Comments on: NCAA First Round: Michigan 62, Clemson 59

By: GregGoBlue

GregGoBlue — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:14:05 +0000

Re: Beast1530, agreed.

Whenever Blue goes out of conference, Manny gets to the line more often. This bodes well for the rest of the tourney.

As for the “aggressive” and “physical” play of the Big Ten, I think that’s a telling stat of neglectful Big Ten officiating.

By: rlc

rlc — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:02:34 +0000

“Weâ€™d for sure be in the NIT without Manny!”

Only teams with winning records are eligible for the NIT. Without Manny, this team would be hanging around on the Diag.

By: Beast1530

Beast1530 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:52:54 +0000

Manny plays better without Big Ten officiating. He gets to the line at will because of his aggressive nature. In nonconference, he has been to the line at an average of 10 FT shots per game but in Big Ten play, it went down to about half.

I hope that Manny keeps it down or NBA scouts will start buzzing on him because of his play at the NCAA tourney. He has improved especially on going to the left. He’s starting to be more aggressive at going to the left and finish. This is an another evolution of Manny Harris. If he decides to stay, I can’t wait to see further improvement of Manny on court.

By: JimC

JimC — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:34:51 +0000

Yeah, Manny said “I haven’t thought about it” this week.
My thought is this: if he’s still improving, he should stay, that simple.

But then I wonder how he gauges his draftability (is that like drinkability?) without contacting an agent.

We’d for sure be in the NIT without Manny!
So fun to watch the guy fly around the court!

By: raiderfan

raiderfan — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:03:03 +0000

No, Manny told the DTN that he most likely will return for his junior season. You can take that however you would like, but most likely isn’t to reassuring for me.

By: raiderfan

raiderfan — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:56:25 +0000

I also wanted to make a comment about C.J. Lee. I have been the fronrunner for Kelvin Grady getting pt, but CJ has simply come out and led this teams to wins. He may not be the most talented or the most athletic, but there is no questioning this kids effort. There is a certain swagger with this team when he is on the floor. He gives us that general that every team needs. I honestly think without him, we would be playing in the NIT. I want to apologize to anyone I upset with my bickering about JB and his ability to coach. This guy just wins. His NCAA tournament resume is outstanding and he plain and simple outcoaches his opponents and takes a team with minimal talent and makes them into winners. I am overwhelmed with what he has done this year and I can’t wait to see what he can do when he gets actual talent. Great things are definetly in our future!!!

By: AG2

AG2 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:47:30 +0000

I thought Manny already told the Detroit News he’s staying. Then again things can chance.

BTW, if ESPN is going to keep showing us Bob Knight from Las Vegas, could they do it by phone? The guy has no concept of sunscreen!

By: raiderfan

raiderfan — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:40:58 +0000

Great game guys!!! I wanted to share with you guys a conversation I recently had with Mike Conley Sr. who is an agent for NBA players such as Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., Eric Gordon, George Hill, and Courtney Lee. This isn’t the whole conversation, I am just summarizing the important part, or the part about Manny. I asked him his thoughts on Manny and if he thought he would declare for the draft after this year. He said that the consensus is Manny, if he came out, would be a secound round pick. The only thing he, and other scouts, question is his ball handling. He has superior athleticism and is a great on the ball defender. His jumper could use some improvement but overall there is definetly a place on just about every NBA teams roster for Manny. He said, and this is just his opinion, don’t be surprised to see Manny’s name in the early entries list. I sure hope he’s wrong but either way, Manny has done a tremendous job bringing Michigan back to the promise land.

By: jgunnip

jgunnip — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:22:43 +0000

Getting into foul trouble against Griffin won’t be the way we win this game. He might be 60%, but their other four starters are 78, 78, 77, 71 form the line. They also get to the line at a high rate any way at 47% FTA/FGA (5th in the nation). However, defensively we allow the 25th lowest rate in the country (29%), so it’ll be interesting to see how that battle plays out.

They aren’t a deep team. They go 7 or 8 deep usually but none of the bench guys see a lot of minutes. The offense obviously runs through Blake(6-10) and Willie Warren(6-4). Those guys combine to use 55% of their possessions. (as a comparison, manny and deshawn use 58%) But Taylor Griffin(6-7), Tony Crocker(6-6), and the PG Austin Johnson(6-3) are all threats to put up double digits averaging between 8-10 ppg. So if we focus on taking Blake Griffin out of the game, their other guys can easily step up.

It’s likely we’ll take a similar approach against Blake as we did against Jamelle Cornley at home. Let him have his, but keep Warren from going off.

Looking forward to Dylan’s preview.

By: andrew

andrew — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:19:05 +0000

Completely random – I just found out that Matt Vogrich’s dad works at my company. Different consulting specialization, but he sits in the wing right around the corner from me. And no, I won’t tell you where I work.