MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

1 Hour and 13 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1
Watching the gold medal game through scrambling flight delays featuring a mid-air celebration. Canada really underperformed offensively despite having a lot of star power. Finland's medal consistency is relentless, Sweden is disappointing. Remembering the Miracle on Ice. Anyways, Michigan hockey lost a frustrating 4-1 game to Wisconsin on Friday. Will Horkoff scored the first game and it was all downhill from there.The Badgers were desperate and just outshot and outmuscled Michigan. 
 
Segment 2
Michigan bounces back 3-1 on Saturday, their five-on-five effort was much better despite penalty trouble and shot disadvantage. Cason Musser gets his first career point. Jack Ivankovic's 34 saves helped stabilize the night. Michigan is still a 99.6% chance of being a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament. Penn State had a wild 11-4 outburst against Ohio State, Gavin McKenna had eight points. Providence surges, Western Michigan pushes for a 1-seed. If Michigan wants to be perceived as elite this year then a sweep of Minnesota is a must this weekend.
 
 
MUSIC

NHL on ESPN Theme

"Can't Catch Up" -- Rehab

Ice Hockey (NES) theme

1 hour and 43 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers.

1. Men's Basketball vs Purdue
Starts at 0:51

The Duke game was annoying and non-impactful so let's start with Purdue. Purdue comes out to a 5-0 start, Michigan then goes on a 42-17 run. Mackey exploded no matter what, even when Michigan was up 16. Matt Painter is a dude who respects ball. Mara foreshadowed the Duke game by getting into foul trouble, but that wasn't until the 2nd half, otherwise he had a great 1st half. The other subplot of this game was they shot 57% from three, and almost all of them were good shots. Trey Kauffmann-Renn went off for Purdue, historically May has let him go defensively though. Michigan is doing a great job of making the non-contestable guys contestable. What was funnier, the Fletcher Loyer heat-check airball or Cadeau getting to the free throw line and not knowing what to do? 

2. Men's Basketball vs Duke
Starts at 22:55

A very frustrating game. Mara picks up three first half fouls, the first two of which were not fouls. Playing three bigs in the second half felt like an impulse. Will Tschetter has been a faithful companion for this program but this wasn’t the game for him. Duke went on their end of first half run when Michigan had their small lineup out there. Dusty is usually very calm but he was on the verge of eruption. The official in this game notoriously call more calls than anyone else and didn’t give us a proper Michigan Duke game. You can just give the coach an iPad to decide if you want to challenge calls?? Does Mara need a little more self-confidence? His body language is telling. Michigan didn't get a lot out of guard play. Their quality of looks in this game were nowhere near their looks in the Purdue game. They got out of balance with their lineup changes and shot 24% from three but still only lost by five to Duke so this really isn't that concerning. What was that travel call? LJ Cason is definitely a contested shot guy. Michigan's biggest win over the weekend was UCLA over Illinois. The Minnesota game is for a share of the title, two Big Ten wins means an outright title. Brian still can't believe how good Keaton Wagler is. 

3. Hot Takes and Hockey vs Wisconsin
Starts at 55:40

Takes hotter than yours truly after Mara's second foul against Duke. Michigan gets a split out of Wisconsin which ends any hope of catching Michigan State in the Big Ten standings. Wisconsin played their backup goalie and Michigan didn't do enough to threaten him. Kason Muscutt got his first goal. BTN+ has announcers that don't even know Michigan's roster. Michigan could get to 51 points after next week which would win the Big Ten in most years. They have a 99.6% chance of being a #1 seed, they would need to win the Big Ten Tournament to get the #1 overall. #2 overall could get Saint Thomas? 

4. Potpourri
Starts at 1:24:57

Hughe's got it better than us? Michigan shouldn't claim Jack Hughes. Great performances from Michigan hockey players in the Olympics and the gold medal game. Michigan doesn't have these guys on this team (Michigan State doesn't either, though). Canada was sad and then got handed a stuffed stoat. If you haven't seen the figure skating exhibition gala, you should. Michigan has a new general manager. Sean Magee sent Savion Hiter the wrong dollar amount for his NIL?? The new GM is Dave Peloquin who used to work at Notre Dame. Michigan baseball got another ranked win over Louisville. The vibes for Michigan softball aren't good right now. They're like Nebraska football. 

MUSIC:

"UFOs"—Phoenix and Alan Braxe

"Evil Twin"—Cut Worms

"Dug"—Dream Sitch, Michael Nau, Floating Action

“Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra

Things Discussed:

Seth on early: Ohio State has yet another former player admitting he didn't go to class. Mick Cronin doesn't record practices—he's Tom Izzo without being a good basketball coach. Seth gives a history of coaching styles, short version is the Bo/Woody/Izzo/Bear style of drill sergeant was just a post-WW2 thing that just worked in that era.

Michigan tampered with [the locks that Mick Cronin puts on the dungeon] UCLA, and Xavier Booker sneaks in while it's open: ooh, more yelling!

Purdue: Mackey was lit, 42-17 run after going down five early. Michigan took only one bad three; everything else was open. Purdue was the opposite, all movement. Not thruck.

Matt Painter is the anti-Cronin. Explained the game so well: he helped every dive inside and forced M to hit open kickouts. Soon as they did there's nothing more to do

If Mara is going to play like he did in the 1st half and Cadeau plays like he did in the 2nd half...yeesh.

How would you attack Michigan? Start by pulling Mara out of the middle by going five-out, then survive their size on offense (e.g. Illinois).

Duke Preview: Boozer is a suped up Yax, they have incredible length on the perimeter including a 6'8"/190 Italian they put on PGs so we're going to see if Michigan can keep up their scoring or turns it over a ton. Duke's weaknesses are you can get to the rim and get fouls on their young frontcourt, since they don't really have a backup five.

Cason: best backup PG in the league? Not sure but turning a corner. Still misses a switch and doesn't have NBA spacial awareness, but he's a very valuable backup now.

1 Hour and 38 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1
A discussion of the evolution of language and phonetics. It's tough to broadcast a sport you've never broadcasted before. Actual hockey talk starts at about the 20 minute mark. It was a fine weekend getting five of six points. Your best penalty killer is your goalie. Ivankovic still seems a little rusty (except in OT), maybe there's a lingering injury. Friday night was one of the most insane three-on-three OT hockey games we've seen. This is what people wanted three-on-three hockey to be. 
 
Segment 2
5:00pm puck drop is a weird start time. Michigan wasn't very sound on defense all weekend. The plays they run on power plays are really fun to watch, there are always new wrinkles. Why does there have to be pushing and shoving at the end of every series? Nothing happens anyways, they're just yapping chihuahuas. Is Penn State the fifth best team in the country? Catching up with teams from around the country. Team seeding and location predictions for the tournament - more teams should play closer to their home. Michigan is still more likely to be the #1 overall over Michigan State. Penn State basically needs to win the Big Ten tournament to be a 1 seed. Previewing the Wisconsin series. 
 
MUSIC

NHL on ESPN Theme

"Kitty" -- The Presidents of the United States of America

Ice Hockey (NES) theme

2 hours and 6 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers.

1. Men's Basketball vs UCLA
Starts at 0:51

Brian gets three minutes to talk about Mick Cronin, he hopes he never gets fired from UCLA. He's like a jolly caricature of Izzo. He's Sideshow Bob stepping on the rakes. Michigan would be up by 10 in the first half and it would feel like they should be up 20. Tschetter's really improved as a defender but this game wasn't for him. UCLA was turning the ball over a ton, Michigan didn't have any until the end of the first half. This was a responsible game from Cadeau, some of his turnovers have been boneheaded. He's at around the same turnover rate as last year. LJ Cason is becoming a reliably effective playmaker. Mick Cronin might not have forgotten how to coach defense but he might've forgotten to scout Xavier Booker. If they play a bad game that means only winning by 10. 

2. Men's Basketball vs Northwestern
Starts at 28:10

Similar situation in this game where Michigan played a dominant second half. The difference is they were down 16 points. Kenpom still had them at about 30% chance to win even down 16 in the second half! Michigan missed so many bunnies in this one. They started running NBA sets in their second half rally and that works because they have the size for it. The big story of this game was LJ Cason. Cadeau wasn't doing anything so Dusty put in Cason who stepped up. Who's the most random guy you've ever been thankful for in a game? Probably Kam Chatman. Michigan is rotating nine guys and the ninth guy was the MVP in this game. The six game stretch to finish the regular season features Michigan State as the second easiest game. Alex isn't scared of Purdue. Duke looms. 

3. Hot Takes and Hockey vs Penn State
Starts at 55:44

Takes hotter than the genius that came up with the two-man luge. Special guest, Seth daughter's Mira. Michigan takes 5 out of 6 points against Penn State, this was their first overtime that they didn't win this year. Michigan made it hard on themselves in the Friday game, Ivankovic sort of deflected a goal into their own net. These officials were fine because they degraded the game of hockey but they weren't as bad as some other guys! Penn State split their goalies but the better goalie gave Michigan a couple easy ones. Michigan has first round picks but the only one that has the sauce is Jayden Perron. You look at men's basketball and you think they could win a national championship. You look at hockey and you don't see it. Wisconsin has faded enough to not make the tournament but their forecheck also seemed like Michigan's kryptonite. If you want to win the conference you need six points against Wisconsin. You might need to win out. Michigan is still 96% to be a 1 seed. 

4. Potpourri
Starts at 1:38:22

Michigan replaces defensive tackle coach Lou Esposito with Larry Black out of Vanderbilt. He checks the recruiting boxes. He helped get Vanderbilt to respectable on defense which even Jesse Minter couldn't do. His resume is really good and still isn't as good a resume as the rest of the staff (complimentary). Women's basketball fell behind big to UCLA and got it to within one score. They're so close to the elite teams. Stickball! As of this recording baseball is 2-0 against good programs. USC and UCLA baseball hate being in the Big Ten. Softball is 7-2 overall, Alex was down after the Florida game. If you have six pitchers on the roster you have no pitchers. Brian has only watched curling. Olympic skiing discourse. Sweden pulled their goalie while up 5-2 to get the goal differential (did not get it). 

MUSIC:

"Idol"—Mind Enterprises

"YUHDONTSTOP"—De La Soul

"Brand New City"—Snocaps

“Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra