UM Hoops.com

• One more visitor from yesterday: 2009 combo guard Colt Ryan (09 Hot Board here) From Ryan’s last game: “Batesville’s 6’4″ Junior All-State lock at guard, was held to eight in the first three quarters and finished with 14 points, concerning himself mainly with ball security and distribution.”
• Lacy on Jalen Rose and the game.
• Snyder: “Harris’ 14 points lead Wolverines“
• Prep Spotlight has the latest on 2009 shooting guard Alex Marcotullio (PrepSpotlight is well worth the subscription for any fan of midwest hoops and recruiting)
• Darius Morris scores 22 points in playoff win for Windward with Denzel Washington in attendance. (Check the link for a couple quick video highlights of Morris)
• Also it was really interesting watching the PSL kids (CDR and Ramar) play in that Memphis/Tennessee game. There were certainly knocks on both of those kids that led to UM/MSU not recruiting them but it shows that the PSL will produce talent year in and year out. An all-PSL team from around the country would look like: Tajuan Porter, Manny Harris, CDR, Malik, and Joe & Jordan Crawford just to name a few.

Now that was a struggle. Painful all the way through and definetely a game you have to be glad was on Big Ten Network. But as they say, style points don’t count. Michigan shot a horrific 30% from the field for the game, luckily Illinois only managed 32%.

Players of the game have to be Grady and Ekpe. Grady played well offensively I thought for the most part and hit some big shots. One thing that pains me about Grady is how poorly he runs the fast break, this is something that the whole team really needs work on. Ekpe was a monster on defense and dominated Pruitt. Ekpe had 7 points, 7 boards, 5 blocks, and 2 steals and held Pruitt to 6 points and 5 turn overs. After the game while getting interviewed Ekpe said that he thought “he was the best defensive player in the country and loved challenges like this”. At least he has some confidence.

Ant Wright started on the wing which I think has to be done. He did a surprisingly decent job on defense especially with Illinois going small all game. Ron Coleman brings absolutely nothing and seems to regress every game. I think Wright should play about 30 minutes a game and Shepherd about 15. Ronnie needs to be the odd man out at this point.

It was great to see Jalen in the house looking sharp. A quick recap over what he said:

• Always a Michigan man and it was great to be back. First time he had been back to a basketball game since he played on the court (not because he didn’t love it but he was playing professionally).
• Mentioned Perry Watson, Bo Schembechler, and Fisher.
• RIP Bo.
• Gave a shout out to the rest of the Fab Five individually (Jimmy sat on the sidelines with him) and said he would be back the day the banners went back up.
• Said he would be around the program and it was great to be back.
• Said Go Blue! once in his speech and the band started playing and he had to cut them off and continue.
• “Every time you see the black shoes, the black socks, the baggy shorts, the Fab Five lives. I’ll be back one day when those banners get hung back up.”
• Crowd reaction was great the whole time, he got a big welcome when he walked out to half court before tip off. The starters all gave him hugs before the game.

A win is a win and Michigan has to learn how to win the tough ones like this because they aren’t all going to be easy. But man I hope we can start hitting some shots. There were ALOT of wide open shots today and very few of them went down. Good physical gutty effort. Another note, saw Jordan Morgan was there, not sure if any other recruits were in the house.

One more addition: huge props to Anthony and DeShawn. They have really started attacking the glass. DeShawn had 9 rebounds and Wright pulled down 8. Not to mention Manny pulling down 6 and Ekpe 7. All together we outrebounded Illinois 43 to 36. I think the man-to-man has really helped our defensive rebounding but DeShawn especially seems to have started to find an extra gear in terms of hustle.

The first game in Illinois was ugly, Michigan shot less than 40% and Illinois shot 52%. The two people who killed Michigan were Randle and Pruitt. Randle had 19 and 10 in only 28 minutes and on 7-9 shooting, the fact that he is out tonight is huge for Michigan. With Randle being out it looks like neutralizing Pruitt should be enough to win the game because Illinois is so short on weapons. Then again shooting 35% again certainly won’t help, this team has had some painful shooting games.

The Wolverines have played better at home of late with the big wins over PSU and OSU and on paper Illinois looks like a game they should win. Illinois has been nose diving of late and has lost five of their last six. Michigan also got virtually nothing from Manny in the first game so hopefully a better effort there will help as well.

The Jalen Rose festivities should be fun and we all know that Jalen will be Jalen when he’s out there talking at halftime. Don’t forget to get there early for a Jalen Rose Day t-shirt as well. And in honor of Jalen, I’m putting together a couple Fab Five video mixes that will be up in the next week.

UMHoops Prediction: Michigan 67-Illinois 64

Links of note:

• Jalen Rose and DeShawn Sims friendship grew this summer.
• CJ Lee embraces new role for the Wolverines.
• Jalen Rose on WTKA yesterday talking about Fab Five, ceremony, and more.
• Stuart Douglass was lights out last night on 10 of 16 shooting for 25 points.
• Cronin and the Black Knights got another victory (Video, click ‘Watch the Story’) in the state playoffs. Cronin had 15 points and 12 boards and says he wants to finally play Proctor in the next round (Proctor has beat the Knights many times in a row).
• Split the hot board into two parts and updated the 09 information. View them here:  2008 Hotboard and 2009 Hotboard.
• Kyle Cassity video here.

ESPN is reporting that Brian Randle is likely out for the season with a shoulder injury. This is huge for Michigan because Randle killed them last time around. Randle put up 19 pts FGs 7-9, 3pts 2-2, 10 rebounds s in 28 minutes. Could be a big break for Michigan and makes tomorrows game even more winnable. Rough way to go out for Randle in what has already been a rough year for Illinois.

• Brent Petway challenges NBA Dunk Contest Champ Dwight Howard
• Manny and Beilein on why Manny got benched down the stretch.
• Rosenberg on Jalen Rose’s Celebration and the Fab Five, Jalen says he plans to “wing it” and “No question about it. Anybody that is embracing me is embracing everybody involved. I’m going to be the representative. I’m looking at it as though Chris and Juwan (Howard) got a game, and I’m going to be the representative.”
• Justin Watts is the “total package“(Rivals $$)