Blue By Ninety - Thank God for Michigan Basketball

Episode Date: November 27, 2020

The voice of Michigan Basketball, Anthony Bellino, joins the show to discuss the Wolverines' 96-82 victory over Bowling Green. The boys go through their top performers from that game and preview the Football team's upcoming match up with Penn State. Crack a cold one and enjoy the show. 

This is the University of Michigan. Touchdown, Michigan! The Beats of Michigan! And they've caught extra pass. And it goes to the wind! The three-pointer! By Jordan Poole! Down the sideline!

Peebles jumps! Touchdown, Wolverines! All right, welcome to Blue by 90. I am Justin, joined by Jack and Kalen here. And thankfully, we have Michigan basketball. So thankfully, we have something to distract us from this goddamn football team. The basketball team looked pretty dang good against Bowling Green. So let's go around and just get immediate thoughts. I want you guys to give.

So Bowling Green, they beat Bowling Green 96-82. Immediate thoughts. We'll give like an early 0-90 here. I like that. Hot take, quick take on the basketball team the people what they want exactly we'll just go right into it go right into it um so jack go ahead ready i'm ready um so i mean my initial thoughts right the transfers these two guys shaundi brown and mike smith showed out and played like they'd been around this team for years.

Shondy was the high scorer of the game with 19 points, went 6 of 8 total shooting, 5 of 7 from 3, ended up with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, a little bit of a balanced game. And then Mike Smith, 16 points, 8 rebounds. What more do you want from your point guard? And he went 7 of 8 from free throw line. I mean, two great transfers that stood out. Franz, I think he had a tough game. He got hurt a little bit halfway through the game. Livers went solid.

He had nine rebounds, 17 points. I mean, basically what you're going to expect out of Livers is pretty close to a double-double almost every game from that position. And Hunter Dickinson, man, freshman, played real well. I think he had eight rebounds himself, and he scored 11 points. So I'm hyped. I'm hyped for Michigan basketball. I can't wait to see what happens the remainder of the season with Juwan Howard

and all this talent he's got. Yeah, I thought the transfers actually played pretty well um i mean from what i saw at the beginning of the game i thought at first i was like oh i see a couple missed threes here and i was like what's going on and then i saw isaiah isaiah livers hit a couple on his back-to-back shots and i was like okay they're finding the groove they're into it and then the other thing i noticed was bowling green actually seemed to be like pretty solid, they're finding the groove. They're into it. And then the other thing I noticed was Bowling Green actually seemed to be, like, pretty solid team. So I think the win there actually is, you know, is good going forward for this team. Yeah, I think it's a solid win.

I am a little concerned about streaky shooting because, like you said, Kalen, they struggled in the first half. And if that wasn't Bowling Green, if it's a Big Ten team, they probably are down some just because they can't hit those shots. But then in the second half, they start hitting them, and it seems like a completely different team. We saw that a lot in the last couple years where they would just go cold sometimes, and then it's a completely different team. And so that I'm a little discouraged by. where they would just go cold sometimes and then it's a completely different team and so um i i that i'm a little discouraged by um but everything else i mean i think this team is deep as shit

this team is eight nine ten guys deep i don't know i mean three freshmen played including the two transfers so between three freshmen and two transfers, five completely new guys got legitimate minutes in game one of the year. That says a lot about what Jawan Howard's trying to do, bring in guys that can compete for the Big Ten and everything else. And then when you combine five legitimate new faces with Franz Wagner, Isaiah Livers, Eli Brooks, Austin Davis. I, I, Brandon Johns. I think that there's no reason that Michigan basketball can't compete for a big 10 title

this year. I know that the big 10 is deep as hell as well. But I just, I don't see from a talent perspective and a coaching perspective and everything else, they should be right up there. Yeah. And like, I mean, they're legitimately eight deep. And the two question marks for me are freshmen, Terrence Williams and Zeb Jackson. Those are highly touted guys. And it was their first game.

I mean, didn't even get that much playing time. So if they can pan out, I mean, this team is going to be real good and there's going to be a lot of guys that they can rely on. So, yeah, speaking of the transfers, first of all, I did not think that Sean D. Brown was a three-point shooter. Did you guys? I figured him as kind of a Charles Matthews, but even like more inside type, like stronger

and just going to body guys and get to the rim. But I did not think he'd be going, you know, whatever he went from three, like light. And I'm not, I'm not going to expect him to go lights out from three every game, but I didn't even expect him to be a threat from there. So that's pretty sweet. Yeah.

I mean, like, like you said said i expected more of a charles matthews type like great defensive player um solid inside mid-range but he was he was hitting threes man he was he went five five or seven and he finished with he was a high scorer like i said before 19 points um i think michigan's offense did a great job of finding the open guy, and he found a lot of open shots, so he was able to hit those. But, I mean, if we can get a matchup, Charles Matthews would have been a reliable three-point shooter.

Man, that team would have done even more than what they did. I mean, I think they went sweet 16. Was he on that final four team? Yeah. And Shondy's a more physical guy, like you said. So I was pumped with what I saw of Shaundi Brown. I mean, the thing is that not only Shaundi Brown, I mean, you're talking about if Charles Matthews was a knockdown three-point shooter.

What if Xavier Simpson was a knockdown three-point shooter, and how that have changed Michigan and that's what I'm thinking about Mike Smith you know Mike Smith now can spot up in the corner and you know the rest of the offense can work and he's still a threat over there because I think when when Xavier Simpson didn't have the ball in his hands he's not a threat right you know if he's not driving to the basket then he's not a threat, right? You know, if he's not driving to the basket, then he's not a threat. But, um, now with Mike Smith, you have to stay on him. You can't leave your, your guy, um, and leave him open in the, in the corner and anywhere. So those two guys, I mean, shit, those are two hell of a debuts, uh, you know, hell of debuts for them. I was not expecting them to just be like two Michigan's leaders right off the bat.

Yeah, and, bro, I got to ask you, man. You put out the tweet Saturday with Cade McNamara and the Highlights. Do you think Mike and Cade go to the same barber? Do you think they're both going to Lady James with those hats? Do you think that plays a huge impact in what's going on in these games? I think so. There can't be any argument against it. Now we're just a highlights school. We're a hair with highlights school. Isaiah Livers

has the head of hair as well. He just needs tips. He has kind of the same, uh, same hair as, as, uh, uh,

Mike, but he needs, he needs some highlights in there. And then I think, I mean, that'll take us to the top. Yes. I believe that.

Um, I mean, what do you guys think? I, well, I might have to shave my head, but before I shave, before I shave my head, I'm definitely getting highlights for Cade. Dude, I remember in fifth grade or maybe – no, what was I?

Third grade. I went as Bart Simpson for Halloween. So I had like the blue jean shorts, orange shirt, and I did the frosted tips and spiked my hair up. I love it. I love it, love it man this little backstreet boys in sync too i mean jt back in the day man tips are always a good look i don't care what anybody says jt was the goat and first of all so i was definitely doing sun in in my hair like for spring break and trying to get some uh some natural i i did that every spring break i think from like

elementary school till through middle school i don't know that's amazing yeah i'm all in on kate and mike smith that is a legit bowling green team though we kind of we kind of touched on that um but damn first of all justin is it just Turner? Jordan Turner? Jay Turner. Jay Turner, just like Mr. P from Indiana. That's right. That's right. Not sure. I know the first initial, but that's why I'm not sure.

Mr. P. He's legit. And then the Diggs dude. Trey Diggs? He had zero points at halftime, and he ended up with 21. So he was their leading scorer, right? Yeah, that's fucking crazy, dude. But senior, always looking at a grad transfer option.

Oh, man, might have a shot. I saw you tweeted that. I saw you tweeted that. I like that a lot. Where do you think this Juwan Howard team, you think they're going to improve week to week and we'll see real improvement? Or you think what we've seen today is kind of what we're going to see for the rest of the year? I mean, for me, like I said before, and I've said this a million times, I've never been – I'm not going to say I'm not a fan of Franz Wagner, but I'm not as high on him as everybody else is.

You can call me a hater. That's totally fine. But he had a bad game, right? I don't expect to see that from him the remainder of the season. I think there's always going to be hot guys that have big games. Like, Sean D. Brown's not going to put up with this every game. Mike Smith's not going to have this kind of game every game. Hunter Dickinson's not going to have this kind of game every game.

I think Isaiah, it's fair to expect, he'll have this kind of game every game. Hunter Dickinson is not going to have this kind of game every game. I think Isaiah, it's fair to expect, he'll have this kind of game. I mean, he only shot 50%, and he shot less than 40 from three-point. I mean, I think it's fair to expect this kind of offense from this team. But Franz should do better for most games, and I think the offense is going to look really good. I mean, they did a great job. They looked like fucking San Antonio Spurs' Greg Popovich just passing the ball around, making sure to get to the open guy.

That's the biggest thing I noticed. Glad we're keeping our expectations down. They're now NBA finals good. Shh. But I think with basketball, my expectations and my you know what i see is way more realistic because i don't have the crazy fandom like i do for michigan football but like i mean i'm not saying they're gonna win the big 10 but i think top five finish is fair to expect 100 i i think that um first of all franz agner just needs to hit he was over four from three and every single

one of them he was wide the fuck open like i i i disagree with you jack and the fact that i think he's a very good uh good player and he's going to be a super huge nba prospect by the end of the year because he's six foot ten can shoot the ball the ball. He's a perfect NBA player, honestly. Yeah, well, let's put this back in the football terms here. 6'10", you know, the size and everything. Remember what we thought about Joe Milton? Yeah, except for Franz Wagner did it for a whole season when Joe Milton hasn't.

All right, all right. He was our, okay, Franz was was our literal I think he was our second leading scorer last year yeah I think so hitting his shot and he shot well from three at the end of the year he brought it up I think he was our leading three-point uh shooter percentage-wise last year and and don't get me wrong I'm not saying he's not gonna be good I think he's a solid player I just don't I mean people are just saying he's gonna go nuts that's me wrong. I'm not saying he's not going to be good. I think he's a solid player. I just don't – I mean, people are just saying he's going to go nuts. That's where I'm just not on the page of that yet. I think he's going to be really solid, but I just don't see the first-round talent yet.

And I'm not saying I don't think he'll get there but i don't see it yet to me it felt like we were missing out on some offensive rebound opportunities now this is where i don't watch enough basketball to know if my expectations are realistic or not so i'm kind of like posing this as a question to you am i way off base with this saying like we should be getting all these offensive rebounds or what did you guys see i i think offensive rebounds are very hard to get honestly so you have to be in a great position for an offensive rebound also you have to have really good luck with the bounce off the rim um so i i wouldn't there you can tell a really good rebounding team will get more offensive rebounds because they're in good position.

They crash the boards after every shot. And so then the bounces start going to you when you do that all the time. I didn't think we were an unbelievable rebounding team. I think Brandon Johns is our best rebounder by far on the team. I think Austin Davis is a really good rebounder. Hunter Dickinson's more, he's not going to just crash the, he is, he's a good rebounder, but he's not going to crash the boards as much because he's more of like an

offensive guy. And he's a complete player where Brandon Johnson, seven one just, just helps just get a huge size. Yeah, exactly. But like Brandons goes up with authority for every single rebound um and austin davis is huge and that's he's not a touch guy really i mean he's he's evolved into that a little bit but um i can see we went into um we went into a spot where we had, I think it was Eli Brooks at the point, and then Franz, Livers, Johns, and Dickinson.

That is a huge lineup. That is a gigantic lineup. Your two-guard is 6'10", and then Livers is 6'8", Johns is 6'8", or 6'9", and then Dickinson's 7'2". So, I mean, we can go, that's where I think the versatility of this team can really, really take this, you know, take them into a different level. Now, Juwan Howard's going to have to figure out when to use them in a small ball lineup or a big lineup but we can go either way because you can have you know zeb jackson mike smith eli brooks and then isaiah livers uh you know or and brandon

johns or somebody you can play small ball where every single person can hit the three as well but still guard them so i i think that the depth and the versatility of this team is what is most important they can play against any team in the country. Now that we've talked a little bit about basketball ourselves, let's welcome on our special guest, Anthony Bellino. He is the Michigan basketball announcer, PA announcer, as well as the host of X's and Bros on the Michigan Sports Radio Network. You can hear him on the radio all across Michigan. So let's go to that interview. All right, and now we welcome on Anthony Bellino, our special guest for the day.

Anthony is the Michigan basketball announcer for men's and women's, and he also has a radio show in the morning, X's and Bros. And so you can find that on stations all across the state. Anthony, you're on your way home from the basketball game versus Bowling Green. How are you doing? I'm doing well outside this weather right now. We got a little rain, a little rain, a little cold outside, a little dreary, but that's Michigan this time of year.

For sure, for sure. And so Michigan got a solid win. I think they ended up 96-82. So let's first talk about the atmosphere with no fans in Chrysler Arena. They had some plugged-in crowd noise, I noticed. What was it like just without any – the maze rage, any fans or anything going on like that? So, the atmosphere standpoint, the pumped-in crowd noise,

something that we're all kind of used to, whether it's, you know, the NFL or college football, you know, Major League Baseball. I think as a society, we're a little bit more accustomed to it. But actually, being there on game days is completely different. Go forward field for the Lions, place is empty, it sounds weird. Today, because basketball is much more of an intimate sort of atmosphere where players and the game itself kind of thrive on the environment. And I go back to, we had back-to-back games a couple years ago

against Purdue and North Carolina. Both were home games. And you couldn't hear yourself think. And I really think that the crowd played a much larger role in both of those games than anybody will ever admit just because the student section, the maze rage, they're into it. The regular crowd is into it. The momentum, the swing in momentum and the swing

and the shift and emotion within a basketball game it changes drastically uh for a sport like hoops so tonight it was it was different there was a a segment in the second half where i looked at my boss kurt weisenbaum we both were like hey if the crowd was here right now they'd be going nuts and it would have had a monumental impact on the flow of the game. It's just not, you just can't recreate that emotion and that passion that fans can bring to an arena. So I think that it's definitely,

it's going to take more time to get used to in basketball. Definitely. It makes me feel a lot more uncomfortable and a lot more awkward than I already do feel on the microphone, because you don't have that extra juice from fans yelling. But all in all like we got through it we did it it's the new normal we just got to roll with the punches i honestly feel bad for a lot of the seniors though because to lose that element of the game and to lose that

playing in front of friends and family playing in front of your your classmates and the students and everything that that entails and brings to the atmosphere, that's who I really feel bad the most for. Yeah, and so you're right there on the press bench there. So did you feel that it affected the players at all? You're talking about the seniors that you feel bad for. Obviously, I think you're talking about the couple plays in the second half when the crowd would have gotten going was Shaundi Brown's back-to-back-to-back threes. It seemed like he was on fire, which was great to see from the transfers from Wake Forest.

But, yeah, did you feel like any of the guys had trouble kind of getting up their energy at all without the crowd? You know what? No, I think at the end of the day, for the most part, it's still basketball. I mean, these guys are used to playing in AAU gyms where there is really no crowd. They're used to practicing, playing in different scrimmage situations to where at the end of the day, it's still basketball. So I don't think that, you know, I don't think it really, I don't think it hurt him at all,

but it definitely wouldn't have hurt him had V been there because you mentioned the Sean D triples. I mean, that guy was shooting the lights out of the ball there for a quick minute. And it was, it was one of those times where, you know, I think that that would have gave them even more juice, but I thought that from an energy standpoint, considering there's no crowd, I thought they were great. Yeah. So you mentioned Sean D there, obviously shooting the lights out. We talked about Franz didn't have his best game.

He went down with an ankle injury in the first half for a minute, but came out and played in the second half, but not a whole lot. Isaiah Livers was the leading scorer for the Wolverines. I believe he had 19. So, I mean, was anybody surprising out there that you saw? I know Mike Smith's the new guy, and I think, to me, he was the most surprising. But what were you surprised by from the Wolverines tonight? I think that from a collective standpoint,

the way that they are not afraid to share the basketball. I didn't see – Zebb Jackson chuck one a little early. He got into the game and he fired one up. But outside of that, I didn't see any me shots. You know, when coaching, you talk a lot about team shots versus me shots or we shots versus me shots. And I think that this team and the way that they look like

they really enjoy playing with each other, I think that that's going to bode well for the future. I think the fact that they are like they really enjoy playing with each other, I think that that's going to bode well for the future. I think the fact that they are so unselfish with the basketball, that's huge. And the fact that it seems like they enjoy watching their teammates have success. And I was wondering how, because of the depth of this team and how many guys there are, there just aren't enough minutes to go around to get everybody what I think would be, and I think you could ask Coach Howard the same thing, you know, that's going to be the biggest puzzle, if you will, is how to figure out how to get everybody the minutes that you think that they

need, that they deserve, that they've earned. And it's just not going to happen. There's just a plethora of talent on this team. But the one thing that really stood out to me is the fact that everybody really seems to enjoy playing with one another. And for Franz, I mean, Franz was decent. He wasn't terrible. He wasn Franz, I mean, Franz was decent. He wasn't terrible. He wasn't great.

But what Franz does really well is he plays his game within the game. He's not the kind of guy that needs the ball in his hands 24-7, and if he's not getting it, he's not going to be an impact. You know that you can't leave him open no matter where he's out of the court. And he was very good defensively tonight as well. He always seems to be kind of in the right spots, got a good grasp of what they want to do conceptually on defense. And he doesn't need to score 20 to really be an MVP caliber player on this team.

And I think that that's really something very unique that Franz can bring to the table. And Anthony, looking at the starting five, so we had Livers, Austin Davis, Franz, Eli Brooks, and Mike Smith were the five guys starting tonight. After seeing those performances from Shaundi Brown and Hunter Dickinson, I mean, does that realign what you would think the top five or the five starters might be? You know, I think that a lot of times in basketball, we get really focused and concerned about who starts the game. And I think what's most important is the total minutes at the end of the game, the rotation of who's coming in at what time and under what circumstance.

And then also when you look back at the box score afterwards, I don't have it in front of me, obviously, because I'm driving. But if you look back at the box score to see how the minutes were dispersed, I don't know if you necessarily need to adjust that five. I mean, coming out of the scrimmage that we had last Friday, the inter-squad scrimmage, it kind of felt like that was going to be the five that would start. I mean, Mike Smith provides such a poised element at point guard

that this team needs. He's great offensively. He can get the ball anywhere that it needs to be in the blink of an eye. I mean, that guy's got some go. He is impressive. And I think with Eli Brooks, you can kind of look at those two going, okay, that could be one game. That might be a matchup where, you know,

they might run point guard, shooting guard. In the very next game, you might see Mike Smith start, and maybe they move Franz to the two, Sean D to the three, and bring Eli in off the bench or vice versa. I just think that because of the depth that they have, you'll probably see that starting five get tinkered with a little bit until the team gets really comfortable with that rotation that they want to have. But Sean D, I mean, he could start.

If Juwan wants to give him the go, he could definitely start. There's no doubt about it. He brings a physical, aggressive nature to this team. Doesn't say a whole lot. Kind of has that mean mug sort of like death stare, just look you in the eyes and break your soul type of thing. I like that kind of guy. He's not afraid to go after a loose ball.

And if you ran into his elbow, sorry about your luck. You're going to hit the deck. But I really like him. Oh, me about your luck. Like, you're going to hit the deck. But I really liked him. Oh, me too, man. I saw something on Twitter during the game where people were throwing comparisons to him and Charles Matthews. Now, like you said, I think Shaundi's a way more physical guy, and it looks like he's better offensively.

Do you think Shaundi can kind of – do you think he'll have a better season at Michigan than Matthews did when he transferred in? I think so, just because I think that Sean D – and I loved Charles Matthews. And Charles Matthews' game was – it was so pretty. You know, everything about – like everything about Charles Matthews, his jumper, the way that he elevated off the ground, the high point of the ball when he was releasing that thing, he started to hit those turnarounds, and it was like, oh, that's money, that's

good, but that was really his staple. I think that Sean D can do a little bit more aggressively taking the ball to the basket. Obviously, we saw it tonight, he can shoot it from deep if he's open, and then defensively, Charles Matthews was a good defender, but I think that Sean D Brown is a much more aggressive defender, and I think bringing that sortee Brown is a much more aggressive defender. And I think bringing that sort of element, that attitude, that if you wanted to compare the two, I think that Shaundee will have a little bit more success.

Yeah, I think that's fair. But I think that the fact that bringing in Shaundee and Mike Smith into this team, it makes it a such different team than, you know, without them, obviously. But them being able to come in and transfer in and be contributors right away, and especially with the three-point shot. Mike Smith had a couple threes. Shaundi obviously had his threes. Now, that opens up Michigan's offense so much more.

I know Xavier Simpson was an unbelievable player for Michigan, very valuable for all four years that he was here, but he was not a deep threat except for, you know, a couple games. And so if they can open up the floor with, you know, essentially one through four able to shoot the three really well, then that makes this team very, very dangerous. And so going back to the rotation talk, I thought that in the first half, Juwan was struggling a little bit. There were some times where he had, you know, Terrence Williams in there for probably way too long. He was without a center in the game for a while, which has been my really only criticism of Juwan Howard last year was he

really wasn't, he wasn't comfortable with the flow of the game all the time and getting enough guys in. And sometimes he'd try to get too many guys in. And I thought he did that a little bit in the first half, but then in the second half, he really found his rhythm as far as the rotations go. He got everybody some minutes Brandon

Johns Jr. had really good minutes Hunter Dickinson had really really good minutes Zeb Jackson got in there uh Terrence Williams kind of found his groove in the second half so um from an in-game coaching perspective uh do you see Juwan Howard kind of taking a pretty big step here from year one to year two? Yeah, I think that when you look at what maybe he was trying to accomplish tonight, then also, you know, last year you're throwing a lot at him when it comes to, all right, now you're going to be the head coach of this program. You've got all these new guys.

You've got to learn all these new guys in the offseason. Then you've got to figure out how this puzzle all comes together. And so when trying to figure out that last year, for example, Austin Davis came on strong midway through the season. And that was huge because John Teske didn't really have the year that I think a lot of people expected him to have. And then what were you going to do on the wings with, with bronze and then Isaiah liver is getting hurt and just trying to figure out exactly how that portion of the team kind of comes together with that

rotation. I think that tonight you could do a little bit more. Bowling Green is a good team. Let's not get that twisted. Bowling Green should win the Mid-American Conference. And I think that if you were to have just a mid-majors only tournament, I think Bowling Green could really do some damage. I mean, I'm very intrigued by, you know, Justin Turner is probably going to play pro ball overseas at some point.

Daquan Plowden, he's another nice player. And then they had Trey Diggs, who was just, I mean, that guy wouldn't miss the second half of three, and he's just a freshman. So, yeah, no, BG is good, but it never felt as if BG was going to be able to take that next step and grab a lead and be able to sustain it if they did. So I think that maybe a little bit of comfort there to where, hey, let's try some things.

Let's just take a look. Let's see what this looks like. That way we have some film on it so that he and Howard Isley and Soddy Washington and Bill Martelli can go back and say, we kind of like this look. We don't like that. And I think that, you know, from a non-conference standpoint, because these games are so few and far between before we get into conference play, you're probably going to see some of this against Oakland

on Sunday as well, where they'll try to play with as many different combinations as possible, get guys submitted in a real game situation that isn't a scrimmage, that has some ramifications. I thought Terrence looked a little shaky. Zeb Jackson looked a little rough as well. Very impressed with Hunter Dickinson offensively. Defensively in the scrimmage, I thought Austin Davis got the best of him just on an experience standpoint.

But Austin – but pardon me, Hunter Dickinson's game offensively, very, very refined for just being a freshman. And he is a little older. You've got to mention that too. I think he's already 20, if I'm not mistaken. But he's older than the average freshman. So that will help him. But I think that for a game like tonight, a good opportunity for Juwan

and his staff to get as many guys in as they can, play them in that kind of scenario and figure out when they go back and look at the film, what do they like, what don't they like, what worked, what didn't work, and then how do they expand upon that. Yeah, I think that there's a lot to look at for this Michigan team, and it's not like there's one guy. I know everyone's focused on Franz and Livers, but holy smokes, when you look at the depth of this team,

I really think that if Livers did go down for 10 games again this year, you know, God willing, he doesn't, but I think that they would be okay. They've got a lot of guys that they can plug in now, and so that was obviously we were, you know, nervous about Franz in the first half, but they were fine without him in the second half, which is good to see because, you know, you never know what's going to happen with COVID,

with everything else in this season. I did want to touch on too for a second here, move away from men's. I know you announced the women's basketball game uh today versus central michigan and i know naz kind of went off for a for a little bit here what do you this could be the best michigan women's basketball team that they've ever had especially under kim's barn barns or rico. What do you have about the women's team that played already today? They look good. They definitely want to work inside out with Nas.

There's no doubt about it. I mean, they will feed that ball. They will throw that ball inside through hell or high water. They're going to pound that rock inside to Nas. And I think that, you know, I think she went for 24 maybe, if I remember correctly, something like that. And it didn't even feel like she was trying to get 24. You know what I'm saying?

Like all of her points come right around the bucket. She did hit a mid-range jumper that was great. But that team definitely wants to push it inside. And you talk about depth, that team's got it too. I mean, they got Maddie Nolan and Michelle Cedar, Danielle Roush. They got very good players that can come off the bench. And they added a girl, Leah Brown, from Nebraska, who was the sixth man of the year last year at Nebraska.

And she's stepping in as easily the second-best player on the team behind Nas. I mean, Leah Brown, she's a game-changer for that team. So they're going to be good. We can see Michigan in both the men and the women be ranked in the top 25, both of them, throughout the entire season. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. That's pretty awesome. We really haven't seen that much.

You know, obviously the men's team has been pretty dang good, but the women's team hasn't. They've had some runs for sure, but they haven't been consistent up in the top 25. So that's great to see. I know where KBA stands over here she's an orange theory member uh that's right baby jack runs the orange theory um uh studio in ann arbor so um we we love kba and her staff um so yeah i just wanted to touch on them but um wanted to also get your can i fill

this out here can i can i fill this out here real quick one thing i really admire about kim barnes rico and juan howard is how supportive they are of one another like juan howard came in and sat in on their scrimmage uh last what i don't even know what day that was last like tuesday he came in to watch for a little bit if there is a game a women's game and the men's team is still on campus juan how Howard will sit courtside during the normal season, obviously. Now he's up in the stands. But he'll sit and he'll watch. And you watch him on Twitter and he tweets out about their accomplishments. And he is such – you don't see that in a lot of programs across the country

where the two programs, the men's and women's, are both kind of in sync at the same time. And it does feel like if you play basketball at Michigan, you're part of a bigger family that doesn't matter if you're playing for the men's or the women's. You can get that support for both sides. And I don't know if enough people talk about what that can mean to a women's program. I mean, the women are coming out high-fiving Jawan Howard. Like, at the end of the day, he's still Jawan Howard.

He's still the guy who signed the nine-figure deal in the NBA. He's still a member of the Fab Five and a Michigan legend. You know, and so I think it provides a really cool and very unique element to what Michigan basketball is, regardless if you're on the men's or the women's side. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up, man. I mean, we saw it when Shondy was announced that he was cleared to play, how the team just rallied around Shondy

and how he and Mike Smith both have said that Michigan basketball is such a family and Jawan Howard has done such a great job to instill that with all the players and to hear that he's supporting the women's team like that. I mean, just to have that family atmosphere around both programs is amazing. And KBA is such a great coach.

All of her staff are amazing. And Michigan's a basketball school now, right? I mean, you know, I keep hearing that. People call into the radio all the time. They want to tell me or tweet at me, you're a basketball school now. I'm like, well, that's great. I work for the basketball program. Like, why would I be upset about that?

Like, thank God. I'm glad in a regular season that there's 12,000 people at Chrysler losing their minds over every possession. Like, I love it. It's great. Now, Anthony, do you feel slighted that they're giving a lot of that credit to Juwan Howard and KBA? Like, I mean, they should be throwing that to you, right? You're the one that's doing all the announcing for the games. I mean, you know, I might be able to walk out there, maybe last one possession before somebody changed directions on me

and blew both my legs off. I can tell you that's one thing that I just don't know if people understand how fast and how intense every single possession is at the college level. It is just a different game out there, man. It's wild to watch them close. Well, I think it's it's wild to watch them close well i think it's funny too like you watch austin davis and there he's obviously incredibly improved over the last couple years but i remember watching him two years ago and i was like holy shit this guy can barely get up and down the floor um but still

like i say that and he still would absolutely dominate me and everyone else out there. You know, like they're just, it's a, it's the talent level is so high, especially at the D one level and in the big 10, obviously. And so I did want to talk about the big 10 you know, looking around the big 10 because it's seen as the deepest conference in the country. Michigan is, I would think, a, you know, shoe-in tournament team right now, preseason. And, but they're still, they're still picked to be, what, fifth, I think, in the Big Ten right now.

So when you look at Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois played incredible earlier today. I'm sure, Bellinoino you didn't see because you were doing the uh women's game but illinois shot the lights out had a school record for most three-pointers made um so when you look at the big 10 and and um i know you're driving so you don't have it all in front of you um where do you see michigan michigan coming out at the end of the season? Do you think they really are the fifth best team? Are they going to end up lower, you know, ninth like they were last year?

Or could they actually go into, you know, the last couple weeks of the season competing for a Big Ten title? So a buddy of mine coaches at Ohio University, and they're in Illinois right now. They're at that tournament with the fight in Illini. And I asked him, I texted him the other night, and I said, hey, you know, his name's Kyle Barlow. I said, Barlow, good luck with Io and Kofi for Illinois. I said, I don't know what you're going to do against them, but, you know, hold on to your butts, right?

I think that, I don't know, everybody keeps, like, picking Wisconsin. I'm not afraid. I'm not, Wisconsin doesn't scare me. Luka Garza is a scary player. Like, that dude, he can go for 40 at any time. Purdue, Purdue is scary. Michigan State, if Joshua Langford can stay healthy, that team is scary. Michigan is tough.

So I'm going to move Wisconsin out of that. I'm going to put Illinois in there. And I like, shoot, if I had to pick a winner and not be biased at all, I think that Illinois between Ida Sunmu and Kofi Govert, those two guys alone, if they set a foul trouble during games and they could stay healthy, I don't see anybody really being able to stop those two. I mean, those guys are going to be a handful. So I like Illinois.

I like Iowa and Luka Garza. I like Michigan. I like Michigan State. I honestly think that depending on where the game's at, how does the ball bounce that night, you know, to make or miss league, I think any one of those four you could really rotate near the top four. And if you told me one of those four won it, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Talking about with Michigan State,

I feel like Foster Lawyer has been a guy that, you know, whether it's either he hasn't got an opportunity with cash it's there or hasn't needed to step up yet the dude's got 15 points right now before the first half yeah he was he was draining some threes when i was watching before we before we jumped on so i mean if foster can come in and be that replacement for uh cassius and you know gabe brown can continue to stay solid langford can stay healthy like you said anthony so sparty's always gonna be tough with his oh illinois i mean io is a fucking stud and then uh the other guy that they have brought in i mean he's great luca garzaza at Iowa is always going to be tough. I mean, I think Michigan being picked to finish fifth isn't

bad at all. I'll take that. It's not a slight on Michigan. Yeah, I'll take that going to the Big Ten tournament any day. Yeah, 100%. I don't think it's a slight at all. I think the conference is really that good, especially up at the top. I think that you have some legitimate contenders to be

Final Four teams. So if the national media and the Big Ten media, they believe Michigan will pick a fifth to begin the season, that's fine by me. Good. I'd rather be kind of a medium dark horse. Medium dark horse, is that even a thing that I just make that up? That's possible. But I'd rather be that.

And as for Foster Lawyer, man, you think about all the expectations. You think about all the hype surrounding him, you know, coming from where he comes from high school-wise to go to Michigan State, all the pressure on that young man and then to not really get the time that maybe he wanted because of, you know, Cassius Winston. Those are huge shoes to fill. I mean, good luck with that. The expectation's always been there.

And if he could just get comfortable, you know, and find himself within Tom Izzo's offense, I do kind of hope for the best for him because he did become an internet meme there for a while. He was a surfboard. He was a surfboard for a while. And I have to say I'm guilty of tweeting that out as well or retweeting it. That's true.

The guy was a circle. What are you going to do? I mean, sorry. Come on. What do you want me to say? Come on. Power of the internet. All right.

Yeah, so Michigan obviously starts out 1-0 there. That's a pretty good start. I think, like you said, damn, that Bowling Green team was good. I think they could compete in the lower half of the Big Ten probably. And like you said, they're going to be the favorites to win the MAAC as well. So, yeah, that's a dang good team for Michigan to start off with when you're comparing it to, you know, Illinois, who I think they started off with North Carolina A&T and they beat them by 50, you know. So I think that'll actually help Michigan in the long run here

to actually play a solid team, especially with no exhibitions, no, you you know they're not in any preseason tournaments with any other uh power five teams so I think that could uh fare well for them but um let's see any any other other things I know you know I want to Juwan Howard is just how can you not love Juwan Howard It blows my mind that Michigan fans went from John Beeline, who was so beloved and still is, even though he left and things didn't work out for him in the NBA, but he's still one of my favorite guys in the whole world. And then you have to scramble and find Juwan Howard, and you give him the job, and then he does pretty well in year

one lands the number one recruiting class now you know is hoping to have a good year and like you said it's the it's the little things that he does and I think that there are a lot of schools and coaches that fake that relationship with the women's team and with other athletes and athletics and all that stuff, he's not faking that. He's not faking any of that. So I just want to get your take on more of Juwan Howard and where you think that he could take this program in the near future. I mean, he could take it all the way to the top.

I mean, he – and the NCAA tournament is so fickle because it's a one and done, right? It's a one-game eliminator. It's not a series. The best team doesn't always win. It's not even the greatest way to determine a champion. That's why, you know, the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NHL, they work in series because you want to be able to prove who is the best team. They should be able to advance, where the NCAA tournament and the NFL playoffs is just survive and advance.

It doesn't matter how you win by one or 100. You've just got to win one game. In college basketball, the NCAA tournament, I mean, we look at all the Cinderella story runs throughout tournament history, and it's like they're knocking off major programs because they got hot for one game but I think that Juwan Howard with the success that he's been able to have already recruiting he can take this team to a national championship maybe not this team this year but I think that he can take the program uh there I think that the final four is definitely reachable and attainable and really I mean hell I almost kind of expect it. But I don't put any pressure on that immediate success.

And I think that if football taught us anything, it's that we as fans, we as media members need to be able to pump the brakes and kind of process everything that's happening at once. And for Juwan Howard, a guy to come in and, yeah, the cupboards weren't bare, the shelves aren't empty empty it's still Michigan at the end of the day he had good success last year I think all things considered I think that they'll be successful this year but what you touched on about you know him being a genuine authentic person think about it Juwan Howard doesn't need to be coaching right now I mean that guy's got

enough you know stashed away monetarily and I'm not his account so I can't confirm this but over the course of his career the money that he's made he really enjoys coaching he really enjoys working with young people and I really think that he enjoys restoring maybe what was maybe what was dampened by the fab five and the way that things had kind of went down as you know as that team exited and some of the maybe the bad taste in the mouth that was left with a lot of fans. And I think that he's one of those people that really took that to heart. And I also think that when, when you look back at, you know, Jawan Howard coming back to his alma mater to coach and be,

and be the head coach and have the impact that he's going to have on the program, on the school, you know, on the, on the kids that he's coaching. I think it's just a match made in heaven. I really do because he is a genuine human being. And I think that because he doesn't need anything, I think that that adds to it. You know, they pay him because they pay him. But, you know, he was first in line and say, I'll take a pay cut.

You know what I'm saying? I'll take my, you know, you could reduce my salary. That's fine. You know, and I think that the person that he is only helps kind of embody the culture that the program wants. I mean, it's worked out for him on the recruiting trail. And so I think that is, you know, that's all you can ask for. When you get the number one recruiting class in year two, things can only be, be working out well for you. So yeah, that's I think that this, this season has a lot for Michigan. And I think that they have a lot of success in the future

here. So that's about all we've got for you, Bolino. Thank you so much for, for coming on. You can find Bolino on X's and Bro's on the Michigan Sports Network, on the radio all across Michigan. He's also your announcer at Michigan Basketball and Women's Basketball. So go call into his show, harass him, harass his producer, Ryan Elkey. You know, text in. I think you can do it all. So give him a hard time uh i think he can

take it but thanks again for coming on man we appreciate it hey no problem fellas thanks for having me all right thank you to anthony bolino for coming on with us the voice of michigan basketball and the voice of exes and bros on mich Sports Radio Network. So let's, we've talked a lot about basketball. So let's talk about football. I know this is like, and this, I don't know, to me, this is an afterthought now. It's so fucking sad. But like Michigan basketball comes on for one week. And do you guys feel the same way?

Like now Michigan football this weekend, especially with it being Thanksgiving weekend and all that going on, Michigan-Penn State's kind of an afterthought to me. I mean, normally, yeah, this is the end of the season. We got Ohio State coming up this weekend. It's already typically a sad fucking weekend for Michigan football fans. But I love the fact that Michigan basketball is going. So there's some sort of positivity around the program.

And, I mean, guys, Penn State's only five. They've played some tough games with some good teams. But they're only five. Cade's the new starting quarterback. There's momentum going for Michigan football. There's some sort of hope here. There's some sort of hope. And I hate to get my hopes up and be fucking

crushed again, but I do have hope for this game this weekend. How sad does that sound? I have hope that we can beat an 0-5 team this weekend. I'm not even 100% sure. Penn State's favored to win this fucking game, according to ESPN. Wait, really?

The percentage, the FPI, the matchup predictor, state's 53.2 percent chance to win no i think michigan has a spread but the matchup predictor 3spn is 53.2 percent penn state will win this game oh my god i did not know that yeah so well i mean fuck man we'll see their defense bad as ours they're we're both averaging 36 points per game what's the name of that guy they have on college game day sometimes used to be an nfl kicker now he has his own show i'm blanking on the name pat mcafee hammer the over on this one that guy according to him the people in in Vegas are time travelers who know the outcome to every sporting event. So if Vegas says that Michigan's going to win, Michigan's going to win.

So I'll take that bet. Vegas had Michigan win against Wisconsin, didn't they? They had 23-point favorites for Michigan State. They got to keep you on your toes. Yeah, if I was a time time traveler i wouldn't have put that tweet out about fucking shaving my head i'll tell you that i am so excited for this i like i am very excited for this for all our listeners out there who don't realize this because i did not realize it until yesterday uh i put a tweet out there from the blue by 90 account,

like what two months ago now, at least that if Michigan didn't win at least five games this year for football, I would shave my head and we're in a bad spot. You got to win out out not looking good rose pull on the on the for heisman train he's our savior you guys hoping for the best he's praying every bed before he goes to night or every every day before he goes to bed it's like please kade i cannot shave my head here i i will say i'm in a better spot than wolverine corner because wolverine

corner said yeah he said that he's if they don't win five games he's gonna get calls have been made tattooed on his wrist so i'd rather shave my head than get a tattoo that's for sure you might as well grow your hair out now i hate that calls have been made tweet just seeing that over and over so I hope he has to get it and then I hope it never gets we never have I agree I agree yeah I still have a chance we can go we can get to four and four and then win a the crossover game that gets us to five wins and then we don't even have to beat ohio state so yeah you didn't you didn't specify regular season so you've you've got a chance in the uh crossover game yeah i was

i definitely meant regular season because i was looking at it as five and three for sure yeah um but i did not think that we'd fucking lose to michigan state or indiana i didn't think indiana would be good first of all um i also didn't think that we'd suck ass. So that's out there. I don't think anybody did. So, yeah, good stuff. Good stuff. Can't wait.

Can't wait. So that's going to be like, I mean, that'll be the crossover game will be the 17th, I think, of December. So I'll have to shave my head and then go see all my family for christmas okay great that's good stuff good stuff it's a great look yeah for sure um so anyways the game this weekend michigan is two and three versus oh and five penn state but still penn state is somehow versus uh favored to win as far as espn says um so who's on penn state who who is their their guy that's right as far as i'm concerned sean

clifford but he stinks he's really bad he's like christian hackenberg the same quarterback he he looks to run every time but he can't fucking run because he's a he's a gumpy white dude so yeah he's austin davis under center exactly if we can't beat austin davis under center big country help us out one time for real um but what what is your take on this game is do you think that this offense is for real is cade for real or and i hate to say this is he john o'corn versus purdue circa 2017 you know i and i wish i would have done this before we started recording i wish i would have re you know what i'm gonna do that tonight i'm gonna re-watch john o'corn versus purdue 2017 and see what he actually does because for me kade magnum era man he he does what you want

every quarterback to do right give the receivers a chance to catch the ball. And we have talented receivers. They should be able to go up and win most opportunities that they have, right? That's what you'd expect. So, man, this is where I hate that I'm such a big fucking fan where I'm like, you know what? He's the guy. He's the guy. I can't look at it through reality, right? Where I can't be like, all right, no, he's actually not that good. We're

going to get killed against Penn State. So my honest feeling, I think he's the guy to go to. I don't think we can expect that kind of performance that he had against Rutgers, right? Because they're obviously, they're Rutgers. But I think he's more dependable than Joe Milton. You know? We don't need a big arm. We don't need a guy that can throw 85 yards. When's the last time you saw Joe throw a pass over 30 yards? When's the last time you saw him complete a pass over 30 yards?

Cade has been able to do that. He's been able to hit guys on their routes right where they need to be. And he's a good, he's a solid decision maker from what I've seen. So think kade's the guy i think he's the guy so far from what i've seen i think he's the guy and i think i'm gonna say i'm not gonna do a score prediction because i'm sure we're gonna do a zero to 90 but i i'm confident in michigan's ability to beat penn state and oh and five penn state how fucking ridiculous is that jesus christ dude i love kade's ability to like judge what kind of pass he needs

to throw to his receivers right because we saw him throw some of those touch like lofted passes we also saw him throw some like bullet like hard passes and we even saw him throw a couple almost like quick little sidearm throws so i'm like dude this kid he knows the stuff he's versatile like he's pretty legit um and i think seeing him against even though penn state's oh and five seeing him against their defense is gonna give us i think a better gauge than rutgers Rutgers is improving, but they're still a little bit Rutgers, you know? I mean, honestly, Penn State's defense might be as bad or worse than Rutgers. It's very true.

I haven't been watching Penn State. That's why I think Cato will have another good game. But you'd expect from a talent level that Penn State's defense would be better. And I could see them showing up for a big game like this. For them, this is a big game, right? So I see on your end where it could be a bigger challenge for Cade. Right, and it's almost not even for Cade. It's almost more, in my eyes, on the wide receivers.

They might actually be going up against a DB who's covering them a little closer, giving them a little bit more of a hard time, harder release on your routes, and then makes it a tougher throw for Cade. I'm more worried about the little bit I saw of Penn State was I saw their running back towards the end of the game. They were losing by like 20, and their running back is like blowing through guys still.

I'm like, dude, we can't stop anybody. So if they're blowing through defenses and losing by 20, like if we're losing by seven, their running back is blowing through Chris Hinton and our secondary and everybody. So I have no idea what's going to go down over there. I mean, the thing that just still blows my mind is yes rutgers is uh is improved they have i think statistically one of the most improved offenses if not the most improved offenses in all of football

from last year to this year um because like last year they were like historically bad like seven points per game i think is what they scored literally i think literally art art sitkowski was their uh quarterback last year he averaged like one touchdown every two or three games and averaged like three picks a game it was insanity how bad they were and okay correct me if i'm wrong i could be way fucking off by this but i know he was an img quarterback was he really first start yeah was he a four-star guy i don't know that's bad right but also the coaching staff greg shan was a huge upgrade correct me if i'm wrong an ohio state coordinator yeah came to rookers right so ohio state again i'm just gonna keep uh ringing those bells man they they do shit right let's

fucking bring somebody from that coaching tree as a coordinator no fucking shit i mean yeah but the thing is that ohio state won't let it happen where we somehow will let people go there um anyways but i my point was that yes they're improved they still have like two four stars on the whole team and we have 40 so yes they can be improved and we can have injuries but how are you still from what it looked like on in the rutgers game how are you still on the same talent level on the same playing field I don't understand yeah I don't know and I don't know and for me I'm for me my question is what's it going to take for Don Brown to be fired right I mean it's got to be at the end of this year so I mean right I mean the biggest thing for him the last two seasons was all right you left up you know 62 and 40 or 50 whatever to ohio state and back

to back years but now it's happening to like almost every team like you're letting up 30 40 plus to every team at this point over halfway through the season if he's not gone i don't think he's gonna be gone to the end of the year, which is crazy to me. But it's fucking 2020, COVID, all this shit. I mean, I can't see how it will get extended. What do you make of all those arguments that people throw out to not fire Don Brown, right? Oh, the COVID, the injuries, the guys opting out. What do you think about that?

Do you think they're legit arguments or you think they're just people for shit no fuck you no like no because we said it last episode right michigan has talented players if you don't have a scheme and or you're not coaching these guys well enough where you can plug them in and they can you're not doing your job. And we, like I said earlier, just 10 seconds ago to you, Kalen, like, for him, it was 2017, 2018, or 2018, 2019, where he gave up big games to Ohio State, right? And now it's all season this season, where he's giving up a 30, 40 plus with talented athletes, and he can't fucking do anything. I mean, let's have some balls in our in our administration and everything that and say hey you know what's not acceptable giving up 62 points to ohio state when the fucking big 10 championship is on the line is that literally i mean come on beat them you beat them you're in you're 100 you are fucking in 100 like you have to have some type of standard and not say oh well ohio state's pretty

good so you know we just aren't able to keep up like no have a standard that says yeah we are able to keep up because we have just you know we're we have just the same amount of talent same facility same all this shit like fuck i don't i can't believe i'm riled up about don brown right now but like fuck man i just i agree with you guys i don't know if he's gonna be fired after this year and it's gonna piss me the hell off if he's not i honestly i think he'll be gone after the year but the fact that frustrates me is i don't think he'll be gone until after the year right like we could let up 40 points to penn state and he'll fucking still be here yeah it can be the same situation as rutgers it'll be a high scoring game and fucking don brown's still sticking

around you're gonna you're gonna fucking put the defense at a place where they're like all right well we know we're gonna to give up 50 points. Good luck, offense. You better fucking score against one of the most talented teams in all of college football. It just makes no sense to me. And like you said, with the standards. And, Kaelin, you brought it up, what, last week, two weeks ago, three weeks ago. If you're setting that standard for your program, you're fucked.

They should have. And I wasn't on the train of getting rid of Don Brown after 2018. But after looking at everything we've seen now, you know, if Michigan wants to live up to that standard, I think it's appropriate to get rid of coordinators if that happens. Head coach, maybe it's not always the best option, but coordinators, you might have to yeah so if you were to get rid of don brown mid-season what like you just name some position coach as like a stand-in put a ga back there put a guy why not put a guy who's fresh out of the game who understands full i mean clearly if you're fresh out of the game, you understand football. You know it works well for you. You know you've been around the team.

Why not? Why not give them a chance? If they let up 60 to fucking Ohio State, all right, it's a fucking grad assistant, right? But at least give them an opportunity. I mean, he's just got to go. I don't think – if he's not fired by now, I don't think it's going to happen until the end of the season. But he's our biggest issue.

I mean, the thing is that, okay, if you think that, you know, COVID or injuries can be a reason to keep Don Brown, have you not watched him against, you know, it's not just like this year has been the problem. I actually think he should have been gone after the 2018 ohio state game dude i mean you could you could uh promote any one of the other position coaches and i think you get the same result right like you're not gonna they gave up almost 500 yards to rutgers yeah they gave up you're not gonna do worse they gave up 370 pass yards to rutgers i don't care if you're injured and they're not even injured at the uh in the secondary they just have bad players or they developed bad players so i i don't it's i don't know, man. I almost half of me just wants to fucking give up to 100 to Ohio State to make sure that he's gone. Because, yeah, goddamn, like, I don't know, man.

There's just no way I did want to want to go to Cade a little bit. But one thing that I one thing that I love to see about Cade, and I saw it on Twitter. I'm not even sure who wrote the article. But it says McNamara says he has a checklist and a daily schedule beginning Sunday to help prepare him for every opponent. On it is a list of pressures and first and second down coverages to look out for along with third down plays and situational scenarios he studies it and by friday morning consolidates it for all all for the saturday game plan which might explain why he's looked so sharp in his last two appearances it allows me to play relaxed and confidently with my eyes, McNamara said. So what that leads me to think is maybe Joe Milton was relying too much

on his athletic ability that he was not doing that much preparation. So he thought, you know, I've got a cannon. And we kind of saw this. He definitely forced some throws. He thought, I've got a cannon. I can do it all. I forced some throws he thought i've got a cannon i can do it all i don't need to know every play inside and out cade he's got athletic ability we know that but he doesn't have the arm or the athletic ability of joe millen so he's always had to get by by being more prepared and smarter than everybody else on the field, right? And that's obviously paying off.

He hit everybody in stride. He made, like you said, the perfect level throws for each throw. He went to the right reads all the time. Yeah, I just loved that. What do you guys think about Cade being maybe more prepared than any quarterback we've seen in the past? Yeah, I mean, don't at me, but this is tom brady level shit right like he's not the most at no listen hear me out hear me out hear me out he's not the most athletic guy he doesn't have the best arm but he is mentally prepared for the fucking game right if you know what you're going

up against and you and you've studied the playbook and you know and you know what you're going up against and you and you've studied the playbook and you know and you know what you're getting into you don't have to be the most most athletic guy right you just need to put a ball in the spot at the perfect time that's why tom brady was so successful he's not i mean tom brady's probably the least athletic quarterback in the fucking nfl put him against all the fucking backups, all the third string guys. He is the least athletic guy and talented guy in the NFL. But you put his mind into it and he knows what he's working with. And he's on the top for a reason, right?

I mean it plays a huge part in it. It plays a huge part in the game. And that's why I think – I mean after seeing that with that tweet that you just read out, it all makes sense. It all makes sense. He's prepared for the game, and he knows what he's getting into, and that's why he's had success. It's not accidental. We saw it two weeks in a row, right? We saw it for a sliver against Wisconsin, and then we saw it for a full half essentially against Rutgers.

So I mean – like I'm not saying he's fucking Tom Brady but when you when you don't have all the athletic abilities as a guy like Joe Milton that's the shit you have to do and if you can do that you can be successful and based off Cade's stat line last week I mean if he can continue to do that he'll continue to have similar games yeah i think there's kind of two parts to this i was watching a video with urban meyer we were talking about making the play caller sheet and the precursor to the play caller sheet is the game book and it's everything about the opponent i would assume that you would give copies of the game book to your QBs who you think might play in the game. Right. So the fact that Cade has basically a game book about his opponent coming up doesn't surprise me in the slightest. And I wouldn't be surprised if to, you know, guys like Joe who have just like a God given ability and a lot of, you know, athleticism. They tend to rely on that athleticism, which this is all pretty much exactly what Jack said.

They tend to rely exactly on their athleticism. And, you know, maybe they feel like I can skim through this book and then I can go out there on the field, rely on my arm. Situation comes up. I can just throw a rocket and we're good. And we saw that kind of backfire a little bit for Joe as opposed to Cade. He has to rely on, OK, my preparation. I'm showing up. I'm doing all the things I need to do. And that's where I'll see success and obviously it's work for him in high school right i mean he's got freaking 12 000 yards so yeah we're seeing him kind of use the same approach and that's exactly what hardball loves so i hope he uh continues to

do it and hopefully it continues to pay off yeah i mean at this point god we better hope kade's the guy because if not i mean well first of all dan valari season so i'm i'm i mean heisman 2021 baby let's go people talk about jg mccarthy don't even know about dan valari um but i mean in all real in reality, like, if you lose out on Dylan McCaffrey and then Joe's not the guy, and then if Cade's not the guy, then you have to take a real hard look at Jim Harbaugh and say, if you can't do it with all these guys, then why is J.J. McCarthy the guy that's going to change it around? 100%.

100% with you on that. I think it's tough. But let's do some 0-90s and some predictions for this weekend's game against Penn State. Obviously, you know, just everyone's L.O.I. is going to be on Michigan-Penn State at noon. Thankfully, actually, I think Ohio State plays at noon. Thank God it's not a fucking noon game. Yeah, Ohio State plays at noon. Thankfully, actually, I think Ohio State plays at noon. Thank God it's not a fucking noon game.

Yeah, Ohio State plays at noon too, so we don't even have to watch them, which is nice because I'm sick of watching them put up 600 yards a game and just thinking about them putting up 800, 900, maybe 1,000 against us. So, anyways,

we will focus on the toilet bowl here uh michigan versus penn state so who wants to who wants to start with their zero to 90 here i'm good i'm ready all right jack your zero to 90 starts now so according to espn penn state is favored to win this game according to vegas michigan is favored by two two and a half. Not 100% sure. But both defenses are fucking awful. Averaging 36 points allowed per game. I think it'll be a high scoring game.

I don't know what the over under is. If you guys can throw that in there eventually, let me know. But I'm definitely taking the over for this game. And honestly, I think I'm going to take Michiganigan by two touchdowns is that my optimism coming out probably yes but but looking at their offense i mean michigan's having more averaging more points per game than penn state is and looking at the talent that they've gone up against i mean iowa they probably should have scored more nebraska they only scored 23 maryland they only scored 19 i don't know man i feel good about this game if i was making a bet i'd say

michigan by 10 but i'm confident michigan will win the game so you're betting on michigan i'm betting michigan i am i'm gonna bet michigan i'm gonna bet spread i'm definitely betting the over the over is 40 or the over is 58 easy money easy fucking money there um uh i mean that's 38 20 or yeah no they're scoring points michigan's defense sucks and penn state's defense sucks they're gonna score points that's for sure um i'm just hoping cade plays half as well as he did against records and i think that comes true i mean i don't hate it i just i'll get bad teams two really bad teams it's like i feel like everybody watching penn state this year you know we watched right before michigan minnesota first game of the year we watched uh penn state indiana and you know the crazy dive which still i don't know if

mr p got in or didn't it's like jt was short basically but i feel like they're just this team and i don't want to get too far into it here but everyone was like okay oh they lost that tough game to indiana but indiana's a solid team know, every week you're just waiting to, like, turn it on, right? And they just haven't, which is kind of crazy. So I'll leave it at that. Kalen, you ready? Yeah. All right, Kalen, your 0-90 starts now.

With the first pick of the NFL draft. Oh, man. Oh, my God. Dan Valari starting at Penn State? Dan Valari? No. No way. I would love to see that.

Honestly, if Dan Valari stepped on the field, I would lose my mind. I don't think it's going to happen, but keep an eye out for Harbaugh punching his chest pad on the sidelines. What I really want to touch on is something I heard from Rich Rod in his podcast where he was saying something about like a Michigan man. And he's like, what the hell is a michigan man and someone was saying in an interview like what does it what does it feel like to not be a michigan man he's like well i am now you hired me so once you're hired you're a michigan man so like what the hell does the phrase even mean you know i don't know i'm kind of posing it as a question a little bit so i would say that in you know they've talked uh to ward manual

about wanting michigan men uh on the basketball side and the football side now um i think that people think that a michigan man means you have to have ties to to michigan right you have to like either play here or used to be a you know offensive coordinator or position coach or something i think it's more so it means that you have to understand and respect the traditions of michigan and uh you know all that comes with michigan where rich rod came in and tried to blow the whole thing up, right, and change it to the spread offense and all that stuff. And I still don't even totally disagree with it because if Rich Rod does that and he's successful,

I mean, he's 10 years ahead of the rest of college football, right? Ohio State runs a fucking spread offense right now. So it's like, you know, we're literally trying to run a spread offense in 2020. So I think it's more so you respect the traditions and the principles of Michigan and you're not trying to, like, change everything up. All right. I think that nobody has a clue what's going to happen on Saturday because half the half the fan base thinks Cade McNamara is a god. And there's no way he does anything other than throw for 75 percent completion percentage and five touchdowns every single game.

That's not going to happen so and you know what i i understand ruggers is is good better than normal and penn state's worse than normal sorry i'm just like burping through my zero to 90 too many white claws during this episode too much combination i know but i just think that you're never gonna see I don't want to say never but when are you ever gonna see him have 75 completion percentage again and if he does then I mean praise him praise Josh Gaddis for the play calling and all of it so let's lower the expectations on Cade McNamara a bit if he even goes out for 60% completion percentage and two touchdowns, that's a win for Michigan. I think it's really more, they have to keep Hassan Haskins and the run game going and you have to have confidence. There's rumors out there, not even rumors. Ed

Warner said that Mayfield and Hayes are practicing this week. So that's a big step. I thought that Carpenter did a lot better at center this week than Vistardis did. Unfortunately, I know Vistardis is our boy, Madison Uden's boyfriend. It's tough. But I just think that there's a lot more than just Cade McNamara to this team. So I want to see the defensive line, the defensive front play better. I just don't have a ton of confidence in this defense, and I just don't have a ton of confidence in this team.

Anytime that they get to a decently big game, and like it's crazy to say an 0-5 team is a big game, but it's still Penn State. So I'm going to say I still got to predict that they win. I don't know. But I'm going to go with Michigan 38, Penn State 34 in a barn burner. Yeah, I'm going Michigan 49, penn state 45 wow yeah yeah i mean that's where i'm at that's what i basically guessed i mean it's me a high scoring game that's for sure and i think michigan wins but i think they'll win by 10 i'm gonna say i'll go along what you said kaylon i'm probably say 45 35 so i mean let me ask this one question

and then we'll leave it at that and you can't give an explanation it's a yes or no answer if michigan loses this game is harbaugh done at the end of the year no no see i say no too and that is so fucked up man losing to an 0-5 team but to me if he loses no explanation it's on don brown why is that not that's a part of jim harbaugh's it is no i 100 agree he should be gone he should be gone 100 but yeah no i'm with you it is it's a good question fuck man i don't know i'm gonna say no but to follow up i don't know because i shouldn't have followed up anyway we're a bet we're in a bad spot so um yeah i'm glad that we started off this podcast with some positivity with michigan basketball because we ended it with negativity which we have for the

past you know month has it happened yet let's speak some good things into existence and hopefully they come true so um that will be it you can follow us at blue by 90 on twitter and instagram and facebook as well as blue by 90 podcast on youtube uh check it all out and we will see you all next week have a great thanksgiving