Michigan Basketball Ranked #18 In Preseason Poll

In the first poll released for the coming college basketball season, the USA Today Coaches' Poll has placed Michigan at #18. This is quite an improvement from last season (Michigan was not ranked in both the AP poll and Coaches poll).

This ranking does warrant some excitement, even though fans should remember the 2009 basketball season when Michigan was ranked #15 in the preseason, but ended up missing the postseason.

However, I think this coming season will be a little different than 2009. Michigan's 2009 team should have been better than it finished, but it had a lot more flaws than the 2011 Michigan team. For instance, much of the '09 team focused on 2 players, while this year's team seems to be much more of a combined and focused team effort. As we all know, the ability to rotate players and involve others, the more likely the team is to be successful.

With the return of 4 starters, and essentially every backup player from Michigan's 2010 team, I find it quite unlikely to endure the same collapse fans experienced in 2009. For instance, only 2 other Big Ten teams are ranked (Ohio State - #3, Wisconsin - #14) and only 2 other Big Ten teams are receiving votes (Michigan State - #28, Purdue - #35). This clearly doesn't mean Michigan will beat all the other Big Ten teams, or even those receiving votes, but it does bode well for the coming season.

So before you start thinking back to 2009 remember that this is a different team with experience, depth, and teamwork that should propel the team to a great season.

How Will Darius Morris Fit in With The Lakers?

Last Thursday, Everything Michigan and More reported that Darius Morris was selected as the 41st pick in the NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Though most people have been excited about Darius' return to his hometown, a lot of the basketball fans have been wondering about Darius' role on his new team. He obviously had great success at Michigan, specifically last season where he was named to the All Big Ten Third Team by both the coaches and media and led the Wolverines one shot away from overtime with a #1 seeded Duke team in the 3rd round of the NCAA Tournament, but his NBA status is still unproven.

Though the Lakers' selection of Morris seems to imply the team's faith and hope for him in the future, he was selected in the 2nd round, where there are no contract guarantees. There is still a slight chance that the Lakers could bail on Morris, but this seems highly unlikely. In fact, I'd like to explain why I think Morris could do big things in this situation.

The Lakers do have a veteran point guard in Derek Fisher, but have little depth at the position outside of him. The Lakers' other point guards are Shannon Brown and Steve Blake. Three experienced point guards make the team seem to have considerable depth, but most speculation argues that Shannon Brown will test free agency, meaning that at least one spot would open up before next season for Morris.

So assuming that Brown will leave Los Angeles, which seems quite likely, especially with a new coach and a potential starting lineup shake-up for the team, that leaves Fisher and Blake "ahead" of Morris as of now. However, another fact about these players that is often overlooked is their age. Both have been fairly consistent over the past few seasons, but with both players in their 30s, there are no guarantees they won't hit the age "wall" in one of the next few years. With this in mind, it only makes sense for the Lakers to pull in a young point guard before they start losing too much depth at the position.

To me, Morris offers the Lakers a solid back-up for an aging position with a ton of potential. There were rumors that the Lakers themselves thought Morris was going to go higher in the draft, which shows that the team believes he can be a great player. So bottom line, the Lakers have shown considerable interest in Morris and their team will likely have the space required to effectively bring out some of Morris' potential; veteran leadership, some depth at the position, and the willingness to invest in the player.

Regardless, let's wish Darius the best of luck.

It's Great to be a Michigan Wolverine and follow me on Twitter here:

Tom

Darius Morris Drafted by Lakers

Darius Morris was just drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the early 2nd round as the 41st pick in the NBA Draft. He was projected to be a late 1st round or early 2nd round pick so this is no surprise.

This should be a nice fit as Darius is originally from Los Angeles and will now be playing for his hometown team.

Best of luck and we'll enjoy watching!