"The Rose that Grew from Concrete": Back in the program?

Earlier in the week, the University of Michigan held a dinner/meet-and-greet for all Student Athletes.  This welcome-back dinner allowed the athletes to get to know one another and meet coaches and players from other sports.  

The honored guest of the night?  It was none other than former Michigan guard and Fab Five member Jalen Rose.  Rose, who was regarded as the promoter of the group, helped start a basketball revolution that was felt not just in Ann Arbor, but across America.  Kids today still proudly wear black socks and baggy shorts when playing basketball;  both trends were made popular by the Fab Five.  This team would regularly push Crisler's seating capacity to its limits, and bulldoze the Spartans without breaking a sweat. 

Getting the picture?

When the Ed Martin scandal hit following these great years, Rose and his teammates were banished from the Michigan family.  The University disavowed all their accomplishments and took every banner, picture, statistic, and crumb of information out of the program.

This is the second time Rose has been used by the University as a guest speaker/main attraction of an event in the past year.  Last year, the University threw a "Jalen Rose Day" promotion at a men's basketball game, during which Rose spoke at halftime.  He has openly stated that he wants to donate the money for a Jalen Rose Practice Facility, but has balked due to the University's stance on the Fab Five and not having their accomplishments displayed anywhere. Could these appearances be Bill Martin's way of easing Rose back into the Michigan family?  

The Fab Five have been the "Pink Elephant in the corner" for the U of M basketball team for the past decade.  The program has been unable to utilize what is arguably its greatest legacy and strongest recruiting tool. They aren't even shown in the Intro-Video played before the starting line-ups.  The video shows the greatest players and decades in U of M's history and the 90's are noticeably missing from the tape. 

Rose wants to desperately give back to Michigan and Michigan should let him.  The team is in dire need of updated facilities and Rose is the most successful player still on good terms with the University. A beloved figure in the Detroit community, Rose would not only provide financial support, but also would be a mentor to young players.

The same young players that grew up wearing baggy shorts and black socks, and wanting to "dunk like C-Webb" and "pass like JR."

Laval Lucas-Perry Wins NCAA Appeal

The NCAA ruled yesterday that Laval Lucas-Perry will have three years of eligibility left after the conclusion of the 2008-09 season. Perry still is not eligible to play until the conclusion of the fall semester in December, but this is a favorable ruling for the Wolverines. Perry played five games for Arizona last fall, averaging 4.0 points per game before deciding to transfer closer to home.

Perry scored 27 ppg as a junior and 20 ppg as a senior at Flint Powers High School. He also followed in the Courtney Sims model of success as he was named all conference as part of the #1 varsity doubles team.

Ekpe Udoh Decides to Transfer

Ekpe Udoh is the latest basketball player to leave the team as he announced his plans to transfer today. Udoh had been contemplating leaving the program since the end of the season and while he did not name potential new schools, he did have this to say about the Michigan Program:

"This was a very difficult decision for me, I just feel I need to explore other options right now. I had a wonderful experience at Michigan and I want to thank everyone for helping me the last two years. I wish them nothing but success in the future."

Well that opens up another scholarship...wonder when they're having open tryouts?

Basketball vs Hockey

Let's compare the performances of the Michigan Hockey and Basketball teams from last Friday:

	Basketball		Hockey		Advantage
(Field) Goals Scored	10		10		PUSH
(Field) Goals Allowed	17		1
Season Record Set for Points	Record Low		Record High
Shooting %	20		25
# of Players who Scored	6		8
Fouls/Penalty Minutes	14		14		PUSH
Assists	8		15
Blocks	4		9
Advanced to Next Round	HAHAHA		Yes

And the edge goes to.....Michigan Hockey!

Michigan's Season (Mercifully) Come to an End

Michigan's Big 10 tournament run was halted at one game as top-seeded Wisconsin disposed of Michigan by a score of 51-34. Those 34 points set a new Big-10 tournament record for futility. Ironically enough, Michigan was the team that held Minnesota to just 40 points which was the previous low, set in last year's tournament. Wisconsin jumped out to an early 10-0 lead on five layups before Michigan could put the ball in the hoop.

Michigan shot a dreadful 10-50 (20%) from the field in the game. The wolverines actually shot better from beyond the three-point arch than they did closer to the basket, hitting 6-24 (25%) of their 3 pt FG attempts and just 4-26 (15%) of their 2 pt FG.
Zach Gibson led the way for Michigan scoring eight points in the first half . Perhaps he's been reading/listening to all the criticism that WCBN's own Rushi Vyas has been dishing his way.

With Men's Basketball now done for the season, we can turn our attention fully to Michigan Hockey as they kick off their postseason tonight. Tony, Christian, and Andrew will have the call from Yost as the puck drops at 7:30. Listen live on the sports stream at www.wcbnsports.com. Jeremy Kreisberg will have our first live blog as the game unfolds so be sure to check back for that as well.

Big 10 Tournament opening game #9 Michigan 55 #8 Iowa 47

Michigan WINS!

Despite a nearly 10 minute second half scoring drought for Michigan, the Wolverines held on for a first round victory against the Hawkeyes.

Rob Salaman and Stuart Zaas had the live call on the sportstream and did a great job. Honestly, way better than the BTN play-by-play and color guys.

Michigan now advances to take on the #1 seed Wisconsin in a #1 vs. #9 matchup. The Wolverines lost by double digits at home to Wisconsin this year, but lost by only 3 at Madison.

Does Michigan have a shot?

We will find out tomorrow at noon when they tip off against the Badgers.
You can catch that call tape delayed on the sports stream as Rob and Stu will have it again.

-Go Blue!

originally posted by Rushi 3/13

Impressions from Indianapolis - Big Ten Tourny Game 1

First of all, Conseco Fieldhouse is an amazing arena. For those who haven't had the opportunity to take in a game there, think the Palace of Auburn Hills, but smaller and much more intimate. Rob and I made the 4+ hour drive down, leaving around 5:45 this morning which put us down in Indianapolis just in time to catch Tubby Smith wrapping up Minnesota's practice.

We spent about 20 minutes scouring the many press rows courtside looking for our assigned seats (whats up with the Michigan yearbook getting a better seat than us?? and how about Michigan "B" Radio...since when do we have a second radio station covering Michigan Basketball?). We finally broke down and asked someone for help and after waiting another 20 minutes for her to find someone to help us, we were eventually shown to our table which was set up in the front of the middle deck. They turned out to be very good seats, we were able to spread out and to our delight, we found a working phone line so we were able to have the call live.

Michigan came out inspired in the first half, storming to a 14-point advantage. The Wolverines would eventually push the lead out to 15 in the second half before deciding that they were going to see what happens if they go 10 minutes without scoring. Well, the result was the lead shrinking to eight before Anthony Wright hit a deep three from beyond NBA range to put the game out of reach. Manny Harris was on fire to begin the game, connecting on five of his first six attempts from the field, including two three-pointers and a thunderous one-handed slam off a C.J. Lee steal.

As Rushi mentioned below, Michigan will take on #1 seed (oops) Wisconsin at noon tomorrow. That game can be seen on ESPN. WCBN will not have access to a phone line tomorrow, so the game will be on the sports stream at a later date.

GO BLUE!

Big 10 Tournament: Michigan vs Iowa

Michigan Men's Basketball will take on Iowa as the number nine seed in the Big 10 Tournament at noon in Indianapolis. The two teams split their matchups during the regular season with each team picking up a road victory. Iowa defeated Michigan 68-60 in the first game on January 19th. More people would remember that game for a certain football recruit who was in attendance (for all of 10 minutes) while on his official visit. In the second meeting, the Wolverines rallied from a 27-16 halftime deficit to go on and win by a score of 60-52. That win was the second in Michigan's season-high three game win streak.

On paper, this is a very even matchup between the #8 and #9 seeds. If you combine the scores from both regular season games, the teams tied 120-120. The winner of Thursdays game will go on to play #1 seeded Wisconsin at noon on Friday.

WCBN's Rob Salaman and Stuart Zaas will be in Indianapolis with the call. You (might) be able to listen live by following the link for the sports stream from our website: www.wcbnsports.com