The Derick Dilemma

This was supposed to be the year for the Grizzlies. A returning junior PG. A returning senior SG in Kangas. And a returning, all-world senior in forward Derick Nelson. However, a season-ending injury has derailed the latter, leading many OU fans to adopt the old Chicago Cubs mantra of, "Wait 'til next year."

On the surface, next year looks better than this year. We'll return Jonathan Jones as a senior PG, two of our freshman will have a year's worth of experience and Derick Nelson will be fully healed. In addition, Jay Thames, a redshirt freshman, will be in the lineup as will two highly touted incoming players, transfer Larry Wright and Drew Valentine.

But I see a few issues with next year's roster. Specifically, I think Kampe needed Nelson to finish his eligibility this year to ensure the success of next year's team.

One Size Fits All
Nelson is a 6'5" forward who has the capability to be the best player on the court every night -- and he usually is. Therefore, it's hard to argue with his return being a negative. But take a look at the players returning and debuting next year:

Guards
Jones 5'11"
Samuels 6'0"
Cushingberry 6'4"
Wright 6'2"
Kast 6'2"

Forwards
Nelson 6'5"
Valentine 6'5"
Maynard 6'7" (I know, a G/F)
Thames 6'9"
Hudson 6'9"

Centers
Benson 6'11"
Milutinovic 7'0"


Obviously, I bolded the forwards because we have 5 very good players who could play major minutes. If Nelson takes 38 of those minutes per game, that leaves 42 minutes (if playing 2G, 2F and a C every game) for 4 other players. Based on his play thus far, Maynard should get major minutes. Hudson has proven to be very solid. And Thames is, according to the moles at practice, a force who'll be an impact player right away. PLUS Valentine.

Then to the guards. Larry Wright will slide into the starting lineup alongside Jones, relegating sophomore Cushingberry to the bench with Samuels.

Your Starting Lineup
So, let's break this down:

Starters
Jones
Wright
Benson
Nelson
Maynard

Reserves playing major minutes
Samuels
Cushingberry
Hudson
Thames
Milutinovic
Valentine (if not redshirted)

That's 11 deep. Nine small to mid guys and two bigs. Three+ guys who love to have the ball in their hands. Still no interior defense. And unless Wright can replace those big Kangas 3s, then we have a lack of a pure shooter as well.

The Point
It's easy to ask the question, "yeah, but where would we be WITHOUT Nelson next year. Still no outside shot, still no interior D." True. But we have to think beyond next year....we have to think of the development and playing time of the guys behind Nelson. I think his return will create problems both on and off the court (see: Pistons, Iverson), and hamper the short-term development of the program.

Disappointing Loss

There are losses. And then there are losses like this.

Oakland University could never quite catch George Hill and the IUPUI Jaguars, and ultimately fell 80-65 in the Summit League semifinals.

Game Notes

• This team was already trying to figure out a new rotation and identity without Brandon Cassise. So why did we have to further complicate things by not playing Keith Benson, a guy who has started a lot of games this year? Instead we get Shane Lawal and Waterstradt, both defensive liabilities. The result? A lot of interior buckets. No offense. I don't get Strat...one game he's phenomenal, the next he disappears. He was invisible last night. Totally invisible. I thought we could have used a couple Jones-to-Benson alley-oops, but that's just me.
  
• Derick Nelson better work long and hard on free throws this offseason. Terrible.
• We saw a glimpse of what Tim Williams can do, I hope he plays a lot next year.
  
• The "small" lineup we won with against IUPUI during the season was not available last night because BC was gone. That's the lineup we needed to win. Although I'm sensitive to Cassise's plight, he ultimately let down 14 other guys.
• Kangas was off again. Not a good season for him. Maybe it was the injury, maybe not. But he has been horribly inconsistent
• George Hill is good
  

UDM's Inferiority Complex

Let's see. They finished with seven wins. At one point they lost 13 in a row. In back-to-back games, they failed to crack 40 points. They were a non-factor in their conference tournament. They have no coach.

Yet somehow, the University of Detroit faithful are on the offensive regarding Oakland. Depressed? Yes. Delusional? Most certainly.

After a recent Terry Foster article in the Detroit News, the U of D Mercy message board lit up.

Let me say this before you read on -- everyone I've ever come into contact with at OU has hoped for a good U of D squad. Nothing would be better for this area. Unfortunately, U of D won't play Oakland. That's it, plain and simple. Rather than settle it on the court, the Titan fans insist on false hope and the memories of years ago. It's actually quite sad.

Here's a sampling of some of the 4-star comments from the Titans message board:

I think we would have beaten them if we had played the last couple of years. Kampe maybe getting recruits, but he's not a great coach. I'm sure we would have had a better record than OU if we played in the Summit League.

Seriously? They go 7-23 overall, and 3-15 in the Horizon and yet they would have had a better record than us. Hmmm...let's look at some common opponents:

• U of D beat Eastern 72-68; Oakland beat them 86-71
• U of D lost to Green Bay by 26 on the road, by two at home. OU lost on a last second shot (by 1) at UWGB
• Oakland beat Bowling Green by 10; U of D lost by 16

Remember people, they said they'd be better than us...yet they fared much worse against common opponents.

Non-Conference
Since U of D has a very weak non-conference schedule, this one is tough. U of D did play Butler (currently ranked 14) twice. Results? Two losses, including a 34 point drubbing where Mercy scored 31 total points.

OU played three top-25 teams -- and won once. The Grizzlies lost at MSU 75-71 and at Xavier 93-68, both without Erik Kangas. OU beat then #14 Oregon 68-62.

Other Favorites
This comment is probably my favorite:

A huge number that should factor into this mess is OU's overall record against the Titans. (I can't really figure out the coaches against each other, but it doesn't really matter when you see this result.) OU is 1-11 against the Titans.

Let's have a looksy regarding Division 1 head-to-head games:

2000-2001
U of D win, 77-56 at Calihan

2001-2002
Oakland win, 93-67 at OU

2003-2004
Detroit win at Calihan, 76-60.

And that's it! The Titans ceased playing the Grizzlies after 2004. So, out of the 1-11 the poster mentions, only three of those games were even Division 1.

So, the question is, why won't they play Oakland?

Outrecruited. Outcoached. Out publicized. It's a losing proposition. And contrary to popular belief, it's not just the coach that is hampering the coach. It's the city.

Face it U of D fans, you're program is never coming back. Sorry, the facts say otherwise. They play in a conference a small step above the Summit, yet with poorer facilities, a depleted city and no coach. If you were a recruit, what would you choose?

And They Play On

The Oakland University Golden Grizzlies came to play Sunday night against Western Illinois, controlling the game from start to finish en route to an 80-66 victory. Junior Erik Kangas knocked down 6 threes on his way to a game high 26, with "D-Nel" chipping in 17.

I was completely impressed with the fire OU showed...it seemed (at least on the radio) that they were focused from the start, which can only help tonight as they square off against 25-game winner IUPUI. Remember, the game can be seen on FSN Plus tonight at 7.

Game Notes

• I said this on the forum, but WXOU -- specifically Brad and Corey -- really did a nice job last night. It's rare to hear s student-run radio station sound so professional. I listened on the Webstream, and was really impressed with them. Corey does a fantastic job of keeping the listener up-to-date on the score, as well as describing the action. Brad also does a nice job chiming in when appropriate.
• Kangas came alive in the second half. I knew it would happen, I kept waiting for it, and then they started falling. I expect that to carryover today.
• We didn't shoot well at all (40%), and yet still blew WIU out. If we can up that percentage to 45%, we can give the Jags a run for it.
• We went to the line 55 times last night. That's all well and good, but we missed 20 of them, including 15 in the second half. That won't get it done. At least make 40 of those 55, you know? 63% from the stripe...not good. Nelson? 8-15 on throws. Ick.
  
• McCloskey is the epitome of a college player. He works hard when he's in, he does his job and he doesn't whine when he's not in there. Last night he had one point and 9 big boards.
• Shane Lawal is back in the rotation -- and Benson is out. What gives? Lawal got 5 boards and 3 blocks in 15 minutes. Our bench bigs really seemed to do the job, with Will Hudson and Strat also having nice games
• Strat is our Dennis Rodman (or Rasheed for you new schoolers). His antics can really piss a team off, and that doesn't show up on a stat sheet

Lastly, there was an interesting Terry Foster article in the Saturday Detroit News...and it has U of D MERCY up in arms. I am going to write my opinion of the Nurses' inferiority complex later. It's funny when a team that can't win 10 games in a season still trashed our coach/team. No recruits, no coach, no wins....but yet they're still better because John Long played there a century ago. Nice logic.

More on that later.

Blake Done -- Updated

Blake Cushingberry and Romeo lost this evening against Clakston, 67-57. Too bad, but I guess it proves what everyone's been saying -- Macomb County teams just don't have it.

UPDATE: Here's the Detroit News story about the game.

Will He or Won't He?

Grizzly Nation continues to wait in anticipation for Decision 2008 -- also known as "Will Brandon Play?"

Still not known yet widely speculated, the decision seemingly lies with the administration -- with a gag order more stringent than the Kwame/Strawberry murder investigation.

When will we know? Tomorrow? Friday? Tip-off? No one really knows.

So, with that we ask -- what are OU's chances with, and without BC?

With
During the latter half of the season we have seen Coach Kampe go small at times with BC, Kangas, Nelson and Jones on the floor at one time. The quickness, athleticism and shooting seemed to overwhelm opponents, including IUPUI. This ONLY works with a motivated Cassise. As we saw in the last two home games, Oakland can be dangerous. If Cassise plays, we go to the Championship game.

Without
Tim Williams will be great, but simply doesn't have the shot to lure defenders away from the basket a la BC. Brandon is a cylinder in the small engine, and without him, it runs a little rough. Therefore, Coach is forced to run a more traditional 3 smalls and 2 bigs offense, which isn't as fast, and not nearly as deadly.

Could this mean one and done? Or, will the absence of BC give Nelson, Jones, Kangas and the gang the motivation to deliver big games? Will someone unsung (Williams, Strat) step up and be a difference maker? It could happen. This team should be used to playing without Cassise, so it won't be a huge shock.

Other News
Blake Cushingberry is in action as I type this. As soon as I get a score I will post it.

Romeo Wins Despite BLAnKEt

Macomb Varsity is reporting a Romeo blowout against Rochester, 74-46 in the Class A District final.

Looks like the Falcons tried to blanket Blake, but solid guard play from Nick Kosovich helped Romeo win big. When I saw Romeo play, I was surprised at what a good TEAM they were. You can throw your whole team at Blake, but Romeo will beat you in other ways.

Go Bulldogs!