MGoPodcast 15.9: The 2023-’24 Hoops Preview

1 hour and 40 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, The Phil Klein Insurance Group, Winewood Organics, Human Element, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, The Nose Bleeds, which is the Sklars Bros’ reboot of Cheap Seats on UFC Fight Pass, and INTRODUCING TO THE PODCAST: Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning.

1. The Latest on Signgate

Starts at 1:00

The developments that have developed are basically nothing. Feels like we know pretty much what there is to know, it's just a matter of what happens next from the NCAA. Michigan could be the first program hit with the NCAA's new rule of "if a staffer gets in trouble, the head coach also gets in trouble". There's some failure on the part of Warde Manuel. What is the actual competitive advantage of stolen signals? College football coaches are the most paranoid people in America. Based on how the NCAA has handled these issues, it seems extremely unlikely that anything will happen to Michigan this season. Worst case scenario would be Jim Harbaugh gets a show-cause a year or two down the road.

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]

2. Michigan Men's Basketball Backcourt

Starts at 22:37

Dug McDaniel is the most established guard. Freshmen point guards can be shaky, McDaniel's trajectory for his sophomore year is encouraging. Jaelin Llewellyn is your next most established guard. We didn't see a lot of him last year since he tore his ACL but he should be full go by now. Hard to know how much we're getting back from him after his injury. Nimari Burnett transfers as a rotation player from an Alabama team that was the 3rd best defense in college basketball last year. His offensive upside is unknown, Charles Matthews is a good comparison. George Washington III was described by Dug McDaniels as a good shooter but probably won't see more than 10 minutes per game. Jace Howard is listed as a guard but it's unlikely that he'll be a lot more than he was last year. 

3. Michigan Men's Basketball Frontcourt

Starts at 45:38

Takes hotter than Edward Norton Jr. after seeing Connor Stalions on the sidelines at CMU and he's like "I GOT THIS ROLE. THIS IS ALL ME, BABY". Tarris Reed is your starter, who is also Not Hunter Dickinson. He was slightly better defensively than Hunter Dickinson but the offensive drop-off was much bigger. Also needs to be better than 40% at free throws! Olivier Nkamhoua was a big contributor for the #1 defense in the country last year. That is already a huge upgrade defensively at the 4. He won't solve all your problems but is a very good, veteran basketball player. Seth thinks the final starting spot is Terrance Williams II, Brian thinks it's Tray Jackson. Will Tschetter: exists. Youssef Khayat could be a guy. 

4. 2023-2024 Men's Basketball Overview

Starts at 1:21:19

Making the tournament is a reasonable goal for this team. Where is Michigan going to get their points from? This gets made up by the massive defensive improvements. Michigan loses Jett Howard to the NBA but Michigan was a better team without Jett Howard. Juwan Howard is still recovering from heart surgery and has not been available in the pre-season coaching. There are going to be some hiccups with this team but all the transfers coming in are very experienced players from good teams. The vibes were awful last year but should be much better this year. 

MUSIC:

• “U-Love”— J Dilla
• “Crosshairs”— Dangerdoom, MFDoom
• “Smooth Aisles”—  Michael Nau
• “Across 110th Street”