MICH made it THREE (3) wins in a row against Sparty on Tuesday night, creating a mass of BUTTHURT in the visitors locker room.  Fans of MICH at Crisler arena danced in joy with Wolverine legends, Lloyd Carr, LaMarr Woodley-CHIPS and Denard.  Coach John Beilein was also rumored to “shake it like a Polaroid picture” after handshakes with the downtrodden Spartans of East Lansing (This is being looked into by the NCAA and Dominos Pizza).

Nard Dawg & Roundtree, REJOICE!!!!!!!

Thomas Jonathan Izzo addressed the media after the game.  His disgust and agony of losing a 3rd game in a row to MICH was heard loud and clear. His teams poor play was caused my multiple factors, none of which were his own.  The refs, in Izzo’s opinion, do not know what an “over the back” call is.  Izzo knows, he was at mid court when it happened.  He quickly ran to another ref, pointing, farting and yelling profanity while displaying angar with their turnover call.

"I AM ANGAR!!!!!!!!"

A tired point guard, really fat, big, unconditioned, unhealthy centers who “asked to come out of the game”  can sure bring a team down, according to Izzo.

MSU Coach, Tom Izzo, laughing at his exhausted players as they lose to MICH

Izzo near soils himself as he watches Trey Burke of MICH, dominate

Watch out for this:

Ouch, eyeballs.

Odds are against MICH for the next meeting.  Not just because road wins are rare in the B1G, but because this MSU team is extremely talented and Izzo will most likley eat a strong vat of chili for breakfast, to ensure deathly gasses are ready to be fired at his command.  This is a warning to both teams as well as the fans, especially those in the line of fire.

CAUTION: DO NOT STAY DOWN-WIND OF COACH IZZO

BUTTHURT and DEFEAT

Yesterday news broke that Michigan received a commitment from Derrick Walton, a top 100 recruit for the class of 2013. This came just 24 hours after John Beilein and company had gotten a pledge from Zak Irvin, a small forward from Indiana, and another top 100 recruit. And it seems a safe bet that the two 2012 kids are going to be top 100 as well.

That’s top 100 in the country. We weren’t even top 100 in Indiana.

So we’re here today to say it’s been a good run. But it’s over.

Michigan Basketball has gotten too mainstream.

Back when we were in high school, Zack was a one-star recruit according to Scout, and we were both rated a 40 out of 100 by ESPN. That’s called authenticity. And so to keep it real we both agreed to go practice our craft in the basement of the Big Ten. Michigan had a new coach, John Beilein, and we were told that a ceiling had been installed which would ensure we’d never get too big.

We preferred playing in a darkened, empty Crisler Arena. We played for ourselves, because we loved it, not to pander to any crowd. Those days are gone. Now the place is too brightly lit and word from the Ticket Office is that sales are skyrocketing. Whatever, man. That’s, like, literally being a sellout.

And dude, the atmosphere at Crisler is insufferable and borderline offensive. Not only do you have all the bandwagoners now, you got our corporate AD giving away FREE PIZZA. How about giving away some organic or local stuff? Gotta keep the fatties happy, we guess. We miss the old AD, the guy who rocked the boat shoes. That guy was rad.

This year we’re going to play in the prestigious Maui Invitational. We liked it better when we went to Orlando for the Old Spice Classic. We want to play Creighton, not Kansas. That’s like going from Brooklyn Bowl to Lollapalooza.

Speaking of tournaments, we used to want to play in the NCAA tourney, we admit. But now that we’ve done it twice, we’re not so keen. Turns out that the further you advance, the more corporate it gets. It’s pretty disenchanting, to be honest. We’ll stick to the NIT from now on, even though we’re pretty wary of playing Madison Square Garden. Did you see that Mad Men about how they tore down the original Penn Station to build that monstrosity? Still not cool.

LLP rockin the throwbacks... so underrated

What else? Oh yeah, don’t get us started on Darius Morris. When he first got to Ann Arbor, he was pretty chill. Then he starts beating up on Michigan State, which, like, cool, and most people don’t realize when he said, ‘GET THE FUCK OFF MY COURT!’ he wasn’t just talking to Sparty, he was talking to everyone. So then we really start digging the kid, and what does he do? He goes to the NBA—the fuck, dude?—and not just any NBA team, but the Los Angeles Lakers. You sign up with Jerry Buss, you sign away your soul. Good luck with that, bro. Someday you’re gonna wake up and wish you’d kept it real and played in Belgium instead.

Then there’s Coach Bacari. No one knew about this guy a year ago. And he had some serious cred, being a former U of D Titan and all. And the whole HALOL was funny at first, but not anymore. Now everyone is HALOLing.  2010 called, they want their twitter meme back.

The program has just changed so much. Beilein used to have a cool staff. Jerry Dunn was the head coach at Penn State for eight years—doesn’t get more underground than that. Now it’s like, with Bacari and Lavall Jordan, players are getting better and everyone wants to come here. And they’ve built a new practice facility. We liked it better when we practiced where we played. Now it just feels too rehearsed.

Then there’s the polls. Looks like we’re going to be preseason top 25. Man, we don’t do this for the charts. We do it for love. If we had it our way, we would withdraw from this rankings bullshit. The last thing we need are ESPN camera crews hanging around our games. Once that happens, you’ve lost all creative control. The guys from Comcast Local were much cooler.

We’re gonna stick around for one more year, but don’t expect us to enjoy it. Graduation can’t come soon enough—in May we’re moving to Williamsburg to design shoes. For Nike, not Adidas. You know, the brand Michigan used before they got big.

I remember it all feeling wrong when I first read this sentence. Not the part about Morgan’s NBA potential, because Izzo probably knows better than me (OR DOES HE? Read on!) and 6’9″ centers are generally a rare breed in the NBA.

NFL, we mean NBA Potential

In 2001, Michigan State had just capped off an impressive run – a 115-25 record over the previous four years, shares of four Big Ten titles, one NCAA championship, 2 additional Final Four appearances, and one additional Sweet 16. His program turned out seven NBA players in the 2000, 2001, and 2002 draft classes, six of whom were drafted, and five of whom appeared in the NBA – all for multiple seasons (Marcus Taylor and Andre Hutson were drafted, but never played a game while Charlie Bell went undrafted but had a multi-year career). After landing Jason Richardson and Zack Randolph in consecutive years – both unanimous high school All-Americans – and watching them lead his club to two straight final fours, Michigan State seemed poised to be the next College Basketball Mecca.

There’s always a “but”. But, Richardson left after two years, Randolph after a single season. The team, while still posting results nearly any school would envy, feel from its 1998-2001 peak. While he’d get to three more final fours, an elite eight, and a sweet sixteen in the ensuing decade, a litany of first and second round exists litter his resume, and the program has only claimed two regular-season titles, and no conference tournament titles. Many point to an apocryphal story of Izzo “swearing-off” one-and-done players after Randolph, but, while it’s true he’s against the policy, he insists that he hasn’t intentionally stayed away from players who seem likely to leave:

Then Izzo was asked a hypothetical. If he has a chance to take a Derrick Rose or a Jared Sullinger, but he knows that guy has a “one-and-done” mindset before arriving on campus, does he take him?
“I probably still do,” Izzo said, and that drew some laughter. And hopefully it puts to rest the myth that he swore them off after the Randolph-Richardson-Taylor-Lorbek run.

So has Izzo’s recruiting strategy yielded more NBA talent? Int he classes of 2002 (the first year that Scout provides recruiting rankings) to 2008 (rising college seniors now), Michigan State has attracted 4 five-star recruits and 14 four-stars, roughly equivalent with Syracuse (4 fives, 14 fours), UConn (3 fives, 14 fours), and UCLA (5 fives, 14 fours). In other words, the four schools have, in the eyes of the recruiting services, attracted equivalent talent. How does Michigan State stack up in producing NBA talent?

• Michigan State had six players drafted (Ezram Lorbek, Maurice Ager, Paul Davis, Shannon Brown, Goran Suton, and the predicted draft-pick of Draymond Green next year). Four of these (all but Suton and Lorbek) made an NBA roster, and only one (Brown) ever rose to the level of being a regular member of an NBA rotation.
• Syracuse saw seven players get drafted, eight made an NBA roster, and three found roles in a regular rotation (do the Timberwolves count?)
• UConn sent nine players to the draft, and had nine players make an NBA roster (although it was a slightly different nine), with three players making it as NBA regulars (the word is still out on Kemba Walker).
• UCLA, finally, had nine players drafted, nine make an NBA roster, and all but one of these became NBA regulars

In other words, Izzo’s player development, when compared to his peer schools, lags behind. It’s not hard to see – Izzo had landed 7 players who won Mr. Basketball honors, and eight high school All-Americans. This group, however, has combined for a single All American (Drew Neitzel), one Big-Ten Player of the Year (Kalin Lucas), and only four All-Conference seasons (Paul Davis, Neitzel, two from Lucas). As a matter of fact, Davis is the only big-man to vaguely survive the Izzo buzz-saw.

Instead, Izzo has dealt with players like Durrell Summers (“Durrell was not feeling like he was doing anything right,” Izzo said Monday. “And I don’t know if he didn’t want to go in, but he sure wasn’t very enthused. And so, if he’s not enthused, he’s going to sit. If he’s not enthused the next game, he’s going to sit.”) and a litany of big-men reduced to pounding the boards with virtually no up-tic in their offensive game, and often, just left on bench.

Perhaps nothing lays the dichotomy more bare than the aforementioned Jordan Morgan, the player without NBA potential, according to Izzo, and Derrick Nix – the player Izzo chose in Morgan’s stead. Both are 6’8″, Nix is, charitably, 40 to 45 pounds heavier. Jordan Morgan has articles written about his growth the weight room (linked above), Nix has articles written about his battle with pizza, in which he marvels at Morgan:

“He can run. He can jump. He’s in great shape. That’s the shape I want to be in, that shape that he’s in.”

This year, Morgan started 35 games, averaging 9.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 24 minutes. Nix started once, averaging 2.7 points and 2 rebounds in 8 minutes, on a marginally worse team.

After reaching two straight championship games in 2009 and 2010, it’s impossible to argue that Izzo is a “bad” coach, as that’s plainly not true. However, Izzo’s system, based on aggressive rebounding and defense (and generally brutally ugly offense) has succeeded in accruing wins for the school but hasn’t, as Izzo would claim, improved the NBA fortunes of the players he recruits along the way. Perhaps the big-men of the future need to take note.

I’m not sure what’s gone wrong with the internets lately.  People just don’t want to post anymore.  Historical things are happening in this country while MICH is making headlines in all the right ways, but no one has a word to share about it.  At least not in E-POST form.  Why come?  I at least have a reason not to post on the reg. My post are generally lacking facts or proper engrish, I don’t deny dat shiat.  But if nobody on the WLA makes a post, then it’s up to CHIPS to keep “everything is terrible” in full stride. I figured I would do a quick re-cap of what’s been going on since D-MO decided to go pro and achieve dream.

RIP: Robert Tractor Traylor, big dude with a big heart.  Also lots of family members.  Sad way to go.

Congrats: Lloyd Jonathan Carr.  Made it to the College Football Hall of fame.  I somewhat regret cheering on his impeccable “way to lose” after seeing a team just straight up lose in legitimate fashion.   Still don’t understand punting at the 35.  Why come no points, Lloyd?

Detroit Red Wing$: After going down 0-3 to the Shark$, the Wing$ made a valiant effort by forcing a game seven in one of the most highly watched “non-finals” series in NHL history.  Just before they dropped the puck in game four, most everyone wanted to do is FIRE BABCOCK, BENCH HOWARD and START OSGOOD.  Good thing they didn’t.  Fun fact, both teams scored the same amount of goals in 7 games.  Go ahead, double check it.  It was fun to watch and it seemed to revitalize the whole “Hockey Town” vibe that Metro Detroit and Windsor have.  Probably also sold a good amount of Hot & Ready’s too.  FIRE ILLICH.

Detroit Tigers: In the spirit of FIRIING EVERYONE, the same goes for Leyland & DUMBrowski.  2 weeks ago, they were all FIRED.  Let’s not forget about SENDING DOWN A-JAX.  Now, after winning 9 out of 10 and seeing Justin Verlander throw his 2^nd no-hitter, the ‘Ger$ are looking to win their division.  Although, if they lose to the Red Sox again tonight, FIRE UP THOSE PINK SLIPS.

Lions: They drafted a receiver.  HALOL.  But I am looking forward to this season.  If it happens.  Book the Lions +4 over Tampa.

Pistons: Rumors have them setting up an interview with Jimmer Ferdette.  HALOL.

MICH: I hear woman’s softball is doing rather well.  Dave Brandon is tweeting up a storm about selling tickets at a 30% increase.  The Basketball squadron continues to have some hype around future recruits.  Glenn Robinson III is moving up the rankings and will hopefully help Beilein’s “ceiling” move up.

MICH FOOTBALL: Brady Hoke is punching other schools in the mouth in recruiting and it’s gotten M$U fans all sorts of butthurt.  It’s been rather insane how fast he is picking up 2012 recruits in the state of MICH.  Seven total so far with the addition today of Terry Richardson. All of those Seven have been offered by Michigan State, which is clearly leaving Mark Dantonio upset.  At least that’s what his twitter account shows.  Even the god of Spartan Slappys, Mike Valenti can’t help but make excuses about his coaches recruiting, or lack there of.  Good times.  Now this past winter isn’t feeling so badt, is it?  Well.  Maybe it still is for one fella.

Did I miss anything?  Probably.  At least we got a fresh post.

BUTTHURT

“was”. “hated”. “hated”. “felt”. “hated”. “was”. “came”. “went”. “played”. “was”. “had to”. “was”. “resented”. “looked”.

These are the verbs that the four members of the Fab Five use during their description of their feelings towards Duke. What do all these verbs have in common? They are in the past tense. This is an elementary fact of grammar of which you would expect one who mentions his place in the “special” brotherhood of Duke graduates to be aware. Apparently, he is not.

Briefly, lets explain it to Mr. Hill, our lack of a Duke education an admitted flaw in our reasoning abilities.

Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, and Ray Jackson are not expressing their current-day opinions of the Duke basketball team they faced. They are expressing the thoughts running through the minds of their then 18-year-old selves. There is a distinction between the words “I thought Christian Laettner was an over-rated pussy” and the words “I think Christian Laettner is an over-rated pussy”, especially when the past-tense version of the phrase is followed with the words “until I actually got on the floor with him and realized he had game.”

Hill’s focus, admittedly, isn’t on the comments about his white team mates, however, as much as it is on Rose’s comments about Duke’s recruiting practices, Hill’s family, and Hill himself. Nevermind, again, the verb tenses that, to any logical person, would signal that Rose is talking about a former thought process. Hill actually has some accusations to level at Rose:

calling me a bitch and worse, calling all black players at Duke “Uncle Toms”

Again – past tense, Grant. They did not call you “a bitch” or black players at Duke “Uncle Toms”. They acknowledged, essentially, that if you asked them, when they were 18, about Duke, they WOULD HAVE said you were a bitch. What’s clear, when you listen to what Rose and Howard have to say, is that playing, and losing, three games against Duke disabused them of this notion.

Because Hill apparently likes to quote Latin, we’ll smugly refer him to the “pluperfect” tense.

and, to some degree, disparaging my parents for their education, work ethic and commitment to each other and to me.

This is either mind-bogglingly ignorant or a willful lie. Rose’s first words are:

 ”I was jealous of Grant Hill. He came from a great black family. Your mom went to college…Your dad played in the NFL. He was a very well-spoken and successful man.”

This is disparaging? It insults their work ethic? Their commitment to their children? It does none of these things. Hill’s offense is lunacy. Rose clarifies:

“I was upset and bitter that my mom had to bust her hump for twenty years. I was bitter that I had a professional athlete that was my father that I didn’t know. I resented THAT more than I resented him. I felt like they were who the world accepts, and we were who the world hates.”

How could this possibly be any more clear? Rose’s general “hatred” of Duke was not a hatred of Duke itself. Rose played on a club that endured weekly bludgeonings for being too “brash” or “street” from talking heads such as Jim Nantz and Bill Walton, and significantly worse in private letters. Hill and Duke, on the other hand, were universally loved by the press – much the same as they are now. Is it unreasonable to think that an 18-year old kid may see that as acceptance of Duke’s clean-cut image and rejection of his own? How unreasonable! Rose wasn’t upset at Duke – he was upset, like so many teenagers, because he didn’t feel he was accepted.

While his hatred of Duke in general wasn’t actually hatred of Duke, neither was his hatred of Hill actually a hatred of Hill – this much he makes explicit. Hill and Rose, in a novel, would be literary foils – both the lauded, athletic prodigies of former great athletes, thrown into drastically different circumstances. Rose’s anger is for his father, who failed to support him in the way Hill’s father supported him – not anger at Hill for being supported or for his father supporting him.

By referring to a somewhat eloquent point about the importance of a father-figure to a young man as “garbled”, Hill almost makes Rose’s points about “the world’s view” for him. Hill, seemingly, can’t see that Rose’s point is about fatherhood – not class-warfare.

As a matter of fact, Hill’s entire pretentious, thin-skinned column, larded with references to Chaucer, latin quotations, his father’s Yale education, “the Duke family” (most of which he’s careful to name-drop), does more to wound the image of Duke, and portray them as elitist more than any word out of Rose’s mouth during the documentary. He’s the guy smoking a pipe during Rush Week telling the freshmen how many former President’s of the US were in his fraternity. We do not suggest this to defend yourself from being called “exclusionary”.

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of Beilein;
And all the rivals that low’r'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

I asked zombie President Ford to pardon Chris Webber but he told me he had no intention of making that mistake again.

Our long national nightmare is over. I know this because John Beilein raised MICHIGAN MAN Gerald Ford from the dead and he told me.

And so here we are, once again (or for some of you youngsters, this may be the first time) bathing in the warm glow of Michigan success in the national spotlight–our ears equally pleased by the lamentations of our rivals. Michigan hockey, the only mistress that never really left us, rushes towards a climatic showdown with hockey powerhouse Miami University¹ and a clash for a number one seed. Some intrepid poster at mgoblog keeps us updated each time the women’s softball wins again. LAX is doing whatever it is they do against whoever it is they play and doing it very well. More importantly than non-revenue sports, our rivals have been laid low—some by repeated losses to Michigan, others by their own nefarious dealings. Thou Izzo managed to avoid the killing thrust of the NIT, it was not on Michigan’s back that he

Nice suit, Coach.

conjured a tourney bid (never send a Boilermaker to do a man’s job.) And yes, Michigan has not actually beaten OSU at… well really anything recently or even kind of recently, but be patient. Victory looms, for Jim Tressel has finally been unmasked as the evil lying liar that few sane people always knew him to be. It seems certain that being a liar liar pants-on-fire and playing ineligible players makes you a big cheater cheater pumpkin eater and will force the NCAA to vacate OSU’s entire 2010 season. QUICK! Somebody get RichRod on the phone and tell him he just beat OSU. Then tell him he’s fired–again.

Some might say that you shouldn’t take pleasure in the misfortune of your rivals–that the only thing that matters is the competition on the field. To them I say HALOL!!! That’s rediculous! Those loosers don’t understand the baser emotions that going 2-8² against your arch rival will breed in a man’s heart. If nothing else, this will keep those Buckeye asshats out of our ear holes for a little while (I’m not actually calling Eleven Warriors asshats with that link. Well, maybe just a little.)

Even Michigan’s prospects on the gridiron are looking up. Yes, Michigan fired the worst coach in America and managed to find an even worse one (while our real coach is in San Francisco cavorting with hippies and teh gheys.) A coach so terrible and awful that he managed to lose recruits Michigan never had in the first place. A coach so bad that the only thing worse than him is THE PROCESS by which he was hired and the AD that hired him. But we still have Greg Mattison on one side of the ball and Denard on the other. Provided he can figure a way out of the chains with which the new terrible awful (and fat, both the head coach and OC are fat) old, bald, offensive coordinator will use to keep him under center. All that aside, we at the WLA³ prefer to remain positive and let every man coach at least one game (the spring game, at the very least) before we announce we hate him.

John Beilein and his magic snuggie have kept Michigan fans warm on their lonely journey back to basketball respectability.

One coach no one hates is John Beilein, who has resurrected the moribund basketball program from the grave that it shared with Ed Martin⁴. If you recall, the last time he raised the program from the dead the only thing that stopped Michigan was the hideous Death Ginger. He has moved onto the NBA, leaving only one more Death Ginger but he plays for Wisconsin who Michigan shan’t meet until the championship game.
For now, the sites are clearly set on Tennessee, led for the moment, by the infamous Bruce Pearl. Since it is well known that Bruce Pearl dines on kitten liver pate while putting hits on nuns and inking record deals for boy bands, they are clearly GOING DOWN, GARY!

Arise, Wolverines, from your troubled slumber. It is morning in Ann Arbor.

1. In this context, there can be only one Miami.
2. Remember, I’m counting 2010 as a victory and retroactively enjoying it as much as I enjoyed, in real time, all those basketball games that never happened in the 90’s.
3. I don’t actually ‘know’ any of the other members of the WLA (I only e-know them) but that clearly doesn’t stop me speaking upon their behalf.
4. I don’t have it in me to cast out Chris Webber. He is like a wayward child of mine. Though he may do a great many silly things, he will always have a home in my heart. This is not true for Martin and Fisher.

The disparity of freshman development, displayed

Previously, we took a look at Beilein’s first and second classes, and determined that, thus far, they’ve been “solid, considering the situation” and “excellent” in the context of the Big 10 as a whole, with his first class ranking 6th in on-court production amongst it’s peers, and and his second ranking 2nd in the conference. Today, we’re going to take a look at this year’s freshman class. But first, an explanation on a slight modification of methodology.

Many of this year’s class are clearly not playing as many minutes as Evan Smotrycz and Tim Hardaway Jr. are for Michigan, as they signed with teams that have these things called “upper-classmen”. Freshman, most often, are used as role players. To that extent, we’re not going to look at sheer production, but contextualize their production on a “per 40 minute” basis. For our purposes, we’re only analyzing freshmen who have played in the majority of their team’s games, and average at least 8 minutes per game – in other words, they need to be part of their team’s rotation.

Michigan’s class of 2010 included a recruit nearly as lauded as Darius Morris – the sleeper Evan Smotrycz. Lightly scouted at first, Smotrycz clawed up into the national top 75 of all three recruiting services during his summer workouts prior to his senior year. In addition, they added a national top-150 recruit to ESPN and Scout in Tim Hardaway Jr., in-state big-man John Horford, and project Colton Christian.

Hardaway, on the face of it, is the most productive of the group as a true freshman. As a scorer, he’s the fifth highest scoring freshman in the conference, and an effective rebounder for a guard (5.4 rebounds per 40 minutes). On the downside, that scoring has come on 36.2% shooting (the second worst in the class), which is partially dragged down by the fact that the preponderance of his shots come from behind the arc (where he only shoots 31.3%). Smotrycz scoring is roughly average in the context of the class, and his rebounding is sub-par for his size. However, he’s one of the two best three-point shooters in the class – nailing 38.8% of his threes. Horford, despite his bird-like build, has actually been the second-most effective rebounding freshman in the conference (12.4 rebounds per 40 minutes), and the third-best shot-blocker (2.3 blocks per 40 minutes), while scoring somewhat respectably. All-in-all, it’s a promising class.

Illinois- Illinois plays two freshmen in it’s rotation – Jereme Richmond and Meyers Leonard. Richmond is only the 7th most effective scorer in the class, at 15.5 p/40, but is the fifth most effecting rebounder, and an efficient scorer (52% from the floor. Leonard mostly stands there at this point – rebounding slightly better than Tim Hardaway (despite being seven inches taller), and scoring mediocrely. Richmond is more productive than any of Michigan’s three, but Leonard probably less so. Advantage Michigan.

Indiana- Indiana brought in two effective scorers and rebounders – Victor Olapido (17.1 p/40, 8 r/40) and Will Sheehey (15.7 p/40, 7  r/40). Both are effective shooters (over 53% from the floor for both). Either of these two have out-played anyone on Michigan. We’ll give the advantage to Indiana.

Iowa- Iowa brought in diamond-in-the-rough Melsahn Besabe, who is 3rd most effective scorer, 3rd most effective rebounder, and 2nd best shot-blocker in the class in the conference, all while shooting 57% from the floor. Their class also included JUCO transfer Bryce Cartwright, a poor shooter who leads the class in assist rate, Roy Marble, and Zack McCabe – an effective rebounder. Besabe is an elite player from out of nowhere, and Marble is essentially Smotrycz’s match. Cartwright is a junior, making this comparison tough, but there seems to be more production here than from Michigan’s group. Advantage Iowa.

Michigan State - Michigan State landed in-state studs Keith Appling and Adrien Payne. Payne has been an effective rebounder and shot-blocker in a limited role (4th and 1st in the class respectively), while Appling is a turnover machine, but is matching Smotrycz with a 39% rate from behind the arc. Smotrycz has marginally out-played Appling (more points and rebounds, less assist and turnovers, equivalent shooting), and Horford has marginally out-played Payne (better scoring and rebounding, equivalent shooting). Toss Hardaway on top, and it’s clear – advantage Michigan.

Minnesota- Minnesota landed a trio of marginally thought of guards, all of whom have gotten time in the depleted Badger back-court – Maverick Ahanmisi, Chip Armelin, and Al Hollins. Armelin is the most effective – scoring nearly 15 p/40 minutes and grabbing nearly 6 rebounds per forty. Ahanmisi has been a turnover prone guard, while an effective shooter, and Hollins a solid stopper (nearly three steals per 40 minutes). Combine them together and you have an excellent player. Advantage Michigan.

Northwestern - The Wildcat class consist of just JerShon Cobb, who’s been a pretty average performer in every respect – adequate scoring, somewhat low shooting percentages, solid rebounding from a guard. Advantage Michigan.

Ohio State- The Buckeyes, as you’d expect, reeled in the best class in the conference, and it’s not even vaguely close. Jared Sullinger leads the class in scoring (23.6 points), rebounding (12.9), and shooting percentage (58%), while DeShaun Thomas is barely behind him in scoring (23.2) and is fourth in rebounding (10.3). Aaron Craft is short of only Juco transfer Bryce Cartwright in assist rate (6.9 per 40 minutes) while posting the best assist/turnover ratio in the class (2:1), and is the best pick-pocket (2.4 steals per forty minutes). This is finest in the conference, and it’s not even marginally close.

Penn State- Taran Bouie, their lone recruit, is in the doghouse, which is conviently located on the bench.

Purdue- Purdue’s only significant contributor is Terone Johnson, who has managed to do a bit of everything – rebounding well (5.5 rebounds per 40 as a guard) and passing well (4 assists per 40). The issue is that he shoots 35% from the floor, and 26% from 3-point (of which he shoots many) – the worst shooter in the class. He’s basically a better-passing, worse shooting Tim Hardaway. Advantage to Michigan.

Wisconsin- John Gasser is serving his Wisconsin shaved-head-hustling-diving-on-the-floor-never-shooting internship. He hardly scores, rebounds and passes pretty well, and shoots mediocrely, on the rare occasion he actually pulls the trigger. Advantage Michigan.

So, in this class, Michigan, by our estimates, has the fourth most productive class – landing a sharp-shooter, a versatile but inefficient scorer, and a legitimate inside presence. It is interesting that the three worst teams in the conference in terms of record have the most productive classes (excepting OSU) - which should say something about relying on freshmen to perform. In our final installments, we’ll take a look at future classes, and then try to give some observations on what we’ve learned.

In Beilein’s second recruiting cycle – and the first in which he had the full year – he brought in a large and varied class, head-lined by California import Darius Morris. Morris, to Rivals, was the nation’s 77th best player, and it’s 15th best PG. Morris was a recruit ranked on par with the likes of Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims. In addition, Beilien landed Matt Vogrich (the nation’s 137th ranked player, and it’s 32nd ranked SG), local big-man Jordan Morgan (seized from a slew of mid-majors), and willowy C Blake McLimans (an interest hodge-podge of offers including BC, Georgia Tech, and Siena).

The two most highly touted members of the class – Darius Morris and Matt Vogrich – played as true freshmen, and not particularly well. Morris showed flashes as a passer and his length caused the opposition’s PG’s problems defensively, but proved somewhat careless with the ball, and terribly uncomfortable shooting. Vogrich was billed as having one big-time skill: shooting. Vogrich seemed uncomfortable with the speed of the college game, and the faster closeouts made him a reluctant shooter. His athleticism was visibly sub-par and, while he competed, was horribly over-matched on defense – to the point he was unplayable. The two big-men red-shirted – Morgan due to injury and McLimans due to his scrawny frame.

This season, Morris has made the leap to competing for all-conference honors at PG – averaging 15.4 ppg (on over 50% shooting), and 7.2 assists to 3 turnovers. He’s in the conversation with Demitri McCamey and Jordan Taylor as the best in the conference. Morgan also joined the starting lineup, averaging 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds a game, while Vogrich is a role-player off the bench – only scoring slightly over 3 points per game, but shooting close to 40% from behind the arc. McLimans is a little-used reserve big man. Let’s take a look and see how their peers in the class of 2009 have performed.

Illinois: Illinois brought in two players currently contributing to their roster – SG’s Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson – the 42nd and 38th ranked players in the nation, respectively. Forward Tyler Griffey plays an unproductive 8 minutes a game, and Joseph Bertrand is rarely used. Paul and Richardson are near-clones statistically – averaging around 9 ppg with fairly efficient outside shooting. With Illinois’ wide array of offensive options, their stats are somewhat diluted, but neither is near the quality displayed by Morris. The edge, narrowly, goes to Michigan for having an additional productive player and one superior to anyone in the Illinois class.

Indiana: Indiana brought in a trio of 4-star recruits: Maurice Creek, Derrick Elston, and Christrian Watford, along with 3-star Jordan Hulls. Watford’s season is strong on the surface – scoring over 17 ppg, but with poor rebounding, worse defense, and a 43% shooting percentage from a PF, he’s a volume scorer. Creek is another inefficient scorer (38% from the floor) who hasn’t been that great at scoring. Jordan Hulls is arguably the conference’s premier three-point shooter (50% from behind the arc) and Derrick Elston provides strong rebounding in a reserve role. Despite Watford’s scoring numbers, Morris is still a far superior player, though both Watford and Hulls have more production than Morgan. The advantage, tentatively, goes to Indiana.

Iowa: Iowa brought in who-dat’s Cully Payne, Eric May, Brennan Cougill, and Devon Archie. Cougill isn’t on the roster, Payne is lost to injury, and May plays some, but not well. Michigan gets the substantial edge.

Michigan State: The Spartans recruited four-star big-men Derrick Nix and Garrick Sherman in this class. Despite the recruiting accolades, neither does much for the Spartans, combining for 5 points and five rebounds per game in 20 minutes. The center position has been a highly-lauded black-hole for the Spartans this year, and these two are two-thirds of the reason why. The edge goes to Michigan.

Minnesota: The Gopher’s brought in Rodney Williams, and JuCo transfer Trevor Mbakwe. The other three recruits are no longer on the roster, including highly-tauted Royce White. Mbakwe is an all-conference caliber performer at PF, averaging a double-double. Williams, for his part, is talented, mercurial, and ultimately disappointing – 6.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg in 25 minutes. Morris and Mbakwe cancel each other out – the edge goes to Michigan on the balance.

Northwestern: The Wildcats class consisted of quality SG Drew Crawford (13 ppg) and reserve Alex Marcotullio. The edge, again, to Michigan.

Ohio State: OSU had no recruits in this cycle.

Penn State: Penn State brought in four recruits, the only one of whom who is in the rotation is starting PG Tim Frazier (4 ppg, 4 apg). The edge, again, to Michigan.

Purdue: The Boilermakers brought in two current rotation members – Kelsey Barlow and DJ Byrd. Patrick Bade and Sandi Marcus are infrequent contributors. Barlow is an elite defender, but Byrd has largely struggled. Edge to Michigan.

Wisconsin: The only recruit from this cycle on the roster is forward Matt Brusewitz – a Sideshow Bob look-alike. Brusewitz averages 5 ppg and 3 rpg in 21 minutes, with 13 starts. The edge, again, to Michigan.

As of now, Michigan’s class is the second most productive in the conference. An obvious caveat is that the lack of upper-classmen on Michigan gives younger players more opportunity than many classmates have received at rival schools. That said – there’s not a ton of noise in Michigan’s performance – Morris is simply good, and would play even if Grady were still on the team. Jordan Morgan may be the beneficiary of  thin front-court, but there are a number of peers in this class that aren’t as productive in similar minutes. Tune in tomorrow for this year’s freshmen.

Oddly – the Detroit News article nails several of the reasons why Beilein does deserve some more time – the decade-plus of futility and the sub-standard facilities being significant problems. It seems odd that a school that just completed a multi-million dollar football stadium renovation and re-vamped all the football facilities upon the hiring of Rich Rodriguez lays the dubious claim to having one of the oldest stadiums and, thus, practice facility, in the conference. When building pristine facilities was a primary driver in a program like Oregon football progressing from unheard of to National Championship contender, it’s not difficult to see how far behind the eight-ball this handicap leaves Michigan.

Where both pieces, however, fall short is in the claim that Beilein has recruited poorly, and that the current youth of the roster is somehow his fault. Let’s take a class-by-class look at the Wolverines and see if these claims hold any water. Today, we’ll examine the upper-classmen recruiting classes, the class of 2009 on Monday, the class of 2010 on Tuesday, and future classes on Wednesday.

Seniors and Red-shirt Seniors

One thing we all know is that this team has none on scholarship. Both of these classes, however, would have been recruited by Tommy Amaker – not Beilein. Of the class that could be red-shirt seniors, DeShawn Sims exhausted his eligibility, Ekpe Udoh is in the NBA (though he went to Baylor first), Anthony Wright transferred to attend graduate school after three years of sporadic contributions, Reed Baker is an unsuccessful player at Florida Gulf Coast, and K’len Morris rides the bench at GVSU. There’s nothing really missing here.

For true seniors, Amaker had brought in both Manny Harris and Kelvin Grady – neither of whom are still with the team. Both players displayed laconic (at best) attitudes on defense and found thenselves frequently in the coach’s doghouse. Without being privy to the relationship they had with Beilein, lets assume that he deserves at least some blame for neither being on the team this year.

Juniors/RS Sophomores

This class was comprised of Stu Douglass, Zack Novak, Ben Cronin, and Robin Benzing. The German was ruled ineligible by the NCAA before setting foot on campus, and Cronin was felled with hip injuries, leaving just Douglass and Novak, through no fault of Beilein’s. While the recruiting profile of this pair (and Cronin, really) is mediocre, we need to understand why this may be the case. On March 17th, 2007, Michigan fired Tommy Amaker. Michigan hired John Beilein on April 8th – and Beilein inherited a 2008 class with no players in it.

By contrast, Michigan State gained the commitment of 5-star Delmon Roe a mere three days after Beilein was hired. Draymond Green committed a week later, and Korie Lucious had been in the fold for over a year. William Buford has been committed to OSU for over a year at this pount, and BJ Mullens for a whopping three. Jordan Taylor and Jarred Berggren had both been signed at Wisconsin for some time, while Minnesota already had Ralph Sampson and Devoe Joseph in the fold.

What am I saying? Virtually every impact player in the Big Ten that signed as part of this class was already committed at the time Beilein was hired. With recruiting cycles pushing further and further out, players often commit as sophomores – Beilein couldn’t start on these players until they were rising seniors.

As part of the exercise, let’s see how Stu and Zack stack up compared to their classmates across the Big Ten.

Illinois: The Illini pulled in two players (Dominique Keller and Stan Simpson) no longer on their roster.

Indiana: The Hoosiers, reeling from post-Sampson defections, was the one team further behind the eight-ball than Michigan. In an effort to simply field a team, the Hoosier brought in a whopping seven lower-ranked prospects – the most productive of which is Verdell Jones, currently scoring twelve points a game. Matt Roth and Tom Pritchard are seldom-used role players, and the other four washed out. Jones is more productive than Novak and Douglass, but nobody else in the class comes close.

Iowa – Matt Gatens is the only remaining player from the Hawkeye class, as the rest washed out in suspensions, expulsions, and transfers. Gatens, too, is more productive than the Wolverine pair, but is the only productive player from the class.

Michigan State: Draymond Green is currently top-division player in the Big 10, albeit a frustrating one. Delvon Roe, while disappointing, is a quality defender, and Korie Lucious was a mediocre rotation PG before his season-long suspension. Not great shakes here, but probably more production than Michigan.

Minnesota – The Gopher duo of Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson are preferable to the two Wolverines, even accounting for the defection of Devoe Joseph.

Northwestern – The Northwestern class, produced two productive players – the mediocre Luka Mirkovic, and John Shurna – a player that Beilein would likely cut off his left arm for. Merely on the strength of Shurna, we’ll give the nod to the Wildcats.

Ohio State – The Buckeyes also yielded two productive players – William Buford and BJ Mullens. Mullens was a one-and-done who we’re straining credibility to refer to as “productive”. Buford, on the other hand, is probably in-line for first team All-Big-Ten as a shooting guard. Again, the nod goes to OSU.

Penn State – The Nittany Lions landed only rugged rebounder Billy Oliver – who gets 14 minutes a game for them. A far cry from Michigan.

Purdue – The Boilermakers got three rotational role players – sharshooter Ryne Smith, PG Lewis Jackson, and the un-rated John Hart. The three combine for 19 ppg, 6 rpg, and 6.6 assists per game, compared to 17.4/9/3 for Douglass and Novak. Given that Douglass and Novak equal the production of the Boilermaker trio, we’ll give the nod to the Wolverines.

Wisconsin – The Badgers picked up two faceless rotation regulars in Ryan Evans and Rob Wilson, along with role player Jarred Berggren and star Jordan Taylor. Taylor is enough to push this ahead of the Wolverines.

So how did Michigan pan out?

By our estimation, Michigan finished smack in the middle of the pack – 6th, in how this class is playing right now, despite landing in the toughest recruiting situation this side of Indiana. While not a stand-out class, Michigan landed two players who have grown and increased production as they’ve matured.

Tune in next week for the next class.