"OK, This smells familiar for us"

It's been 4 long years since the Lakers have won a playoff series, 6 years since a sweep and damn does it feel good. The Nuggets finally showed up for a game and looked like they were on the verge of winning it until Kobe stepped up and reminded everyone why he is considered the best closer in the league finishing with 14 points over the last 5 1/2 minute to send the Nuggets to vacation and the Lakers waiting for a 2nd round opponent.

The first half went very well looking like the Lakers were ready to just take the W without getting much of a fight from Denver. Turns out the Nuggets did have some fight in them as they fought back in the third and kept it close for the rest of the game. But Kobe did what he needed to do to get the W. The turnaround jumper over K-Mart as the shot clock expired was ridiculous as was the stretch when he made the 3, then got an and 1 on JR Smith. Only concern is with his Free Throw shooting which has been troublesome at times, but when it comes down to it he makes them when he needs to but it has been enough of a problem for me to mention it.
Luckily for the Lakers, Denver is a team that is not very mentally tough. They gave up at times throughout the series making it easy for the Lakers to go on some runs and put games out of reach. That will not be the case as we wait for Utah or Houston, most likely Utah. But the Lakers have had success against the Jazz this season and I am confident we can get the job done in the next round. The good news is the extra time off will help Trevor Ariza get some work in and it sounds like he could make a contribution in the next round. Still no positive news from the Bynum camp but I am not worried about it, if he's ready great bring him along slowly, but there's no need to rush with the long-term future to think about. For now I'm going to enjoy this series win since it's been so long and worry about all that stuff once we officially get the 2nd round set.

What a difference a year makes

The following is a post I started writing halfway through the series but never was able to finish up. Full update a little bit later.


I had planned to write about the Michigan hockey team prior to the Frozen Four but considering the run we were on I didn't want to jinx it and I guess it didn't matter since either way. That said the NBA playoffs began this past weekend and it's just amazing to think how different the Lakers situation is in just one year. From Kobe and no help and a 7 seed to a real team that isn't solely dependent on Kobe and the #1 seed. Considering Kobe's comments during the offseason and then Bynum's injury, I don't think any Lakers fan even the most optimistic ones, could have seen this team winning the West this season. I came into this season thinking that getting to Round 2 would be good enough in conjunction with the development of Bynum but with the addition of Gasol and his seamless integration into the offense the expectations have changed.
With that, the Lakers opened the 2008 playoffs with high expectations of bringing home another banner. Although I can dream of that as a fan, I know this years Western Conference playoffs will be extremely difficult, even as a #1 seed considering the gap between teams 1 and 6 was only 3 games.

March Madness Picks

Now that the quarter is over I've finally got some time to update and what better time than March Madness. I had started catching the fever as UCI made its run through the Big West Tournament, but it was not to be as they lost in the Big West finals to a very dangerous Cal State Fullerton team that wouldn't be shocking to make some noise in the tournament. Heading to Vegas tomorrow for the opening weekend of the madness as I've done the past 3 years and for those that haven't gone yet during this time, I highly recommend it as a sports fan, there's nothing like it. So here are my picks, to save space in the first two rounds just calling the upsets, everything else I'm taking the favorite:

East-First Round: Saint Josephs over Oklahoma
Second Round: Butler over Tennessee
Sweet Sixteen: UNC over Washington State, Louisville over Butler
Regional Champ: North Carolina

Midwest-First Round: Kansas State over USC, Davidson over Gonzaga, Cal State Fullerton over Wisconsin
Second Round: None
Sweet Sixteen: Kansas over Vanderbilt, Georgetown over Kansas State
Regional Champ: Georgetown

South-First Round: St. Mary's over Miami
Second Round: None
Sweet Sixteen: Texas over Stanford, Memphis over Pittsburgh
Regional Champ: Texas

West-First Round: Baylor over Purdue, Arizona over West Virginia
Second Round: Drake over Connecticut
Sweet Sixteen: UCLA over Drake, Duke over Xavier
Regional Champ: UCLA

Final Four: North Carolina over Georgetown, UCLA over Texas

National Champion: UCLA

What else can I say?

When the Lakers made the move and got Pau Gasol, I think all of us Lakers fans expected a lot. We were immediately thrust into title contention and became one of the favorites, but I don't know if many people would be able to say they expected this much. This team is rolling right now and hasn't skipped a beat as they integrated Gasol into the offense. He does so much for this team it's unreal to think of what we had to give up to get him.

Now our only concern seems to be when Bynum comes back and how will he fit into this team as he comes back from injury. At least he is on schedule, unlike Trevor Ariza who will be missed as his broken foot is not healing as quickly as hoped. We need Ariza because Luke Walton has definitely regressed after getting his new contract. I don't know what it is but he is not playing very well and is extremely frustrating to watch at times. Sasha is really now a machine as he likes to call himself and with Jordan putting up solid minutes backing up D Fish there's not much more this team needs.

I was sitting there watching the game last night and thought to myself how unbelievably lucky we are as Lakers fans to be rebuilt like that so quickly. I was extremely young at the time but I do remember the end of the Showtime era and growing up with Cedric Ceballos and Sedale Threatt. Then the summer of 96 came with Kobe and Shaq and we were rolling again in a few years. Then Shaq is traded, the team made some dumb moves (Caron for Kwame) and combine that with Kobe's tirade this offseason I didn't know what to expect. Now we are one of, if not the favorite now to win the title and the team is set up for a great run as this team is extremely young.

As I said before, Lamar would play well in this role as a 3rd option, but the question is two fold, one is how will he react once Bynum comes back and he becomes option 3 or even possibly 4, and then for the future, how does he fit into this team in the long run? Lamar has put up unbelievable numbers since Pau has arrived but he's currently the 28th highest paid player in the league at $13.524 million per season and his contract is up next year. With Pau in the fold and Kobe who will not be moved and Bynum becomes eligible for his big time extension the front office will have a tough decision.

A quick break from the countdown to Signing Day

Yes, I've been neglecting the site for a while, I just didn't feel like I had anything new to bring to the table aside from all the news that is regularly being reported. Besides I didn't want to get too worked up over how Terrelle Pryor could potentially determine the fate of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry for the next few years. Good news is we did receive a commitment from Terrence Robinson last night and if his clip below doesn't get you excited I don't know what will.



That said the exciting news broke from out here in Los Angeles as the Lakers made the blockbuster move to acquire Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies for essentially nothing, giving up Kwame Brown and Javaris Crittendon along with Aaron McKie and two first rounders. It does hurt having to give up Javaris as he is very exciting to watch but with the emergence of Jordan Farmar this season, he became expendable.

Obviously getting an All-Star caliber player is huge, but to do so without giving up any of our key assets makes it even better. In addition I believe, as many do, this will free up Lamar Odom as it will relieve him of any pressure of having to be the #2 guy and will be the 3rd scorer until Bynum comes back at which he could be the 4th. Now is a 4th scorer worth the contract he has right now? That's another question we'll ponder at a different time. This immediately throws the Lakers back into the championship mix, those of us optimistic folks out here had already thought we could compete with the emergence of Bynum this season, but this legitimately puts us in the conversation across the league. The two keys will be how will Pau acclimate himself to the triangle? Something I don't think will be a problem and how/when will Andrew come back and will he be at full strength? With a healthy lineup this team is as loaded as any in the league now and throw in the depth across the board this is a team that no one will want to face come playoff time. An exciting week is ahead as Gasol's debut will be tomorrow against New Jersey, then National Signing Day is on Wednesday. I'm still holding out hope for Terrelle Pryor and hopefully he will realize that Ann Arbor is the best place for him.

Though I will be catching passes in another city starting next fall, I will always be a Michigan man.

Words from Adrian Arrington's statement as he announced he would be leaving for the NFL. I can't fault him as he had a huge day against Florida and bumped his stock up considerably. Also Super Mario looks to be gone as well so I wish them the best. The other news is Ryan Mallett's transfer, which was expected. I really like the way Coach Rodriguez came out and said he's only concerned with players playing for Michigan. It's very reminiscent of Coach Schembechler.

Now the team is very short on QB's and WR's and there is a big need at both positions. A lot of people are forgetting Steven Threet who transferred last year from Georgia Tech, he was a top 10 QB Mallett's year and should be considered the favorite to start right now. It also makes the depth chart that much more attractive for Terrelle Pryor. Signing Day is less than a month away and Coach Rodriguez says he expects to sign a full class of 25 so there are still a few spots to fill. It's going to be an exciting countdown to Signing Day.

Happy New Year

Been a long time with a combination of being on vacation and laziness so there haven't been any posts for a month. During my last post there was a lot of confusion and disappointment as our coaching search was in the middle of the Les Miles debacle and it looked like we were going to promote from within. Then a short few days later we learned that we were talking to Rich Rodriguez. Initially I thought there was no chance it would happen but I'm extremely happy that it happened and with the hire. Sure there was a strong pull towards Miles because he is one of us but Rodriguez wasn't a big problem with our coaching staff due to the fact that they were all Michigan Men and too stuck in their ways? In addition Rodriguez is considered one of the authorities on the spread offense and considering how Michigan was still stuck in the three yards and a cloud of dust mentality with our old coaches I'm extremely pleased that we are moving into the 21st century.

Onto the next topic being the performance of the team on New Years day sending Coach Carr out with a big W. I was one of many who thought we didn't have a chance in this game. Considering the way we finished the year and the running ability of Tebow and the speed of Percy Harvin I didn't think we would keep it within 2 TD's, but as they say that's why they play the game. I couldn't have been more thrilled to be proven wrong. When I turned the game on and watched our first drive I knew we definitely showed up to play and we were going to give a hell of a performance. It was great to see not only Coach Carr but the seniors go out with a bang like that. Especially seeing Henne play in his best game as a Wolverine.

Now it's down the stretch of recruiting season with signing day only a few short weeks away. There was a lot of concern with the coaching change but there have yet to be any defections as of yet. Marcus Witherspoon is supposed to now visit Tennessee but after getting Brandon Smith over the weekend and reconfirming with J.B. Fitzgerald should help in keeping him in the Maize and Blue. The big recruiting news centers around the Rivals #1 player in the nation Terrelle Pryor who added Michigan to his list after Coach Rodriguez was hired and it looks to be a Michigan/Ohio State battle. There is a lot of talk that it will depend on what Ryan Mallett does so we will just have to sit and wait. But after watching Pryor in the U.S. Army All-American game I couldn't help but think of what kind of damage he could do for us in a winged helmet or against us in a grey one. Let's hope he decides on the good guys.

Finally, I want to close with the Lakers who are on a tear and looking like they will be able to do some damage this season come playoff time. Andrew Bynum has become a force on the inside and the youngsters are all stepping up even as Kobe has struggled these past few games. It's great to see the team taking care of business against these bad Eastern Conference teams and now we've got a big two game roadtrip to Memphis and New Orleans the next two days. It'll be a good test on Wednesday against a Hornets team that carved us up earlier this year.

Where do we go from here?

I, like most Michigan fans, expected by this time we'd have announced Les Miles as the next Michigan head coach. Now many know throughout this season my top choice was Jeff Tedford, but after watching Cal much more closely this season and seeing the team stumble down the stretch I realize that was the wrong choice. That said I was ready to see Les back in AA. When I was woken up by a phone call telling me Herbstreit had said Miles was coming with Jon Tenuta I couldn't contain myself. Then it all came crashing down. The details, along with every rumor/scenario as to what transpired, I'm sure everyone has read before so I'll spare them.

Now that leads to the question who is next? First up is it CANNOT be Kirk Ferentz. Everyone across the country was scratching their heads when his name came up first and I know we will become the laughingstock of the country if we end up with him. I was already getting shit from fans of other schools about the potential for Ferentz. There has been some talk about Mike Debord and Brady Hoke, I'm not even consider them serious candidates for the job because if either of them became head coach I don't even know what I would do. Ron English I could live with as long as we cleaned house and brought in a new OC and new S&C coaches, that said I wouldn't be thrilled with it. He has no head coaching experience and our D has struggled a lot lately.

Hopefully there is a home run out there that no one is seeing that Bill Martin has his eye on. If you follow Michigan closely enough I'm sure you've come across some pipe dream scenarios on different message boards but maybe they're more realistic than we can see. At this point that's all I have to pin my hopes on. That or the fact that Bill Martin realizes he made a mistake and gives Les a reasonable offer that he will not turn down. These past few days have made it very difficult for me to concentrate on anything but the search. I need to take a step back like I did during the Kobe trade rumors and let it play out, although in this case I hope there are changes made. As incompetent as Bill Martin looks right now I'm willing to wait it out a little bit because I really can't believe that there are no other candidates out there than our internal candidates. Let's hope that is the case.

Post Regular Season Top 25

1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. Virginia Tech
6. USC
7. West Virginia
8. Missouri
9. Kansas
10. Florida
11. Illinois
12. Hawaii
13. Auburn
14. Clemson
15. Wisconsin
16. Boston College
17. Arizona State
18. Texas
19. Arkansas
20. Texas Tech
21. Cincinnati
22. BYU
23. Boise State
24. Oregon State
25. UCF

• Just when you thought the season couldn't get any crazier, both 1 and 2 go down leading us to an Ohio State-LSU matchup.
• I wish Georgia was able to play LSU in the SEC Championship, that would've been awesome.
• Who would've thought Pitt could come up with a game like that in Morgantown?
• Bowl matchups I'm looking forward to outside the BCS are the Missouri-Arkansas and Clemson-Auburn game. Also most likely I'll be heading to the Holiday Bowl to watch Texas-Arizona State.
• Yes, I wanted Michigan to play in a New Years Day game but not against Florida, I don't think we can keep it within 2 TD's.