MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

WTKA Roundtable 4/18/2024: Spinning Out of Others' Pockets

Things Discussed:

• Filling the basketball roster. Expect to get C Vlad Goldin (FAU), CG Justin Pippen (HS), PG Trey Donaldson (Auburn), W Roddy Gayle (OSU), and another guy they're going after under the radar.
• Like Gayle if they can get his 3P% up better than Saint Mary's Aidan Mahaney, who took a lot of bad shots. C Justin Abson (App State) is Ben Wallace. Is he an either/or with C Danny Wolf (Yale)?
• What's the holdup? Guys want to go through the draft advisory board process. Sam thinks we'll get a drumbeat of commitments in the coming days and weeks.
• NIL: Dusty May needs a little more. How deep does the donor pool go? Well it's complicated; you're talking a quirky small subset of people who can afford this, and their individual circumstances matter a lot. There's a lot they're supporting: Football (which we're getting it done), Men's Hoops, Women's Hoops, etc. Seth: Don't forget Mott and the University of Michigan.
• Spring Game: What does the OL look like? Are there any guys standing? Sam thinks we won't be able to watch Hinton, Crippen, and El-Hadi, which that's three of your starters. Who's next? Seth doesn't like that Giudice is ahead of Efobi. That battle for RT is more iffy than we realized? Sam thinks they want a guy in the portal for Gentry or Persi to beat. Seth: If you're saying they Anderson we're at eight guys they trust now.
• Ohio State Spring Game: Their DL pushed their OL around so much it colors everything. QBs were throwing the ball into defenders; chests. Craig thinks their secondary is good. Seth says the offense is very Chip Kelly, they might have something with Julian Sayin down the road but he's skinny and mistake-prone right now.

Michigan HockeyCast 6.24: Deja Blue

1 hour and 21 minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1: The Better Team Won
 

• Opener
• Mistake Capitalization
• Upgrades Necessary
• Quick, Overall Takes

Segment 2: Additional Mish-Mash
 

• Title Game Rundown
• NHL Award Race
• Bat and Ball Sports
• Roster Updates

MUSIC

• NHL on ESPN Theme
• "Mr. Blue" -- Catherine Feeny
• Ice Hockey (NES) theme

MGoPodcast 15.26: The 1983 Fighting Methodists Preview

2 hours and 30 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, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, The Nose Bleeds, which is the Sklars Bros’ reboot of Cheap Seats on UFC Fight Pass, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to this podcast, and introducing Champions Circle, the NIL fund keeping our team together.

1. Basketball Bits

Starts at 1:00

We welcome Alex Drain to talk about Indiana football. But before that, filling up the basketball roster (coaches and players). Dusty May’s hires are recruiting focused, do they get an Australian?? Guys in the portal are guys the NBA doesn’t want, hence why they’re in the portal. Mark Pope to Kentucky is interesting but it’s probably a good hire overall. Would you rather play in the G league or get paid by Duke or Kentucky? Most of Michigan’s coaches look like A- hires. Getting a guy like George Washington III is a good get because they’re probably not going to fill all 13 spots, plus he could develop in his second year. They don’t have a recruiting class right now. Vlad Goldin feels like he’s in the bag, he’s on campus this week. Tre Donaldson has multiple crystal ball predictions for Michigan. Connor Essegian would hate Wisconsin which is a good culture fit!

2. Hockey Wrap-Up

Starts at 45:31
Michigan loses to Boston College 4-0, who would then go on to lose to Denver 2-0 after the Denver goalie played the game of a lifetime. Don’t think Michigan played poorly like the Quinnipiac game last year, Boston College was just at another level. Michigan got into trouble in 4-on-4s, especially after Dylan Duke’s bad penalty. Seamus Casey probably wasn’t 100%, this was one of his worst games. Who’s back next year? The bigger question marks are on defense. Still no rumors on goalie and anyone left in the portal doesn’t have a great save percentage. Put up an NIL bat signal.

3. Previewing The Big Ten Part One

Starts at 1:20:32
Takes hotter than Ohio State fans after losing to Oregon this year. Indiana football time! They essentially imported the whole JMU program plus a coach from Ohio. They landed four running backs from the portal, all of whom played significant snaps last year. Rutgers got a funny quarterback out of the portal. Minnesota and Rutgers like to trade their players a lot, apparently. Taulia Tagovailoa tried to get another year for no reason and didn’t get it. Maryland lost a lot and will have quite the drop off. We try to have Michigan State takes. Their defense has been hideous for years but they do return some of those guys. There are pieces on offense but the offensive line isn’t great., they’re a year zero. Penn State’s spring game had some concerning moments! Their top receiver is transferring and the shaky offensive line loses guys. Ohio State said “we’re never losing a football game again” so we’ll see if it works. Their QBs didn’t look good in the spring game. The defensive line dominated. Wisconsin hit the portal hard. Illinois' good defense is all gone.

4. Previewing The Big Ten Part Two

Starts at 2:02:19
Northwestern has gotten one (1) guy out of the portal. They're playing on a practice field by the lake this season and that might just sum up their season. Iowa has Not Brian Ferentz as their offensive coordinator, how's that going to look? Spencer Petras is in the portal! "[Team] is playing in the Rose Bowl!" is already an old joke. Nobody got picked apart by the portal as much as Purdue. Dylan Raiola to Nebraska is exciting but it probably won't start well. There's a path to 8 wins there. Minnesota will be okay. USC is finally making an effort to play defense. Their schedule is brutal, though. It will be interesting to see UCLA without Chip Kelly, also their travel schedule is wild. Oregon is a serious football program. Washington's roster and staff has been gutted. 

MUSIC:

• "Everyday Hustle" — Future and Metro Boomin
• “What a Difference She Made" — Jaylen Ngonda
• “Ready or Not”—  Shakey Graves, featuring Sierra Ferrell
• “Across 110th Street”

WTKA Roundtable 4/11/2024: Unsafe at Any Speed

Things Discussed:

• Frozen Four: Battle of the Blue Bloods. Usually you're counting on single-elimination hockey to off one of the impossibly good teams but NOT THIS YEAR. BC is fully of snipers—their top four forwards are shooting 18% to 21%.
• Michigan's chances rely on controlling the puck, scoring on their cycling, and Barzo stepping up to cancel out the corners.
• Past BC it's the #1 overall pick or a Denver team full of draft picks.
• College hockey right now: draft picks will coalesce at a few bluebloods like BC, BU, Denver, Minnesota, and Michigan, but the mid-majors are filled up with overagers trying to stay in the game. Also the NHL is enamored with college hockey players, and the US development program has succeeded in keeping talent home that five years ago and beyond we were losing to Canadian Juniors. So there's as much talent and skill in college hockey now as there's been in a very long time.
• Naurauto: He's on track for the perfect roster construction, which is two lines of highly skilled early NHL picks and Quinnipiac's top line, bunch of guys who are just on the cusp of NHL ability and are thus behooved to play out their eligibility in college.
• Break: What's going on at tight end? Beetham in the portal—is that about money? Michigan doesn't seem to have an inline guy this year.
• After Break: Women's basketball gone national. You can tell it's come on because sports fans are filling the hate boxes instead of being patronizing.
• Michigan othersports: wrestling is #2 in the Big Ten (better than Iowa) and is full of transfers! We love softball, women's gymnastics has a following, debate won a national championship.
• Is there enough NIL to go around at Michigan? Probably not, because we want to compete in every sport and donors are getting fatigued. The system doesn't work for anyone except the administrators who are getting the fans to pay out the nose for everything and want to shunt NIL on them too.

MGoPodcast 15.25: Chamberlain and I Combined for 100

1 hour and 49 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, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, The Nose Bleeds, which is the Sklars Bros’ reboot of Cheap Seats on UFC Fight Pass, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to this podcast, and introducing Champions Circle, the NIL fund keeping our team together.

1. Basketball Bits

Starts at 1:00

Seth is once again the biggest dork. Will Tschetter is returning, Terrance Williams II hit the portal and declared for the NBA draft (¯\_(ツ)_/¯), and Dusty May has made some assistant coaching hires. Mike Boynton and Akeem Miskdeen have joined the staff. These moves seem like they’re recruiting focused. All three of the big three from FAU are in the portal, Nick Boyd released a big list of schools that did not have Michigan on it. Michigan should get Davis and Goldin. Have you met Louisville’s fanbase? What about the rest of Michigan’s roster? Brian gives his guess on 10-11 roster spots. 

2. Football Spring Bits - Defense

Starts at 38:36
As it turns out, the defense is better than the offense right now. They’re really high on Jaishawn Barham, the linebacker transfer from Maryland. Rolder is still dinged up and we don’t blame him for what happened against Ohio State. There is speculation on the CB2 chatter and why it’s more encouraging than this time last year. LB2 and CB2 should be fine. On the defensive line, TJ Guy is a guy (ahhh he did it). Etta is also encouraging. It won’t be last team’s defensive line but it should be a two deep we’re comfortable with. The last two questions are “what do we do without Rod Moore” and “who is the nickel back”?

3. Football Spring Bits - Offense

Starts at 50:20

Takes hotter than our Kickstarter. On offense, it feels like Alex Orji is simply the leader at quarterback so far. To be fair, the offensive line is probably having a bad time against this defensive line. Semaj Morgan has been getting talked up which is not surprising. Donovan Edwards has apparently gained 15 pounds (with no mention of him catching passes). Marlin Klein is being called the best athlete of the tight ends. Not really any surprises along the offensive line. Sure, some of the problems at quarterback could be the defensive line dominating the offense line but those talks could also be covering up limitations of the quarterbacks. It could all work out but for that to happen you have to run the Denard offense and win some Iowa games. What would you consider a successful season this year?

4. NCAA Hockey Tournament 

Starts at 1:19:48
Michigan hockey reaches the frozen four for the third consecutive year. Michigan scores three in the 3rd period after North Dakota was arguably the better team in the first two periods. This is the opposite of what the season narrative has been. Of teams that have made the frozen four historically, the numbers one, two, three, and six are in. This is the bluest of blue bloods frozen four. Denver is 100 duck sized horses. Boston College has snipers, can’t get into a shooting match with them. 

MUSIC:

• "Miracles" — Alex G
• “Time Waits For No One" — The Rolling Stones
• “Will I See You Again”—  Three Sacred Souls
• “Across 110th Street”

WTKA Roundtable 4/4/2024: A Chip and a Chair

Things Discussed:

• Dusty May's new staff: got himself a D guy and a recruiter.
• Good sign that he's addressing his first perceived weaknesses, bodes well for gathering the best players from FAU and bringing Khani Rooths back.
• Akeem Miskdeen: Like Dusty May, nobody has a bad word to say.
• Rebuilding a basketball roster: Feels confident they can get Davis and Goldin and others from FAU, adding Miskdeen gets them in the market for the Oklahoma State guys in the portal and Rooths, whom Miskdeen was recruiting to Georgia. Also after Yale's stretch C, Wolf. All of these guys are grad transfers or Yale. Say yes to a proven Big Ten player who's got a chip on his shoulder in Essegian, even if he's not a perfect fit for May's offense. Can add pieces from FAU's class to get some Zak & Stu types.
• Will they come? They all like May enough that they didn't leave FAU after going to the Final Four. Trey Townsend (Oakland) probably goes to MSU, isn't much of a fit because he's not a perimeter guy (35% but on just a handful of attempts from the arc).
• Will the NIL be right? Michigan won't commit the same mistakes again.
• Hockey: Two of the best third periods in program history. Has this been a turnaround in focus or in luck? Kind of both, but also Marshall Warren has come on, and now they're getting good shifts from everyone down the roster.
• The Michigan 2.0: GuloGulo reminded us Nazar did the same in his first game.
• Now we just need the most iconic fight in college hockey history to have the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
• Ira: Most satisfying playoff win? Seth & Brian: Hell no! [both start naming bangers at Yost].
• Seth: I don't hate MSU hockey fans. Brian: You must have a short memory. But rivalry doesn't feel hateful right now because MSU was so bad.
• Can they win the Frozen Four? They're facing the three best one seeds after knocking off #4 and #5 in the country, have a puncher's chance but the Boston schools are loaded to the gills with NHL prospects and Denver is Denver. Twenty percent? Will take it.

Michigan HockeyCast 6.22: Not So Jolly Green Giants

1 hour and 53 minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1: Epic Showdown

• Opener
• Blitzed and Overpassing
• Puck Luck For All
• Best Period of the Season?

Segment 2: MSU Volume #6

• Power Plays?!
• Rushes and Even Play
• Actual Best Period of the Season
• Tournament Wrap-Up and Notes

MUSIC

• NHL on ESPN Theme
• "Seven Nation Army - Glitch Mob Remix" -- The White Stripes, The Glitch Mob
• Ice Hockey (NES) theme

Michigan HockeyCast 6.21: Munn-Dane

1 hour and 11 minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1: Whatever That Was

• Opener
• Early Dominance
• Whatever That Call Was
• Goaltending and Other Oddities

Segment 2: NCAA Tournament Preview

• North Dakota Fighting Not Sioux
• MSU again?? Maybe Western.
• The Other Regionals
• Final Thoughts and Takeaways

MUSIC

• NHL on ESPN Theme
• "I Don't Wanna Talk" -- Glass Animals
• Ice Hockey (NES) theme

MGoPodcast 15.24: May the North Be With You

1 hour and 58 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, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, The Nose Bleeds, which is the Sklars Bros’ reboot of Cheap Seats on UFC Fight Pass, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to this podcast, and introducing Champions Circle, the NIL fund keeping our team together.

1. The Hiring of Dusty May

Starts at 1:00

Brian let Seth out of his basement where he works on the UFRs so he’s off exploring the world somewhere (France). Michigan hired Dusty May as the 18th head men’s basketball coach, and the news was dropped in the middle of a hockey championship game. The rumor was that John Beilein played a big part in getting May. Good job, Warde Manuel! This hire was sniped from Louisville, who thought they could hire him this weekend. Whatever happened to Louisville? Dusty May really turned around Florida Atlantic basketball, which was basically a non-existent program before Dusty. He’s had a great track record everywhere he’s been. Dusty May is able to keep his players, even after a Final Four run. 

2. Basketball - Looking Forward to Next Year

Starts at 29:58

What makes Dusty May appealing as a coach? He seems to be really well liked. His teams shoot a lot of 3s and they shoot them pretty well. There are a lot of Beilein parallels.  Who comes back? Who do you try and get? Johnell Davis is his star and has a year remaining. Bryan Greenlee and Vladislav Goldin are the other two starters who could come over as grad transfers. Does Dusty bring over his coaching staff and do you retain any of the coaching staff from an 8-24 team? Who do you want to keep from last season’s roster? We’re completely happy with the hire but there isn’t a statistic that pops out consistently every year (except defensive assist rate). Expectations for next year are very low, fill a roster with guys you can build a program from. He’s going to have to hit the portal pretty hard. 

3. Football Bits

Starts at 1:07:05

Wink Martindale’s contract makes him the highest paid defensive coordinator in college football. When’s the last time you saw a long-term NFL coordinator jump back to college? Greg Scruggs has resigned and the guy to keep an eye on now is Terrance Jamison from Illinois. DJ Waller and Jyaire Hill are the two names that popped up during Sherrone Moore’s press conference as looking impressive so far. It might be Jack Tuttle as the spring front runner at QB until someone comes in and takes it. Don’t take too much stock into his Indiana career. Michigan has lost good receivers over the last three recruiting cycles, they need to get some more guys. Will Michigan pass more under Sherrone Moore? Probably not. Cam Goode was not on scholarship, he was on NIL all last season. The era of scholarship limits is over!

4. NCAA Hockey Tournament 

Starts at 1:31:49

Michigan hockey is a #3 seed and gets to play in an empty stadium in Maryland Heights, Missouri! They get North Dakota in the first game and are in an overall manageable draw. North Dakota's goalie seems like a guy. Michigan loses in OT to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship game and Michigan State's game-tying goal might be the worst call we've ever seen. Michigan had a waved off goal that was also questionable. We've seen Michigan State many times, we're ok with drawing them as the #1 seed. When can we see the end of the tournament format of playing in empty neutral sites? The game is Friday at 8:30 on ESPNU.

MUSIC:

• "Mayday" — Home Free
• “Rum And Coca Cola" — The Andrews Sisters
• “Ready to Go”—  Republica
• “Across 110th Street”

WTKA Roundtable 3/21/2024: I'm Going Where Eli's Pointing

Things Discussed:

• Favorite basketball candidates. Craig has some off-the-wall ideas (Cornell's HC, Eli Brooks) but we have four we're mostly focused on, plus a pipe dream. Lavall Jordan: no, but floated the idea (Sam's) of Beilein doing a year with Lavall as AHC. Seth: don't like that. Let's get a coach in and start building a program, because that's a long-term deal.
• The four gettables (in probable order):
  • May: We may be competing with L'ville? Downside is you'd like to see it go longer.
  • Nedved: Seth & Brian like. Efficient from 2 vs Virginia: that's coaching.
  • Devries: Comes with his best player (his son). Has been doing more with less a long time.
  • Abdur-Rahim. Think he's an interesting idea, but after Devries, which is the "You can get that guy" line.
• McDermott? Sam thinks you kick the tires, make him say no. Seth & Brian: Okay, and then he'll say no. But maybe not says Sam.
• A fifth: Jerome Tang.
• Our brackets: Seth likes Creighton, Brian thinks Purdue breaks through (that's what happens when you lose to a 16 seed right?), Sam hasn't made his picks yet, Craig believes in McNeese State.