UMass is apparently playing in Michigan’s bracket in the Coaches vs Cancer opening rounds according to this message board post (I can’t get the article link to work). This is another tough match up on what was supposed to be a watered down schedule this year. UMass is a game that is winable though and will be a good early test for this team. Check out the other notes I have assembled on next years schedule. One other note (sorry for adding this late) there is also a rumor circulating about a home and home series (possibly 4 years) with UConn but this hasn’t been confirmed anywhere and may be for this year or later on (Thanks Joe).
Some information is out there from national events this week about Carl Jones, Michigan’s #2 point guard target at this time. First from the RivalsHoops (free):
Despite a hamstring injury Rivals.com top 150 prospect Carl Jones was in the building supporting his Ohio Basketball Club teammates. Jones says he has offers from Iowa, Penn State, Texas Tech, St. Joe’s, and Marquette. He also mentioned that Michigan is still showing a lot of interest despite not offering.
ESPN had this scouting report on Carl Jones at the LeBron Skills Academy:
Jones has the ability to score in a variety of ways. He can connect with relative ease from beyond 3-point land, but he also has the quickness to penetrate to the basket. Though small, he uses an assortment of floaters and angles to get his shots off in the paint amongst the trees.
Rivals also mentions that Justin Jordan, another 2009 point guard also mentions Michigan as well as Texas Tech, Purdue, Butler, LSU, and Virginia.
If you have premium on Rivals they have both posted tons of team/elite camp video over the past week: Novak, Lubick, Morgan, and Elite Camp. 2010 point guard Ray McCallum Jr. will attend Detroit Country Day next year. Vince at PrepSpotlight has a great report ($) on Manny and DeShawn at the LeBron Academy where they were counselors and also got to play with LeBron and Chris Paul. Not a lot of mention of Darius this week who was apparently slowed with a back injury for most of the week. One more note, Givon Crump is blowing up at RBK U and he is certainly a wing target to watch (again sorry for adding this late).
From the Jones Cup, Laval Lucas-Perry scored 14 points and notched 2 steals in Day 2 action during an easy win over Qatar. It also looks like Laval had 9 vs Jordan in an opening day loss (Taiwain Hoops).
Laval Lucas-Perry had a fastbreak dunk, a three and a three-point play in the second quarter as AIA led by as many as 14 points.
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DeShawn “Peedi” Sims showed signs of improvement from his tragedy filled freshman year and handled to transition to a new coaching staff in stride. DeShawn had his good moments such as starting out the first half of the UCLA game hot and scoring 22 against Ohio State at home. But overall DeShawn just gave us a glimpse of his potential and never proved to be the player we needed him to be night in and night out. I think DeShawn is one of the most critical pieces to this teams success moving forward so it’s encouraging that Beilein has declared DeShawn his special project. More after the break… Continue reading ‘Report Card: DeShawn Sims’
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The All Big Ten teams were announced tonight on the Big Ten Network and as expected there were not many Michigan names on the list. Manny Harris was named to the 2nd and freshman teams by both the coaches and media. This is a pretty reasonable spot for Manny and there is not really anyone I would swap him with on the first or third teams. The all-freshman team consists of Moore, Manny, Gordon, Hummel, and Koufos. The “snub” that we will be hearing about I am sure is Kalin Lucas from MSU. However Moore’s slightly better numbers and playing on a better team make him deserving for the honor in my opinion.
Ekpe Udoh made the all-defensive team but I think he could make a case for defensive player of the year. Ekpe averaged 2.9 blocks per game and .8 steals but again I can see giving the nod to Kramer for playing on the far better defensive team overall.
Other Michigan players honored were DeShawn Sims getting honorable mention notice from the coaches and Ron Coleman with the sportsmanship award. Congrats to all the Michigan players honored, you can check out the full teams here.
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Post-Game: Wow. What a game, a lot of thoughts on this one. The first half was fun to watch, a lot of up and down and high scoring. A Big Ten game high scoring? Letting OSU shoot 68% in the first half was clearly not good defense but in the second half we tightened up and held them to 33%. We cut down on Butler’s penetration and made Koufas work for his points. In the first 5 minutes we really stuck it to Koufas and he was rattled and got pulled. We were up about 4 points with 4 minutes left and I got a little deja vu but this team held in there and showed a lot of heart with 3 freshman and 2 sophomores on the court.
David Merritt: What can you say. Kid had the crowd going wild in the first half and was just making plays NOBODY ever thought he would make. We were struggling to score and he made big buckets three times. He should have had one more layup and that desperation three at the end almost went.
Manny Harris: This is our leader, and luckily he’s only a freshman. I am fully confident that Manny will lead this team back where they need to go. Kid was hitting his threes and if he is making those he is too versatile to guard. He has the slow release on his three with the knee bend but its almost like that helps him with his pump fake. Made the big free throws down the stretch (unlike that other Harris) and gutted out the win.
DeShawn Sims: Hit some huge threes, but most importantly had 7 rebounds. Kid might finally be getting it, you have to go hard for 40 minutes. He also did a great job on defense I thought, sticking with smaller guys off switches a lot. He has gotten a lot of flak all year for his poor defense but he might be turning the corner.
Another great part about today was everyone stepping up and making plays when they were needed. Ant Wright had a three and a facial on the baseline (notice Ant played 27 minutes and Ronnie only 15). Zack Gibson had a huge offensive rebound and put back. Ekpe was a monster on D with 6 blocks (and 4 steals and 5 points) also hit his free throws at the end. Kelvin Grady with the big time steal and a couple huge buckets that made up for his lackluster play early.
Great effort, the crowd was great. Rich Rodriguez was great at halftime, Beilein went and thanked the Maize Rage before the game as well for their support through tough times all year. Let’s hope this is the start of turning the corner. Also one other note, this Matta/Beilein rivalry is personal and it has history. Could make for a fun series between Michigan and Ohio State in both sports. These two guys know each other from their Richmond/Xavier days.
Recruiting Note: Zack Novak was in attendance.
Continue reading ‘Game 23: Ohio State at Michigan’
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