2019-20 ohio state #1

The origins of Juwan Howard. I generally don't lead with long articles behind paywalls with no nuggets to pull out and discuss independently, but Brendan Quinn's profile of a literal basketball court in Chicago is too good not to:

The 10-year-old cooked up his nerves. Deep breaths rising and falling, in and out; his hollow chest turning molten hot. OK, Nook, you can do this. He took a step toward the courtyard, where out in the clearing a pack of boys whooped and laughed, playing baseball and talking smack. A cloud of dust rose from the field and through it walked young Juwan Howard, all tall and awkward, coming to introduce himself.

The boys stopped and turned.

“Isn’t this great?” Howard said. “I’m so excited to live in a townhouse!”

A pause hung, then an explosion of laughter.

“Townhouse?” one of the boys said. “These ain’t no townhouses!”

It's one Juwan Howard had built shortly after getting a giant NBA contract, and is as much about America as it is Juwan Howard.

[After THE JUMP: in which the ripped jersey flagrant is revealed to be a one off]

1 hour and 38 minutes

The Sponsors

We can do this because people support us. You should support them! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan we’d be writing for The Athletic if we're lucky.

Our associate sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, The Phil Klein Insurance Group, FuegoBox and The Athletic

1. Hoops vs Michigan State

starts at 1:00

Franz Wagner didn't score but his gumby arms were huge—got a good Wagner face from the block that was inexplicably called a foul. Turned on some rebounding potential. Comp? Michigan finally wins from the 3 point line. Nice to have Livers back, not just because Johns is a very good backup 4. Michigan renders Bingham useless—Johns and Davis could body him, and Livers means he can't be on the floor for spacing otherwise. Izzo's whiny bitch fest of a press conference. Why does anyone play for that guy?

2. Hoops vs Ohio State

starts at 25:46

The most insane call we've ever seen—doesn't help the refs that their explanation for the call is patently untrue. Complete officiating debacle—Kaleb Wesson should have fouled out—you literally can't take a charge if the guy is in the air before you get there! Bad both ways yes but asymmetric, and good lord. When's the last time Michigan ever got a gift game, because we have to eat 3 or 4 losses a year. Michigan is 96th %ile in short clock plays. Questionable coaching: drop coverage on Kaleb Wesson. Peak this season is cursed.

3. Hot Takes and Mark Dantonio

starts at 45:32

The XFL: a lot of good ideas for entertaining football. Seems like this league is set up for more success than previous ones. Kickoffs are cool, punting is bad, "Team 9" league-wide practice squad. Michigan's tourney resume vs State's: um, actually it's better.

Dantonio: run by Curtis Blackwell! Was clear if he was going to leave he would have gone to Beekman and gotten his money. Tom Mars is involved now. If Blackwell comes out clean here Michigan should hire him! MSU job: inheriting a rogue program after its best coach with two years of cratered recruiting. Timing is bad because you can't get in on the portal now, terrible fanbase, toughest division. Preemptive no's from Narduzzi, ISU's head coach.

4. Ace's Sconnie Hockey Podcast

starts at 1:18:02

Wisconsin's goaltending is TERRIBLE. Getting production from Granowicz. Potential #1 line with Beecher (muscle)/Hayhurst (creator)? Control their own destiny to win the league (have to win 6 in a row) but still outside looking in on tournament. They've improving: get the puck out of the zone cleaner, playing solid. Wonder what position they'd be in if they didn't take a bad luck goal against PSU and get rogered by the refs vs OSU. Only PSU in this league is a lock for the tournament but all the way down to MSU is bubble.

MUSIC:

• "E=MC²"—J Dilla (feat Common)
• "Rip Off"—T. Rex
• "Jump Around"—House of Pain
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS:

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link
• What's with the theme music?

Ever had a gnome thrown at you? It's not a pleasant situation

MSU things discussed:

• Dantonio's irregularities: it sounds like he lied in his deposition (which is why Mars is getting involved?)
• Does NCAA actually care about the alleged violations?
• Is it a better job than Cincy? Cincy you can take to ND soon. MSU the last two recruiting classes: not so hot and total garbage. No matter who takes that job it's three and out.
• The board of trustees hires the football coach, not the AD. Let's get some Michigan fans together and elect a board that's going to hire Brian Ellerbe!
• Dantonio got away with it because there's no more bootlicking media in the Big Ten than MSU and OSU.

Basketball things discussed:

• Craig: Bilas was right, it wasn't a basketball game.
• Franz needs to shoot his way out of his slump.
• This year's cascade of bad luck is payback for the national championship run two years ago.
• Craig: some of the officials that used to be good have been wretched. Example: Teske is about to have a layup and they call him for 3 seconds and yeah it's a good call. Late in the game same thing with Wesson and he's in the lane for 8 seconds, same ref Carstenson staring at it. Wesson finally gets the ball, up two, the guy makes a three.
• The call on Simpson: a call we've never seen and will never see again. Brian: pile all the bad luck into this season.
• On Johns: are people paying attention to him now?
• Michigan needs an infusion of athleticism badly. Zeb, Christianson, come on down. Without Livers the limitations of this roster are very apparent.
• MSU? Without Livers they don't really have the firepower to win this game.
• Funny how both basketball and hockey are both snakebit fundamentally sound teams missing talent.
   

[Player after THE JUMP]