I wrote something about Nebraska football and how, after one year, I still don't really know what they are but how we'll probably find out a little more this year when Michigan makes the trip to Lincoln (a trip that I really, really hope to make).
I did another player preview, this time on Taylor Lewan, the twosie aficionado himself. Is he Jake Long? Probably not. Is he really, really good nonetheless? Oh yeah. More questions? No.
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Other things of note (but not written by me):
The performances of the EPL's representatives at this Euro Cup was kind of a mixed bag.
Zack Novak, the reigning king of GRITsterton, IN, on the process of trying his hand at the pro game (whether domestically or abroad). Via UMHoops:
“I was talking to the guys from Cleveland and they said, ‘We’re not taking you,’ and I laughed and said, ‘Yeah, obviously.’
Stu Douglass, on the other hand, will begin his professional basketball career in Spain (via the MGoBoard). Luckily for Stu, airplanes exist, otherwise that whole "burn the boats" thing would look kind of silly right about now.
We hardly knew ye...Michigan Hockey Net confirms that recently drafted Michigan commit Connor Carrick will in fact not be taking his talents to Ann Arbor, instead opting for the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL. So it goes. I figured after the fact that it was probably more than naive of me to say that none of the guys drafted last week would make the jump before coming to Ann Arbor. In any case, good luck to Mr. Carrick.
SBN's Detroit Bad Boys takes a look at 9th overall pick Andre Drummond through a statistical lens. UConn in 2011-12 wasn't exactly the perfect environment for a developing young player, but yeah...this is the epitome of a boom-or-bust pick. The numbers aren't too kind to Drummond, but he undeniably looks the part of an NBA big man. We'll see what happens (as a Bulls fan, I'll get the chance to see quite a bit of him in the coming years).
Back from a bit of a break. That noise you hear? Oh, that's just FOOTBALL. Adieu, hockey and basketball...it's time for football. Sort of. Self-Promotion, Still Shameless: Check out Maize n Brew later today for some basketball talk from me re: how the offense will look decidedly un-Beilein-like going forward. Basically, I suggest that Michigan basketball will look a lot like this:
Let's hope Michigan can bring a little more defensive intensity than that. "THE BALL'S IN HIS SHIRT NOOO WHAT ARE YOU DOING."-Person that takes AND1 basketball way too seriously
Footbaw Talk Is Positively Gorgeous: Al Borges sat down with Howard Griffith and talked real, live footbaw. If this sentence excited you the same way that it did me, then: a) you have a problem and b) it's probably early April.
The two issues to address in the passing game re: Denard are footwork and "second decision making." Al makes even relatively simple concepts like, say, making decisions, sound really cool. He then goes on to break down two plays, the first being that interception against Purdue, an intermediate dig route to Roundtree against Iowa, and the long completion to Gallon on Michigan's late game drive against Notre Dame. You would think that these are relatively simple plays, but I was hoping there'd be more at the end of the video. Alas, it's only five minutes long, but it does give you just enough to ward off the pangs of football withdrawal for a little while.
In any case, the Purdue interception, in particular, is the sort of play that Denard simply cannot make going forward. Given that this will be year 2 in the system, I feel pretty good about not only this sort of play being eliminated from Denard's game, but turnovers in general. Footwork is doubly difficult for mobile QBs like Denard; happy feet leads to interceptions, missed receivers, and other unfortunate happenings. Denard's feet vis-a-vis the passing game (i.e. getting the appropriate depth in his drops, not getting happy feet, not throwing off the back foot, etc.) are arguably more important than the role, in, well, running the ball. Al was not perfect in 2011, but it's hard to feel anything but comfort going forward. Now if we could only just get him to officially become enamored with the concept of continuing to recruit mobile types (of course, very few will be as fast as Denard, if any even exist) for the QB position, things would be just perfect.
Terms to add to your Michigan football lexicon: "steal his eyes" (defender reading the QB's eyes) and "gettin' in the fight" (in reference stepping up in the pocket through the lanes created by the outside rushers).
Diamond in the Rough: Nick Baumgardner's article on GRIII's skyrocketing recruiting hype is another thing to file under "Beilein is a ridiculous talent evaluator" file. According to GRIII himself:
"Those guys believed in me before anyone else really did, and that means a lot," Robinson said.
And also:
"I believe some schools look too much into what a player is right now, and not what their potential could be. Michigan did a great job with that, though, and that's what I really liked about them."
So, there you go. GRIII has seen his stock rise from "fringe high-major" level to the #28 player in the country according to Scout, making him a just-about-5-star prospect. That is an incredible jump, but if anybody would've been able to predict that sort of spike, it's John Beilein. As much hype as Mitch McGary has gotten (and as much under-the-radar indie hype as Stauskas has gotten), GRIII is the guy from this class that I'm most excited about. He's the athletic dynamo of a winger that elite teams usually have at least a couple of...I imagine his outside game will need a little work, but he will contribute significantly no matter what.
Outside of the article's recruiting slant and GRIII's using not making the McDonald's All-American team as motivation to get better, the article references the fact GRIII was told by the staff that he'd play both the 2 and the 3, and not the 3/4 as was previously expected. I don't normally get too caught up in the numerical designations, but I though it was interesting. Then again, it's entirely possible that this quote was based on information that preceded the news of Smotrycz's departure; in light of that, it's possible that GRIII will still see some time at the 4, although I really sort of hope not. This of course leaves the conundrum of having both GRIII and THJ at the 3, and you'd really like to have both on the court at the same time. If THJ can seriously refine his handle and outside shooting this offseason, then you can pencil GRIII in for a starting spot. Otherwise, I think we're probably looking at Burke-Stauskas-THJ-Morgan-McGary, which is just fine.
Losing Smotrycz, Novak, and Douglass is unfortunate, but I think the future is still bright.
Meanwhile, in Alabama: [Insert Shutdown Fullback's "pig running across a football field" animation]
On a serious note, 2012 signee Dalvin Tomlinson sustained what is termed a "serious" knee injury. Tomlinson is 6'3'' 270. Care to guess how he hurt his knee? If you guessed "soccer," well, you must actually live in the Yellowhammer State, otherwise you'd be inclined to believe that soccer has long since been banned by the Alabama State Legislature.
I'm not completely sure where he fits in the Bama 2-deep at this point in time, but odds are he would have at least been a contributor, even with Australian manbearpig Jessie Williams officially moving to defensive tackle after spending last year as a RVB-esque DT/DE. In any case, it seems a little fishy that he says he'll be "over it" by the time the season starts. Assuming it's an ACL injury, the common wisdom is that that sort of thing takes about six months, which would see the last month of his recovery begin in September. Of course, this last sentence was rampant speculation, so who knows.
Of course, since people are horrible, I must state the obvious: all injuries, suffered by anybody and no matter for what team, are unfortunate. Anyone that roots for an opponent to get injured should be forced to watch the 2008 Northwestern game on loop in a dark room with their eyelids taped open. With that said, this is something to monitor as we get closer to September 1st, as Alabama has already lost a significant amount of defensive talent to the NFL.
More? Andy Katz has Michigan at #8 in his early top 25...yeah, try not to think about 2009 (you can't). Excellent recruiting stuff from UMHoops, as always. Spring practice notes from Tuscaloosa; nothing too exciting. Dudes are nursing injuries, the O-linemen are getting used to lining up next to new faces. Spring football, yeah!
On two consecutive weekends, Michigan saw an otherwise successful season come to an end with an almost existential abruptness. Seniors--Zack Novak, Stu Douglass, Shawn Hunwick--saw their time as Michigan athletes end on a sour note, an otherwise cheerful classical symphony ending in an out-of-place minor key.
The basketball team spent the time between November and March actualizing the entirety of its potential, doing everything that it could with what relatively little it had to spare. The ride was a nearly ceaseless crescendo, a buildup to something great. It fell apart in the end; the idealism of deserved Fate--of positive outcomes reserved for those who have traversed the darkest corners of the realm of athletic pursuit--was dealt a heavy blow. Is this how it was supposed to end? The curtain falls and you sit in your seat in the dark amphitheater waiting for more, and more never comes. That is all there is. You get up and leave.
The hockey team rolled into the sequestered vacuum that is the NCAA hockey tournament with a shiny #1 seed and a roster that had seemingly experienced the athletic equivalent of a renaissance. Whether by virtue of Jon Merrill's return or survivalist instinct, the latter mirroring the same sort of late-season push we saw last year and the year before, it was breathtakingly automatic, the quintessential example of the sports cliche "flipping the switch." The streak was not only intact, it was as if it had never been in danger. As others more qualified than I can probably corroborate, this wasn't a vintage Michigan team featuring electron virtuosos like T.J. Hensick or top-notch two-way stalwarts like Kevin Porter. And yet, the results speak for themselves.
After Lynch's late equalizer and the remaining time expiring without another goal, it was not difficult to harken back to last year's championship game, in which regulation time ended 2-2 after a late Michigan goal. UMD's first goal bounced just over Hunwick's outstretched pads, the second on a UMD power play, in which a shot in close rebounded almost miraculously onto the UMD attacker's tape for a second point blank opportunity. A Rohrkemper goal tied it late, like Lynch's late goal on Friday; overtime hockey once again. The land of dread. The land of affirmation. Overtime hockey is elaborate, fevered theater. It is a Shakespearean sword fight, each combatant slowing bleeding out his life slash by slash, until one or the other has no more blood to give and thus clutches, spins, and falls.
UMD's final goal came after Michigan had spent most of the early minutes of overtime in its own zone, frantically attempting to catch its breath, to stave off the final blow. A crashing UMD forward, essentially untouched, came through and potted the winning goal. It was over.
Again, Michigan entered the perilous domain of overtime hockey, looking to make its second wind count. Survival was the only instinct playing out at this juncture. At that point, everything else fades away, ancillary to the order of the moment. Overtime hockey is so Darwinian thought set upon the framework of sport.
A rebound and a weak backcheck later and the puck was in the back of the net only a few minutes into the overtime period. Again, it was over, as if someone was repeating a bad joke after it failed to elicit laughter after the first telling. There was nothing Hunwick could do, and the fact that he was mostly helpless makes a bitter end even more difficult to take. After a career filled with save after incomprehensible save, saves that defied the laws of physics and conventional wisdom, it would all naturally end with a sequence beyond his control, one of those moments in which agency is nowhere to be found. The puck didn't care what came before; it went in the wide open net, invited by its stark dimensional reality. The puck was oblivious to history. It always is.
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After these things, there must come some sort of response. Experience gives one the ability to skip certain steps in post-loss processing, insofar as watching sports can inspire feelings of personal "loss." You've got your denial, and it saves you and everybody around you a lot of time and broken household items if you just skip to acceptance.
Single-elimination hockey is Fate neutered, in which the thing that actually happens seems off, askew even, like a picture on the wall that has fallen to either side. A degree off-center. Bizarro. More so than anything else, the NCAA single-elimination format takes Fate, capitalized, and sends it through a grinder and a furnace, in the process revealing that Fate is not really a crystallized absolute but a collection of individual possibilities, flecks of charred, hardened reality. All it is is survival; the fleck that makes it through is the one that is. That's it. It's a little unappealing, isn't it?
But, I think, that's how it is. Whether we're talking about the Big Dance or NCAA hockey, Destiny and Fate--capitalized--are not self-aware. They don't know what the basketball team has been through throughout the span of Zack and Stu's careers, or the fact that the Michigan hockey team was fighting to continue one streak while also trying to vanquish another (i.e., no national titles since 1998). This sort of literal, rationalist thought sort of guts the entire enterprise of collegiate athletics of some of its most idealistic aspects--that things are or aren't meant to be, that people deserve certain things, that outcomes affirm or erase the journey--but I think that's mostly okay. Is that a loser's attitude? I honestly don't know. It may just be white noise in the end.
When I think back on the career of a player like, say, Mike Hart, what comes to me immediately is not the fact that he never beat the Buckeyes or won a national championship. If that's what comes to you then I think our respective worldviews are doomed to never meet at any point.
The way that these two seasons ended was bitter, unfortunate, and for a brief period of time after these games ended, seemingly unfair. The basketball team had its chances; hit even a couple of the many missed layups/bunnies and trade one of those late Burke threes for a possession of actual offense and Michigan probably wins despite being outplayed. The hockey team had its chances. The Wolverines outshot Cornell and had over double the PP opportunities, including 5 in the excruciating second period. Any grievances about the ostensible "randomness" of the whole thing seem to be directed at the game of hockey itself rather than the format of the tournament. The simple fact that Michigan has come away with only two titles throughout this over two decade long stretch of tournament appearances is irrelevant. These things happen for a reason, and as much as we like to write these losses off as either instances of grand cosmic misfortune or the absurdity that is the single-elimination format, it's all about cold, hard probabilities and inglorious toil. Even with probability and work ethic on one's side, it may not work out, and not for lack of luck. Hockey is often beyond explanation in this way, and by explanation I mean an explanation that is all-inclusive/comprehensive or one that we want to hear, that assuages the pangs of frustration that follow such a loss. Sometimes it bounces this way or that way. Why? It just does, and it does often, so that patterns seem to appear to us even though they do not exist.
Hockey is "close but no cigar" taken to its logical extreme. It is a sport that, in a way, mirrors life: work really hard and you might get you want. Tight defense, shots, PP opportunities...these don't guarantee success. Despite the attempts to distill the essence of sports into verifiable statistics and formulas, it is often just a game of hamfisted probability. Ascribing vague notions of luck or fate to the outcomes of sport or life seems a bit pointless, but the process of coping is, in a way, inherently pointless.
Then again, maybe this is my own way of coping. Maybe looking at the outcome of the Cornell and Ohio games in the way that I am is just my way of distancing myself from the proceedings. I know that I didn't always look at things this way, as if these losses suggest anything more than the fact that, on these days, my team lost because of X, Y, and Z. In light of the Sugar Bowl and all the breathless talk of redemption that accompanied it--from many, including myself--this all might seem a little hypocritical. Maybe. Then again, as sports fans, we often say what benefits us at the time, even when we may claim otherwise in other situations.
What is clear to me is that Shawn Hunwick and all of the other seniors wanted this more than you or I. The same of course applies to Zack and Stu. The level to which they wanted this eclipses yours, rendering your frustration inconsequential by comparison. After the layers of personal frustration and other somewhat selfish (but understandable) reactions are cast away to the ether, all that remains is memory. I've said this many times before and I'll say it again: championships may come or they may not, but the memories that these players give us while representing Michigan are what matter most because they are what endure. While I would have hoped for a better end for Hunwick, Novak, and Douglass, or a victory in The Game for Henne, Hart, and Long, it becomes increasingly immaterial as the years go on.
One day, a young child will be taken to Yost for the first time. A mother or father will be able to tell this child, their child, this tabula rasa of a being, the story of Shawn Hunwick. This story could quite possibly plant the very first inkling of the beauty of sport in this child's head. True to hockey form, it also might not, but there will be another day when another child is told the same story. This will happen again and again until one day, the child finally understands. I truly do not know if being able to tell the tale of a championship once won is worth more or less than that. Let the details come later.
There were 3.8 seconds left, and Evan Smotrycz was on the line after Michigan capably whipped the ball around berserker Boilermaker defenders trying to foul. A defender stood between him and an open Zack Novak, but he somewhat awkwardly held on to it. Purdue had no timeouts, and even if Smotrycz missed both, their chances of victory were minimal...and yet, it wasn't over. There are those that will be quick to say that it's not over until the clock reads all zeroes, as if there is some yet un-mined nuance of wisdom in the statement. Most fans will find this person annoying; that is decidedly not the case for Michigan fans. Evan Turner. The Wisconsin game. I don't even have to say any more and you know what I'm talking about. End of game scenarios are inextricably linked with fear; College Basketball rings the Pavlovian bell and Michigan fans are conditioned to cringe.
The door was slightly ajar, and it pushed open slightly when Smotrycz got fouled. He made the first free throw, calmly and without difficulty, pushing the door back so that it was very nearly shut. He missed the second. I braced for the worst.
When the final heave harmlessly careened off of the backboard, I breathed a sigh of relief. You could say it was the Universe's way of meting out a makeup call.
Sadly, putting this picture in a post does
not magically make this football season.
(HT: Mike DeSimone)
I continue to wear my 2007-08 Michigan basketball shirt in order to give me the opportunity to look at it during games and realize how far we've really come. The last time Michigan had left West Lafayette victorious came a month and a half after John Navarre and Chris Perry led Michigan to a bowl victory against Rex Grossman and Ron Zook's Florida Gators. It was a long, long time ago. Purdue might be down, but don't let that convince you that this win was anything but incredibly meaningful for this team and this program. The fact that Purdue's final desperation heave didn't fall is, in a way, revealing. Maybe this is the cosmos's way of letting us have start to have nice things.
Michigan not only went on the road and won at an extremely difficult place to get a win, they weathered the storm of a 17-3 Purdue run that extinguished Michigan's 10-point lead and then some. It would have been easy to stop there, to say it's not our day and that winning on the road in this conference is just an added bonus, the extra scoop of ice cream that a disinterested employee doesn't bother charging you for.
At the under 8 minutes TV timeout, Michigan was down 47-51. In the remaining minutes, Jordan Morgan, Tim Hardaway Jr., Trey Burke, and Stu Douglass all scored, and Zack Novak contributed the final brilliant assist. This was a team effort. Also, for a team that seems to rise and fall with Jordan Morgan's production in a correlative fashion, it is only fitting that the winning basket was one of his patented thunder dunks.
A Big Ten road win and a 16th win (when Michigan had 19 pre-Big Ten Tournament wins all of last season)? It's a start.
Player Bullets, Also Known As "Welcome Back Tim":
Burke--It's hard to complain too much after a cathartic win like that, but the freshman has been having a hard time from the field, going 3/10 (0/2 from 3) with two of those makes being layups. Trey had some trouble containing Lewis Jackson, which is a little disappointing after his performance against Jordan Taylor but is also understandable...Jackson is unbelievably quick (he could probably be a slot ninja type in an RR offense). Trey also had one of his most glaring "freshman moments" to date, when Michigan had the ball with under a minute to go, up 1, with the opportunity to run some clock out. It all worked out in the end, but you certainly would've liked to see the offense run for a little bit before having Trey go into play-making mode.
Hardaway--First, the bad...THJ had some significant issues on the defensive end. Early in the game, I remember him getting blown by with ease, only to get bailed out by Burke, who was in position to take the charge. Not long after that, THJ was lackadaisical in closing out on an open 3-point shooter (this is not the only instance of this). As much as people complained about aspects of his offensive game, his defense has been equally worthy of criticism. With his size and overall athleticism, he could be an above average defensive player if he wanted to. With that said...man it's nice to see THJ fill it up again. A solid 8/15 from the field (2/6 from 3) and a diverse execution of his offensive repertoire equals a happy me. Hopefully this was the adrenaline jolt he needed to get his game back on track for good.
Douglass--Stu has secretly been a really good player for us (minus his outside shooting, which has been either really bad or killer)...it wasn't even a secret this game. Here's the line: 12 points (5/8 overall, 2/3 from 3), 5 boards 3 assists, 2 steals, and only 1 turnover. That is a very good game, and Stu has quietly been a mini-revelation since Smotrycz's benching.
Novak--Had a sort of quiet game on the offensive end, but he did only shot the ball four times, going 2/4 overall (1/1 from 3). On the other hand, contributed 8 gritty boards, as usual. He also pitched in 3 assists, the most crucial being the final one during which he created the play on the bounce to find an open ready-to-dunk Morgan on the block. That's not a play that City of Gritville's best and only resident could make a year ago.
Morgan--When Morgan is on, this team is so much more fun to watch. I would argue that when Morgan's play/statistical contribution (yes, again, some of his points are due to just being wide open) is the biggest indicator of Michigan's success on a given day. If I didn't know what the score was, and you told me that Morgan had gone 5/7 from the field for 12 points, I would guess with confidence that we had won. By the way, this is the second time that someone has grabbed him by the arm like that (the first being the incident during the Northwestern game)...hey, tiny Big Ten guards. Stop that.
Vogrich--Only five minutes...made his one field goal attempt (and it wasn't even a 3).
Smotrycz--A very solid performance from the bench, going 3/5 from the field and 1/2 from 3, good for 10 points. Throw in the only one turnover and I'll take that from him every time. I don't think he's close to starting again yet, but this was a good first step toward that end.
Akunne--Resurfaced in this one only to get hurt at some point during his 2 minutes of play. Hopefully it's not too serious; he's obviously not a big piece, but Michigan can't really afford that many injuries, even to low-usage depth guys.
Brundidge--One minute. Looked awkward the one time he had the ball. It's hard to really say anything about him when he plays so few minutes. Hopefully Michigan will be on the winning side of a blowout one of these days so we can get a better look at him.
Hello, Internet. I am Fouad Egbaria, a Michigan grad ('11) and recent graduate of the MSJ program at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. This is a blog that attempts to analyze the highs and lows of Michigan football and basketball; I'm just trying to capture the spirit of the thing. I will also write about general Big Ten news, as well as Chicago professional sports (from time to time).
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