Zany play at the end that Musborger accurately describes as “volleyball” and the half ends with Michigan leading 20-16. This is on pace to be a 40-32 game. AWESOME!

Class time.

Posted under Basketball

…and watch the first half of the game, so Paul can ever-so-valiantly bring you what I miss. If the first half isn’t over by about 12:50, you’ll miss out n the end, because I must must go to my 1:00 class.

There are few things more awkward than sitting in a classroom, waiting for class to start, and leaving because you have realized that Lorch Hall isn’t so keen on this “wireless” idea.

I’ll be doing work during the game since I’m skipping class, so my apologies if the liveblog isn’t teh awesomez.

Posted under Misc.

I’ll be liveblogging (most) of this game today. Unfortunately I have a class from 11:30 to 1 that I haven’t legitimately attended in about 3 weeks. Fortunately, the professor apparently hates to teach and routinely shows up late and lets class out early.

There is a rumor on the series of tubes that one could watch the game for free on ESPN360, but I don’t want to “that guy” who brings his laptop to class or “that guy” who’s laptop dies 20 minutes into class because his battery is shot.

Tim will attempt to catch what I miss during his class (obviously far more dedicated than I, either that or you really don’t have to pay attention in communications classes).

Hopefully we won’t have a repeat of last year. Let’s GO BLUE!

Posted under Blog News

Per Brian (and creepily verified through FaceBook), today is the official Zoltan Mesko Birthday, which shall henceforth be known as Zoltan Day. In honor of the joyous occasion, I am wearing my Zoltan shirt (dutifully purchased from MGoStore), and sharing a fun anecdote that I have likely already told and am too lazy to type out in its entirety.

Place yourself in LAX airport on January 2, 2007. You may just spot yourself a Zoltan! If you are extra lucky, connecting to Grand Rapids through Cleveland, you may just find a Zoltan on your flight! (Mario Manningham and Prescott Burgess, too, if you must know). Luckily, you taught your parents the “Z” symbol yesterday at the Rose Bowl of Finite Pain. Unfortunately, they enjoy embarrassing you publicly. They convince the flight attendant to form said “Z” hand symbol in the face of the Zoltan! He laughs in her face, and you feel like an idiot for having taught your parents not only the hand thing, but also telling them that He was on your flight.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Posted under Personnel

Half Time: If this game was decided by which university had the better PSA, Michigan would win hands down. With my apologies to EDSBS, SPACE BITCHES! Looking at the stats, Michigan is doing a good job of drawing fouls and not getting into foul troubles themselves. Only C. Sims and J. Smith have two fouls while virtually all of OSU front line players have at least 2 fouls.

18:30: Oden gets bailed out as the officials call the foul on Ivan Harris and not Greg Oden. Sims continues to earn my ire as he misses both of his free throws.

17:07: Big Ten officials <3 Greg Oden. And Amaker gets a technical and loses his coat! He’s just rocking the business casual turtle neck. He’s still yapping. Maybe he’ll get kicked out and Michigan will have a chance.

17:01: Amaker’s words did not fall on deaf ears and puts his coat back on. Petway drives and gets fouled by Oden. Oden may be a 7 footer, but Petway can jump as high as Dwight Howard.

16:06: Decent offense against the zone. Smith gets a little penetration and is able to get it to Sims a foot away from the basket who (just to annoy me) Euro-dunks it. Then Sims follows it up with a block on the other end. I’m liking the play from the seniors (although Abrams has been sitting most of the game), but Smith is really surprising me with good, intelligent point guard play for the most part.

14:42: Michigan is playing inspired defense. They got back and even though OSU had numbers, it looked like Michigan had more on that end of the floor. Eventually they force the bad shot and the OSU rebounder goes out of bounds.

14:09: Did Abram hear me? He’s playing a lot more aggressively now with two drives (one for a block) this one a really nice drive and finish.

12:55: Abram was running around looking for someone to guard. Luckily OSU turned it over stepping out of bounds.

11:49: Michigan is stagnating on offense, but they really look like they’re playing to win. Good hustle for rebounds and loose balls. Michigan has only 2 more turnovers then OSU and has a assist-to-turnover ratio of over 1.00. Weird.

11:22: Harris goes on to the court and breaks a 3-minute scoring drought with an and-1 opportunity which he fails to convert.

10:13: Petway vs. Oden. Petway wins.

9:02: WOW! Lob over the top of Oden to Courtney Sims who goes up strong with arguably the nation’s best shot blocker right over his should. Thad Matta looks like he’s almost to a gum spitting level.

7:54: The Big Ten officials seem to go by the assumption if Oden gets the ball and doesn’t score, there most be a foul. By the by, this might be the first game not against Delaware St. where I have been worried by Courtney Sims going to the bench. He has been playing Oden tough and had gotten it going on the offensive end. With the OSU game plan looking like “feed Oden” I would really like Sims out there.

6:50: Petway hits the deck to get the ball out to Smith on the offensive glass. Abram gets the ball and draws another foul. The seniors are playing like they don’t want to win the NIT.

5:56: I was just about to write how I don’t like Michigan playing the zone and then Smith comes up with the steal which leads to a Dion Harris score after an inbounds.

5:11: I don’t like Michigan playing the zone. They don’t know what they’re doing. People are just running around trying to guard a man or a zone, it’s hard to tell.

4:55: SIMS DRAWS A FOUL ON ODEN. Sims is trying to re-earn my love! Going strong into Oden and gets the freebies. NAILS THE FIRST! AND THE SECOND. Michigan up by two.

4:45: Oden gets it right back against Sims, who has 4 fouls.

4:15: Who is the player wearing #1 for Michigan; I sure don’t think it’s Smith. Honestly, besides the turnovers, which were only early on, he’s been playing out of his mind. Making great passes, great decisions, good drives and that ridiculous three point bomb from the side.

3:54: Sims gets an and-1 thanks to great feed, four fouls on Oden, and the hilariously named Terwilliger hitting his arm.

2:31: Michigan up by 2pts. It seems as though Michigan has been in control the entire game, but OSU could go on a run of 8-20 pts and blow this game wide open.

2:21: Michigan is starting to turn the ball over an awful lot. They need to stop if Michigan has any chance of holding on.

1:54: Michigan is down by 2. The game is going in the wrong direction. Michigan needs a solid offense possesion. If Dion Harris or Jarret Smith could turn the corner and either go all the way or dish it to Sims or Petway.

1:27: Sims misses a dunk. I’m pretty sure there was a foul, but Oden had four, so… no dice.

48.8: Sweet spin move by Harris draws the foul. He better make these…damn. Misses the front end of a one-and-one

10.0: Michigan can’t box out Ivan Harris since there are 6 Michigan players blocking out Oden. Immediate foul and Michigan is down by 3. And 4.

0.0: Smith throws it into the backcourt instead of, you know, shooting. OSU wins. Michigan gears up for another great NIT run.

Final: 65-61. A missed dunk by Sims and Harris missing the front end of a one-and-one with less than 90 seconds to go in a must win game. This, unfortunately, doesn’t surprise me at all. Two seniors, on Senior Day, against the #1 team in the country, playing for their tournament lives fold under the pressure. Now Michigan will have to win AT LEAST two games in the Big Ten Tourney for any chance of a bid. Amaker should try to get a Technical foul each game in the tourney. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Posted under Basketball