The last few days have been brimming with Basketball related hoopla and huzzah, so many things have gone unnoticed by yours truly. In an attempt to catch you up to date on all that's relevant stay here. But, beware, we're out of Bud, Basketball's all we gots
On Tap:
- Selling a $15 Dollar Shoe And Meaning It
- More on the Michigan Coaching Situation
- Sims Not Going Anywhere! Ahhh!
- Manny Harris: Michigan Mr. Basketball
To be honest, at first glance, the products he's selling don't look that bad. But this shouldn't be much of a surprise. The producer and distributor Steve and Barry have a history of producing quality low cost apparel. How many of you own a Steve and Barry "MICHIGAN" hoodie or t-shirt from their State Street store?
"Maximum shine for minimum expense," is Marbury's brand tagline and the thought behind it is admirable. Even though no one goes into business like this without the intention of making money, selling affordable, relatively hip clothes and shoes to people without a lot of disposable income is worth noting.
While intentions are one thing, reality is another. The "Starbury" shoes haven't gotten rave reviews. In addition, the only way you can sell $15 shoes is if they cost 10 cents to make. It's already been disclosed that the entire brand line is manufactured overseas.
Regardless of the realities and intentions, the Starbury brand line appears to sell decent stuff at a very reasonable price. Whether Marbury is a self indulgent child or a man with higher intentions is for everyone to determine on their own. For me, I'm inclined to cut him a little more slack than I was before I knew about this endeavor. Kudos to him.
Interest in Beilein, Miller and Kruger Picks Up - We're two days post-firing and the coaching preferences of the media are becoming pretty well known. Surprisingly, of the young coaches mentioned, Xavier's Sean Miller is getting some press as a serious candidate. Miller is a Thad Matta disciple who is in his first head coaching stint at Xavier. Prior to taking the HC job, Miller was an assistant to Matta before he left to take the reigns at Ohio State. Miller's been around the block a few time with coaching stops at North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Miami (Ohio) and Wisconsin. In his three years at Xavier as HC, the X-men are 63-32 with two straight trips to the NCAA's. This year they came within a missed free throw of topping #1 seeded Ohio State in the second round of the tournament.
In his favor, Xavier was not a team that had trouble scoring points or play defense. He seems to be a solid tactician and gets the most out of his talent. As a negative, well, Thad Matta was his boss and I'm biased as a result.
Two other more established coaches are also in the papers and recruiting sites. Lon Kruger received Eric Lacy of the Detroit News' endorsement. Kruger stated yesterday that he wasn't even considering the UM job, but what else was he going to say? His team is still in the mix for a national championship. Once the Reb's season is over, expect the rumors to start flying. On the other side, Scout is questioning whether West Virginia HC John Beilein is the early favorite for the UM job.
Sims here to stay (Udoh too) - No. Not Courtney. But I bet you were a little scared.
DeShawn Sims and Ekpe Udoh both announced either directly or through friends that they have no intention of transferring now that Amaker is gone. Udoh's reaction to Amaker's firing was wonderfully nonchalant. "It's not a shock. ... The talk has been around,'' Udoh said. "We've talked about it. But we've moved on.''
Think that has anything to do with the fact that despite being Michigan's best player this year he spent most of his time on the bench?
Finally, Manny Harris named Michigan's Mr. Basketball - Kid's got skills, and because he's announced he'll honor his commitment to Michigan, those skills will be rockin Crisler next year. Mark my words, Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2007.