Friday, February 26, 2021

Michigan Friday: Didn't Feel Like a Blowout

Michigan and Iowa played a close game in the first half.  The second half not so much.   There are a 100 things I love about this team but one of things near the top, is they always play better in the second half.  

In a year where UK, UNC, and Duke are barley tournament worthy, Michigan has a nice lead in one of the toughest conferences ever.   Juwan Howard is earning every coaching award available to him this post season as this is one of the best teams I've seen in the maize and blue.  Yes, the Fab 5 had more talent and upside, but this team is just solid and deep.  

Last night, Hunter basically shut down the best player in college basketball and Franz could get to rim anytime he wanted.  I wanted Wagner to take whoever was guarding him into the paint every time down the floor.  Livers continues his strong shooting and Chaundee comes off the bench and just plays hard 100% of the time.   If Michigan makes 50% of the 'bunnies" they missed in the first half, it would have been even a bigger margin.  

Doesn't it feel good to root for an elite team?  It seems like its been a long time.   Even Coach B's run to the Final 4 were good teams, not great. 


  • 5 star Michigan legacy CB Will Johnson is announcing on Sunday.  This is a must win for the Wolverines and he has 100% CB to the Maize and Blue.  He is 6'3 and 190 pounds.  YES, PLEASE!

  • Jimmy had his first Spring Presser yesterday and we pretty much learned stuff we already knew, like he was going to be the QB coach but when BJM left for UT, he wanted to hire Matt Weiss and flipped a couple coaching positions.  

  • Michigan and NW announce a new trophy game to honor George Jewett.  What a great idea! 

  • DDJ opts out of the rest of the year for Cincinnati.  He said he is struggling with his mental health due to COVID.  I hope he gets the help he needs and gets through this. 

  • 2022 Instate 4 star WR Tay'shawn Trent is trending towards the Wolverines. 

  • MSU is playing much better then a month ago, they beat Illinois and OSU back to back this week.  Michigan plays the Spartans twice next week.  

9 comments:

Chowman said...

I really had my doubts about Juwan coming back to AA. In fact, I hated the hire as I thought it was the "Michigan Man" thing. But I was completely wrong and if Warde Manuel wants to prove he's not in over his skis as the AD @ UM, he needs to extend Juwan ASAP. Pay the MAN! Don't eff up and treat him like the school treated Beilein and under pay him. IMHO, Howard deserves to be paid more than Harbaugh. I know blasphemy, but don't care. He's the better coach!

Rudy said...

agree that Juwan Howard (the real JH) is a stud. Don't want him to look too good to the NBA though....stay in school Juwan! As for Ward, he is in over his head and is a lousy AD. I think he'll be shown the door when Jimmy is shown the door, package deal.

Chowman said...

Rudy: its refreshing to find another UM fan that doesn't blindly carry Jim Harbaugh's water. I was really hoping either WM would grow some stones and move on from Jim or that some crazy NFL owner still thought Harbaugh was relevant and came calling. I'm not eagerly anticipating the 2021 football season as I'm thinking 2020 wasn't a Covid fluke, but just a continuing trend!

Cormac said...

Garza didn't impress me at all last night. Maybe it was Michigan's effort last night. He seems more like a bull in a china shop than the supposed National Player of the year. I also didn't care for the pouty look that he has.

Chowman said...

Cormac: I thought he got away with a lot, especially the elbows. Maybe its just me being a UM fan, but he was doing stuff that I haven't seen since I was playing in rec leagues, and you'd have those guys with limited athletic ability that would play "chippy".

Rudy said...

yeah, Garza was playing some hood ball throughout. He'll be a 1st round pick but as soon as he tries that trash in the Show, they'll drop him. Don't bring that Grayson Allen play to the league. Needs to get that neandrathol-looking noggin of his straight now. Seriously though, he looks like a candidate for Encino Man II.

Rudy said...

Chowman, don't get me wrong I want Jimmy to succeed big time. I'm all about #4 winning! But I'm grounded in reality and understand metrics. His numbers tell the story and thinking suddenly that's going to change is irrational. He's playing with house money now and is all in with JJ at QB. It's really his last chance so he's got to start him as a freshman and hope like hell he can have a Chad Henne frosh year. Given the schedule and the product we saw but a few months ago, that is also irrational to expect. This time next year they prepare to start spring football with Matt Campbell at the reigns. Just hope Coach Matt keeps Hart and Belamy on the staff.

szanreno said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
szanreno said...

Man you guys are getting way out over your skis.