Friday, January 25, 2013

The all-U of M post

Michigan beat Purdue by 15 in a home game... ho hum...

I have to say, this is the most fun I've had watching since the '96-'97 team (which technically didn't exist since they had to vacate their wins) with Louis Bullock, Maceo Baston, Tractor Traylor and Maurice Taylor. That team went a bit deeper than this one though. It's fun to look back. I noticed Tai Streets played in 13 games on that '97 team, which I hadn't remembered.

While they lack the depth of the '97 team, the current version is fun to watch (and hopefully cleaner the the old team, NCAA violations-wise). Glenn Robinson III is starting to become my favorite player, with Trey Burke holding a slim lead. He had a pretty filthy dunk and put up 12 & 9 on his dad's alma mater.

Burke wasn't crisp early (0-4 for 3) but cleaned it up and finished with a solid 15 points, 8 assists, a couple steals & blocks & only one turnover.

Tim Hardaway Jr. has a bit of a rep as a chucker (well, maybe he deserves it, but a couple years ago there wasn't anyone else to go to), and I think an incorrect impression people get of him is that he's completely full of himself, which couldn't be further from the truth. He's stepped up big time on defense the past couple years and improved his decision making and all around game. Check the improvements in FG%, 3PT% and rebounds from his first 2 years to this year:
He had a solid game - 13 points on 5-9 shooting (3-5 from 3), 4 boards, a dime, a steal and 2 blocks.

In other Michigan news, Denard Robinson hasn't exactly distinguished himself in the Senior Bowl prep so far. Keep in mind, he's still recovering from the elbow injury that knocked him out of the QB role (finally!), but a lot of the problems he's having adjusting to the position could have been avoided if Michigan had used him properly. I think Robinson should've taken less than half his snaps at QB and been used also in Michigan's return game. Now he's learning on the fly.

Anyway, here's a couple vids from Senior Bowl prep featuring Denard. If he want's to be a pro slot WR, he's going to have to run crisper routes. He doesn't look terrible though...


The thing is, this isn't exactly a Tim Tebow situation. Tebow worked out at various positions, but his value was at QB. Nobody is talking about Robinson as an NFL QB. If he's going to be a successful pro, it'll be as a slot WR/return man. Which begs the question "why didn't Michigan play him there?"

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