It seems that much news discussing the Michigan Lacrosse team eventually works its way to future D-1 status. Coach Paul and I talked about it on the Michigan Daily podcast last week, and now Operations Director Joe Hennessy is answering similar questions in the Free Press. He talks about the (previously-mentioned here) future facility:

We’re in the process of looking at doing a full reconstruction of Elbel Field. … We’re currently looking at converting that to our full-time field with FieldTurf and lacrosse lines. It would be open to other folks but with a new brick facade and limited access… Right by there, near the train tracks, on the opposite side of that we’re looking at building our own facility. It’ll house offices, with a weight room, a training room, locker rooms and laundry facilities. It’s a multimillion-dollar project.

It doesn’t sound like it’s as far along as I’d previously thought, in terms of regent approval, but the blueprints are certainly really cool.

And I didn’t intend for most of the post to be about this, but I guess that’s sometimes how life happens. Rebuttal to the rebuttal from Black Shoe Diaries. I was originally going to spend a bunch of time doing some actual research and perhaps journalism-like activities, but I decided I don’t care enough, and I’d just like to clear up a few things instead.

Most of the stupid arguing is over the Brother Rice dominance, which is pretty far from important to me. The only take-home point was that a theoretical Michigan varsity team would recruit from that school. That said, did Brother Rice win the Mythical Lacrosse National Championship in 2008? Per Black Shoe Diaries:

Other than this self promoting, unreferenced photo from the Brother Rice website, there isn’t any evidence any of this is even close to true.

Except, like, there is. Funny what typing “Brother Rice lacrosse championship” into Google will find you:

The Warriors went 23-0 last year and finished No. 1 in the STX/Inside Lacrosse national rankings.

Yes, Brother Rice definitely decreed from on high that they earned a national championship, and not some third-party organization. As far as the two previous years that Rice claimed National Titles, their veracity is certainly in question (ESPN:

The Warriors have won 11 of the last 13 state championships and five of the last eight Midwest titles. They’ve also gone undefeated three times since 2004, and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight.

certainly doesn’t back up the claim, though it does speak to the fact that Rice is, almost without question, the dominant midwest team. The only indications I’ve seen of the previous two national titles do indeed come from Rice), and the details may not be quite right, but the point is the same: Rice is no slouch in the lacrosse world. Consistent top-25 finishes (even in down years) means that the school can compete. Are they always the best? Almost certainly not not, but that’s absolutely tangential to the point, that they produce D-1 prospects, and hopefully enough for Michigan to use a number of them to be competitive at the next level.

As far as the 13 D-1 players (and yes, saying “more than a D-1 team” was a joke: D-1 lacrosse teams are only permitted to grant 12.6 scholarships, which they give out in partials. The 13 Rice players moving on to D-1 will only get partial scholarships as well, of course). The 2008 team featured 11 D-1 players, and like I said, I can’t find the original article (from the Oakland Press circa late April if there are enterprising VB fans out there) about the 13 number from this year. In a rudimentary search of the internets (“brother rice lacrosse roster”), encompassing approximately 5 minutes, I found at least these players, with likely many more:

Class of ’08
Joey Fontanesi – Maryland
Michael Hamilton – Hofstra
Andrew Cote – Johns Hopkins

Class of ’09
Nick Dollik – Penn State
Danny Henneghan – Penn State
TJ Yost – Quinnipiac
Brian Walker – Yale

Lacrosse recruiting information is epically hard to find, and rather than scour the roster of every D-1 team to find Rice alumni, I think the point is made. Of course no lacrosse team is going to be fielded entirely of players from Michigan (just like even Maryland and Virginia’s teams are not composed entirely of native sons), but there is definitely some talent in the state. Don’t miss the forest for the trees here.

“There are probably some Michigan natives out east, I don’t feel like looking through any more rosters, but the point is a UM team would be competing with ND, OSU and perhaps PSU for midwest recruits and there simply aren’t enough to go around (and keep in mind they don’t stand a chance of picking up guys who Cuse, Hopkins or Maryland think are worth a phone call). “

That’s stupid. Of course no Michigan team would field a roster composed entirely of midwest players. I said as much in my original post. Thank you for making an asisnine statment, implicitly attributing it to me, and then rebutting it. Michigan would absolutely have to recruit the east coast, the same way they have been, with 16 current players on the roster who come from states that touch the Atlantic Ocean. Sure, as a new program, Michigan would probably have a ton of trouble recruiting, but as Brian mentioned last week, since when has Michigan struggled getting kids from New York to come here? With (potentially) some of the best facilities in the country, it wouldn’t take long for Michigan to build a respectable, though not Syracuse/Maryland/Hopkins-level recruiting ability.

Posted under Other Sports

Black Shoe Diaries, which is in all likelihood the most popular Penn State blog on the internet, recently took umbrage with an article published by Rivals affiiliate Blue & White Illustrated regarding lacrosse recruiting. The offending portion was the mention that Birmingham Brother Rice maintained a #1 national ranking in high school lacrosse this year. BSD is right in pointing out that this is an erroneous statement, and takes the opportunity to ruminate on high school lacrosse, the viability of varsity D-1 programs in the midwest, and the possibility of a varsity program at Michigan in the future. HOWEVA, BSD is making some assumptions (and drawing conclusions, etc.) that simply don’t hold true.

Brother Rice

The BWI article spoke thusly: “All-Americans Nick Dolik (attack) and Danny Henneghan (midfield) will bring championship experience after leading Brother Rice to the No. 1 national ranking this year.” Black Shoe Diaries pointed out the error in this statement by pointing out that Rice finished #21 in a year-end power poll. They go on to say that they dominate Michigan competition, but wouldn’t stand a chance out East. So the Warriors didn’t finish this year #1 in the nation. BWI regrets the error, since the #1 ranking for Rice was not this year, but last year. And the year before. And the year before that. Yes, until this year, Rice was 3-years running considered the best lacrosse team in the nation. BSD: “Geekness aside: only historians in the great state of Alabama would ever consider Brother Rice a national champion.” Except for those three years that they were, apparently. Even in a down year, the Warriors still managed to crack the top-30 among the 3,037 schools in America playing lacrosse. These are not scrubs.

Also, KevinHD, you may have heard of Warrior Lacrosse (for those who aren’t familiar, it’s the largest (only?) reputable manufacturer of lacrosse gear). Huh, what a coincidene, it shares a name with the mascot of Brother Rice. Coincidence this is not. Warrior Lacrosse was founded by a Brother Rice alumnus, and is based in Warren, Michigan. Brother Rice is indeed a lacrosse school, despite being some 500 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

Varsity Lacrosse in the Midwest

Black Shoe Diaries says that there’s no way Rice possible could put out enough prospects to fill a full team, noting that the OSU Buckeyes have only 1 player from the Great Lakes State, and only 5 from the Buckeye State. This is qualified with “There are probably some Michigan natives out east, I don’t feel like looking through any more rosters…” This is in relation to a later point I’ll be covering, but I digress. Perhaps you should have spent the time to look through some of those rosters, because they’re littered with players from Michigan in general, and Brother Rice in particular. The least you could have done was look at THE TEAM WHO WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, for god’s sake. The National Champions from Syracuse have three players from Michigan on their roster.

Let me give you a little background for those who don’t know: Division 1 lacrosse teams are allowed by the NCAA to give out 12.6 scholarships. These are generally divided up in partials, unlike football and basketball. Brother Rice’s team in 2009 has 13 players committed or signed to play with Division 1 schools (sadly, the source for this is an article in the Oakland Press that I read in an actual newspaper, and can’t find in a quick search of the internets). So, Brother Rice has more Division-1 players than a Division-1 team. Way to do the homework before running your mouth, Kev.

Wolverine and Brother Rice Alumnus Riley Kearns

Michigan Lacrosse

The Michigan lacrosse team is ridiculously successful at the club level, but is nowhere near the quality of a top-notch D-1 varsity team. Kevin says the midwest ain’t big enough for the 4 of us (the existing three varsity teams in the midwest are OSU, PSU, and Notre Dame – we’ll not mention the potshot he takes at Detroit Mercy in its first year of lacrosse, which took leftovers not from Maryland and New York, but from Michigan State, the second best CLUB TEAM in Michigan). Michigan will have to resort to hoping their terrible players from Michigan will be able to compete with real life lacrosse players from out East, because the Wolverines will never be able to recruit the East coast against other D-1 programs. Never mind the fact that, even without being able to give them scholarships, the club team has players from Virginia, Colorado (along with Michigan and California, probably the most lacrosse-enlightened state outside of the East coast), New York, Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Missouri, Maryland, Washington DC, and Connecticut. No, why worry about “facts?”

The truth of the matter is, if the Wolverines were to make the jump to varsity at some point in the near future, they’d be well-positioned. No, immediate success wouldn’t come, but there are certainly some factors working to their advantage. Aside from the aforementioned recruiting hotbed in Oakland County (Birmingham Seaholm and Detroit Country day also produce a number of D-1 players, and Orchard Lake Saint Mary’s is a program on the rise), the team would have the most financially-stable athletic department in the nation backing it, the world’s foremost lacrosse manufacturer just a stone’s throw away, and by the time the leap was made, one of the best lacrosse-specific facilities in the nation will likely be completed (boy, do I ever wish that link went to the blueprint, because it’s awesome).

So basically, don’t talk if you have no clue what you’re talking about and have no interest in researching the actual acts. kthxbai.

For the record, I’m no Brother Rice homer, and the opposite is more likely to be true. That said, you can’t downplay the team’s quality, unless of course you ignore reality.

Posted under Other Sports

Since I didn’t have the opportunity to record the game and score the shots, this edition of UFR will only include the differential.

Penn State Half 1

Half 2

Penn State Totals

Individual players:

Gibson 13min +3
Novak 27 min +15
Lee 29min +8
Harris 34min +20
Lucas-Perry 18min -5
Douglass 24min +22
Wright 1min 0
Merritt 13 min +9
Shepherd 13min +4
Puls 1min 0
Sims 26min +16
Grady 1min +2

LLP’s struggles continue. In a 20-point blowout, he was the only Michigan player in the negative. Douglass was a true G in this game.

The Michigan Athletic Department didn’t find the UConn game worthy of being immortalized in a boxscore, so I’ll give that game the full UFR treatment sometime in the next few days when I get a chance to re-watch it.

Posted under Analysis, Basketball

Quick programming update: The first few recaps of info on individual players from the press conference are up on MGoBlog. Subsequent notes will be here throughout the day and maybe a bit tomorrow.

If you want a full recap of the game that’s not obscured by some post work revelry, I suggest you head over to UMHoops and check out Dylan’s always excellent recaps.

For a lot of games in the Big Ten season I’ve found myself repeating the same things over and over again. Indiana/Purdue/Penn St./Illinois can’t keep hitting those shots. They invariably kept hitting them. Michigan can’t keep shooting this poorly all game. They sure could. The refs will actually start calling those hacks on Manny. They never really did. Finally, against Penn St. last night, I was actually right.

In the first half Battle made some ridiculous shots that no one has any business making.  But Michigan kept playing mostly good aggressive defense and eventually it payed off. They held Battle to 3/16 shooting and only 9 points.  This is the guy who has to be the odds on favorite for Big Ten player of the year and he was pretty much stymied.

On the other side, Manny blew up.  He got his 3pt shot to fall early, which seemed to give him a bunch of confidence.  He also, for probably the first time in conference, got to the line like he should. 14 free throw attempts! That has to be the record for him in Big Ten games this year. He didn’t just score either. His final line was 28pts/6reb/7ast/2blks/2stl and only 2 turnovers.  This was easily his best game of the conference season and definitely top 3 on the year.

I’m not sure if Penn St. was doing something different from the first time the two teams met, but it really seemed that Michigan was able to get a lot of cuts moving toward the basket for easy lay ups and dunks. Like I said, I was certainly enjoying myself during this game, so my analysis is lacking, but I feel the big difference was Michigan finally started hitting some outside shots. This stretched out the defense, which allowed for the cuts and for Manny to get into the lane and make things happen.  On top of that, when Michigan is hitting their shots, all the players seem to be much more energetic in the 1-3-1 and force a lot of action.

When Michigan gets going like they did last night, they can hang with most teams in the league, especially at home.  I’m not going to say there’s a chance against UConn, but the performance of Manny and the defense of the entire team gives me hope that Michigan could steal a game down the stretch and maybe win a couple of tournament games.  Every time I think this team in done, they go and play well.

Posted under Basketball

Or: Tim’s foray into tempo-free statistics.

The Wolverines have a chance to exact revenge on Penn State tonight at home. The Wolverines will try to get a home victory on BTN at 7PM.

Tempo-Free and efficiency comparison (if you need an explanation of what any of these things mean, head to KenPom’s website):

Differences of more than 100 places in the rankings garner two-letter advantages, differences of more than 200 get a third.

When Last We Met…

Various Nittany Lions were absolutely on fire from he floor, and DeShawn Sims was the only Michigan player who could do anything from the field (LLP was 0/6 from 3, for example, and Manny was 2/11 from the field). Michigan got sent home from State College with a 58-73 beatdown.

Since Last We Met…

Michigan briefly halted their slide against Northwestern, but got beaten up at the hands of Ohio State and Purdue. Zack Novak and Manny Harris were ejected (fairly and unfairly, respectively) in those two games, and Michigan’s offense and defense are both headed into the tank. The one area in which Michigan has improved is rebounding, but that hasn’t been enough to net them any wins. The Wovlerines, preiously great at not turning the ball over, have startedmaking up for lost time in giving the ball away, and the shooting has gone from very good to aboslutely pitiful.

The Nittany Lions, on the other hand, have caught fire. They struggled throughout most of their game with Iowa, but pulled together at the end for a huge come-from-behind win, then they beat Michigan State in East Lansing.

And it Means…

Sine the long break before OSU wasn’t enough to spur the team to a win, the even longer break this time can hopefully help them. With Zack Novak taking a breather for the Purdue game, and Manny getting one for nearly the entire second half, the team should be well-rested. The key will be for the shooting to return to respectable levels, if not where it was early in the season. Limiting easy baskets by Penn State, and not sending them to the foul line will also be key. PSU has advantages in most tempo-free cateogires, so the current Michigan team will have to revert to the non-conference Michigan team is they want to win.

Ken Pomeroy predicts a 68-66 Wolverines victory in a 62-possession game, and gives Michigan a 56% chance of winning. Since NCAA tournaments dreams have basically become unrealistic, the Wolverines absolutely require a win here to stay alive, or they’re at least playing for NIT seeding.

Posted under Basketball

Raw data for both UFRs can be found in last night’s post.

Ohio State:

Half 1

Half 2

Game totals

Individual players:

Manny was up-and-down. Even when he makes it, I don’t like the hesitation three-ball.

Awful. This has been a trend of late.

Had a good day rebounding the ball. Not so much shooting.

Bad day. He’d recover against PSU.

Poor effort from three, but did a lot of setting other guys up.

So bad.

A pretty good day behind the arc.

Let’s be honest: he’s in there for his defense.

Needs to make the few opportunities he’ll get.

What This Says…

Michigan was actually in this game for most of the way. There were a few dry spells toward the end that really did them in, and no personnel combo that Beilein tried could alter the momentum.

Penn State:

Half 1

Half 2

Game totals

Individual players:

I’d still like him to keep trying to draw contact; eventually they’ll have to call fouls.

Really bad shooting day.

Did the little things well, but not so much on the shooting.

The only god player for the whole team. He didn’t have enough to carry them by himself.

Got much less playing time than usual. He was struggling with his shot, but kept putting them up.

Bad day. Needs to show off his whiteboy athleticism.

Mediocre shooting day.

Poor performance in somewhat limited time.

Very little playing time.

Garbage time only.

Was one of the few guys who played more than just garbage time with a positive number. The team didn’t do too much scoring when he was in, but nor did the opponent. I’d like to see him on the court as a complement to high-scoring players.

Garbage only.

What This Says…

DeShawn Sims was the only consistent player all day. The entire team struggled shooting, and they were putting up poor looks. I think that a long week of practice (this team hasn’t had more than a couple days off in quite some time) will help them get back on track. Is it too late, though?

Posted under Analysis, Basketball

Just the raw numbers for you tonight, actual UFR analysis to come tomorrow.

Ohio State

Penn State

Posted under Analysis, Basketball

Massey from Buckeye Commentary stops by to give his weekly take on Michigan’s game. My contribution can be checked out over there.

What I saw: There are occasions when watching Michigan is similar to an old science fiction movie (think Mystery Science Theatre 3000). You are witnessing the present one moment but then there are strange flashes to alternate spaces and realities. You assume they are imaginary, but those flashes make you question whether they are the true reality because they seem to make perfect sense at that moment. Then something dreadful happens to drag you back to the previous real moment. The transitions are never smooth or well-explained.

The Wolverines offense creates this same sensation for me. I have watched enough to know the likely outcome of each play, but for some inexplicable reason, I am constantly fooled when they appear to be progressing or finding a groove. It happened to me at the beginning of the games versus Notre Dame, Illinois, and now Penn State. There are moments when you can see exactly what the offense will look like in the future, and then BAM! Suddenly, the offense is shaken from the flash-forward and the predestined awfulness that is the real team returns in full Technicolor.

Part of this reverse déjà vu is that I have seen it before – in similar uniforms, to boot – with Rodriguez’s West Virginia teams. So, it does not seem foreign when Michigan succeeds. Quite the contrary, actually. When you couple Rich Rod’s past success with the Michigan tradition, I expect to see Michigan’s offensive plays actually gain positive yards. It just does not happen for more than a few drives per game.

What I didn’t see: A reason to ever play Nick Sheridan again. If Threet cannot play – meaning he is dead – they should play Feagin. If that is not plausible (as yet, an unexplained phenomenon) they should line up Minor or McGuffie or Odoms or anybody else at QB. Sweet Jesus! I may not write about college football forever, but no matter how long I do, the Sheridan proclamation will be my worst ever.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: tackling.

Who I watched: Brandon Minor looked impressive early on, but the flash-forward ended and Michigan was lucky to punt on the remainder of its possessions. Still, Minor looks more controlled, which I guess is to say, more traditional. McGuffie is whirling dervish (minus the chanting). Minor’s yards look more dependable. Perhaps Minor just fits my perception of Michigan’s past offenses better, but he seems like a better choice. I suppose if he does not fumble he is the starting running back, but that appears to be a big “if” – for everyone on the offense. Then again, I thought McGuffie had the starting spot locked after the ND game.

What I expect next week: I expect to be fooled again. Last week, I told you that I did not expect Michigan to be blown out as Vegas predicted. For almost three quarters I looked like a genius. Then, I looked like more normal, mostly-wrong self.

Michigan State was totally one-dimensional against Ohio State but that was a weird game. Ohio State’s instant lead plus Hoyer’s injury created a terribly unfriendly rushing environment for MSU. Who knows, if a couple of those fumbles turn out differently the Spartans may not have been playing catch up all day.

I doubt Ringer will have two bad games in a row and Michigan needs to tackle this time out, but with MSU’s quarterback situation I imagine Michigan will be selling out to stop the run. I want to say that Michigan will be competitive, but that could be a pre-game alternate reality.

What this game tells me about The Game: Last weekend was the single most disparate week of the season for Ohio State and Michigan. Ohio State had its best game while Michigan had its worst. Of course, the Wolverines played the league’s best team while OSU got to play the league’s best pretender. If Michigan were to tackle that poorly in Columbus, Wells and Pryor would have a combined 250 yards rushing. But that probably will not happen so there is no sense talking that way.

I know I keep saying it, but Michigan has these flashes of greatness and for whatever reason – lack of execution, talent, poise, discipline, creativity – it never lasts for entire game. But, what if it does? Penn State has a nice defense with a defensive line far better than Ohio State’s and Minor was running straight through it. What would happen if they played well for an entire game? Is that possible?

We will know a lot more on Saturday night, and then we can apply the non-existent transitive properties based on mutual performances against PSU.

Posted under Football

What can I say about the Penn State game? It reinforced several things that we already knew about Michigan, in addition to some other stuff:

• The offense isn’t simply bad, it’s inconsistent. It can be very bad much of the time, and it can also produce effective drives some of the time. The lack of experience is resulting in the evil side of the offense being apparent more than the good side.
• Nick Sheridan is not very good at the footballs. By all accounts he’s a good kid, but he’s not Division-I material.
• I had forgotten how bad Penn State fans were. They vault back up to #2 in my “biggest assholes in the conference” unofficial rankings, surpassing Wisconsin.
• Minor looked pretty good, and I think that he’s likely your primary starter for the short-term future, as a strong runner is necessary when the standard running play is “go into the teeth of the defense with only nominal assistance from your offensive line.”
• The defense still needs to step up. The big play has become something of a habit. I know Penn State is far and away the best team we’ve seen so far this year, but the defense has to be able to at least slow them down.
• That said, I’m not huge on all this Shafer hate that is going around. I think Shafer is hamstrung by some of the personnel, and maybe even the position coaches he has to work with.
• Not sure when I’ll get around to making an FNL. Hopefully tonight, though.

And on to Michigan State:

• In case you missed it (since I accidentally posted it at midnight), here is the post I wrote about the previous times Rodriguez and Dantonio have faced off. Obviously, neither team is the same, but it’s at least interesting to see.
• Steve Threet and Brian Hoyer are both supposed to start this weekend. God help us if Threet can’t play.
• I see Michigan State as a Wisconsin analogue more than anything. Wisconsin is the only team we’ve beaten so far this year, so at least there’s hope.

Posted under Football

On Confusing Insults
Saturday morning we left the house where we were staying decked out fully in our Michigan gear. Before we even hit the street from the back door, we ran into a few a Penn State fans. One of these partisans pointed at the group of us and yelled “FAG! FAG! FAGGOT!” I think we responded with either “Go blue!” or “Keep it classy State College.” Then the more we thought about, the more confused we became. Was there one of us who looked or acted some way to earn the extra syllable? Did one of us just seem more homosexual that that person deserved the full pejorative? By the end of the day we were arguing with each other about who was the full word. We decided it was Tim.

On Beaver Street some girls walked by looking really confused. As we got close to her she said “Who are all these yellow people?” We looked around quickly to make sure it was in fact referring to us. We were definitely the only people who could classify as “yellow.” I’m not sure if her use of the term “yellow people” is common in State College to refer to Michigan fans, but we were not used to that use of the term.

On Hilarious Things Saved for All Time

This photo was taken on Foster between Atherton and Barnard.

On Things That Might Be Related
One really awesome feature on Penn State’s campus is the Creamery. Both times I’ve made it down to State College I’ve stopped at there and gotten some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, there was no Peachy Paterno or Jay’s Java Chip or Chocolate Marshmallow Morelli. I got bittersweet mint and Nate got vanilla. It was delicious as this picture shows:

On The Surprising Calm
We were pretty sure that Michigan was going to lose, but we also knew we wanted to hang out in State College Saturday night. In the unlikely event of a Michigan win, I would have been worried about some sort of murder-suicide, mob mentality sort of thing. To prevent this, we bought Penn State hoodies (if Braylon can do it, we can). After the loss we decided to see how excited the fans were about a fairly huge game in recent Penn State history. We threw on our Penn State clothes and headed out on the town.

Walking down the street, one of us would yell “WE ARE!” and listen for a response. Generally even with big groups of people there wasn’t a huge response. Usually it was one or two people out of all of them. I’m not sure if it was a come down from the excitement and build up to the game, but many fans simply seemed deflated and relieved. I remember after the Wisconsin game this year or the Penn State game in 2005, Michigan fans were going crazy in Ann Arbor all night after the game. I’m not sure what was holding the Penn State fans down, but something certainly was.

Posted under Football