Yep.

So they're gonna take pride.

The people doing the reviews and the, the technology was partly to blame here, right? The NCAA has since said, "Hey, this is what, this is the protocol you're gonna follow." Uh, which is, sucks for Western Michigan because if they follow that protocol they, they, they win the game.

But, but in any case, you, there, there is a sense of people wanting to do their job.

And so I, I feel like if you have no faith in humanity at all, then yeah, okay, then they would, they, then Western would've not gotten that second.

But if you believe in your neighbors at all, then I like to think that, uh, yeah, they, they would've gotten that second.

It's the same with the...

What, how, how good or bad do you think Michigan is? How much of it is on Bryce Underwood, the quarterback who, who struggled mightily, um, in, in that game? And, um, like, is this a, is this a team that can grow into a season still, or do you, is this a, is, is, are they a seven-win team that's in big trouble this week at home against Oklahoma?

Yep.

So they're gonna take pride.

The people doing the reviews and the, the technology was partly to blame here, right? The NCAA has since said, "Hey, this is what...

This is the protocol you're gonna follow." Uh, which is, sucks for Western Michigan because they follow that protocol they, they, they win the game.

But, but in any case, you...

There, there is a sense of people wanting to do their job.

And so I, I feel like if you have no faith in humanity at all, then yeah, okay, then they would, they...

Are they a seven-win team that's in big trouble this week at home against Oklahoma?

Is this the type of piece that you expected to write? I mean, I just couldn't believe what unfolded Saturday night.

Well, no.

No one could.

No, I certainly couldn't.

No, I did not expect to write that kind of piece.

I wasn't even sure I was going to write.

I don't want to get too much inside baseball, but for night games like that, when the Michigan is playing a MAAC opponent, no disrespect to the MAAC, We're thinking, okay, I write a piece that I file at the buzzer, and I'm going to go down and talk to the coach and a few players and come back up and kind of what we call a rewrite.

It feels like it's disproportionate because of some of the things that have happened recently.

Sean, did you have something you wanted to add to that?

Yeah, I do.

I did carry that into the postseason.

But real quickly on Cunningham, the other thing I forgot to mention is the turnovers got better by and large, but there were still a few, and he would tell you there's still a few too many lapses in the postseason where he lost his focus a little bit.

We mentioned Max Struess earlier.

There were a couple of those.

And then the other area of focus, and this is interesting, and I'll be curious to see if he talks about this.

Any players you want to talk about here quick before we go ahead and get out?

I mean, uh, how does that change the dynamic of the clubhouse?

clubhouse?Well, there's a, it's, it's interesting 'cause they're different personalities.

But th- yeah, there's tremendous energy with this.

Max Clark came up and, uh, went West Sacramento.

Oh, this guy, that was a...

Yeah, again, that was a long trip.

But it immediately changed the, the defense in particular in the center field.

Right.

Mm-hmm

... speaking up when they see something be- you know, for fear of retaliation.

And, uh, yeah, no, it's interesting that on the one hand, the president, uh, President Grosso said, "Hey, well, you know, deepest respect for Warde Manuel.

Uh, we're gonna keep him around until December.

He has to, he has to both leave and stay," and, you know, he didn't say negotiate.

On the other hand, you know, we gotta fix things right away.

You know, they're, they're pressing, urgent things that we need to fix that happened under Manuel's, Manuel Sr.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, he was great in the regular season, and 22 years old.

And, uh, and I'm not...

And, and look, I get it, and I hear the, I hear the people m- some people in our market in particular are talking about the Deandre Ayton and all that.

No.

No, no, no.

The, the, the improve- Th- th- Start with this.

Yeah.

Yeah,

no, no.

I don't mind saying this, though, because it's sort of funny, and I've talked about this on my – my podcast with Mike Gallagher a little bit, and Mark Fellhauer, the soul of Detroit.

Sorry for that little plug.

No, you can plug all you want.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So one of the results of the surgery that I had that saved me in the winter was that I had a bag on my chest, basically.

Okay.

But I think you're at least giving up 21 and a future first to go up that far.

Yeah, no, that makes some sense.

I mean, I guess if there's a swap on top of that.

There are a few things with him, with Lindenberg.

One, well, first of all, he's got...

I mean, he arrived in Ann Arbor a year ago, and they had to teach him how to practice.

And he was, what, 22, 21, 22, so...

So your thoughts on both of these players, but specifically Cam Johnson.

What is it for you, Sean? Like, i- is there one thing you can point to now that we've had two series and different matchups and Jalen Duren continues to struggle offensively?

Well, there are a few things.

First of all, there's a growing narrative out there, and I know a lot of fans are frustrated with him, and some that are way out there that, you know, don't wanna pay him at all, want to let him walk and, and that sort of thing.

But I, and, and I understand.

It's like you were talking about moving the goalposts.

Now that the fans see and feel emotionally what a second round feels like after all this time, it'd been, what, 18 years, I wanna say.

Oh, we wanna win this.

Nice

Otherwise, he's been incredible, including the defense in the second half, which you mentioned already as well.

Yeah, the only other nip maybe is really not his fault because I think it has to do with his wind and the timing that he missed and the... his stamina, right? For lack of a better word.

Because I thought in games three and four, he was settling too much, especially in game four.

And he looked gassed at the end of game four.

Game three, he kind of got going late, right? He's the one that propelled that comeback.

I don't remember, what were they down? 16 in game three that came back and took the lead in that game and couldn't hold on.

He ran out of gas in that too.

And that was a masterpiece defensively last night.