All manner of

The Oldest Team

Auburn is not the oldest team.  They're not even the oldest team in the SEC.  The average, not median, age is 23.2 years.

Pippen 

Good riddance.  Put simply, the role is for the player/student/scholarship athlete to fit in with the team, not the other way around.

There are comments, threads, news, and blog posts on the web.  People get negged for writing "if I were a coach I wouldn't want him" or more frequently "bad look for a Sweet 16 team."  Most people say or agree with "gotta do what you have to" or "this is the new reality."

The University of Michigan is a tough place, not a bad thing for the goal of maturation and education.  But no one can say they didn't know Ann Arbor, Michigan is 1,944 miles from Los Angeles, California.

I don't agree with the argument that he couldn't wait one or two weeks because the opportunities will dry up.

His mother doesn't look "natural."  Until today I didn't know there was a Scottie Pippen, Jr. 

I'll add, because I follow...  He played more than any other freshman until the latest injury (apparently he had a leg injury in the beginning of the season).  Michigan has a thin roster and Dusty May gave him opportunities.  He was OK; Michigan needed some bench minutes and he was adequate as a ball-handler.  He looked slow with little offensive spark.  I remember one time when he received a pass, all alone under the opponent's basket and then passed the ball back out beyond the free throw line.  It looked like a learning moment, because shortly after that on another possession it happened again and  he scored a layup.

Of course I don't know the whole story.  Two or three weeks or more seems like a lot of time for a concussion recovery.  Even so, he could have supported his teammates.  It certainly looks like he has burned bridges and the coaches and team are happy to move on without him.

We have already seen it many times before in basketball and football.  Prima donnas will land somewhere.  Who cares.  He will always be known as the guy who couldn't hack it at Michigan and abandoned his team in the NCAA Tournament.

The Porthole

Or, as the great Tom Izzo calls it, "urinal."  Dusty with some wisdom and insight for the rest of us too.

For a school like Michigan it could mean a strong basketball team each year.  Is this a reason for May's comfort zone?  There are not a lot, but there are other schools that can boast the same characteristics.  There are 364 Division 1 teams.  Michigan has to be in the top twenty in terms of reach (or visibility), dollars, and for those who care, education.  While still money-driven, it is a logical thing for a serious basketball player to want to upgrade from one of the other 300-plus colleges.

 I still haven't watched the video with the 30-year, 70-year old coach.  One thing I caught in a short soundbite was 'I don't run anybody off.'  Those who stay, and that doesn't just apply to Michigan.

For Michigan it is already starting despite what May has said.  There's the 7-footer with a lot of Mw's in his name from, well it had to be Africa at some point with a big knee brace; and a point guard from Purdue Fort Wayne.  Who wouldn't want to transfer from there?.  I try not to use the word "ugly" because that was my first reaction when Michigan flushed the porthole under May.  I'll add this, Roddy Gayle looks better and happier now than he used to.  Still it is a dangerous word.  For now I'd say Auburn looks ugly.  I need to take a closer look into how, why, and from where.

 

 

 

Interesting guy and worth listening to.  He knows more (about college basketball) than 99.9% of the rest of us.  He has always had the potential to lapse into a gutter-talking crime boss; age has provided (some) credibility.  And he does this--I'm not going to talk about it, then he does; and you are right, but wrong, for asking and, implied, everything else also.  He is a Michigander and by now a statesman to boot.  He has certainly survived and has a really good basketball team that beat Michigan soundly twice already this year.  Michigan probably would not have won the Big Ten tournament if State had not lost. 

Justin Pippin as one of those guys who didn't want to work and get better, perhaps, within this way of looking at things.

Michigan played Purdue Fort Wayne this year.  Where do these portal rumors come from?  Is Dusty May, and likely Izzo too, being just a little disingenuous?

More waiting for basketball after the jump.  At least baseball is back and the Braves are up 4-3 with a Riley home run.

 

Bruce Pearl

Bruce Pearl has got to be saying "I told you so" out loud.  I hate the expression people don't change.  And I refuse to follow the crowd and quote Mark Twain.  Bruce Pearl is known for his sleazy past.  Today he doesn't look wiser or any more trustworthy.  He looks worse.  

The Wiki read for Pearl is fascinating.  That doesn't make him a respectable guy in the slightest.  I am reminded of where the nickname "Snake" comes from.  And the "cookout."

 

 "Tennessee fired Pearl on March 21, 2011—three days after the Vols' blowout loss to Michigan" per Wiki.