B1G/NCAA basketball

[Detroit Dan]

Hah!

[The Oracle]

Glad to see Jabari Parker shun Izzo. Looks like he had all his eggs in that one basket. Don't think they're even recruiting anyone else for '13, at least not anyone all that good.

[WM Wolverine]

Yeah, that's a big blow to Sparty who didn't seem to have a plan B in place. They were trying to hit a grand slam with their 1 or 2 scholarships.

[lineygoblue]

With the list that he had, MSU was like an ugly stepsister.

[*JD*]

The Freep apparently jumped the gun on his announcement as well:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/newspaper-coverage-jabari-parker-gives-recruiting-dewey-defeats-224402394.html

[WM Wolverine]

Sparty's confidence a couple weeks ago was amazingly high, huge blow for them.

[Pasadena Blue]

question is can we keep up our momentum. Next year's class is great ... but will Beilein be able to reload continuously like Calipari, Coach K, etc?

[hack]

Esp after rewatching the Arkansas game, I like that there look to be some nice four-year players in the mix. If Horford can stay healthy, I really like his defensive presence. He's a man in there. Albrecht and LeVert too. You need those kids in today's one-and-done model to be the glue players and make up for the freshman brainfarts.

[*JD*]

question is can we keep up our momentum. Next year's class is great ... but will Beilein be able to reload continuously like Calipari, Coach K, etc?

Michigan hasn't locked down any players for 2014, unless you count Austin Hatch. Hatch still hasn't started playing with his team, the last I heard.

From what I gather, they are still in really good shape with Devin Booker (#19 ESPN).

I think they need a deep run in the NCAA's to really solidify that they are truly "back" as a national power. Then, they will be on the radar for top 50 players for years to come. They are already there but it's still fresh.

[*JD*]

Indiana falls and Duke claims no. 1 in Grantland's NCAA basketball power rankings - Grantland

"9. Ohio State

Ohio State's narrow victory over Winthrop on Tuesday night — a game in which the Buckeyes were favored by 28 points — probably raised a lot of questions. What the heck happened to Ohio State? How can they be the seventh-best team in the country if they barely beat Winthrop? As a former Ohio State benchwarmer, perhaps I can shed some light on why they played so poorly.

You see, the thing that sets Ohio State's basketball program apart from every other program in the country is that we strive for greatness in the classroom. Academics have always and will always be a top priority for Thad Matta, which is why we never practiced for more than 30 minutes on any given day during finals week.

"I want you guys going home and hitting the books hard," Coach would always say. "I don't want you thinking about our next game. I want you thinking about how you're going to ace your finals. In fact, I don't even want you to know who we're playing until the game tips off."

"But, Coach," I'd cut in. "Do we have to get all A-pluses on our finals? What if I get an A-minus in my advanced molecular biomechanical physics engineering calculus science final? Even though I tutor everyone in the class because I'm obviously the smartest, I'm afraid I might miss a question or two. That class is pretty tough."

"I think you've mistaken me for someone who gives a damn," he'd snap back. "For every A-plus you don't get, you're running 10 miles. That goes for everyone on this team."

I trust you now understand why Ohio State played poorly against Winthrop. Clearly, the Buckeyes were hitting the books hard all week and Winthrop was an afterthought. I've always tried to tell Coach Matta to lighten up and let the players focus more on basketball, but he never listened. Oh well. I guess it's comforting to know that there's at least one program in the country that cares about its players graduating.

Oh, and by the way, everything in this section is complete bullshit. It's just my way of trying to explain how Ohio State could look like complete ass four days before the biggest game of the season thus far (against Kansas on Saturday). Is it too late to postpone the game? I heard it might get humid in Columbus this weekend, and I'd hate for there to be condensation on the court. Safety first."

[lineygoblue]

heh ... love the last paragraph. Its also an apt description of the entire Saint Jim regime.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Down goes Syracuse. Can play only so many cupcakes

[whodean]

The Buckeyes choke.

[Paul L]

Not sure how you choke when you're garbage/overrated to begin with.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Not sure how that was a "choke" either. Kansas seems like a good team to me. Another team better than anyone Michigan has played to date, just like Duke

We aren't all that great, though. Def not Top 10