EVANS CITY — Despite competing with the sound of traffic, amplified by the howling wind on Friday afternoon, the words from Pastor Lauren Bosserman’s prayers were clear to the faithful group assembled...
THE ESSENTIALS WHAT #79 Michigan (7-11, 2-5 B10) at #2 Purdue (17-2, 6-2 B10) WHERE Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN WHEN 9:00 PM THE LINE Kenpom: PU-17 Torvik: PU-20 TELEVISION Peacock (streaming link) THE OVERVIEW Purdue Basketball is having its 2023 Michigan Football season, with a game-bending senior up front who put off the pros to get in a run with some underrated sophomores coming into their stardom. Also along for the ride are some longtime contributors who chose to come off the bench rather than transfer because This Right Here is The Year. They're led by a brilliant, 100% authentic, Hall of Fame coach whose one knock is an inability heretofore to win on the biggest stage. The difference: Purdue Hoops ran over a murderer's row of Xavier, Zaga, Tennessee, Marquette, Bama, and Zona in the nonconference, then lost road games at both of the Big Ten's mediocre NUs. Like 2023 Purdue Football, Michigan is a rickety nuisance that looks tougher on paper than the field of play, is playing this one without a critical guard, and is about to get steamrolled. There the comparisons end, except their visit to West Lafayette is being played far too late at night on Peacock. If you're looking for reasons to get your login credentials back from your brother and stay up for the nadir of Michigan basketball since before Zak and Stu, it's that what Purdue does will work equally well on #3 Arizona or #95 Indiana. Until they prove otherwise, we can assume the general Painterness of this program that leads to upsets against Farleigh Dickinson is still baked in. Who's the Farleigh Dickinson now? We are. Go…wildcats? Corporals? [does a google] Knights! [Hit THE JUMP for murder at the hands of good people.]
THE ESSENTIALS WHAT Battle 4 Atlantis QtrF3 #37 Michigan (3-1) vs #32 Memphis (3-0) WHERE Autograph Ballroom at Rewarding Fans Resort The Bahamas WHEN 5:18 PM THE LINE Kenpom: Mem-1 Torvik: Mem-1 TELEVISION ESPN2 (link) Via sources, the tiger mascot has been replaced with this shit-talking doll. THE OVERVIEW Michigan is back competing for the Cursed Trident of Atlantis, and begins the tournament against an athletic, up-tempo team of high-profile transfers that Penny Hardaway has assembled in a second swing at becoming the Prime U of basketball. Led by a two-time portal gem, the Tigers like to get in transition, create isolation for their slashers, and score at the rim. Their opponents thus far are two bottom-of-the barrel (#284 and #341 out of 362 teams on Kenpom) buy games and a centerless Mizzou team that just lost at home to the afore mentioned #284 team. Michigan is coming off a defensive collapse against Long Beach State, an athletic up-tempo mid-major that might compete for the Big West but wasn't supposed to be competitive in Ann Arbor. Michigan's own suite of transfers are still trying to gel with a mostly sophomore core left over from a mostly Hunter Dickinson squad that is now definitively not that. Offsetting their recent upset is a win in Madison Square Garden against a somewhat suspect St. John's team in Year 1 under Zombie Rick Pitino that featured a rim monster and a bunch of transfer slashers. The Michigan team that beat them zoomed Dug into the lane and switched the athletes into oblivion in the second half. Which team shows up to the Ballroom in the Bahamas is unknown. They're probably not going to be the Beach team. But like the ceiling in the weird hotel they play this thing in, there's still bound to be leaks. [Hit THE JUMP for a day at a different beach.]
After long college hoops career, ex-Wolverine signs with Hungarian pro team mlive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mlive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
So it's been largely discussed a major contributor for the major chaos in the NCAA tournament this year is because of the eligibility status of many players, as this season's tourney has some of the oldest rosters ever, as teams like FAU, KSU, Creighton, SDSU, and more feature many elder class players and transfers. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35865975/charleston-dalton-bolon-seventh-season-proud-dad-shoes https://www.si.com/college/alabama/bamacentral/veteran-physicality-becomes-alabama-basketballs-ultimate-undoing-byler
Juwan Howard didn't have to look very far to get his next pledge, as FL Forward Jace Howard became the fifth commitment of the 2020 class. This was more formality than actual recruitment, as Michigan was easily the best option on the table for the younger Howard, who held a handful of mid-major offers prior to his father taking the lead job in Ann Arbor. GURU RANKINGS Rivals ESPN 24/7 Endless Motor 3*/SF NR 3*, #250 overall #43 SF, #22 FL 3*/PF 24/7 is the most bullish, placing Howard as a top 250 prospect nationally. Rivals and Endless Motor agree on the generic 3* range, although Rivals views Jace as more of a wing than power-forward. Declining manpower dictates that ESPN has not bothered with evaluation or ranking of any sort. It is agreed that he sits at 6’7 and in the 200-210 pound range. SCOUTING Jace has the look of a program player that will be a solid glue-guy on both ends of the court. Offensively, he’s a combo-forward that is more PF than SF in terms of skillset. Howard does the vast majority of his damage inside the arch, but is capable of stretching the floor from the distance occasionally. He runs the floor well in transition and has a solid jumper from the baseline out to 18 feet. Jace isn’t a primary ballhandler, but down the line he may be a guy that can face-up from the elbow and blow by bigger defenders. He is a solid athlete with fluid movements that may have some real potential as perimeter defender that guards bigger wings and PF types. Other evaluations are rather scant, as he didn’t play a ton of games/minutes during the Summer on the EYBL circuit and played a limited role in HS as a junior on a loaded University School squad. Recent analysis from Hoop MIA is probably the best guide, as they’ve viewed Howard recently in a more prominent role as a senior with University School. “Howard plays the game with great enthusiasm and his teammates feed off the effort he plays with. He is excellent at using his speed and athleticism to take advantage of slower defenders. He then uses his size and length when teams assign smaller players to guard him. He plays the game efficiently and is good at attacking the basket in straight line drives and does not waste moves or dribbles.” [After THE JUMP: a comparison that will undoubtedly make me look foolish]