MICHIGAN MEN'S BASKETBALL- '19-'20: Hello Coach Nook!

[froot loops]

Ha, SOP when someone wrecks a car at 3AM, stumbles and lies. Another one of your guys got away with something, rejoice!

[froot loops]

Here is a tip for you, if anyone crashes a car at 3 AM and the cops see the dude stumbling there going to give a breath test just in case in most every municipality.

[lineygoblue]

Here is a tip for you, if anyone crashes a car at 3 AM and the cops see the dude stumbling there going to give a breath test just in case in most every municipality.

They didn't see him driving the car,.. and nobody witnessed him driving the car. Ann Arbor is probably the most liberal city in Michigan. Their cops aren't going to give a breathalyzer test to a random pedestrian, who slips on a patch of ice, and doesn't smell of alcohol. They would open themselves up to all sorts of legal action if they didn't give the test with some serious probable cause.

I believe the Free Press article mentioned that one of the officers said that conditions were slippery, and Simpson could have stumbled on some ice.

Simpson wasn't drunk. He was out after curfew, in a borrowed car, and was probably driving stupidly, and wrecked out. He admitted it later, and was punished. The cops investigated, and could not prove otherwise, and they rightly closed the case.

Cheer up, Froot. I'm sure your boys will lay about a 30 point whupping on our guys later today, and all will be well again. Happy days.

[lineygoblue]

Ha, SOP when someone wrecks a car at 3AM, stumbles and lies. Another one of your guys got away with something, rejoice!

Michigan is still recovering from the punishment of the Ed Martin affair. Michigan was a consistent Top Ten program at the time, and consistently recruited classes in the top ten. They got away with nothing.

Nobody who roots for MSU has any standing to point out the sliver in Michigan's eye. MSU needs to remove the log from their own eye first.

[froot loops]

Whaboutism is strong with this one.

[WingsFan]

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/shawn-windsor/2020/02/08/michigan-basketball-silence-zavier-simpson/4695959002/

[lineygoblue]

I dunno, Wings. That piece sounds like a guy who wants to find a story when there is no story.

Haters will want this to be Ed Martin Act II. Its not.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I just read through the article(s). I don't see anything fishy here as far as the U goes at all. Simpson was driving a a 2001 Toyota Rav 4 after 3AM near Hill & S. Forrest and that car belonged to a manager on the team that happens to be Manuel's son. He hit a sing and a utility pole per the report, walked away from the vehicle at the site of the accident, apparently returned, was questioned by police, told them his name was Jeff Jackson and wasn't the driver. Further Simpson told police he was walking by and saw his friend's car. Police stated they recognized "Jeff Jackson" as Simpson but apparently took him at his word that he wasn't the driver.

The police did not write any tickets, the car was towed, Simpson went home. You have to assume he reported the circumstances of the accident to his coaches - probably the manager - at some point that morning or later that day. He also probably told them he had been driving but told police he wasn't the driver. Looks like that got cleared up and the police then wrote Simpson a citation for loss of control of a vehicle. The ticket was for $130 and part of it has already been paid.

It's clear that at some point, Howard knew about the accident, probably had information from the Ann Arbor police and Warde's son, determined that Simpson had violated curfew, suspended him then had a talk with Simpson about lying to police. That's it. This falls into the category of kids sneaking out and doing stupid shit, getting caught and paying the price of $130 ticket, a suspension and a rug dance in front of Howard which likely wasn't a lot of fun for Simpson. Pretty much what any parent would do in this case. There's no negligence on the part of U, no hiding shit, no bad messaging, it was handled. End of story but no ........

It's the Freep ..... just keep that in mind.

[Hannibal]

Needed that one badly.

[lineygoblue]

I'm glad they won if only just to gain a split and preserve home court. Unlike some previous games, the guys hit the FT's down the stretch, and hung on to win.

Any win over Sparty is a good thing.

I didn't see the first half, but I guess there was a FT disparity that made MSU feel like they were playing at home. M got to the line once or twice, and Sparty got there something like 20 times? I haven't seen the stats yet ...

Big Ten officiating .....

[Jeff Buchanan]

Looks like Livers being back makes a rather large difference in this team's chemistry and function.

The string of dysfunction, poor shooting and last minute losses were frustrating.

[WM Wolverine]

Livers being back upped everyone elses confidence. Johns has upped his play the past few weeks, will give this team much needed depth. Still don't care for Brooks unless he's got a wide open look from deep.

[hack]

Whaboutism is strong with this one.

There's a wealth of choice in terms of incidents for comparison with this one.

Anyhow, great win today. Howard deserves a ton of credit from the people who think he's in over his head. Livers is back and they now have the chance to go on a little mini-run here. Once off the bubble you start looking at the volume of Q1 wins, what's likely to be the only victory had against Gonzaga this year, and hopefully a good showing in the conference tournament. Finish strong by stealing a win on the road against a non-Northwestern team and they finish 5-3 on the season.

[*JD*]

M funnels its cars and cash to players through the AD's wife? Good gawd. That's amateur hour.

A 2012 Rav 4 that was given to the AD's kid (who is a student manager on the team) is a far cry from Tyrelle's new Corvette. We certainly have to step it up!

[*JD*]

I'm glad they won if only just to gain a split and preserve home court. Unlike some previous games, the guys hit the FT's down the stretch, and hung on to win.

Any win over Sparty is a good thing.

I didn't see the first half, but I guess there was a FT disparity that made MSU feel like they were playing at home. M got to the line once or twice, and Sparty got there something like 20 times? I haven't seen the stats yet ...

Big Ten officiating .....

There wasn't anything too egregious in terms of fouls called or no calls. This wasn't like the OSU game where guys were getting hit and forced out of bounds with no consequence. The only really bad ref move I saw was Winston illegally touched the ball after losing it and the refs totally missed it. MSU kept possession and wound up getting FT's after what looked like a Winston travel before the contact. So, 2 free points is not bad at all when compared to Tuesday. I think Michigan doesn't get too many whistles inside because, by and large, Teske plays a finesse game even though he usually has a size and weight advantage against whomever is covering him. He just doesn't have an attack mentality.

Anyway, it was a very good win. The team still has trouble with points in the paint (see above) but they hit enough 3's and FT's to win the day. Also, in the 2nd half, they really rebounded well.

The "Juwan can't coach" duo is quite quiet today. He still has a lot to learn but I think he's pretty solid. He has a philosophy and will probably improve on in game adjustments. He's already abandoned his "no double-team" approach that he had for the first half of January.

Some people may remember Beilein's first year here. Even though he had a TON of success prior to coming to AA, that first squad had an awful year. They were light on talent (though they did have Manny, DeShawn Sims, and Udoh) and couldn't make a 3 to save their lives. They went 10-22! Beilein had to get his kind of players here. I think we can afford Juwan the same courtesy.

Also, while the scholarship dilemma very likely won't allow for it, (and I never imagined typing this) I'd be happy if Davis got his 5th year. He's passed Castleton in the rotation, his better moves on the post than Teske, and has become a really valuable role-player. Sure, he's foul prone but at least most of those fouls are the kind that might leave a bruise. Michigan likely won't have room for him, unless there's a way he can be a preferred walk-on, but we may have some issues backing up the 5 next season. If CC transfers (which I think is a strong possibility at this point ), I guess that would mean Johns and Todd would be our back ups to Dickenson.

The guys I see as potential transfers are CC, Nunez, and maybe even Bajema. I still have hope that another offseason in Camp Sanderson for Colin will take him to the level of contributor but I could also see him deciding on a change of scenery. I think he can be a good (maybe even very good?) player. I'm just not sure that it will happen for him here.