So Trey has accounted for Duke’s running out of scholarships, but not MSU. He must know MSU is willing to open a scholarship for him.

I just don’t understand what the appeal is with Arizona State or Herb Sendek. They’ve done decently but they’re still second fiddle to Arizona in basketball.

Should we be nervous that Horford visited the campus and didn’t commit?

Hate to say it AG, but aren’t we second fiddle in basketball as well? At this point I’m more excited about sykes. His athleticism and ball handling would be a tremendous asset to the team.

MaceoBaston- no we shouldn’t be worried, unless people have too high of expectatiosn from Horford.
Drew2 & AG2 – While I hate when people tell me Michigan isn’t a top program, I don’t think we can criticize TZ for considering anyone at this point. Arizona st and the area in general has appeal to many people. Some might wonder why he would want to stay in michigan’s economics, weather, etc. Also, I don’t think ariz st is really in contention, they are just on the list.

What impact would offering sykes have on trey? Would it put presure on him that he might choose us so we don’t run out of scholarships? Would it turn him off to us?

I’m warming up to sykes. I think that he is more than just a back up plan. If only he had some kind of jump shot.

Loving the Blue: read Sam Webb’s piece on Sykes, might reassure you. His coach says he can shoot.

Of course his coach says he can shoot… I still want to *see* him shoot.

I think Arizona State was going to get a visit from Trey. An official visit can also be like a mini-vacation. Arizona is 80 degrees this time of year, while Mt. Pleasant is in the 50s if you’re lucky.
In the few times that Sykes did appear to shoot in the video that Dylan/Calvin shot, it reminded me of Dennis Rodman’s or Ben Wallace’s shot-put style of shooting. It was pretty brief (three times maybe), though, so it’s hard to say what he looks like shooting beyond 10-15 feet.

I hear you, Dylan. But I still think it’s significant that amid all of the assertions that he cannot no one comes for and flatly makes the statement.

And–provided he cannot–wouldn’t his coach say something more diplomatic, and defensive, like, “Yeah, he needs to work on it, but. . . “?

I’m just tending to assume that Beilein has drawn a bead on this question.

Does anyone know horford timetable that they said he set. Does anyone know for sure if we even got an offer?

Horford has an offer. I would guess a decision will come soon.

definitely has an offer. the latest is he’s committing this weekend.

I’m happy with Horford coming. I think he will be play fundamentally sound ball, inside and outside, even contribute early. What I would wish for the team is one of those bulldog/tenacious guys that MSU seems to turn up so regularly, who just won’t let their team lose. Can anyone i.d. anyone like that on the squad?

Manny looked like that last year, and again at the end this year. I hope he comes back and exercises some leadership for this very young squad. I think it will/would make a huge difference in whether we wind up next year wringing our hands again or saying, “This team is going to be really strong in 11-12.”

Great news about Horford.

Outside of Manny, Novak has the bulldog mentality and has shown against Duke, UConn, an MSU. He can’t carry the team, though. One of the 2010 kids may have “it”, but we’ll see.

Wish I’d worded my earlier comments on Sykes’ shot better, but oh well. It sounds like he’ll put in the work and he has a high basketball IQ.

Off to Crisler with my niece to watch Hollins and the ladies dispatch Northwestern.

Brundidge definitely seems like that bulldog type (see his film, and Calvin’s descriptions of him taking his team on his back, driving to the hole and drawing contact at will). But he’s not coming in until ’11, of course.

I could also see either Ziegler or Sykes playing that kind of a role, especially if Sykes can develop a jumper. He seems to also be able to drive and make space for himself pretty much at will (although I’m admittedly basing that on pretty limited evidence).

And who knows, maybe Smotrycz and/or Hardaway could turn out to have those kind of playmaking chops, at least eventually. Hardaway appears to be pretty athletic, and Smotrycz can reportedly put the ball on the floor as well as having good shooting ability.

We’ll see, I guess.

Oh, and Mike Rothstein put some tape of Brundidge’s last game up at annarbor.com if anybody hasn’t seen that yet:

http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-basketball/game-film-of-michigan-commit-carlton-brundidge-southfield-against-warren-de-la-salle/

yup brundidge gets my bulldog vote. sykes seems the type, too, not that he’s ours yet.

i would love to get sykes and trey on the same team, by the way. think OSU. how many bigs do they play? they’ve got lauderdale and four small forwards, and each is very very athletic and versatile. i think that is what beilein is going for here.

think how nasty the 1-3-1 could be with morris, trey, sykes, smot, horford out at the same time in a few years…

I remember watching us play Butler two years ago in Alaska and thinking that their style of play was a preview of our own eventually. They’re doing it tonight to perfection – win the turnover battle, win the hustle plays, control the tempo, and knock down jumpshots.

Go Bulldogs!

Love watching Butler play… Imagine Gordon Hayward playing the four here. Love that kid.

AG2 – Good call on Butler, I believe you said they would have been destroyed in the first round had they played any major conference foe.

Whichever way we go to finish out the rest of the class I like the direction were heading we are going to have more of a balanced attack and are team is gonna be more consistent

This years tourney is wild. My bracket looks like michael myers got a hold of it, oh well It’s been fun to watch to say the least. Go N.Iowa. I have a feeling this could be Butlers year. So how many of us are just ready for this whole recruiting drama to be over with. Honestly I would be happy with Sykes and Horford. Zeigler needs to just make up his mind I have a feeling he is leaning towards UCLA. I just don’t like waiting for Z and not getting him and losing out on Sykes too. If that happens I’ll be drowning my sorrows with a bottle of Remy.

Yeah me too I want to get our guys and end this whole recruiting nonsense. I’ve been focusing so much on the guys we might get and I have totally forgotten who we already have in smotrycz and hardaway those are two guys who I really like because they didn’t make us play this waiting game that the others are making us do

The good thing about having horford , hardaway jr , dumars on the squad is now we can finally get that new stadium we always wanted from their parents money. Just kidding but it would of been really cool if we could of got rice jr too

I’ll admit, I hate me some Butler. They remind me of a combination of Duke and Wisconsin. I still can’t understand how Cuse turned it over so freaking much. When they were holding on to the ball, they were destroying them.

I’m trying to imagine a Final Four of Butler, Saint Mary’s, Cornell, and Northern Iowa. It would simultaneously be the best and worst Final Four ever!

Forgive my ignorance, but why would Horford take a visit to AA during the middle of the week? Why wouldn’t he go on a weekend? Is his high school on some sort of break? It’s not like he’s playing this weekend.

Anyway, I’m hoping he commits.

Darius Morris, Ant Wright, and Corey Person reffed a “game” between Maize Rage teams during the half of the women’s game tonight. They stuck around with Stu and Eso to watch the women beat Northwestern 65-44. UM will play at 2 on Sunday at Crisler in the 4th round of the WNIT.

I don’t know why, but when I think of Darius, Trey and Sykes in the backcourt, I think of Georgia Tech when they had Kenny Anderson, Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver (aka Lethal Weapon 3). They might not have the 3-
point stroke of Dennis Scott, but they’d be athletic.

I think Brundidge has bulldog for sure and Trey too. I’m a little hesitant to expect too from the freshmen next year since there’s a difference between high school and the Big Ten. I want to see Hardaway and Smotrycz do well next year, but it took Darius some time to get comfortable. It may take one or a few of the freshmen time to blossom.

Bungaman, I have a hunch that Beilein may want to see the various basketball finals this weekend and then go see the ESPN Rise National High School Invitational on the following weekend. That may be why Horford visited on a weekday. It surprised me a little too, but I’m glad that he got on campus and got his offer.

C’mon evan i have never pulled for state, Im not gunna go against any detroit kids that play the way they do . I bleed blue but beilein needs to take some notes from that F**K Izzo and get more aggresive recruiting and coaching . Im sorry but the key to victory should never be lets shoot 32% from three and we have a chance to win .

There’s an article on Carlton Brundidge at annarbor.com if you haven’t read it:

http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-basketball/michigan-commit-carlton-brundidge-makes-his-game-by-driving-to-the-hoop/

Dwuan Anderson of Suttons Bay had 16 points and six blocks in a Class C semifinal win yesterday.

MHSAA has videos of that game and the other semis from Thursday. They’re supposed to be streaming the games on Friday also at the same site (below). Denby vs. Kalamazoo Central is at 2:50 p.m.

http://www.mhsaa.tv/

Also, Yogi Ferrell’s game on Saturday will be streamed, starting around 12:45 p.m. ET.

http://www.ihsaasports.org/

Brian W. that G. Tech team was deadly and exciting to watch offensively. To bad Brian Oliver was the odd man in the 3some. I don’t think he made it to the NBA. That team made it to the final four on a crazy call that beat ….!! Sorry can’t say the opponents name. That particular game is a college basketball classic. Great history lesson to compare todays possible recruits. It will be exciting to finally hear Horfords commitment this weekend. Enjoy watching the State Finals.

Yeah, Brian Oliver was a very good player. Kenny Anderson and Dennis Scott had nice careers in the NBA too. I guess I am going back a ways. Being over 30 doesn’t feel old, but when I go back to a Georgia Tech team from the early 90s, I guess that’s like the guy who would have compared Jalen Rose to Magic Johnson as point guards when Jalen was in school.

I was really impressed with Sykes. He reminds me of Jalen quite a bit. He has that left handed slashers game. The kid showed great vision in the clip I saw against Taylor Kennedy.
Sykes does not seem like a superior athlete, but he is athletic enough, and looks to have a great basketball IQ, I would love to see him in blue.

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