LLP Debut Analysis; FGCU game preview

Michigan downed the Grizzlies of Oakland 89-76 at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday, and now have a quick turnaround for their next game, against Florida Gulf Coast tonight at Crisler Arena.

Michigan had a pretty big lead in the first half, but Oakland would not go easy. Getting the Michigan lead down to 8 at halftime, Oakland made some Michigan fans nervous bringing the lead to only 4 during the second half.

Player of the game honors go to Manny Harris, with 15 points, 13 assists and ZERO turnovers. Very impressive numbers for Corperryale.

Laval Lucas-Perry

LLP made a big impact in his debut game, scoring 14 points. LLP made his impact from behind the arc, sinking 4 of 7 three-point attempts.

We didn't get a chance to see much of the much heralded defender that Lucas-Perry is, with him playing the wing in the 1-3-1 and not really having an impact when we went to man-to-man defense.

I would like to see him play point guard rather than the shooting guard position he was playing against Oakland. Hopefully we see that tonight against FGCU. Click the image to open in full size.



Speaking of FGCU...

Alright, I'm not doing an amazing in-depth analysis of Florida Gulf Coast, but to give a brief preview.

FGCU has been around since the 2002-3 season, so they are a really new program.

They are 4-7 on the season, with their signature wins over Florida Atlantic and North Carolina Central, who Michigan plays later in their schedule.

They do have a pretty significant Michigan influence on the team. FGCU head coach Dave Balza is a Michigan graduate, who served on the 1989 national championship team as a student manager.

They also have Reed Baker.

Yes, that Reed Baker.

Wait, you don't know who Reed Baker is? Where have you been!?

Reed Baker was a Wolverine, he was also a Bulldog, Panther and now an eagle.

Reed Baker has been a pretty busy guy during his basketball career..

He originally signed his letter of intent with the Citadel, until they released their head coach, allowing him to be released of his LOI.

He then signed his Letter of Intent to attend Birmingham-Southern College, until they dropped from Division I to Division III. For this reason, he was released from that Letter of Intent.

Next up? The Air Force!

Baker was offered a scholarship by the Air Force and was seemingly ready to accept it, until peanuts stopped him. Thats right, peanuts. Baker's alergy to peanuts caused him to fail the Air Force's physical requirements for entry into the Air Force program.


Confused already? Lets continue.

Then Michigan Coach Tommy Amaker saw some film of the streaky shooter, offering him a scholarship. However, would he even really have one? Through crazy loopholing, Zach Gibson's transfer into the Michigan program left open a scholarship during Gibson's required year sitting out.

All Amaker could do was offer Baker a one year scholarship. Baker, just wanting to go to school and play ball, comes to Michigan. Baker started a couple games during his year at Michigan, averaged like 2.5 points per game.

A year later, Reed Baker's scholarship at Michigan was not renewed, leaving him looking for another school -- AGAIN. He then transferred to Florida Gulf Coast, living happily ever after.

And yes, writing that did cause me to have a significant headache.

Now for the game...

Projection of easy Michigan win is accurate, by quite a large margin. Michigan on average scores about 30 points per game more than FGCU scores, thus, this prediction:

Michigan: 86
FGCU: 66