Last weekend I got a chance to watch Devin Book play three games at the GRCC team camp. Take this report with the smallest grains of salt since it was only three games.

Let me just say the kids size is great. He looked a legit 6'4 and has room to grow. I could easily see his frame finish at 6'5-6'6. He looks the part of a major 5 star prospect. He came late to the event. The competition was alright with East Kentwood(huge school) and some other nice size schools there.

Offense
+He is just smooth. Handling the ball is just easy for him. Has a great stride when he runs. Can get to the hoop in very few dribbles.
+He pull up going to his right was great. He seemed most comfortable in his shot going right. Never saw him try and go to left and pull up.
+Vision was outstanding. Found people open all day. Was never selfish. His basketball IQ was great that he would never take a terrible shot and hit the open man. A lot of great high school players take bad shots since they think there always the best option. Even when a player is open. Booker didn't show any of that. He just made the right basketball play.
+Went to the post, didn't have the dominate the ball. Would also play off the wing. Willing to play anywhere on the court.
-Standing jump shot. Didn't make a lot of three balls. Seems like a better shooter off the dribble.
-Post game. He would be in the short corner or in the high post and couldn't convert. BUT I will say he made great back to the basket moves to get a good look. Just couldn't convert(not that he would post up in a coach B system).
-Shoot more. At times he would pass up open looks to drive or find others. Had a Lebron feeling to him that he would rather get others going first. Not always a bad thing but at times its a great open look. Not sure his shot is there yet and just goes back to him wanting to slash more because of it.

Defense
+Showed great lateral quickness on smaller players. There was a smaller PG that talked junk to him and all of a sudden he went into lock down mode. The kid pretty much couldn't dribble with out losing it and he was a decent senior PG. He also helped on defense by taking a few shots out of the air on layups. He seem to take pride in defense. He wasn't just waiting to get back to the offensive side.
-A big kid had his way in the post a few times on him but had a lot of weight on him. I doubt that would happen a whole lot in the B10.

Highlights
+Windmill dunk with ease.
+Beat a kid back on defense who had a free layup to only wipe it out into the stands(at a summer camp..Shows he hates to lose)
+Picked a pocket for a easy two handed slam.

Lows
-Talked to much crap for my liking. When he made a great play he made sure to let the defender know about it. Yes you will be playing at Duke or Michigan next year. That kid will be taking Math 101 at GRCC.. You should score. He show great confidence which is good but would cross the line at times for no reason.

He looks like an elite guy. He will be a huge get for Michigan if they can reel him in. Lets hope they do. He spent most his free time with Drake Harris if that means anything.

Not all Michigan items are pretty. Just like babies. On that note make sure to get your Reyn Spooner Michigan Wolverienes Football Rayon Hawaiian Shirt.

The most generic Michigan sweat shirt you will ever find. I bet Michigan got a nice cut on this fabric. Go Generic!
I have already posted one of these but I couldn't help myself for the the price of $119 for a fake Michigan jersey you buy from a Mejier or in the dudes world a "Ralphs". The seller even says its "authentic". Yes Michigan's past outfitter wasn't Nike... It was Coliseum. Didn't you know?
UPDATE: HERE ONE FOR 12.99! For future buyers.
Anyone want a David Molk Auto Card of him squatting and pointing?
Michigan State fans Instead of putting this on your car...
You can put this...

We end with the The Best 90s Michigan flat top ever Auto

Last week, Michigan made the announcement that, starting this football season, the school will be moving to general admission student seating inside Michigan Stadium. This move might be bad for those students who enjoy sleeping in for early games, but it should make the stadium crazier than ever.

In 2012, there was a growing trend of unused student tickets creating empty pockets in the section. For the largest stadium in the country, that was simply not a good look. There was an average of over 5000 unused student tickets throughout the 2012 season, including 3500 for the marquee home game of the year (Michigan State).

The move might be new for Michigan, but it is certainly not new to other major programs. Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Nebraska in the Big Ten already use this format with student seating, and it has mostly been a positive experience for them. It allows groups of students to simply show up together and sit together. The previous setup meant groups of people would have to decide at the start of the season.

With this move, obviously that means for some of the more marquee matchups, there will be camping out to get the best seats available. The logistics of that are still being worked out, but the University and the city of Ann Arbor do not foresee it as being a huge issue. Despite the sale numbers being great, Michigan is hoping the move will make the Big House appear even bigger to opposing fans. Packing the stadium and having the students as close to the action as possible will make for a slightly more intimidating look as they battle for Big Ten titles.

To draft Michigan players to your https://www.fanduel.com/fantasy-football”>fantasy football 2013 lineup click on the link.

Midnight Maize and University Football Rentals are teaming up to give you a discount on a house to rent for the football season in Ann Arbor. If you are traveling far for the game and want a great place to tailgate for the game then this is a great option. Plus a lot of these homes are very close to the Big House. The Discount will save you $25 on the House rental.

If you do decide to rent a house then use the discount code "MaizeNinja".

I have a ton basketball knowledge so you should listen to me. I coach and played. I now officiate.  I could go on and on. So that makes me an expert on the 2-3 zone.

We are lucky enough to get a little preview of this Final Four match up back in 2011 when Michigan played Cuse in the Legends Classic. Now the 2011 Michigan team is in no way as good as the 2013 team but not far off.

The basics are to keep the ball moving. Burke can't pound the air out of the rock for 10 and 15 secs of a position. Attack the creases(looking at you THJ,GR3 and Burke) and find soft spots in the zone. Soft spots can be found all over the court. Moving the ball with a good flow will open them all up. A "stuck" ball will not.

Soft spots in the short corner
This is where Burke must find Mcgary, Morgan, GR3 and Horford's when the soft spot in the zone opens up in the short corner. Ok pictures.

Morgan is standing in the short corner. If one thing Morris has on Burke is his great court vision. He already can see Morgan creeping in the short corner. He looks out to his right which looks off the center Mello and opens a crease for a pretty pass which Morgan finishes for 2. Now the pass was a bit high which caused Morgan to use a up and under but the play was made. Also with Novak close to the short corner that means his man won't sag off a lot since he can knock down threes. That will be Nik on Saturday. Michigan has to get its fair share of easy buckets from the short corner.

Soft Spots in the Corners
Alright Nik this is you buddy.
I suspect Beilein will move Nik all over and even throw him in the middle which is a great idea. It is harder to keep track of shooters in the zone if you are not just planting them on wings and having them wait for kicks. Here Evan starts in middle. The ball swings right and he moves out to the corner and Morgan slides to the cuse bench side. This moves the zone which gives Morris his crease to attack. The defense closes on Morris and the ball is kicked to the corner for a easy three for Evan. Open shots will be had when Burke attacks. Michigan just has to make them.

Soft Spot in the Middle
THJ needs to be chucking less here and be more of a play maker.
When the ball get to the high elbow or the "middle" the zone is broke. Options galore happen. You have the shot, the dump down to the short corner and the drive and kick for a 3. Now here Evan rushes the shot and misses. He has Morgan wide open for the dump or he can put the ball on the floor and suck the defense in even more setting up Stu(not the best idea since he wasn't that skilled at doing such things). The reason the zone works even after you break it is because the players are given so many options they don't always take the right one or they turn it over. THJ will be the main man here and maybe Mitch too. THJ can't just chuck the ball at the hoop cause hes open for one split second. Him getting to the rack would be a great option which gets him to the foul line and gets open looks for his team. I can't stress it enough that getting the ball in the middle is only half the battle. Once there you will need be quick and smart. Dumb teams like Marquette get killed since they DERP once the ball enters the high posts.

A few notes on this 2011 game
-Michigan lacks the talent Cuse has but Beilein's X and O zone break keeps this game close.
-Michigan got a good number of offensive rebs. GO GET EM MITCH.
-THJ was THJ. Bad shot selection, quick shots in the middle of the zone.
-Morris found Morgan countless times in the short corner. Burke must do the same.
-Like they did with Evan, moving Nik all over the court in the zone will be key.
-The corners were open a lot in this game. Nik should be drooling.
-Jordan Morgan looks more confident in this game then he has all season in 2013.

A few notes on the 2013 game
-Burke has to move the ball. The only dribbling that is needed will be for hitting creases.
-Team basketball is key.
-Be smart when you break the zone. Looking at you Tim.
-Feast on the short corner Mitch and GR3.
-Turnovers will happen and happen early.
-If the shots fall the zone will become less aggressive. You have won the war.
-THJ is due. That is all I will say.

Michigan struggled for a bit with the Florida's zone but found comfort after about 5 mins of it. That is how zones are. Your brain settles in after seeing it move position after position  You know the movements of the defense. After Michigan settles in the turnovers will become less and things should open up a lot. This is why when I coach I would never use it full time. Its great for a change of pace or "curve ball" but after the offense settles in... It can be hard to get defensive stops. I won't even get into rebounding.

Michigan has all the tools to "get nuts" on this thing but they will need to be smart, quick and shoot decent. Slow and dumb could cause Michigan to lose. I like our chances if Burke is finding his bros. Remember Bros before shots vs a Zone Trey. Go Blue.

Denard signed autographs at the Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids last Saturday. The turn out was well... large. I was 506 in line and they sold over 700 tickets! Denard was suppose to be done at 3pm but I didn't get to him until 5 pm. He was smiling and talking with fans. You wouldn't have know that he had been signing for the last 5 hours. He was really great to all the fans. It was at Legends Card Shop. This was much better then fan day since you had a number and could roam and be a Mall Rat for the day. It did cost money but I like getting my crappy MS Paints signed. Sunday Will Gholston was signing for a fraction of the price. Not sure how the turn out was but I would think it was just friends and family.

When I met Denard he got a good laugh out of it and said it was nice to see something different. If I were my wife I would say "what does that mean?!?!?" but I am me and I took it as glad your not a eBay whore and no one would ever buy this.

I now can put my Denard art on my wall next to this worthless autograph.

I got to sit court side for the EMU game a few months back and got to hear all the good stuff that is said on a basketball court. I wasn't court side for the MSU or the Purdue game but from my lip reading skills I can up with these from the last two games.