MICHIGAN'S MEN'S BASKETBALL: 2015-2016

[*JD*]

He's a bit of a blowhard. Not that Vitale isn't but Dakich doesn't always hit the mark, even when he thinks he does.

[hack]

Agreed. He's gotten a lot better in my 5 years of close watching though.

[The Oracle]

He's the best in the biz.

[*JD*]

Dakich? I do like that he noticed about Max's calves ( less so now that he's a hoosier) but that can only go so far.

[hack]

There's nobody that stands out for me as particularly good. I just know that Vitale is bad. I doubt Dakich would be as good calling a non-con game. He benefits from familiarity. Same with Tirico.

[iam416]

Dakich is easily the best. He actually does color commentary. He talks about the game in a meaningful way. He will occasionally get lost in the weeds or hung up on something that seems trifling, but by and large I'll take him for B10 games all day.

[hack]

Dakich is easily the best. He actually does color commentary. He talks about the game in a meaningful way. He will occasionally get lost in the weeds or hung up on something that seems trifling, but by and large I'll take him for B10 games all day.

That's fair. Hes not very good at beating dead horses. There are better ways.

[iam416]

Correct. He's flawed. But it's only partial as opposed to the bulk of color folks who are entirely or mostly flawed.

[Hannibal]

I like Bardo a lot.

[Cody_Russell]

Dakich is my favorite commentator right now for basketball. He is just good overall and sometimes has short stories that are entertaining to hear.... And of course, his knowledge towards Michigan is pretty good.
I'm not sure if Bill Walton still does games for ESPN/ PAC12, but he made me want to watch late PAC12 games last year.
Walton is so biased, understandably, towards UCLA that it was funny to listen to his rants IMO.

[*JD*]

Walton bugged me on a national level but he was hilarious in the 90's as a LA Clippers color-commentator. He and Ralph Lawler worked really well off each other.

I still like Raftery for the college game. He's entertaining and still pretty knowledgeable. Bardo is solid too but not as entertaining. Dakich does have knowledge but he strikes me as overbearing sometimes, just trying to hammer home his talking points. I don't think a lot of what he says is reacting off of the game.

[lineygoblue]

I can see that the abundant talent of Brent Musberger is not appreciated here.....

[*JD*]

Well, he's a play-by-play guy but, yeah, he's not one I look forward to hearing.

[Hannibal]

Finally got around to watching my DVR of this game. That was the team that I was hoping to see at the beginning of the year. Beating Maryland without the services of Caris Lavert or the benefit of unustainable shooting (12-29 is about at our average, I think). In our next 10 games I think that we can go 7-3 if Lavert gets back by the time we play Nebraska. At Iowa without Lavert is probably unwinnable, as is at Maryland. I assume that 11-7 in the B1G has us pretty comfortably in the tourney as a 9 or higher seed. Would really like to see us reach 12-6 and have a good shot at the second weekend. Anything less than a 4 seed is still somewhat of a disappointment for this season but if they can win one or two games in the tourney, the season is at least salvaged somewhat.

[hack]

It's hard to remember this early in the season but you have to factor in in-season improvement. (At least for me it is, because I hate watching them lose all the hustle points). The '14 team looked ridiculously shaky before they ran away with the conference. That was spurred by a win at Wisconsin. Maybe the Maryland win does the same for this team. Agreed about LeVert. It's one thing to beat a top team at home without him, and another thing on the road. Iowa might be really good -- just went into Breslin and completed a sweep of Sparty. Then again, maybe we can catch them hung over from that and cement our own status as a ranked team worthy of a 4 seed or higher. Originally I had in mind that this team should get at least a 4 seed to avoid the underachiever label. Still very well within reach, especially with how favorable the schedule is. Need to get back in the rankings soon though. Right now not even receiving honorable mentions, although that should change this week. I don't know if they've done enough to crack the rankings, but 30th on Kenpom.