[Fool]

My daughter goes to school right down the street from Gabriel Richard.

[tin mad dog]

Community High?

[Fool]

What was I thinking? She's down the road from Aquinas High not GR.

[tin mad dog]

Not as impressive a win yesterday but I'll take it. We've matched last year's total!

[tin mad dog]

Posted: 8:38 a.m. Sept. 21, 2009
Southfield's Carlton Brundidge commits to Michigan

By MARK SNYDER
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Southfield guard Carlton Brundidge gave the Michigan men's basketball team an oral commitment this morning for the 2011 class.



The All-Metro selection averaged 24.5 points, six rebounds and five assists last season for the Blue Jays.

Contact MARK SNYDER: 313-223-3210 or msnyder@freepress.com. Check out his Wolverines blog at freep.com/section/blog14.

[tin mad dog]

From last December:

Thursday, December 25, 2008
Sam Webb: Recruiting
Southfield's Brundidge plays beyond his years

Southfield guard Carlton Brundidge is no stranger to playing in the background. The thing is, he just isn't very good at it.

As a youngster he observed his dad imparting basketball knowledge upon older brother Dale, who's now a freshman guard at Wayne State. Over the last year he has observed names like Brandan Kearney, LaDontae Henton and Amir Williams receive mention as the best players in a deep 2011 in-state class. However, it's becoming increasingly clear that Brundidge's game shines too brightly to be in anyone's shadow.

"One time my dad was teaching my brother how to shoot and he told me to stay inside," the sophomore guard recalled. "I was just looking out the window thinking, 'I want to know how to shoot too.' When they got done I just went outside and I started doing the exact same thing myself."

It wasn't until later that Clennie Brundidge realized that the lessons he had been instilling in one son were being absorbed equally by another. Dale's participation in Durand "Speedy" Walker's AAU program, "The Family," proved to be the key to uncovering his little brother's hidden talent.

Advertisement

"Really, Carlton always had an opportunity to participate in the practices because of his older brother," Mr. Brundidge explained. "We were in practice and when we didn't have enough players, we would let (Carlton) play. Even when he was 9 and my other son was 12 and playing with Manny Harris and all those guys, (Carlton) would play. He would just be killing them (with his) shooting. That is when I really knew he could play."

'I did my thing'

Parents can sometimes oversell their kids' abilities, but that's not the case here. Brundidge's early court prowess impressed numerous other observers as well, including Walker.

"When he was in the eighth grade, Coach Walker came and talked to my wife and I about Carlton," Mr. Brundidge said. "He was saying that (Carlton) is a special kid and stuff like that. He said, 'Trust me -- I am going to let him play on the 17-and-under team. I am going to put him out there and let him go.'"

And go he did. Against older teams featuring players like Michigan State freshman Delvon Roe and Ohio State freshman Anthony Crater, the then-physically precocious middle-schooler more than held his own. A few memorable double-digit performances later and there was little doubt that Walker was right about the youngster's talent.

"I knew that I could play at that level," said Brundidge. "It wasn't nothing big. I thought about it when I got home after the tournament, and I was like, 'Wow, I just played against the top people in the class of 2008 and I did my thing.'"

Brundidge followed that with a strong freshman year at Southfield, during which he averaged 13.9 points, 5.3 assists, nine rebounds and 2.6 steals. When AAU season rolled around, Walker placed Brundidge with the big boys again, and for a second time he didn't disappoint.

"I just remember they were playing a team called the Birmingham Storm," Mr. Brundidge said. "(The Family) was down by 15 points in the second half and Carlton wasn't playing. All of a sudden (Coach Walker) put him in and the team started coming back. We beat them. Coach Beilein was there and Coach Izzo was sitting there too."

Scout.com national recruiting analyst Dave Telep was impressed with Brundidge's performance.

"The Detroit crew was on the ropes before calling to the bullpen and inserting instant offense," Telep wrote afterward.

At 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, Brundidge's outstanding strength and deceptive first step allow him to get to the bucket at will. His scoring prowess has some debating whether he is better suited for the one or the two at the next level. But with two-plus years of high school remaining, there is plenty of time to for that to be determined.

Developing speed

The plan at this point calls for him to work hard on improving his speed and quickness so he'll have the versatility to play either position should the need arise. It's a lesson in preparedness that his father is working hard to instill. A similar lesson was ingrained in the elder Brundidge during his days as a player at Army under Hall of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

"As far preparation, Coach K was a master of that," Mr. Brundidge said. "He still is today, as you can see with Duke and the Olympic team. I was telling Carlton, 'You've got to prepare.' That's one of the things I was taught -- to not only to prepare for the game, but to prepare for success. "

That consistent prodding has help create a player with the type of edge coaches love to see.

Said Brundidge, "My dad is always telling me, 'Carlton, you got to play hard every play. You can't take plays off.' I think I play with a chip on my shoulder every time. When I look at (rankings), it's like, 'Oh man, they got that guy up there and not me? I should go to the gym and work out three hours every day.'"

In a big-time matchup in early December against the state's deepest and most talented squad, Detroit Country Day, Brundidge took umbrage with anyone on the floor that tried to stop him. Even in a 103-72 loss, his 27 points, nine rebounds, six steals and one block stood out.

"You can tell that he was pressing a little bit at first, but after he got into the groove he played pretty well," said GoBlueWolverine.com basketball analyst Andre Barthwell. "Carlton can definitely handle the basketball, he can get to the basket when he wants, and he can shoot it from the outside. It's difficult for one guy to stop him because he has that second move. Sometimes you see a kid make one move, get stopped, and then pull it back out. Carlton has that first move, and then if you stop it he goes right into that next move to get his shot off."

Brundidge is already receiving attention from Iowa, Xavier, Michigan State and Michigan. The two in-state programs have already had him on their campuses for unofficial visits.

At this point it should be clear to all those interested that any discussion about the best player in the state's 2011 class is incomplete without Carlton Brundidge's name being mentioned prominently in the mix.

Sam Webb is managing editor of GoBlueWolverine magazine and GoBlueWolverine.com, and co-host of the "Michigan Insider" morning show weekdays on Sports Talk 1050 WTKA. His column appears every Thursday.

[tin mad dog]

Scout Hoops has him ranked at #66 for Juniors and 14th at his position.

[DTH]

Nice pick up.

[tin mad dog]

http://www.umhoops.com/

Carlton Brundidge to Michigan
Published
by
Dylan
on September 21, 2009


Class of 2011 6-foot guard Carlton Brundidge verbally committed to Michigan this morning. Brundidge is a scoring guard from Southfield, Michigan who has the size of a point guard with the game and mentality of a shooting guard. Michigan had long been considered the leader in Brundidge’s recruitment but he finally pulled the trigger early this morning.

Brundidge is Beilein’s first commitment of the class of 2011 and is a consensus top 100 recruit. Brundidge ranks 98th on Rivals, 68th on Scout and 33rd on ESPN. Carlton is one of the top juniors in the state of Michigan as well, ranking as high or higher as Tommie McCune, Patrick Lucas-Perry, Amir Williams, Brandan Kearney, and others. While some like Brandan Kearney may have more potential, it is hard to argue with Brundidge’s production.

Brundidge’s recruitment came down to Michigan, Michigan State, Miami, and Syracuse. Michigan probably had some advantage to begin thanks to family ties to U-M but this is definitely John Beilein’s first major in-state recruiting victory.




Despite his smaller stature, Brundidge has consistently produced throughout his highschool (Southfield) and AAU (The Family) careers. The highlight of Brundidge’s summer was the Peach Jam, where he led the Family to a championship.

That offensive game was on display in July at the Nike Peach Jam where Brundidge led The Family U-16 squad to the championship, beating the All-Ohio Red 16’s in the finale. Brundidge was nearly unstoppable in a semifinal win over Boo Williams with 36 points and he added 25 more in the finale.



Brundidge is a power guard who thrives taking the ball to the hoop and creating for himself. His three point jump shot is streaky and a bit funky but he can score in bunches. He is a high energy guy who is often mentioned in scouting reports for being active on the glass despite his short height. He should be a solid complement to the array of shooters that Michigan will already have on the roster. ESPN had a chance to see Brundidge in action at the Peach Jam as well:

Brundadge slashed and shot his way to 27 big points in the 16U final at the Peach Jam. Brundadge knifed through the All-Ohio defense to score the basketball on strong drives. He is a capable shooter from long range, but he is at his best punishing opponents on his way to the basket. He shows relentless energy and has an intense competitiveness about him. He is at his best in the big games when his team needs a big shot or play. When he gets a head of steam with the ball in his hands, the defense gets out of his way, he was able to get a lot done by sprinting the wing hard in transition. He plays with relentless energy and passion, and refuses to be denied when he wants to score, even gathering his own misses for stickbacks. Brundadge continued to make plays on both ends of the floor even in a stretch during the first half when his shot was not falling.



Sam Webb wrote a lengthy profile in the Detroit News last winter that detailed Carlton Brundidge’s early career and how he burst onto the radar. Brundidge “played up” with the older Family teams early in his career and he didn’t disappoint:

“I just remember they were playing a team called the Birmingham Storm,” Mr. Brundidge said. “(The Family) was down by 15 points in the second half and Carlton wasn’t playing. All of a sudden (Coach Walker) put him in and the team started coming back. We beat them. Coach Beilein was there and Coach Izzo was sitting there too.”

Brundidge also posted big numbers at the Spiece tournament in Indianapolis where Brian Snow (Rivals) came away impressed:

While Williams was the biggest factor on defense, it was Carlton Brundidge that got it done for The Family on the offensive end. The scoring dynamo proved once again that when he is in attack mode very few players can defend him. In the second half of the game alone, Brundidge was near 20 points and simply had moments of dominance.

So Michigan gets a scoring guard to open up their class of 2011 and the numbers start to become very interesting. There is now two remaining scholarships for the class of 2010 and 2011 combined. If Manny Harris goes pro early, both scholarships could be used in the class of 2010 but the likely plan (assuming Zeigler and Prather don’t commit) is to use one more in 2010 and one more in 2011. Scholarship breakdown (now with a color coded chart) lives here.

Trey Zeigler and Casey Prather are obviously the priorities for the class of 2010 but in 2011 I think Michigan will look to land a big man. Some options for 2011 big guys include Brundidge’s AAU teammate Amir Williams, Marshall Plumlee, Justin Gant, or Trey McDonald. It is always possible that Zeigler and Prather both head other directions or someone else leaves the program which would of course open the door for two 2011 recruits.


Friday Bullets
Published
by
Dylan
on September 18, 2009

* If you missed it yesterday: The practice facility design was finalized and approved and I also broke down the center position for the upcoming season.

* Trey Zeigler and Ray McCallum are officially visiting Oklahoma this weekend.

* Casey Prather will also be back on the road, heading to Gainesville, Florida to watch the Florida/Tennessee game.

* Per Jeff Goodman on Twitter, Marquette freshman Junior Cadougan suffered a torn Achilles today and will likely be out for the season. Marquette is a potential opponent for Michigan in round 2 of the Old Spice Classic and hopes were high for Cadougan, a top 100 recruit. Marquette already last year’s stellar backcourt of Jerel McNeal, Dominic James, and Wesley Matthews to graduation.

* Andy Katz has a fascinating, disturbing, and thorough look at the ill-effects of agents on the world of college basketball. This is just one of many problems that plagues the game. It feels like there is a feature story on a new problem every week.

* It doesn’t look like top 150 recruit Diamond Taylor or freshman walk-on Jeremy Glover will ever play a game in Madison. The duo was arrested 10 days ago for burglary and underage drinking, Taylor has reportedly withdrawn from school while Glover was kicked off the team.
* Jeff Goodman examines who is the deepest team in America. Michigan will face Kansas, one of Goodman’s three choices. Goodman points out how ridiculous it is that Travis Releford is the 13th man on Kansas’ roster, “Imagine having Travis Releford as arguably the 13th man on your roster – or boasting a freshman that was ranked in everyone’s Top 50 players in the nation a year ago as your 13th man. “
* 2011 Chesterton big man Mitch McGary picked up an offer from Purdue, other Big Ten schools recruiting McGary include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State.
* 2011 combo forward Justin Gant will be unofficially visiting Notre Dame this weekend, he was in Ann Arbor last weekend.
* Moses Morgan, a one time Michigan target, appears to be down to Indiana and DePaul.

[esther kim]

Hail yeah! We are back!!

And USC is down...life is good again. :)

[Dave Bing]

We had better not lose at home to Indiana.

Great run after the catch by Brown. Love this offense!

[bozo the clown]

Wolverines pull out another last minute victory!

Well, they're going to get their butts beat quite a few times this year due to inadequate defense, but a good start sure helps.

[RugbyPike#11]

We really missed Molk in this one IMO. Some of those bad snaps were pure drive killers. There was a couple of times where Forcier looked like a true freshman. I hope his shoulder is okay. Looks like he was in a lot of pain at the end of the game.

[Billl]

Forcier made his fair share of mistakes, but the kid is a player. He makes plays that you just can't teach. As his decision making improves, he is going to be special.

[Dave Bing]

Rick Leachesque. Similar stature too. Just not lefty.

[Dave Bing]

Chad Henne with his first NFL start this week.

[tin mad dog]

Great comeback but notsogreat OT for the Tater.

[Joe_Loco]

Hooray! I'm for the other team!*


*2 points if you can identify the allusion.

[tin mad dog]

Terrible turn in the once "feel good" story of the life of Rumeal Robinson:


How Hoops Hero Rumeal Robinson Lost His Guns, Cars, Stripper Girlfriend... and Even His Mama's House - Miami News - Riptide 2.0

[Dave Bing]

Wow... what an asshole.

[RugbyPike#11]

Michigan's AD Bill Martin has announced his retirement effective September 4, 2010. It will be interesting to see who replaces Martin.

[Jangul]

Is the West Virgina Athletic Director available?

[RugbyPike#11]

This is a re-post from a post I wrote on a Michigan board:

I think a lot of the angst being experienced among fans is over the top. After Notre Dame, we all tried unsuccessfully to temper our own enthusiasm, but we couldn’t help but dare to dream of greater expectations.

“I'm just going to enjoy this team because we know they'll disappoint at some point... but... Rich Rod’s turnaround at WVU! History could repeat itself!”

Then we lost to MSU in overtime. Then we gave Iowa a hell of a game despite turning the ball over a loooot. At 5-2, we could still delude ourselves into believing this could be a good team. We could have easily won either of those games right? Then Penn State kicked the shit out of us and the Illinois debacle happened.

Didn’t we know before the season that this kind of thing should happen? As a young team, we’d play over our heads, and then play like a stupid young team. At 5-2, we probably over-achieved. The Notre Dame win, as amazing as it was, probably shouldn’t have happened for us but we got the right bounces. Now, with the young guys wearing down, with defenses learning how to disguise coverage against Tate Forcier, playing better defenses, we have a couple of horrible losses. As much as it sucks to watch it happen, was this all somehow not to be expected?

We won a game we probably shouldn’t have, and now we’ve lost a game we probably shouldn’t have. Now if we lose out the rest of the way, I’ll be really pissed off; but I think we’ll at least split Wisconsin/Purdue.

If we win 2 out of the next 3, I’ll be fairly happy as I expected 7 wins before the season. If one of those 2 is against Ohio State, I’ll leap for fucking joy. If we somehow win out after losing 4 out of 5 and 4 D-1 games in a row, can we re-anoint Rich Rod as the chosen one?

[Mainevent]

It's more likely they lose out and head into next year with a 7 game losing streak against D1 schools.

[joe servo]

Michigan's D is atrocious. We're losing Graham and possibly Warren next year, so there's not much chance of it getting any better. I hate the idea of a coach who spends so much time on one side of the ball and seemingly barely pays attention to the other. Our recruiting this year is a major let-down. No way our talent is as bad as we've "coached" it up to be the last two years. I'm sick of watching him teeter on the brink of a meltdown on the sidelines as well. Oh, and he has brought on an NCAA investigation for good measure. So far, this dude has been horrendous. If we could fire him now and get Brian Kelly (my first choice all freakin' along!!), I'd do it in a heartbeat. btw, I was a huge RR supporter, but this is getting really ugly with not a lot to look forward to.

[RugbyPike#11]

We're starting two walk-ons on defense. The talent is that bad.

[hack]

Can't blame RR for there being no friggin backup safety on the roster.

[joe servo]

He just recruited a couple of safeties, he chose to redshirt them. Our talent isn't anywhere near as it's being coached. Last year a dude from Toledo caught 20 passes on us. 20 passes! From Toledo! RR is losing me quick and I was one of his biggest supporters.

[RugbyPike#11]

Emilien isn't redshirting, he's playing on special teams. Apparently he's been having a couple issues, 1) freshman moments in practice, 2) swelling in the knee that he suffered the ACL tear.

Let's see what happens the rest of the way Joe. If we lose the rest of our games, I'll be much closer to your position. I have to admit that we've gone through a pretty ugly period. Losing 7 in a row is a lot worse than 4 in a row. That would be devastating and a big indictment on Rich Rod as a coach, even with the talent deficiencies we have.

The coaching in the secondary has been beyond awful. Mike Williams looks like Stevie Brown looked last year, except that Brown is a lot more athletic. Kovacs looked servicable playing in the box, but now looks like he's playing center field? There are certainly things to complain about, but I'm not ready to fire Rich Rod just yet. My original post, that the response to the rough stretch is over the top, is directed towards people calling for Rich Rod to be fired.

[Jangul]

So how many seasons of losing is enough for you, Pike? Does he get the full Millen memorial 8 losing seasons? At Michigan it used to be one losing season would put your job in jeopardy. And by losing season we meant 5 losses, because 6 was impossible, and that was with an actual Divison 1 schedule that didn't include fucking Delaware state. Rich Rod has managed to set the bar impossibly low for this program in just two seasons. So low in fact, you hear Wolverine fans talking like Spartan fans, enjoying moral victories, pretending rigged games against JV teams count, justifying missing a bowl for the first time in 4 decades,and yelling wait til next year and shit. At this point, he needs to run the table Wayne Fontes style if he expects to keep his job and my support. He hasn't done one good thing for the program that I can see and plenty bad, so what's the point or paying him? I'm already tired of his gimmick offense that can apparently only work when a quarterback is prepared to run for his life on every down. What real NFL level QB prospect would want to play in an offense where he can't demonstrate NFL passing ability? Do you think Tom Brady would have been a fit for his offense? If not, that means his offense sucks, because it's unadaptable to the skills of actually talented players who don't fit his mold. And that's why we won't see more Tom Bradies, Elvis Grbacs, or even Chad Hennes while he coaches. That's why he keeps trying to force Denard Robinson down your throat, despite the fact that he's more likely to throw a touchdown pass to a cornerback than a wide receiver. I like Tate Forcier, but I'd like him a lot more behind a pro level offensive line throwing to the Pro level receivers we used to take for granted in Ann Arbor.

[RugbyPike#11]

Originally Posted by Jangul

So how many seasons of losing is enough for you, Pike? Does he get the full Millen memorial 8 losing seasons?
That's why he keeps trying to force Denard Robinson down your throat, despite the fact that he's more likely to throw a touchdown pass to a cornerback than a wide receiver. I like Tate Forcier, but I'd like him a lot more behind a pro level offensive line throwing to the Pro level receivers we used to take for granted in Ann Arbor.

Did you read my entire post or just get pissed off at the general idea I was advocating patience?

Originally Posted by RugbyPike#11

Now if we lose out the rest of the way, I’ll be really pissed off; but I think we’ll at least split Wisconsin/Purdue.

Originally Posted by Jangul

I'm already tired of his gimmick offense that can apparently only work when a quarterback is prepared to run for his life on every down.

You realize this is basically the same "gimmick" offense that Oregon just beat USC with? Urban Meyer runs a read option based spread, and has won 2 out of the last 3 national championships.

Originally Posted by Jangul

What real NFL level QB prospect would want to play in an offense where he can't demonstrate NFL passing ability?

We're bringing in the top rated QB in this upcoming class. His name is Devin Gardner, hopefully Tate and Denard play well enough next year to allow him to redshirt. It's possible we wouldn't have had a shot at him in a Lloyd Carr offense. Does that mean a pro-style offense sucks? No, it means certain kind of players are best suited for certain kinds of systems and will gravitate towards those systems.

Remember when Brady looked his best at Michigan? When we were losing and went to a 4-wide pass spread. It remains to be seen whether Rodriguez would recruit a drop back passer, but he did send Shaun King to the NFL as OC at Tulane.

Originally Posted by Jangul

I like Tate Forcier, but I'd like him a lot more behind a pro level offensive line throwing to the Pro level receivers we used to take for granted in Ann Arbor.

I'd love it if Rich Rod could shit out some pro offensive lineman, but the talent on the roster is not good. Molk was our best offensive lineman and he's done for the year. Except for Schilling, the rest of the O-Line consists of thee-star types and freshmen. Considering the lack of talent, the O-Line has been a bright spot. Let's see how they look in a couple years when Molk is a senior, and Rich Rod's recruits replace the older less athletic linemen on the roster.

How many WR's were impact players under Carr as freshmen? Carr didn't leave shit for Rodriguez. I'm sorry you're really impatient for success, but the talent on the roster was horrible. There's only 70 scholarship players right now with almost two full recruiting classes the last couple years. It sucks that Carr left such a shitty roster, but you have to give Rodriguez a little bit of time to rebuild the roster and develop some of the younger guys. Except for Graham, Warren, and Brown, the upperclassmen haven't played for shit. Some of that is on Rodriguez and the staff for lack of development, but a lot of it is on Carr for attrition in his latter years and recruiting shitty players.

[tin mad dog]

Nice article about David Merritt and the business he's started. I think he'd be a good coach as well, if that's what he wanted to pursue.

Former U-M ballplayer brings service to fashion

| Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

[tin mad dog]

Yesterday was the first time I thought that RichRod might not work out on the field.
I just don't know. I know we are still recruiting "his" kind of players and we have a lot of underclassmen and a couple of walk-ons as starters but even the talent we had on the field yesterday should've been enough to beat Purdue. Some of the sloppy play has to fall on the coaches shoulders.

[tin mad dog]

The offense is still vastly improved from last year but the D is no better and we'll be losing Graham and Brown (and possibly Warren) for next year, which points to probably being worse, if that's possible.

[DTH]

The defense is beyond terrible. I think it's a combination of players and the Def coordinator. I've never seen a Michigan team get burned so many times on big plays. It's really hard to watch.

[RugbyPike#11]

I lost my online feed at halftime up 24-10, so I went to the Swamp to tailgate. Hugely disappointing to see that we blew the lead and lost. Mouton and Ezeh have both been benched. Mouton will probably get another chance at LB his last year, but if he's clearly behind Fitzgerald next year and none of the other safeties step up, maybe we move him back out to Brown's SLB position or Williams' SS position in the box. Mouton looked pretty decent as a 4-3 WLB towards the end of last year, but he really really sucks as an ILB in this defense. He's pretty athletic, probably the biggest disappointment on D relative to expectations.

Ezeh just doesn't have the read, react, or cover skills to be a LB. He has good size though, so I'm hoping he moves down to the line. He's a decent athlete, and Graham leaves a huge hole at DE. If Sagesse or Campbell look like starters in the fall, I like Van Bergen moving to power DE in base D situations with Ezeh pushing Van Bergen back to DT on passing downs.

Wisconsin is a must win. This team really needs the bowl game practices and Ohio State is much much tougher.

[tin mad dog]

There's been no indication over that last 6 weeks that makes me think we'll win at Camp Randall.

[hack]

Wow what a tailspin. I'm not in a position to know, but is there a common thread to all these losses beyond the defense being unable to stop anything at all? Has the offense looked worse? In the victories, it seemed the staff was making nice halftime adjustments. Alarming to see Purdue dominate the second half like that.

I don't know enough about RR to say, but it's ridiculous to call for his head so fast, unless solely for the way he's handled himself off the field. And that you can also give Carr some blame for, given all the smoke about Carr interfering. RR should get his own players in before we can fully judge him, and that's an unfortunate reality about college football. You just can't judge based on two years, otherwise Terry Bowden would be among the best coaches ever.

[tin mad dog]

The offense is still putting up points but there have been some key turnovers and bad decisions in the red zone that have cost us. Also, the missed extra point was huge in the last game.

[RugbyPike#11]

Shit I'm tired of watching this team lose. The defense is sooooo bad. I'm pretty sure Rodriguez will get at least one more year, but how long beyond that will depend a lot on the team's performance next year and whoever the next AD will be. Who do you guys like as potential replacements? Les Miles can probably be had if we're willing to pay him. He's kind of a meathead but a monster recruiter and usually has a pretty good staff. Jim Harbaugh would be a big-time candidate if he didn't recently bash Michigan athletics.

Brian Kelly runs a spread so we could still have a place for the all of the little slot ninjas like V. Smith and Odoms.

[hack]

I just hate the streak. By the end, the one good thing about Lloyd's teams is that they still played hard after they'd lost any incentive. You like to see a team that does that, even if they were ridiculously underprepared coming into the season. I guess we just have to hope that defense gets better fast. It certainly should...

[The King]

The defense is just brutal, but that's no surprise as you saw signs of the poor defense from the very start of the season. They literally can't stop anyone. EVERY single team we play just runs up the score on us. Our secondary is putrid.

Rich Rod will get at least another year or two. The positive is there is a lot of youth on the team, so you figure they should be able to improve from year to year. The one thing that annoys me on offense is the lack of power running game. I understand that's not a major part of the spread and our OL are smaller/athletic so they can pull and be mobile, but it's just strange watching a Michigan team that doesn't line up and power ahead for those tough to get yards.

The spread is meant to attack and attack quickly, but having a power running game not only keeps your offense on the field to control the clock, it keeps your defense OFF the field.

[tin mad dog]

Yeah, maybe a new wrinkle or two can be added.

I'm still VERY scared to think of what this defense will be without Brandon Graham. Multiple people need to step up.

From what I've read about recruiting, we haven't landed any 5-star defensive prospects. Yikes!

[DTH]

I thought William Campbell would have had more of an impact this year. Hopefully he breaks out next season.

[tin mad dog]

Well, at least he's starting to play. He and Roh could be good. We need a lot more, though.

[DTH]

GO BLUE!! We need this win bad.

A guy in a bar leans over to the guy next to him and says, “Wanna hear a Buckeye joke?” The guy replies, “Well, before you tell that joke, you should know something. I am 6′ tall, 200 lbs. and I am an Ohio State graduate. The guy sitting next to me is 6′2″, 225 lbs., and he is an Ohio State graduate. The guy right next to him is 6′5″, 250lbs., and he is also an Ohio State graduate. Now, you still wanna tell me that joke?” The first guy says, “No, not if I’m going to have to explain it three times.”

[hack]

Never been to The Game before. It's so wrong that two hours before kickoff, I am feeling more of a sense of obligation than a sense of excitement.

[bozo the clown]

You should never do things out of a sense of obligation. Just leave now.

[tin mad dog]

I'm posting here instead of the World X Michigan Forum during THE GAME Any potential MoJo reversal is needed!


GO BLUE!!!!! Bust a nut!

[Dave Bing]

Nice drive underway...