MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

Things Discussed:

Seth shares his story in the hotel lobby: Thank you to Champions Circle!!!

How this team was built: Michigan cared about fit and personality. If you're trying to copy this and you spend more in the portal you're doing it wrong.

Would any of these guys be as good if they stayed at their old schools?

Will Izzo hate this team more, or when Flint product Trey McKenney leads them to a repeat?

Dusty May future: perfect for this era where you pick whom you play for.

Portal: Can they get John Blackwell through admissions? If he can graduate from Wisconsin.

Portal: Juke Harris? Craig said he's a four; Seth says he is not a four because he's 200 pounds, and Wake was wrong.

Hockey preview: It's random, but the story is USNDTP won hockey this year. Best goalie, best route, best seed, get the nice locker room for both games. NCAA took CHL players and it turns out NCAA hockey is stronger.

Denver's goalie is super hot, their goalie is the Hurley of college hockey.

Who's favored? Nobody. 1/4ths.

2 hours and 9 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. Just Won a Natty/Indianapolis Vibes
Starts at 0:51

No crying this time, but we do think we can have nice things now. You get out of it what you put into it; the UMHoops guys are probably experiencing the highest of highs. The 2023 football championship was a thing no other fanbase has experienced; this is what a normal natty feels like. Some of us survived the 2023-24 team. The story begins with the Ellerbe years, the Beilein era absolutely helped build this. Don't resent the Fab Five, but they unfairly had to represent what Michigan could be. Reconsidering the Juwan era, the heart condition, how badly he needed a GM. Beilein was spiritually (and literally) present for this team; loudest the stadium got before Michigan hit a three was when they showed him. Very unselfish team. Built through the portal—Cronin was never going to be a good fit for Mara, Rez wasn't going to have a role after Illinois got the other Ivisic, Cadeau was struggling in a bad system at UNC, Yaxel used the portal to get here from JUCO via UAB, Roddy Gayle was the national glue guy of the year, Nimari was here three years through two coaching changes, and Will Tschetter was a five-year player who took a smaller role: nobody can make a good faith argument that any of these guys don't belong here.

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 

2. The UConn Game
Starts at 27:50

Takes hotter than the rims during the final last night. Story of the game was UConn fouling the crap out of Michigan from literally the tip. Miss the first Cadeau and-one, then hit 24 free throws in a row to offset the terrible threes, until Roddy missed his pair. Snakebit shooting because Rez/Mara/Yax kept getting mismatches down low, but Michigan was able to play their bigs together, and that just made it impossible for UConn to score. Felt like Lendeborg was himself on defense; offensively he was obviously hobbled. Their communication was fantastic, and there weren't mismatches for UConn to hunt. A time or two they got Mara versus Karaban on the perimeter or something, but they didn't get backcut once. Tarris was basically shut down by Mara. Only thing they got were those ORebs, which were hat tips to them and also related to Michigan taking way the three. Next year Trey McKenney; graded on a curve he made 2 of Michigan's three jumpers, including the dagger. The Rube Goldberg three. Cadeau vs the Cadeau we thought we were getting.

3. How this Team Came Together
Starts at 59:16

Revisiting how the roster came together, May's eye for talent, because every guy he got at FAU wound up a star somewhere. You can't actually build from the portal; if that's the lesson they're taking from this team they're going to get lit up. Cadeau cleaned up the TOs (but still commits them at the end of the game his banana peel). On the human to athlete personality spectrum, Mara is a normal human being, who never should have been paired with Cronin—all little guys who play basketball are born killers because you have to be, but it's common for bigs to be like that. Mara was the best player; he developed into a beast by the end of the year. Transfer teams: if you look at the rest of the top ten four didn't make the Tournament; Michigan was the only protected seed that took a lot of transfers. St. John's and Louisville were the others. Once you're been at a school a year you're not a transfer anymore. Cig vs May: Cignetti relied more on his JMU transfers. It's especially hard to recreate what Michigan did defensively, because at the end these guys won a title by doing the best job of anybody of playing with each other.

Introducing the Bobby Hurley Index: How many photos do you look like Jim Carrey in The Mask?

4. Next Year
Starts at 1:38:41

Are they looking at the portal list or the list of guys projected to the late 1st/early 2nd round? Mara and Rez are probably done—small chance they get Rez back. Cason going to redshirt. Gayle, Burnett, Yaxel are out of eligibility. Cadeau and McKinney: best backcourt in the country next year? McCoy is Charles Matthews-ish, going to be a major defensive presence; if you get two years out of him he's a big get but he doesn't have a deep shot, might be freshman Darius Morris or what we wanted Rubin Jones (PG who can guard 1-4) to be. Recruited lots of SFs: Grady? Liburd? Brown? All going to be 6'5" gumby-armed switchable guards. Backup PG: can McCoy or McKenney can play point for 10 mpg. Do they have a wing? Want that guy to be switchable; Seth thinks they're going to have a big war chest to find an NBA four who can play the three in addition to two bigs. Goodman will be next year's Tschetter. Need three portal bigs. Is Dusty May the #1 coach you would want to have if you were looking for one right now? UNC search was Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May right?

MUSIC:

"La Di Da"—Heavy Weighs the King

"Don't Be Mad"—PiranhaMob   

"Up and Away"—Cursive       

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

1 Hour and 18 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
Between college hockey and the NHL playoff race the past few weeks have been exhausting, but worth it. The Eastern Conference is an extremely tight race, the Western Conference is the Avalanche, the Stars, and then everyone else competing for third place. The Red Wings have a weak rebuild and a lack of young star power like a lot of other rising teams. Previewing a red-hot Denver team with exception goaltending. Both Michigan and Denver have similar metrics. At one point this season the Denver goalie gave up 17 goals in 15 games. Is this sustainable against Michigan? Michigan should prioritize shot quality over quantity. Denver has an experienced defense but not as explosive of an offense as Michigan. If Michigan can exploit Denver's goalie early they may finally break their Frozen Four curse. 
 
Segment 2
Previewing Wisconsin and North Dakota. North Dakota is a more consistent, well-rounded team with strong possession metrics, balanced scoring from a core group, and solid special teams. Their goaltending is good not great. Wisconsin is more volatile: they can compete with anyone if they get strong goaltending and finishing, but their inconsistency, weaker penalty kill, and reliance on high-end performances make them less reliable.North Dakota is more dangerous overall, but Wisconsin is higher variance and can use that to compete with anyone. Both opponents would be difficult for Michigan for different reasons - we've seen what Wisconsin can do to Michigan.
 
MUSIC

NHL on ESPN Theme

"Arrhythmic Glow" -- Mortimer Nyx

Ice Hockey (NES) theme

2 hours and 3 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. Final Four vs Arizona
Starts at 0:51

Dave has a new nickname. Was this game... a let down? You could have maybe predicted that Arizona would struggle to score based on their over-reliance on twos. You probably could not have predicted that Michigan would put up over 90 points without Yaxel. Arizona was extremely physical which resulted in foul trouble, but when they got away with it they could score. Michigan forced Arizona into an ungodly number of two point jumpers off the dribble. They were 10-of-32 from mid-range. Arizona missing a dunk felt like the dagger. Michigan's maturity showed, they didn't seem blinded by the lights of the big stage. Elliott Cadeau had the greatest 2-of-14 half of basketball. Yaxel goes out the first time because of foul trouble and Arizona couldn't be more physical than Michigan's guards. Arizona has one way of playing that nobody else could stop, except for Michigan, and Arizona didn't know how to react. When shooting was tough, Trey McKenney stepped up. 16 points on 6-9 shooting, he has changed how we feel about mid-range shooting.

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 

2. Hot Takes and National Championship Preview - UConn
Starts at 33:42

Takes hotter than ADAY MARA. Connecticut is #9 in Kenpom which feels like a relief, but they do have weird tournament joujou. That's better than having to play Duke at least. Michigan vs Tarris Reed for a national championship is crazy. Tarris has matured into a hoss and is their center, his backup, Eric Reibe, is a freshman and a drop-off but still a good player. They don't really play a second big. Alex Karaban is their second biggest player and he's been around college basketball for forever but he's a big wing. This is a game where Tschetter can play. Michigan can play two bigs and put one of them on Karaban but it might only be for 15-20 minutes of the game. Should Michigan make this into a shooting fest and maximize possessions? Tarris Reed is very difficult to ware out. Braylon Mullens is a freshman 6-6 195 lbs wing that Michigan can overwhelm. Silas Demery is a transfer from Georgia, the point guard, top 25 assist rate, top 100 steal rate. Gets to the line a ton, not that great from two. Solo Ball takes most of his shots from outside of the arc, he has also been seen wearing a boot. Expect UConn to show a lot of different coverages. How much Yaxel will we get? Expect it to be a Blake Corum vs Ohio State situation. He came to Michigan to play in this game so you gotta feel for him if he can't play much. UConn's biggest advantages are blocking two point shots and assists, which Michigan should be able to take advantage of. Their path to victory is to replicate what Purdue did in the Big Ten Championship game. Once again, the difference in this game will be Aday Mara. No Paul Szelc won't be officiating this game! 

ADDENDUM - Solo Ball was reported as being in a boot while this was recorded. If he's not able to play that is a huge drop-off. Even if he plays he's not going to be 100%, much like Yaxel. 

3. Hot Takes and Gimmicky Top Five Commercial Takes
Starts at 1:20:48

You know AI companies are running out of money because they can't even get Snoop Dogg on their commercials. Charles Barkley will say anything. Has Jennifer Garner acted in anything besides Capital One commercials in the last decade? AT&T did predict the Michigan Tennessee game. Are they putting the cocaine back in Coke? Tall Boozer looks like a normal Boozer, small Boozer looks like an AI recreation of a Boozer. 

4. Potpourri: WBB, Hockey, and Football Bits
Starts at 1:34:22

Women's basketball was dumptrucked, but at least we now can empathize with all the teams that played MBB. The game has gotten two chalky; it's the same four one-seeds, repeats of the same games. Is there a ceiling on this team, unless they suddenly double the money they put into it?

David's hockey takes: Denver is not like or MSU who's going to take the puck off your stick, and those are the teams that Michigan struggles with. He likes Michigan with four lines and snipers versus a smaller goalie—shot quality game. Brian hates that it's Denver in the tournament. Is there a team that's looked better than Michigan in the Playoff? Wisconsin-NoDak is a pick 'em but matchup-wise Wisconsin would rather be playing Michigan. North Dakota got walked to the Frozen Four. If we lose Seth has to wear Denver jersey to the podcast.

Football bits: We're in the ping-pong table removal phase. It's okay that Underwood's throwing interceptions, because he's trying them. Non-insane QB run approach. Next QB is Carr. Hiter hype continues, Salesi Moa is popping. Eli Owens fullback talk. Brian doesn't buy the talk of Babalola starting when he's been hurt, but Sprague at RG can only mean that because Frazier is securing a spot. Defensively the DT situation is good on Palepale and not good that Lea'ea is "smart" vs "much larger." Seth loves the Edokpayi talk, Benny Patterson is a Mike-Mo. Kind of a good sign the three young LBs are getting a lot of talk (albeit with a simplification). Good sign that Bracy is getting talked up for his coverage.

MUSIC:

"The Wino I Know"—Jimmy Buffett

"Ruby"—White Denim

"Long Weekend"—Cut Worms

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

Things Discussed:

Has Michigan found that November stride? More that Tennessee and Alabama didn't have the size; difference was Bama's PG went off.

It's a two-point game now. There's never been more than two teams that shot 60%+ from two; this year there are eight.   

Looking at how size matters (I recap yesterday's Jimmystats).

The perfect guy to defend Arizona is Moussa Diabate. Note that Zona's main weakness seems to be extremely athletic rim defenders who can make them less efficient at the rim. Utah State, Cincy had those guys.

Matchups: Should they put Mara against Krivas? Not sure that will be efficient, but Mara in the 15 mins that Krivas sits should be a MAJOR advantage because Peat is a freshman super-wing and Awaka is a Tennessee big. Zona will play drop coverage, M should have some offense planned to get lops off that.

Peat: you can push him from the basket; he's taken 165 shots at the rim and 130 pullup Js and there's a MASSIVE difference in efficiency. Kharchenkov another outstanding freshman who can be pushed off his shot.

What Zona does is rebound and get free throws, and Michigan is set up to stop that. What Michigan does is oversize you and overmatches Yaxel vs guards, and Arizona is set up to stop that.

If Yaxel vs Kharchenkov or Peat is our big matchup win Brayden Burries vs our guards is theirs. He may be one step too fast for Nimari, think this is a March Roddy Game.

Super impressed with Cadeau's defense; he anticipates screens and that has saved Michigan from getting into bad matchups.

Bradley: Weird thing is it doesn't even matter where he's taking his twos from. Would be good on a Will Wade team.

Tschetter: salute to his play vs Tennessee in the 1st half. Sometimes you need that kind of effort.

Illinois or UConn: We disagree. Illinois is a better team, UConn can switch 1-5 and beat them in MSG, though that was back when it wasn't abnormal for Wagler to score 3 points.

Duke vs UConn: Biggest choke play ever?

Hockey: What's different? Sam asks if we have the best goalie in the Tournament: yeah, by a little. What's different about this team from the ones that didn't win? Brian: Nothing. Seth: Not as talented up front but they hit on all of their USNTDP guys; the United States' ability to develop hockey players has been the story of the year, and we're a part of that story.