Michigan Basketball Starts the New Year Happy

Ahhh yes, we've ushered in a new year...a new decade even...sitting at home, wondering if we'll be sitting here next year.  But that's football, that's another day.  Michigan Basketball, from an expectations to output standpoint, has been nearly as disappointing in the 2009 portion of the season.  Three defeats in a row against Marquette, Alabama, and Boston College have seemingly all but sealed Michigan's tournament hopes.  They closed out 2009 by opening the Big Ten season with an embarrassing defeat to the lowly Hoosiers, who happened to be without their super-Frosh Maurice Creek, which does not bode well when we look ahead to the rest of the Big Ten.

But tonight, just tonight, they looked a bit like last year's Wolverines.  Don't get me wrong, they were not by any means great.  But they seemed interested, which is a step ahead of what we've seen so far this season.  Shots fell.  Turnovers were forced.  There seemed to be a somewhat cohesive unit out there, a unit that had leaders, role-players, shooters, defenders.  In short, we seemed to be a basketball team tonight.  A basketball team with confidence, wearing the gold jerseys, and forgetting about 2009.

Sure they defeated an Ohio State team that despite being ranked today, will be unranked tomorrow.   A team that is now 3-3 since losing Evan Turner, including a 65-43 drubbing by Wisconsin on New Year's Eve in Madison.  But we have to start somewhere, and if our start is defeating those bastards from Columbus, then this already is a happy New Year.

So...ya...Happy New Year folks.

At Least He Isn't Crazy

Say what you want about Rich Rodriguez, I'm fairly certain he's never locked a player in the electrical closet and posted a guard outside.  That's what Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach did, and he probably would have got away with it if the player in question wasn't Adam James, the son of Craig James.  Yep, Craig James the ESPN announcer slated to provide commentary for the Alamo Bowl in which his son is participating.  Pretty sure that's already a conflict of interest, but now that he's behind the indefinite suspension of the head coach, that's just not going to work.  According to the worldwide leader, that announcer lineup has since been changed.

Then there's Urban Meyer, who retired two nights ago, then changed his mind last night and went on a leave of absence instead.  Sounds like there isn't anything physically wrong with him, and this is more about mental health than physical health....which in the end just makes Urban Meyer look like a pussy.  Which is good if you've got a wizard hat, some snake oil, and are willing to poach some kids under the guise of "who knows when that loon is coming back?"  Head on down there Coach Rodriguez...I like cornerbacks and safeties.

A Month is Long Enough

The scary thing about all of this?  I really am getting used to it.  Apparently it only takes two years to erase the 30+ year habit of Michigan going to bowl games.  I'm sitting here, Bowl Pick'em sheets in hand, watching other teams play what have so far been meaningless bowl games with sparse attendance.  It kind of reminds me of all those years of watching the NCAA basketball tournament without Michigan in it.  There's a dance, but we weren't invited.

I went ahead and picked against every team in the Big Ten, and assigned the highest confidence points to each of those games.  That strategy has served me well in recent years, because, as you know, the Big Ten really sucks.  Also of note, Michigan tied for last place in the Big Ten this season.  That makes us the king of suck in a conference of suck.

Super.

It's the kind of thing that makes you question your path in life.  Okay, okay, that's a little melodramatic, but it's the kind of thing that shuts down a tailgate website for a month.  That and unabashed laziness.  More troubling however, is that the future does not look bright.  The defense, which often baffled us with it's ineptitude, loses its only two decent players, and will replace them with walk-ons and freshman, and I'm talking freshman next year.  Warm bodies, that's what we're looking for.  Knowing where to line up and who to cover, that would be a bonus.

The offense will search for a running back to replace injury plagued Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown, and will try to figure out why they continue to cough up the ball at a level that put them at 115th in the nation in turnover margin.  Minus the turnovers, we'd be in a different place.  Unfortunately, the idea that the problem would fix itself is what we went with last year.  Obviously, this needs to be addressed, in lieu of finger crossing and blind hope.

We're just sitting here, waiting.  Waiting for either a magical turnaround or for the other shoe to drop.  No doubt that if I'm not typing up some kind of Bowl Preview post at this time next year, it will be the latter.

A belated Merry Christmas to you all.